While Christmas is my favorite holiday, fall is my favorite season. When the days shorten in my small northeastern (U.S.) town, the leaves shed their summer green and transform into a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, and yellows, and the air gains a crispness that signals the world is slowing down and preparing for a winter nap. Best of all, our house fills with the aromas of simmering stock, sauce, and baking bread, at times hitting the trifecta of smells in a single day.
But there is one more sign that summer has ended, and fall has begun. One I unabashedly take pleasure in sharing with you: Hallmark Cider Festival/Fall Harvest/Woman Returning Home to Help Granddad Save the Pumpkin Farm movies.
Of course, these will be soon followed by the non-stop rotation of Holiday Lighting Festival/Christmas Tree Harvest/Woman Returning Home to Help Granddad Save the Reindeer Farm movies. It might be a Hanukkah Gathering or helping save a family deli, but the same idea.
Trite? Yep. Totally predictable? Absolutely. I mean, when is the last time a Hallmark movie ended with the two main characters not getting together?
But I'm ok with that. The movies can be and are criticized on many levels, but one thing is certain. You know what you're getting when you sit down to watch one. The best ones (yes, there are levels of quality even in Hallmark movies) are like being wrapped in an oversized furry blanket while hugging puppies and kittens, and having someone read your favorite children's story to you for the eleventeenth time. It's the predictability that makes them so popular in this crazy, ever-changing world. Fact is, even when the changes are good (granted, that's subjective), change unto itself can knock you a bit off kilter for at least a little while.
There's a comfort in knowing that the county bake-off/Halloween festival/charity barn raising is going to end with the prickly partnership between former rivals morphing into romance. Or that the big city lawyer is going to realize what they really want is to open up that interior design/book store/flower shop and settle down with the rancher/handyman-woman/bakery owner.
The best part is you can swap in and out pretty much any of those jobs and activities for different ones, and you have a brand-new Hallmark movie. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's what they do. But either way, they are perfect for a crisp autumn day as you settle down with a cat, a cup of tea, and homemade cookies.
Mind you, I don't want to lose the craziness and spontaneity in life. It’s what keeps things interesting. But I do enjoy taking a break from it, now and again.
I think it's time to update the old saying.
The only things certain in life are death, taxes…and Hallmark movies.
To start the season off, here's a recipe for one of my favorite soups
Mushroom Bisque
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Ingredients 1 Tbsp. Butter 3 Tsp Flour ¼ Tsp dry mustard 1 Tsp salt ¼ Tsp Freshly Ground Pepper 5 Cups Boiling Water ¾ Pound Mushrooms, sliced (any but shiitake and/or white button work well) ¼ Cup Sherry, burgundy, or bourbon 2 Cloves Garlic 2 Onions Pinch dry basil Pinch dry marjoram Big pinch dry parsley Paprika (optional) Whipped cream (optional)   | Directions -         Blend ½ the butter with flour, mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth. -         Add water gradually and bring just to boiling point, stirring constantly. -         Add thinly sliced garlic, onion, and finely chopped mushroom stems. -         Cover and simmer ½ hour, then strain. -         While simmering, sauté peeled and sliced mushroom caps in the remaining butter then turn them into the upper part of a double boiler. -         Add the strained thickened liquid in which stems were cooked. -         Add basil, parsley, and marjoram. -         Cook over hot water for approximately 10 minutes. -         Add sherry/burgundy (my favorite)/bourbon, slowly stirring as you go.  |
 Optional: Top each served portion with paprika flavored whipped cream
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