Fall Foods and Drinks to Raise Your Spirits

October marks pumpkin season in the U.S. where the color orange can be seen everywhere, and the line for pumpkin spice lattes are out the door. According to a study done by Gallup, October is the second favorite month for Americans. See below for foods to enjoy during the autumn season.

Start the Day off with a Fall-Themed Breakfast
Noosa Pumpkin Yoghurt is a thick, “Aussie style” yogurt with a dollop of pumpkin puree.  To keep the autumn theme going, you can  top it with Sweet Home Farm Pumpkin Flax Granola made with crisp brown rice, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds — a great way to get fiber and protein at the beginning of your day!

Muirhead is a family owned company out of Ringoes, New Jersey that specializes in fruit butters, American style chutneys, mincemeats, fancy mustards, vinaigrettes, and sauces. Their Pecan Pumpkin Butter is a long-time customer favorite, and a perfect topping on toasted English muffins or swirled into hot oatmeal.

Next, sip on a hot cup of Republic of Tea Pumpkin Spice Black Tea for a morning wake-up call. This energizing tea is great with a splash of milk! It is “fall in a cup” due to its autumnal spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Or, if coffee is more your specialty, and you live in a place where fall still feels like summer with eighty-degree weather, try a cold-brewed coffee drink made with almond milk: Califia Farms Pumpkin Spice Latté. This vegan drink is rich, creamy, refreshing, and not too sweet.

Mid-day Snacks:
Food Should Taste Good Harvest Pumpkin Tortilla Chips
These chips are salty and crisp with a hint of sweet, and can be munched on alone or dipped into a delicious fall dip (see recipe below).

Boom Chicka Pop Pumpkin Spice
Sweet-and-salty popcorn, this has a mild, underlying pumpkin flavor with more pronounced cinnamon and nutmeg tastes coming through.

Wind-down Drinks at the End of Your Day
Ace Hard Pumpkin Cider
Great to sip on during the chillier months, Ace adds pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice to fermented apple juice — producing a 5% ABV (“alcohol by volume” measurement).  Releasing the aromas and flavors of a crisp fall day, it is a light orange color, adding to its autumnal feel.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead
A refreshing, golden, wheat ale with a modest bitterness, this has a distinct pumpkin flavor, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon. Shipyard recommends pairing it “with a shot of spiced rum or in a pint glass, rimmed with cinnamon.”

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
This full-bodied brown ale is malty, and includes hints of pumpkin, brown sugar, caramel, and spices. It pairs well with foods commonly found around Thanksgiving tables, such as turkey, duck, and stuffing. This ale debuted in 1994 at the Delaware Punkin Chunkin festival, from which it took its name.

Sam Adams Fat Jack
This beer contains twenty-eight pounds of real pumpkin per barrel, which can be detected thru its full body and sweetness, accompanied by typical pumpkin-pie spices and smokey malt flavors.

Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi’s Harvest-Spiced Red Blend
This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon that holds flavors of red berries with underlying dashes of cinnamon, vanilla, and clove. Enjoy it as a glass at room temperature, or create a homemade mulled wine by heating on the stove and adding cinnamon sticks, orange slices, and cloves.

No Day is Complete Without Dessert!
Ciao Bella Mulled Apple Cider Sorbet
This is a premium, artisan-style sorbet debuted this year as a seasonal favorite exclusively at Whole Foods Market nationwide. Crisp and sweet apple flavors mix with flavors of mulled spices, creating a juicy sorbet that melts in your mouth.

Ben & Jerry’s Pumpkin Cheesecake
Their harvest-season, limited batch ice cream made with real pumpkin (that they reserved a year in advance) gets a graham cracker swirl mixed in. The creator of this flavor says, “The Pumpkin Cheesecake flavor is a perfect comfort food. It’s like a warm blanket on a cool autumn day, with drifting leaves and the crisp smell of fall.”

If you Enjoy Cooking, Try the Recipes Below:
Smoked Gouda Pumpkin Dip
Ingredients:
8 oz. Cream Cheese
4 oz. Shredded Smoked Gouda Cheese
¾ cup Puréed Pumpkin
5 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ cup chopped green pepper

Instructions:
Mix cream cheese, smoked Gouda and pumpkin in a small bowl. Save a bit of Gouda cheese for garnish.
Add pepper and ¾ of the crumbled bacon into the mixture. Save some bacon for garnish.
Transfer to a serving bowl.
Sprinkle with a handful of shredded Gouda, green peppers and bits of bacon before serving.
*Dip can be made, covered, and refrigerated for up to three days before serving

Cinnamon Apple Chips
Ingredients:
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced

Instructions:
Heat oven to 200°F. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper; spray paper with cooking spray.
In small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Place apple slices on cookie sheet. Spray apples with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with sugar-cinnamon mix.
Bake 2 hours, rotating cookie sheet after 1 hour. After 1 hour 30 minutes, check apples every 10 minutes to avoid burning. Store in airtight container.

Will you be carving pumpkins this month? If so, save the pumpkin seeds to roast yourself with this method:

After cleaning them in a colander under running water, simmer them in salted water for 10 minutes.
Drain the seeds, coat a baking sheet with olive oil and spread the seeds in a single layer.
Get creative with your own spice blends such as paprika or cumin, sprinkle on top before putting them in the oven.
Bake for 5-20 minutes until they are lightly browned and cool before eating.

Other fall cooking ideas include Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pumpkin Pie Dip, and Autumn Brittle.

Do you have any favorite fall comfort foods or recipes that make you look forward to this time of year? Share them with us!