Fall Recipes and Cookbook Review!

I love fall, it is my favorite season and part of what I enjoy about fall is baking with apples and pumpkins!  A little while ago I was given a copy of Taste of Home Recipes Across America cookbook and wow is this book full of delicious recipes, including recipes that are in season right now!  This cookbook is so unique as it features recipes based upon what part of the United States they originate from or areas that are known for that type of food/recipe.  There are also little tidbits included throughout about different towns and states and what they are known for, little morsels of information about food in various areas of the United States.  Of course, just looking through the cookbook will make you so hungry just seeing all of the pictures of each dish!  I am including two fall recipes for you to try and enjoy, but really there are 733 more recipes in this cookbook that you are going to want to try as well!
It's apple picking time!  So try out this recipe with some of those delicious apples from the local orchard:  

Golden Apple Bundles
Excerpted from Taste of Home Recipes Across America: 735 of the Best Recipes from Across the Nation
By Taste of Home

This recipe is an interesting way to use apples. I usually make them on Fridays, so when family and friends drop in on the weekend, I have a nice dessert to serve. They bake up flaky and golden brown outside and moist inside.
-- Lila Eller, Everett, Washington

Prep: 20 Min.
Bake: 25 Min.
Makes: 10-12 Servings

2 cups chopped peeled apples⅓ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup raisins
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon lemon peel
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pastry for double-crust pie
Milk
Sugar

1. In a large bowl, combine apples, walnuts, brown sugar, raisins, flour, lemon peel and cinnamon; set aside.
2. Roll pastry to ⅛-in. thickness. Cut into 5-in. circles. Spoon about ¼ cup apple mixture into center of each circle. Moisten edges of the pastry with water. Fold over and seal edges with a fork.
3. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400°; bake10 minutes longer. Brush each with milk and sprinkle with the sugar. Return to oven; bake 5 minutes longer.

Pumpkin is delicious in anything - muffins, cookies, pies, bread, and yes even chili!  And this recipe is a crockpot one, so that is another bonus to just have dinner ready from you come back inside from enjoying this beautiful fall weather!: 

Black Bean 'n' Pumpkin Chili

 

My family relishes this chili, especially on cold days.  It's a wonderful variation on standard chili and it also freezes well and tastes even better as leftovers! - Deborah Vliet , Holland, Michigan

 

Prep: 20 Min. Cook: 4 HoursMakes: 10 servings (2 - 1/2 quarts) 1 onion, chopped1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped2 tablespoons olive oil3 garlic cloves, minced3 cups chicken broth2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained2 1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes2 teaspoons chili powder1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin1/2 teaspoon salt In a large skillet, sauté the onion and yellow pepper in oil under tender.  Add the garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker, stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until the chili is heated through.      

 

Taste of Home Recipes Across America
735 of the Best Recipes from Across the Nation
By Taste of Home
Published by Reader's Digest
Hardcover: 512 pages
September 12, 2013; $24.99 US/$27.99 CAN; 9781617651526

Description
Enjoy the flavors of the USA

One of the greatest pleasures of traveling is sampling the mouthwatering local foods. Do you recall an item that you would love to enjoy again, such as Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza, Southern Fried Chicken or Mississippi Mud Cake? You'll find those classic regional recipes right here in Taste of Home Recipes Across America.

Divided into five regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, Southwest, and West), Recipes Across America offers 735 delectable specialties enjoyed by locals, including unforgettable dishes using regional produce. You'll even discover ethnic specialties passed down through generations that became hometown favorites. Best of all, these dishes are shared by real family cooks just like you!

Here are just some of the highlights from each region.

Northeast: Philly Cheese Steak, Yankee Pot Roast, New Haven Clam Pizza, Authentic Boston Brown Bread, Buffalo Chicken Wings, Amish Sugar Cookies and Brooklyn Blackout Cake

South: Shrimp Po-Boys, South Carolina-Style Ribs, Bacon Collard Green, Cheese 'n' Grits Casserole, Georgia Peanut Salsa, Sweet Potato Fries, Banana Pudding and Hummingbird Cake

Midwest: Church Supper Hot Dish, Onion Loose Meat Sandwiches, Cherry Wild Rice Salad, German Potato Salad, Chocolate-Covered Buckeyes, Golden Apple Snack Cake and State Fair Cream Puffs

Southwest: Arizona Chicken, Barbecued Beef Brisket, Chicken-Fried Steaks, Sizzling Tex-Mex Fajitas, Armadillo Eggs, Texas Caviar, Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce, Classic Fruit Kolaches, German Chocolate Cake and Tres Leches Cake

West: Buffalo Steak Salad, Chicken Long Rice, Pacific Rim Salmon, California Sushi Rolls, Green Goddess Salad Dressing, Romaine Caesar Salad, Utah Buttermilk Scones, Caramel-Frosted Potato Cake, Oregon's Best Marionberry Pie and Lemon Tart with Almond Crust

In addition, hundreds of snapshots of food festivals and landmarks are scattered among the pages.

And as a bonus, you'll also find food folklore, recipe histories and fun food facts.

For example, did you know that though Coney Island evokes images of amusement parks, the beach and New York, Chili Coney Dogs are not from New York. These hot dogs are actually natives of Detroit. The dogs are topped with beanless chili, some onions and yellow mustard. Cincinnatians top theirs with shredded cheese and call them cheesy Coneys.

You can plan a Southern summertime barbecue, feed hungry hands with Tex-Mex, enjoy the silky smoothness of maple syrup pie, have a German celebration for Okoberfest, or dine as the Hollywood stars do with a Classic Cobb Salad. With Recipes Across America, the country is yours from coast to coast.

About Catherine Cassidy, Taste of Home Editor-in-Chief.
Catherine M. Cassidy is Editor-in-Chief of Taste of Home. She is responsible for driving editorial direction and product strategy across the brand's media platforms. They include Taste of Home, the number one food and entertaining magazine in the world; TasteofHome.com; social media; special interest publications; and cookbooks. She also is responsible for editorial direction for the magazines Simple & Delicious and Healthy Cooking and Enthusiast Brands Birds and Blooms, Country, Country Woman, Farm and Ranch Living, and Reminisce.

Cassidy has toured the country as the face of Taste of Home for national and local TV, radio, and newspaper interviews in support of the best-selling Taste of Home products, including its cookbooks.

Prior to joining Taste of Home, Cassidy served as Editor-in-Chief of Prevention magazine, the nation's largest health publication, at Rodale, Inc. Cassidy joined Rodale in 1986 as an associate editor in the book division, and was later named Executive Editor of Rodale's Custom Publishing division. She started her career at Runner's World and Fit magazines in Mountain View, California. Cassidy lives in Mequon, Wisconsin, with her husband and two daughters.

About Taste of Home
Taste of Home is a go-to resource for the holidays and any time of the year for information on food, cooking and entertaining. Each year, thousands of great home cooks from across the United States and Canada submit more than 40,000 recipes, of which 3,000 are published in Taste of Home magazines and online, making Taste of Home one of the largest and most successful practitioners of user generated content. Before being published, every recipe is tested in the Taste of Home Test Kitchen to ensure that it can be prepared with affordable, everyday ingredients from regular grocery stores. Taste of Home content is available in print; online at Tasteofhome.com; in books; via digital download on iPad, mobile apps and Kindle; and Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

For more information please visit http://www.recipesacrossamerica.com, and follow on Facebook and Twitter