sunrise

photograph by kristin karch

house on a hill

photograph by kristin karch

fall grasses

photo by rebecca wood

southern nibbles for the holidays

the holidays are my favorite time of the year.  i love the spirit, decorating, crafting, wrapping, giving, and all of the the yummy food!  i recently visited with our friend mimi at home.made and she had me sample some of her delicious new packaged goods. 

i love how mimi took traditional southern snacks and put her own touch into each product.  she had the packaging designed by megan at brown parcel press and they are ready to ship out just in time for the holidays!!

these are perfect dinner party snacks or a fun little stocking stuffer or gift!  it's hard to choose between the pepper jelly pecans, sweet tea caramels, caramel corn and pecans, or the cheese straws.

pick them up at the restaurant or order online!

photos and words by kristen bach

cacti

photograph by kristin karch

autumn orange

photographs by kristin karch

heirloom corn

photo by rinne allen

fall minestrone soup

what a week!
thankfully yesterday we got a little bite in the air and some much needed rain.  this called for a big pot of homemade soup to fill our home with warmth and  comfort!
i looked to our bounty from our CSA box and what we had in the pantry and decided to make a fall veggie minestrone soup.  i served it beside a batch of some warm herbed  focaccia bread.
fall minestrone
ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium size onion
3 ribs of celery
2 small sweet peppers or 1 large
2 bulbs fennel
3 cloves of garlic
1 quart of vegetable stock
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of crushed tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can of red kidney beans
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp of sweetener (can sugar or maple syrup works great)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup elbow noodles
a handful of diced basil
directions
-dice your onion, fennel, celery, and peppers, salt and pepper
-in a large dutch oven, saute in olive oil on low for 15 minutes
-add diced garlic
-saute for 5 more minutes
-add the stock, tomatoes, beans, sweetener, and salt and pepper to taste
-cook at medium heat for 30 minutes or so and turn to simmer until you are ready to eat
-just before you are ready, add noodles , cheese, and basil
-enjoy!  


 

a glimpse of fall

photo by kristen bach

Our recipe guide!

with each change of the season it takes a bit for me to find my groove. i struggle finding comfort with what to wear..... what to cook.....the time change.....new schedules.  this weekend while i was struggling with food to prepare for the family, i clicked over to the beauty everyday recipe guide and got inspiration from all of our previous recipes!  it was so fun to see what we have all made throughout the years and prepared through the seasons!

so if you are stuck in the kitchen like i have been these days, visit our guide!  tonight, i am going to make the autumn pie!

butterfly + blooms

photo by kristen bach

bourbon and pear upsidedown cake

ingredients
the fruit
1/3 cup butter, browned
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP or a glug of bourbon
6-8 pears, peeled (hard country pears work great)
a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon

the cake
2 cups unbleached AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
a sprinkle of cinnamon

directions
pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

the fruit
-in a cast iron skillet, melt the 1/3 cup butter, cook for 15 minutes on med /low to brown it. pay close attention and make sure you do not burn it
-stir in the brown sugar and stir until combined
-stir in the bourbonand cinnamon and stir, remove from heat
-slice the pears as thin and uniform as possible and layer nicely in the butter and sugar mixture
-let sit while you are making your cake batter

the cake
-mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar together
-add the wet ingredients and mix, only until all ingredients are combined
-spoon mixture over the pears and place cast iron in oven
-bake for 40 minutes or until fruit is bubbling and the cake is slightly browned
-remove from oven and let it rest for a few minutes
-take a butter knife and run along the edges of the cake
-using a cake plate or any large plate but over the top of the cast iron to flip,
flip the cake and re-arrange any fruit that may have come loose during the flip
-enjoy with ice cream or whipped cream. 

this is the dish that i brought to share at the flower social at 3 porch farm. if you haven't caught up on our last few posts about you you should!  it was a magical day!   i promised many of the attendees that i would share this recipe....so here is another pear delight!

it's a perfect fall treat!

photo and recipe by kristen bach

wood brick

from habersham mill. wood was cheaper than brick at the time.

photograph and words by kristin karch

habersham mill

two dear friends of mine just got married this weekend at habersham mill. i had never been to a place like this size before, which sits on a thousand plus acres of land and has almost 200 years of history. the mills sit on the soque river in habersham county and once used the water to power energy. it was used to make canons during the civil war and later became an iron ore manufacturing plant. after, it ran through multiple purposes and businesses before russell athletics bought it in the 1970s. now, it is owned by a lovely couple who vision it as an event space. they have already created four beautiful airbnbs, one of which I got to stay in for the weekend. 

there are so many rooms, buildings, rocks, & pools to explore. i highly recommend taking a trip to see the beauty of this place.

photographs and words by kristin karch

fall ground

photo by kristen bach

fall pear cider

this weekend we actually had some fall weather!  we decided to fill our house with the the aroma of fall and make some pear cider.  this recipe is such a great way to enjoy the country pears that many of us have growing in our yards.  the pears that never seem to ripen, but are actually quite tasty!

here is a recipe for fall pear cider that is so simple and will have your house smelling like fall for days!

-fill a crock pot with pears, washed and quartered (seeds and stems are fine)
-add 1 orange, peeled
-add 6 cinnamon sticks
-pour water over pears and fill to the top of the crock pot leaving 1 1/2 inches
-let cook all day or overnight
-mash the pears with a potato masher
-drain juice through cheese cloth or a fine colander 
-enjoy....outside on the porch is best!

photos and recipe by kristen bach

golden hour

photograph by kristin karch

country pears

photo by kristen bach

dried pears

some sundays are spent figuring out what to pack in the lunchbox for the next week.  yesterday my daughter and i had fun making some dried pear chips for her lunch.  we had the windows open, and soon, the house was filled with the comforting scent of fall. 

this recipe is so easy, it does take some time in the oven, but it so worth it! 

enjoy!

ingredients:
pears, unripe ones are just fine
spices, optional (we just kept ours plain and they were great!)

directions:
-pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
-line cookie sheet with parchment paper
-thinly slice your pears (the thinner the better, so sharpen your knife! you may also use a mandoline for even slices.)
-place a single layer of pears on your cookie sheets
-bake for 1 1/2 hours, flip them all over
-put back in the oven and cook for another 1 1/2 hours
-store in an airtight container until they disappear!

photo and recipe by kristen bach

arrow apple festival

for the last six years, arrow has hosted an annual apple festival, celebrating apple harvest time, and the fall season, for our community...

this year's festival was this past saturday and we had a beautiful fall day and saw lots of friends!

each year, arrow sells mountain apples from ellijay, georgia as a fundraiser, as well as fresh cider. there is also an apple pie contest where many restaurants and friends bake pies...yum! this year ken manring from white tiger helped judge the apple pie contest, and friend bird smith (age 10) cuts an apple themed block for us to print from...!

it is such a fun day... !

photographs by kristin karch, words by rinne allen