BY EMILY HARRISON / KALAMALAMA STAFF WRITER
I’m sure everyone has seen the obnoxious decorations in stores around us, already celebrating Christmas, in September. It’s kind of ridiculous.
But, even if you’re in Hawaii, you can see the mood changing. Even if the seasons aren’t, and if you’re from the mainland like me, your internal clock is changing. So, in order to prepare for the upcoming fall season, you need to prepare your home and body.
Now, being on an island kind of limits what you can do, but to get in the fall mood, which means something different for all of us. I do recommend maybe adding some autumn leaf decorations, some auburn pallet colors, or even some more blankets, maybe just for the ascetic.
But, what more important about celebrating fall, is the food.
There are many recipes I enjoy when I get into the fall season. I remember being on a walk with my mom enjoying some fall drinks. Or on the couch with my dad sipping soups. Or even by the fire roasting smores cuddled in a blanket.
And to be honest, I think I’d like to share some of these recipes. Because even if you have your own fall traditions, you can always start more for you and your friends or your family.
And what is life without sharing a little culture?
Setting The Mood
Now, I know especially in Hawaii, that there are certain things, such as hot meals, that don’t bring comfort when it is 85 degrees outside. But before you know it, the winds will change and the 60 something degree nights will be back, and you’ll want a little something to help warm you up. Or even if not for warmth, maybe bring comfort back to where you came from. (Especially if you are from the Midwest.)
I’ll start off with some of my favorite drinks.
Now, apple cider might seem like an obvious one for fall, and it is. Back home we would made spiced, and sometimes spiked, apple cider, but for the sunny days in Hawaii, you can also make iced apple cider, and if you really wanted to, you could blend some ice with your dink and make a slushy out of apple cider. Which, in all honesty, is my favorite, even when I was back home, and it was 40 degrees outside.
Some people even prefer it out of a jug, which is fine, expect its wrong.
I got this specific recipe from a creator on TikTok, I will cite her page for you lovely people who want more of her recipes.
But nevertheless, here’s her recipe:
Tini’s Apple Cider:
Ingredients:
5 lbs. of honey crisp apples
2 lbs. of gala apples
2 oranges
Maple syrup (1 cup)
Cinnamon sticks (5)
Whole cloves
All spice
Nutmeg
Water
Instructions:
Wash your apples.
Core your apples, this means cut them, so the core is out. Then chop them into thick wedges. About 6 wedges an apple.
Put all of that in a big pot.
Wash your oranges and slice them up, it doesn’t matter how thick or thin.
Add them to the pot.
Add in a cup of maple syrup. (No one said this was a healthy recipe.)
If you don’t have that then you can substitute brown sugar
Add your cinnamon sticks. Honestly, I feel you could put in some cinnamon as a substitute, just be careful so you don’t make your cider spicy as-
Add in about an 1/8 cup of those cloves.
Add in about 1/2 tsp of allspice.
I’m not sure if people have nutmeg that isn’t ground. I don’t. So, I just sprinkle that stuff in there.
Now add enough water to cover everything in that pot.
Let this baby simmer for about three hours. You want your apples to be soft, soft enough to smash.
Once those three hours are up, get yourself a masher, and mash that mixture up until it reaches applesauce consistency. Some of your sensory people may need a hand with this.
Once all smashed up, simmer for another 30 and then run it through a strainer.
You can drink It hot or cold, which ever you prefer.
(@tinekeyounger)
Soup for the Soul
Now, what is fall without some soups?
Now I’ll be honest. I’m a picky person. I don’t like cooked vegetables, or most vegetables, they gross me out when they’re squishy, or they simply just taste bad. So, soup is a tricky thing for me. But that doesn’t stop me from having it. I actually have a couple recipes I’d like to share with you.
Each is something that I actually enjoy, even as a picky eater. And some of you may read these and disagree with me about them being soup. I have some choice words about that, but overall, it’s my blog, ima call it soup.
