What's In My Teapot?

I must admit that my love for the particular season we're in right now always comes a bit begrudgingly at first. At the offset, I hate to exchange flip-flops for fuzzy socks and watermelon for apples! Then, once the trees are full of color and I have smelled an apple crisp or two, I can no longer resist the lure of Autumn! The colors, the smells, the flavors and the sights are downright beguiling and I am hooked. Who can resist falling in love with ginger and cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves and pumpkin pie spice all over again once they mirror the colors of the outdoors and cause some of the most fragrant aromas on this side of heaven to waft out of the oven? A recent jaunt to the library found me perusing the books labeled "new," which are handily placed on a self by the checkout counter, where I found the perfect book to help celebrate the season with some new recipes! This enticing cookbook, called The Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookbook , by Stephanie Pedersen, boasts ...

I have a bit of a tradition going on in my kitchen that Monday night is soup night! I don't remember exactly how or why this started, but I am a bit enamored with soups and all the different varieties, and over the years it has proven to be a handy way to start the week, especially as I like to make a large pot and then have enough leftovers for at least one more meal (and often more!) I like to have the second go of soup on Wednesdays, when we usually have evening plans: either prayer meeting, Ladies Night for me or Men's Meeting for Wesley. I have found that by switching up the sides a bit (cheese & crackers the first night, salad the second) you can keep meals interesting even if the main dish stays the same. Over the summer this tradition seemed to be more of a drag than anything and there were times I deviated from soup just because I couldn't find one that looked good or that I had the ingredients for. And sometimes I just plain down didn't feel like dicin...