Everyday on the way to work I drive through about five miles of Kentucky. The bright blue “Welcome to Kentucky” sign is positioned on the steel beams of a bridge that takes me across the Ohio River, from the aviation state to the state of unbridled spirit. This is my favorite part of the drive. Beneath me a wide river of deep blue water ripples gently, glistening in the sunlight or peacefully lapping in the rain, depending on the weather. On either side of me, extending up and down as far as my eyes can see are thick green trees, many of which are starting to turn muted shades of orange, yellow, red and brown. A large lighthouse that I’m fairly certain is now someone’s house, with a clean wooden dock and heather red roof juts out from the shore into the water. It’s so scenic that for a moment I forget where I am. I forget that I’m not in Door County or Vermont, but between Cincinnati, OH and Highland Heights, KY on my way to work. Every day as I drive by I think how peaceful and perfect and full of hope this place is. Then another thought, without fail, enters my mind: “I can’t wait until we can open our own little equity theatre, tucked away somewhere beautiful, just like this. Then this will be what I see when I open my eyes every morning and this will be where we do the work we love to do and live the life we want to live.” Then the road becomes bumpy with potholes and cracks, the lanes merge, the person in front of me slows down because she doesn’t know to shift her car into 3rd gear to make it up the steep hills in this area, and the traffic backs up as we round a sharp curve. And I’m back in the real world.
A cold snap is coming through. This weekend we’ll have lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s. I’m grateful for this because it’s the first real push into autumn. The sun is tucked away, the wind is blowing swirling leaves across lawns and driveways, and it’s cool enough to bundle up in a pretty fall sweater with a hot tea or latte in hand but it’s not so cold that you’re uncomfortable. The humidity is gone, the squirrels, birds and neighborhood cats are out in full force, and I can brew up a batch of homemade chili in the crockpot, throw some pumpkin snickerdoodles in the oven, and curl up with a good book or a photo project I’ve been working on. Yes, there’s a lot to love about autumn, and I’m ready to love on it…in between all that moving and work nonsense that is.
Fall also inspires me to get creative with my cooking. Last night I made chicken cordon bleu and baked up two mini cinnamon apple pies I’d prepared and frozen in personal-sized mason jars. I’ve found a pumpkin mac n’ cheese recipe I am just dying to try, and I think I may have to cook up a batch of chili or stew and baked cinnamon vanilla pears in the coming weeks. I’m also anxious to put up a Halloween decoration or two! Halloween and Thanksgiving are my two favorite holidays and I’m always bummed that they get skipped over so often in anticipation of Christmas. I won’t have time to dress up this year and I’m sure I have a show or something on Halloween night that would conflict with any planned festivities anyhow, and I don’t see the point in spending money on useless decorations, but I’m thinking I’ll make a decoration or two with craft supplies I already have on hand so I can at least still celebrate the season in style. I’m thinking a few bat and ghost cutouts to join the pumpkins and possibly a leaf wreath.
What are your favorite fall recipes?
