Traveling Food - Holidays and Potlucks

Autumn Welcome by Stephanie Marrott

As soon as Halloween passes, I begin to think of travel in a slightly different way.  I think of traveling with food.  I do not entertain for the Holidays and I am not a good cook.  On Thanksgiving, I either travel up the road to the Mister's mom and dad's home for the day or I travel back home to Indiana for my huge family reunion.  Combining "bring a dish" with a one to ten hour road trip is often challenging.

When I go up the road for Thanksgiving, the Mister's mom prepares a mini-feast. We tend to help with the things she's preparing and help with cleanup. And we try to bring a little something along to add to the meal.  When I go back home, the family meets together and we gorge ourselves with good food and conversation.  

My dilemma is being able to prepare dishes that will travel well or that can be prepared very easily once I arrive.  The biggest dilemma is that I am not good in the kitchen.  I have to have reliable recipes that even I can't mess up. 

I am thrilled that this year I have a Pumpkin Snickerdoodle recipe to try.  Our favorite cookies are Snickerdoodles.  I can usually bake cookies without incident.  This year, I will likely bring these little treats along.  

Last year,  my Snickerdoodle Cookie Pie was a big hit. It begins with packaged cookie mix and ends in a nice and thick "pie" shape.  The Mister asked me to make this over and over.  It was easy enough that I was happy to oblige. 

Harvest by Stephanie Marrott

The Mister and I eat quite a bit of baked yams, drizzled with a tiny bit of maple syrup and sprinkled with a pepper spice called "hot shots".   I'd love to serve our yams at a gathering but could not figure out the logistics of travel and oven issues. I believe I have found the solution with this  mashed yams in the slow cooker recipe. A slow cooker will allow me to serve my "hot dish" at the family reunion potluck.   

Finally, I can't think about potlucks without craving a 7 layer salad.  I always use the lettuce, frozen pea, and mayonnaise recipe. But you can substitute ingredients to suit your tastes. This year, I may use spinach instead. 

Wherever you go and whatever you do for the upcoming holiday season, I wish you safe travels and plenty of good food and good company.

Written by Dawn Rae

Disclosure: In affiliation with AllPosters.com, Dawn Rae is a blogger and content writer who may earn compensation from the sale of AllPosters products.  

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Handmade Harvest-Time

Pumpkin Coasters on Etsy

It's Harvest Time, the time of year crops are traditionally harvested. This coincides with Autumn, the season of colorful leaves, cooler nights, pumpkins and apples, and the holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving.

The term 'Harvest' came from England and was the name for the season between summer and winter until Autumn began to be used in the 16^th century. In Britain the season is usually considered to be from August through October and in the United States from September through November. The term 'Autumn' is also interchangeable with 'Fall', used mainly in America. Unlike the other three seasons, there does not seem to be a common word for this season in all the Indo-European languages. Autumn and Harvest-Time are my favorite terms to use.

Autumn Themed  Crafts

Acorns

Custom Crochet Fall Acorn Beanie

Autumn is a favorite time of year for crafters and the Indie-artists in the fields of art and photography because the lovely harvest-related colors of orange, brown, red and yellow lend themselves to beautiful creations. 

Since acorns are plentiful in the Fall, this crochet acorn hat is perfect for the season.  A leaf and a small acorn adorn the top of the hat, and are attached to the stem of the acorn. Made in super soft cotton yarn, the hat is available in sizes from newborn to adult large.

Place your order for an acorn hat with Monica of Costa Mesa, California.  You can find her in her Etsy Shop "Ruffle Stitch Kids." These hats make a great gift for all the 'nuts' on your list and is perfect for those Fall photos. 

Pumpkins

Pumpkin Potholder and Matching Dishcloth

Pumpkins are also perfect for a harvest time decor as seen with this set of pumpkin potholder 
and dishcloth combo.

In addition to sprucing up your Fall home decor, this pumpkin set makes a unique hostess gift when invited out to dinner, especially during the Harvest-Time season.  Or nice for a wedding gift for a Fall wedding. 

More Ideas for Handmade Harvest Time

• Sylvestermouse shows us a collection of beautiful beaded cross-stitch kits with lovely Thanksgiving designs to stitch up for the most popular 'harvest holiday' – Thanksgiving Day!

• Wednesday-Elf found some really fun and practical handmade harvest-related designs on Etsy by clever crafters who love to create in Autumn themes.

When you think of 'handmade harvest-time', you may consider crafts as the only field that's considered handmade. Not so, in my opinion.

Pumpkin Muffins by Mary Beth Granger

• I consider cooking a handmade 'delicious delight', as you can see in this yummy pumpkin muffin recipe by mbgphoto.

• And 'gardening' gives us all that wonderful homegrown food. You don't need to have a farm or even a large garden plot in your yard. As Dawn Rae shows us, you can also grow and harvest your favorite foods like squash and tomatoes in a simple container garden on your apartment balcony.

Enjoy the colors of the Autumn Leaves as you 'trick or treat' for Halloween and plan your Thanksgiving feast in a multitude of handmade ways from crafting to cooking to planning your next garden for Spring.

Have an Awesome Autumn and Harvest-time.

(c) 12/02/2014 Wednesday Elf. Updated 9/27/2019

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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