September 30, 2023

WEEKLY MENU 10.01.23

Weekly Menu 10.01.23 tells us it’s October already! Time to decorate…

What exactly does the Weekly Menu 10.01.23 tell us to do? Yep! Time to decorate for fall if you haven’t already. I adore fall. It’s hands down my favorite season, and not just because my birthday happens at the very beginning of it. I love when the weather gets a little cooler and we get to break out the sweaters, light jackets and all things pumpkin. (Affiliate links follow. See Disclaimer Page for details.)

I don’t do Pumpkin Latte, but only because I don’t drink coffee. It gives me the wind something fierce. I’m a tea drinker, and have some Chai Tea in the house as a tasty substitute. But I don’t understand all the hate on Pumpkin Spice Latte. I’m sure it’s delicious!

If you don’t like it, don’t order it. And move on.

I suspect that a large part of the hate is because it rushes fall, as Pumpkin Spice Latte is advertised starting in August. And I mostly agree with that. I don’t decorate for Halloween until October 1st. The switch to Thanksgiving paraphernalia happens November 1st. And Christmas decorating happens the weekend following Thanksgiving. That way I don’t get completely sick and tired of the clutter that is a necessity for a properly decked house.

The fall holidays share harvest, pumpkins and a lot of orange. It’s no wonder I love them so! It’s time to bring the Pumpkin Soup Tureen and matching Pumpkin Soup Bowls that Bert gave me years ago. Some of the bowls are a beautiful olive green, and those get saved for November 1st. I have pumpkins for days – the best part of having a birthday so close to decorating season is that I’ve been gifted some gorgeous specimens over the years.

I turn the Jack-O-Lanterns to face the wall~

When it’s time for Thanksgiving decorating, so they do double duty. A couple of years ago, I went all out and decorated some oddly colored pumpkins that I got at the Christmas Tree Store (RIP) in a Black and White checked pattern, It really tested my geometry skills, but they turned out great for the front porch. I found these ones a few days later. But I’m hardly bitter at all.

Anywho. The biggest difference between Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations, and the only thing I need to switch out, are the skeletons. I love me a full size skeleton. But a wooden skeleton head for the front door works too. And mini skeletons hang all over the place. Our post picture is actually a mermaid. I love her hair color.

My full size skeleton was a (light) pole dancer last year. And she’s going up there again this year. I didn’t want to sacrifice any of my fabulous thong undies (HA!) so I’m going to grab three fall leaves from the dollar tree and hot glue them in the appropriate (HA – again!) locations before she goes up. I had considered a nice feather boa, but I think that would get ugly and super clingy once it got rained on. It is fall, after all. After that I’ll be ready for a Halloween Party!

How to have a Screaming Good Halloween Party

It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s time to start planning that. In case you were wondering, I’m going as a witch, which is a long standing tradition of mine. I’m consistent if nothing else.

Weekly Menu 10.01.23

We’re having Italian for our big Sunday Dinner. I’ll make the Chicken Parmesan with the same breading trio that I use for Chicken Fried Pork Tenderloin, but if we were feeling healthy, we’d go with our Baked Chicken Parmesan. We’re starting with Baked Fontina though, so the healthy ship has sailed.

Dessert is Italian and fall like – we’re finishing dinner with a Pumpkin Pie Biscotti. I’ll probably break out the decaf tea to go with that.

Pretty typical week after that, allowing for people in and out throughout. In case you were wondering, “Jumble Fries” is my attempt to make a mishmash of partially used bags of fries (and tots, and steak fries, and shoestring fries) from the freezer into a delightful side dish.

On Friday, we’re having Mexican Corn Chowder with a little homage to our favorite Mexican Restaurant. I’ll fry up a skillet of chorizo until it’s nice and crunchy so everyone can add some to the soup and mix it in themselves, a la Queso Fundido. Hopefully the weather cooperates with soup night.