Burrrrrrrrrr.
Fall has come to Chicago.
It is cold, rainy and super blustery.
It smells like wet leaves and soggy grass and I am SO in love.
I busted out my scarves, jackets, hats and boots and have already made a few different pots of soup. This hearty lasagna soup is perfect for these cold, overcast days – AND, Mikey was obsessed with it (because lets be honest, Mikey is obsessed with anything in a red sauce/Italian seasonings).
Hope you are enjoying your fall so far…go make some soup!
I make a lot of bread.
It’s more like cake rather than bread, though…
The main reason I call it bread is because I can:
A. Make a meal out of it. (Hello, toast/breakfast?)
B. I feel better (just barely) about eating 4 pieces of bread rather than 4 pieces of cake.
My favorite bread (cake) of all time is this Poppy Seed with Orange Glaze . It may sound a little weird but you have to trust me when I tell you it’s amazing.
It’s so amazing.
My Mom would make that bread for us (usually per my request) when we were kids and I would eat an entire loaf, smothered in a (disgustingly) thick layer of butter (she usually cut me off after my 3rd piece).
It’s so good you just can’t stop….which is what happened when I made this Amish Cinnamon Bread.
It is now my second favorite bread! I made it for the first time to share on my blog and I am completely obsessed with it. It was the perfect fall weather recipe. It made our apartment smell amazing and it tasted even better than it smelled.
It was easy and quick to make and would make an amazing breakfast bread (it is very similar in taste and texture to coffee cake) as well as a dessert cake with ice cream!
Mikey is training for the Chicago marathon and ran 16 miles through the cold rain about 3 weeks ago. His body wasn’t pumped about it and decided to shut down. He got super sick and it held on tight for 2 (very long) weeks.
As we all know, one of the best cures for the cold/flu is chicken noodle soup.
I made a large pot of this comforting soup and although it didn’t heal him as quickly as I hoped it would…I like to think it made him feel a little bit better.
After lots of rest, soup and vitamins, Mikey is finally feeling healthy again and has been able to continue with his training (phew).
Plus, this made a REALLY big batch of soup. So I stuck about half of it in airtight containers and put them in the freezer for the chilly weeks ahead.
I made some chicken noodle soup a couple weeks ago when the weather first began to cool here in Chicago. I was so excited to switch out our summer clothes and pull out my sweaters when the weather decided to change its mind and get super hot and humid.
So the last thing on my mind was soup!
BUT, we are (thankfully) back to that cooler, breezier fall weather and I love it so much! Therefore, I am ready to share this recipe with you!
(I will post the soup recipe right away but figured I would include the stock recipe first)
And in a blink, summer 2013 was over.
It’s so crazy how time can pass so quickly. Weddings, birthdays, showers, parties, time at the lake, dinners and travel…It’s amazing how much we are able to pack into the few months that make up summer. All the while working and trying to keep up with everyone else’s hectic schedules…
I am always conflicted as to whether or not summer is my favorite time of year or not. It is a close tie with fall…And even though I’m obsessed with the holidays…I loathe the cold weather. So I’ll keep summer as my #1 for now. And I’m sad to see it go. Although it’s still be hot here in Chicago…I can sense fall in the air.
Trees have started to change and I actually tried to wear a scarf yesterday?!?! I don’t know what I was thinking. I got really sweaty really fast and decided I need to wear shorts until the last possible moment. And just because Starbucks has decided to bring out the Pumpkin Spice Latte early doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fall… We can all just take a breather and enjoy the summer air that still lingers.
P.S. I’m not happy about Starbucks pushing their Pumpkin Spice Latte up early (if that’s even true). They make enough money on that freaking drink, can’t they wait just a few more weeks until it is actually fall? I’m sure I’m alone in this thinking but it just makes me mad.
Mikey's In My Kitchen 