Again, I said I’m a picky eater. I’m a peculiar picky eater. Pastas, meats, cheeses… love. Vegetables, gross.
Now this may seem like I have culture, I do, but it’s mostly focused in the Midwest. This is actually a recipe I got off TikTok again, which I will add the creator’s information for you in case you like her recipes.
Isn’t TikTok great? Sometimes.
I love lasagna soup. It’s like saucy lasagna. I’ve made this several times, but this recipe is a great rendition of this, and I would recommend this over my typical bowl.
Nordic lasagna soup
Ingredients:
Olive oil
2 tbsp of butter
Carrots
Celery
1/2 a white onion
3 cloves of garlic
White wine (optional)
Chicken broth
Water
Lasagna noodles
Lemon
Cream (half and half or heavy whipping cream)
Rotisserie chicken
Instructions:
Coat the bottom of your pan with olive oil and melt the butter. Once melted, add in your celery, carrots, garlic, and onions Give that a stir, and “deglaze with some white wine.”
Add in a container of chicken broth and about a cup of water.
Bring this up to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Break in some lasagna noodles. Once the noodles have cooked, add in some lemon juice and some lemon zest.
Then add in about a cup and a half of cream and your pulled rotisserie chicken.
Simmer for about 2 minutes and then serve.
Mom’s Classic Chicken and Noodle
Any time I was sick, or when she didn’t feel like cooking the rest of the week, or if she was cold, which back in Indiana she always was, my mom would make these chicken and noodles for me. My father makes a good recipe too, but I am a broth kind of girl.
Ingredients:
Rotisserie chicken- Season with oregano, rosemary, pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasonings
Celery stick
Carrots
Can of cream of chicken
Can of cream of celery
Chicken broth
Half an onion
Three cloves of garlic
Seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, rosemary
Egg noodles
Instructions:
First off, cook your egg noodles. While they’re cooking prep your ingredients. Pull and season your chicken and set it aside. Cut up your vegetables. I cut them super small, so I do not have to crunch them when they’re in my mouth. Go ahead and open the cans.
Once they’re cooked, strain them and set them aside.
In the same pot, hopefully, mix your vegetables and your broth, and cook those for ten minutes on a medium-high heat. Once the veggies are squishy, put the cans of cream of chicken and cream of celery in your mixture. (I put half of each in mine, but that’s because I like it less creamy and more broth-y.) But it’s ultimately your choice. Cook this on medium heat for about another five minutes. Stirring every couple of minutes. Now, once that’s cooked add in your chicken and noodles, give it a big stir, then set on medium-low heat for another then minutes, letting the favors absorb each other.
Typically, I like some bread with mine. You don’t have to of course, but I usually cut up some bread and smear on some butter and toast that. Or I’ll make some cheddar biscuits. again, your choice!
Tortellini soup:
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef (or venison)
2 tbsp Olive oil
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Creole seasoning (something spicy and a little smoky)
2 tbsp butter
3 cloves of chopped garlic
2 cups chopped tomatoes.
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup tomato paste
Chicken broth
1 small container of half and half
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
Crema cheese
Parmesan
Tortellini
Parsley, basal, and spinach leaves
Instructions:
In a pan add your beef, oil, and spices (to taste) and cook until brown.
To the same pan (with beef removed) add your butter, garlic, tomatoes, lemon juice.
Cook that down then add your chicken broth.
Mix tougher half and half and flour and then add to the pan.
Add in cream cheese (to preference), parmesan, and tortellini.
Add in your chopped leaves and cook for a few minutes, with your beef added.
This is actually a recipe my father makes a lot, not typically for me, typically when I’m away for college and he has freedom to cook whatever he wants. I have tried it though, and it was honestly delicious.
This may be a weird comment to make, but for those of you who can, I would recommend putting in venison instead of beef. I grew up on venison, and prefer it to other red meats, but for those of you who can’t, or would rather die than eat deer meat, stick with beef.
