When you think about the changes of the season from summer to fall, everyone seems to go gaga over pumpkin spice and apples. For those of you with sweet tooth's, that's great but for some, we (and I mean me) are all about the soups, stews, and hearty, savory dishes. The sweaters get pulled out of the closets, the Dutch ovens and the crock pots get placed on the counter and the delightful dishes of the fall start making their way into dinner rotation. 

One of my favorites is a good old French onion soup. 

This tasty little combination with the strong bite of the blue cheese and the sweetness of the grapes on top of the crunchiness of the crostini is just heavenly. Serve it at your next gathering, or plate some up for a little snack with a glass of your favorite wine, it's so good. 

It's the heat of the summer and who doesn't enjoy some tasty watermelon?  Seriously, watermelon is not just for the kids, it's great for us kids at heart. So when you've grabbed the smallest one you can find at the grocery store and it could still feed a small country, you'll have a plan ready for some of that delicious sweetness.

Grab your fork, this is as yummy as it gets. As American as apple pie and just as delicious! Bill surprised us with this one for sure. It's not only a work of art and pleasing to the eyes, it's really delicious. Who knew he had such 

Who knew that along with his many talents, his eagerness to learn would involve tackling cooking skills. Joe is sharing his awesome pulled pork recipe with us and it's sure to be a hit at your next barbeque.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 c chicken stock (low-sodium chicken broth optional)
• 1 T packed dark brown sugar

Cinco de Mayo comes with a lot of history. The Mexican cuisine delights in many layers of freshness, richness, and many hours of preparation, but always worth the efforts.

That being said, we’ve put together a few delights for you to try and they don’t take hours upon hours to make. Somewhat quick, but oh so tasty. You might want to grab a

NANCY'S FAMOUS BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Well at least in our family it's famous and it's to die for. Topped with your choice of or fresh blueberries or peach slices and/or home made maple syrup. (Um, I will confess that I will go for all of it, and do not feel any shame it it.) It's  wonderful and delicious addition to a breakfast or brunch sit down. Everyone gets to sit down and enjoy at once since it's prepared the night before all that's left it to pop it into the oven then serve hot. 

Baked French Toast Casserole

Well it seems as though we have a little competition going on in the Kays household. You might have tried Josh's recipe for Chili,🍲 (which by the way is killer!) but now his wife Kelly is offering up her recipe and it has a few twists in it. Give it a try and let us know what you think. Maybe you can have a little cooking duel in your own house too! 🌶️

Happy cooking!

INGREDIENTS

Homemade taco seasoning:

1 1/2 t garlic powder

Cookie Day is a tradition that my best friends family has done since she was a little girl. I was lucky enough to get invited to it one year, (for tasting purposes) and I was in awe at how they worked together. Her mom, aunts and cousins all arrived with mixers, bowls, measuring utensils and all the makings for the batter for the cookie that they were assigned, AND they brought dozens of cookies they had already made at home. They worked all day, the sound of the mixers the smell of the cookies

Sweet Potato Casserole
Who doesn't like a great sweet potato side for Thanksgiving? They say they are exceptionally nutritious for you, but we tend to think that some of those values are lost by the time they get piled onto your plate with this recipe. Isn't it traditional to throw calorie counts and exercise to the wind on Thanksgiving Day. 

We hope that you get to gather with your loved ones safely this year, and get to express your gratitude, share old memories, and create new ones.