Thanks to those of you who have checked in via email and comments, to let us know that you are ok, despite this massive storm that has moved through your area. We continue to watch the news and are thinking about all of you. What a storm. 🙁
Since today is Halloween, I decided to share some fun blog posts from other people! These are some of the blogs that I read regularly, and don’t share them often enough with all of you. (And then scroll to the bottom of the post for a chance to win a treat from us!)
Want to see how some zoo animals react to pumpkins and masks and other Halloween celebrations? (I like the baby Cheetah trying to hide behind the pumpkin. Although the monkey and mask is cute, too.)
Here are some cute dinner ideas. (I like the Rice Krispie Candy Corn Cupcakes and the Mummies in a Blanket.)
My favorite food blog is the one my dear friend Monica writes. You might want to check out her:
Whole Grain Maple Pumpkin Spice Donuts (good any time this fall)
Overnight Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (and her other flavors of overnight oatmeal)
Hot Spiced Drinks (yum – hot apple cider!)
Maple Pumpkin Spiced Lattes (made in your slow cooker)
Baked Potato Soup (can also use leftover mashed potatoes. I made this last winter and it’s delicious.)
Of course she has tons of non-fall recipes, too. Check her recipe index.
Check out the Halloween Hay Bales, all dressed up for the holiday. (Mummy – ha!)
Free printable pumpkin carving patterns.
Last minute quick-and-easy costume ideas. (I can’t pick a favorite – several of them cracked me up! But Ceiling Fan? Love that.)
Creepy music to download for free.
Since we don’t get to go trick or treating with our own candy bag any more, we thought we’d put together a bag of treats for one lucky winner! (Shown here, $60 value.) If you’d like a chance to win, just leave a comment below and tell us your favorite food or drink that you make (or buy) when it’s cold and rainy and blustery and you just need something warm and wonderful. I tend towards soup when it’s cold outside. Even better if I can make it in the slow cooker so that it’s ready and smells wonderful when I get home from work. I have a few favorites. Wild Rice and Chicken Soup, Lasagne Soup, Cheddar Chowder, and Cold Weather Chili. Even better with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on the side. So what is your go-to food when it’s cold and you need something that warms you up? We’ll randomly draw a winner next week!
Sheri wishingIhadleftsoupintheslowcookerfordinnertonight
I’m with you on the soup. I’m going to have to bookmark yours since I’ve never made it in the crockpot before!!
My favorite is Corn Chowder and homemade bread!
I’m in Central Mass and we had no damage to speak of…..I feel for the people in NY and the Jersey Shore….incredible damage….
I love to make wild rice soup and friendship bread.
Grilled cheese & tomato soup – makes me feel like a kid again!
When it’s really cold I like a nice big dish of ice cream, coffee Oreo if possible. I know, I’m crazy!
Lentil soup!
Moroccan chickpea soup! Or a nice chai latte or peppermint mocha latte 🙂
Potato/Bacon soup, white hot chocolate (when I can find it) and if it’s a day I’m home all day a batch of homemade spaghetti sauce simmering on stove.
Definitely soup! I like hearty beef vegetable, with a splash of hot sauce in it. Warms me right up!
For drinks, I love hot apple cider with a splash of cinnamon schnapps. Or hot cocoa with a splash of amaretto or frangelico in it. (My husband finds it hysterical that I am not a mixed-drink drinker, but I have a shelf full of alcohol to dump in hot winter beverages!)
Green Chile Stew – warms you up twice since it’s stew and the green chilies are good and hot!
When the weather gets colder I am always about the warm beverages – coffee, hot chocolate, apple cider.
I don’t have one standard go-to meal but I do love grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. Basically anything hot and creamy.
Hot Chai Tea!!!!! Love an excuse to drink it!!!!
Homemade soup with some warm bread and a glass of red wine.
For me it’s Homemade Peas Soup ! I try to keep a ham bone and smoked pork hocks in the freezer for just this reason. And if I’m making soup well it’s bread baking time….. Shredded Wheat Bread to be exact.
I absolutely love putting on my Southwest Soup when it gets cold outside. Some call it Taco Soup. It makes the house smell fabulous. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and the scoops tortilla chips or scoops fritos. Yum! Or Baked Potato Soup or Vegetable Soup or Chicken Noodle or…well just about any soup will do when it’s cold!
A Korean soup with dumplings: sujebi
Taco soup is always a crowd pleaser at my house. And on my last trip to the grocery store, I bought peppermint mocha coffee creamer in mass quantities since it’s only out this time of year.
Tea and english muffins.
LOVE the Wild Rice and Chicken soup receipe you shared awile back. I would have that for dinner and top it off with warm apple crisp.
pumpkin spice bread.
