Fall - the Season for Food!

Ground beef stuffing mix for cabbage rolls

Cabbage leaf ready to be stuffed


Stuffed cabbage roll

Placed rolls in casserole - I have enough to fill a large casserole dish and a small one.

Cabbage rolls with tomato soup sauce just out of the oven

Stew meat and onion about to be browned

Vegetable Beef Soup ingredients to add to meat and onion

Here's a spoonful...Mmmm!

Perfect with a pan of homemade cornbread!


I don't know about y'all, but every fall when the temperatures begin to cool down, I get the "Cooking" bug. My family loves it, because they are sure to come home daily and find something brewing on the stove or in the oven to a most heavenly aroma! With the cooler temps, I can swing open the back door in the kitchen and the front door to create a wonderful flow of cool breezes through my galley kitchen. It makes for a delightful experience, not feeling the heat from the stove. In every house we've lived in, though, I must say that fall is the time of year that I most enjoy cooking. Thanksgiving has always been, (even before I was married), my very favorite holiday! I have fond memories of waking to the aromas of my mom saute'ing chopped onions, bellpepper and celery for her cornbread dressing and to the smells of homemade pumpkin pie baking in her oven...Mmmmm! With all of this in mind, I decided to write this post and take some pictures of a couple of my most recent indulgences!

The first are pics of my cabbage rolls, which I must admit were not as good as they usually are because I forgot that instead of following my recipe's directions, you SHOULD DEFINITELY cook the rice first, making sure not to over cook it. You don't want the rice to be mushy! However, in my case of mixing it in raw, the rice was crunchy - another unacceptable outcome. When done, right, though this dish is wonderful! My family doesn't like cabbage, but likes it in this dish. (I actually first ate cabbage rolls in a Lebanese restaurant and I was hooked!)

The next pics are of my homemade vegetable beef soup. I make it 2 ways - one using ground beef and the other (the way seen here) with stew beef that you can find already cut up for you in the grocery. I always sprinkle the beef cuts with meat tenderizer and then brown them with chopped onion before adding all of the other ingredients. I took a pic of the ingredients I use, but I forgot to put the package of frozen okra in the shot (okra is optional). I also used beef stock that I made using beef bouillion cubes instead of canned beef stock this time, but I liked the outcome better because I didn't have to add any salt to the soup at all. If you would like the recipes for either, let me know and I can email them to you...both are very simple!

Simple...these are the pleasures near to my heart! Good food, family, friends and fall! Thank you, Lord! "You thrill me, Lord, with all You have done for me! I sing for joy because of what You have done!" Psalm 92:4