Sweets for Treats
I’m not going to teach you guys how to make smores. I’m guessing most of you who read this already know what it is, and it’s been a foundation in your life since childhood. If you have no idea what a smore is, trust me, reading about it on a blog is not how you want your first experience with a smore to go down.
Now, not that any of you know me, and to be honest you have to go pretty far down in my posts to even know what I look like, but nevertheless, I’m going to share with you my personal opinion:
Pumpkin sucks.
I like the smell, it’s a lovely smell. The flavor is like an insult to my taste buds. Pumpkin anything… pie, cookies, bread, rolls. Nasty.
There will be no pumpkin recipes here. I apologize if you like pumpkin, but you’re wrong.
Pumpkin flavor is not a “fall flavor” for me, it is a punishment.
Also, I am American. I grew up in the Midwest, small farm town, I don’t have much culture in my veins other than that, especially when it comes to desserts. So, I’ll be sharing with you some of my midwestern favorites.
Apple cider cookies
I’m not sure how people can disagree with these cookies. Everything about them makes my mouth water. You got that good old classic apple cider with caramel and sugar. Ugh what a treat. This alongside some warm apple cider, snuggled up outside in the evening with a loved one or a friend, it just warms the soul. If you look out at the starts and appreciate the smallness of yourself to the rest of the world, it’s calming, and humbling. It takes that stress off your shoulders and moves you to a place you never knew you needed to be.
Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup apple cider
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
Cinnamon and sugar for rolling.
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup apple cider
Caramel drizzle
Instructions:
Beat your butter until fluffy. Add in sugars. Mix until combined.
Add in eggs and vanilla. Add in cider. Mix
Add in flour and spices and mix again.
Roll dough balls in cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 for ten min.
Glaze: Mix sugar, cinnamon, and apple cider.
Spread on cookies 10 min out of the over
Then drizzle over with caramel.
Cinnamon chocolate chip
Now, don’t get em wrong, this isn’t a new recipe by any means, but the cinnamon added to a classic chocolate chip just adds a sensation of fall and autumn walks in the evenings and your own true laughter blending in with your friends.
Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions:
Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl mix in your sugars and soften butter, don’t melt it, then your cookies won’t sit right.
In a separate bowl, combine your flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Whisk until all clumps are out.
Then add your eggs and vanilla to your sugar mix.
Slowly add your dry mix.
Once blended, make a few cookies without the chips. Those are really good too.
Then add your chips and bake for about 12 minutes or until they’re cooked how you like your cookies.
These are best with milk. Don’t add cider to these. Don’t do that.
Ginger snaps
My friends personally call me a grandma for this. It almost hurts my feelings, almost. But I don’t care actually. Nothing makes me more satisfied than biting into a nice chewy ginger snap. I like the richness of the molasses; I have no idea why.
It tastes like the beginning of Christmas yet the warmth of fall. It prepares me for the winter nights to come. Ah, gingersnaps.
Anyway, here’s the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup soften butter.
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground salt
And sugar for rolling.
Instructions:
Hand mix the sugar, butter, molasses, and egg. Mix until fluffy.
Add in your dry ingredients and stir until fully combined.
Roll the dough into balls and roll into sugar.
Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.
Making Changes
Now maybe prepping all of these ingredients take too much money or time. And as a college student I can appreciate that. I for one love to make homemade stuff, especially for special occasions, maybe birthdays or get togethers, but I can also appreciate just wanting to have a nice relaxing autumn weekend.
So here are some suggestions for a college budget recipe:
Start with jugs of apple cider. You can add hot head candy to add that spice, or you can warm it up and add some nutmeg or cinnamon.
The soups don’t have many short cuts, but not all the vegetables need to be added, just make sure you compensate with some spices.
The cookies, you can always add to store bought cookie dough. Substituting sugar cookie dough for the apple cider cookies and adding some of the apple cider spices and drink and then baking and adding the glaze may turn out better than you think.
I hope you all try these recipes and think of me when you learn to love autumn in a different way. I can’t wait to share these with my roommates for the next upcoming weeks.
