So, it’s coming: fall! While I enjoy all the seasons, there’s something about it being “almost autumn” that makes me, and most of us here in Ohio, smile with anticipation. People start to hanker for hot chocolate, hot soup, sweaters, bonfires, Sunday afternoon walks to admire the foliage, and all the other truly fabulous things about fall. Here are four favorite items for fall at my house.
Fab Fave #1: Maine Garden Hod – So you can traipse around picking up anything. Anything, I tell you!
OK, it’s a bit of friendly hyperbole. You’re obviously not going to haul wet laundry or mulch with this little basket, sturdy as it may be. But, it is extremely handy when harvesting all those wonderful edibles from your garden (spray off that annoying green worm before it comes into your kitchen!); when collecting various and sundry balls from the yard at bedtime (ex: base-, soft-, golf, bocce, etc); and to hand to your child when he/she says, “Mommy, I want to make a fort/have a pretend picnic/build a stick castle/carry stuff.” Works great for small indoor toting chores, too.
Fab Fave #2: Roma Food Mill – So you can turn those tomatoes and apples into downright family traditions.
Honestly, this is one of those items that sits quietly in my basement for several months out of the year. But during the fall season it really gets a workout, and not just in my kitchen. My father, the consummate gardener, borrows it each September to make his family-famous Northern Spy applesauce, or, in two-year-old speak, “grah-paw’s appa-shaush.” My husband and I love it for juicing tomatoes (we freeze the juice since our family loves homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches). Nothing is easier or faster than this mill. It’s simple, quiet and the children love to help turn the crank. Seriously. They actually ask when it’s time to use it. And have trouble taking turns!
Fab Fave #3: Cast Iron Skillet – So your children will eat anything cooked in it. Anything. Really.
OK, a little more hyperbole. My children would never eat anything. However, we have discovered that even the dreaded scrambled eggs (“They’re mushy!!”) will be scarfed up pretty quickly when they’ve been made in the cast iron skillet. I really don’t know how to explain this, but I’ve experienced it firsthand — the cast iron actually seems to add flavor to food. Wait, I’ve guessed it: it’s the residual bacon grease. Yep, that’s what it is. Case closed.
Fab Fave #4: Plastic Bag And Bottle Dryer – So you can stop buying so many of the blessed things, but still enjoy the convenience of using them.
This is the perfect product for me. Like many of you, I am truly concerned about, and try to keep a rein on, the amount of waste my family generates. However, I am also loathe to give up the little conveniences that help me keep my sanity. Case in point: plastic baggies. That’s why this little wooden gadget is so great. And while I’ve never sat down and penciled it out, I’m sure it helps our budget too, since I’m buying baggies once in a blue moon (like when I can’t see through them anymore) instead of almost every time I shop.
Happy almost Fall, all!
