Autumn has arrived!

Life is trying really hard to keep me from posting but today I am bound and determined that I am going to get it done. Fall officially arrived and this weekend I harvested my grapes and got almost 2 bushel of huge concord grapes. This was a wonderful year for grapes and I have never had my vines turn out such large and sweet grapes. My pumpkins and winter squash are still going very strong but they are forecasting a frost for tonight and if it is cold enough to kill my plants I will have to harvest the bumper crop of squash hiding among the 40x40 square that is currently just a sea of plants. I have already harvested most of my huge Jack O' Lantern pumpkins. Only two huge pumpkins that are to big for me to carry and that are still growing remain in the patch. Here is a (blurry) picture of those monsters.

This fall weather has me craving turkey. My family loves turkey and begs for me to deep fry them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I usually keep a couple frozen turkeys in the freezer for when I get the hankering for turkey. My freezer is devoid of turkeys at the moment because I didn't find any good sales on them last year so I am keeping my eyes open for a good deal so I can stock my freezer again. When I prepare turkey whether I am frying or roasting them I always take the time to brine them. Brining them makes them juice and oh so flavorful. I use my Roast Brined Turkey recipe as a base but instead of the cloves, and allspice I use 3 tablespoons of Mulling Spices. A few years back I created a Mulling Spice blend that contains allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and orange peel. It is great for mulling wine and cider but I absolutely love it for brining any poultry or pork.

To make up for my recent absence today I am giving away a tin of my Mulling Spices and a tin of Cream Earl Grey Tea. I will pick two winners to receive one of these items. Just comment on this post and tell me about your fall experiences so far this year.