I’m not usually a big Starbucks fan, but their holiday hot chocolate is to die for. One of my students brought me some as an alternative to my ever-present coffee, and I have been addicted ever since.
A lovely hot chocolate to cosy up with on the couch, a roaring fire and chicken soup….mmmm!
This is something my grandpa used to make (he was a better cook than grandma!). He would cook Navy beans with a chunk of ham. Then when the beans were done, he placed a slice of Italian bread in the bottom of a bowl and spooned a serving of beans over the top. Next he drizzled the bowl with olive oil (fairly generously!), then added salt and fresh ground pepper.
It tastes better than it sounds. When I fixed it for the significant other–who only tried it to keep me quiet–he loved it. It’s one of our favorite winter dinners now.
Beef stew – even better when someone else makes it!
My favorite cold weather comfort food is German Style Chicken and Noodles. I grew up making this dish with my Grandmother every Sunday. It is not chicken and noodle soup yet a thick and creamy (almost gravy like) chicken and egg noodles which is severed over mashed potatoes. Yummy!
Brunswick Stew, perfect for when it is cold out
My go-to food is a drink: mulled apple juice. Add cinnamon sticks, a pinch of all spice and a clove to apple juice then heat to simmer and reduce heat to barely maintain the simmer while you drink a first, second or third cup. Add a bit of water then more juice and spices when you begin to run out. The whole house smells good and it’s great to drink.
Curried lentil soup, homemade bread and hot apple cider with Tuaca (and Italian citrus vanilla liqueur)…so yummy you’ll forget all about bad weather.
Monastery style lentil soup (tomatoes onions carrots lentils beef or vege broth) served with a bit of sherry added over grated Swiss cheese.
Braised short ribs
Osso buco.
I need to buy a slow cooker.
Chicken Noodle Soup!
Not innovative, but there’s a reason it’s a classic.
Chicken Tortilla Soup.
You can’t go wrong with something that good.
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches always does the trick for me.
However, my husband and I do love the Wild Rice and Chicken soup you posted last year. It is great! Hubby asks for it all the time, even in the middle of summer!
My favorite cold weather treats are Pumpkin spice lattes and grilled cheese sandwiches!
Definitely potato soup! It is the first soup I make when the weather turns chilly! Really warms you up!
What a great TREAT… sure could use that after no electricity and Sandy damage here in NH!
I tend to lean towards soups & stews when it gets cold… I have a go-to Chicken Noodle soup done on the stove top and a favorite Beef Stew for the crock pot.
Hot spicy chili with home made crusty bread is the go-to meal. For a cold afternoon pick me up – hot chocolate with a touch of Bailey’s! It makes a great “sit by the fire, read a good book and snuggle with a drink” time of day!
For breakfast, I put up rice porridge ( just a more nutritious name for rice pudding) in the crock pot overnight. For dinner, beef stew. And of course, to drink, hot cocoa!
Taco soup, smashed potato soup, chili, anything along those lines!
Potato soup! I have a recipe that uses frozen cubed hash browns so it is so easy. I just made it last night actually to eat when we got back from Trick or Treating.
Hot chocolate is great too!
Eileen
WiscKnitter
I love making bread when it’s cold, the smell is out of this world!
Any SOUP in a slow cooker that makes my whole house smell DELICIOUS! Also this time of year we make Baker Baker apples: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baker-baker-recipe/index.html
Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Veggie chili
I love having a big mug of Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar. It always warms me up and makes me feel like the day can’t be too miserable. 🙂
Nothing is better than beef stew and corn bread on a cold day. Except for maybe brownies, still gooey and warm from the oven. But that’s not a meal. Usually…
Hey Sherri – I’m sure I’m not in the majority on this one, but when it’s cold & gross out, that’s when I have my coffee crave – but it has to not taste like coffee lol Only French Vanilla or Hazelnut, light & sweet with milk – I also like the flavors mixed together for “half french vanilla and half hazelnut” 🙂
Lots of those soup recipes sound great but my all time favorite soup is Beef Barley. think I’m in the minority for that too!! 🙂 Hope all is well with those affected by the Hurricane – luckily we didn’t lose power or have any damage.
I love a good bowl of homemade vegetable soup on a cold winter day in Kentucky.
Soups all day everyday for me. Even though I live in Arizona, I pretend it is fall and eat soup. Last night, I filled my kiddos’ bellies with Carrot-Tomato soup. Super yummy!
Beef stew – currently in the slow cooker, or homemade curried squash soup!! With garlic bread……..drool!!
I am doing a Homer now!! 🙂