Guys! It’s September, and I love lunch dates, so this post is gonna be just like we’re having lunch together. Sitting outside, maybe? 60 degrees and sunny? Wearing boots and flannels and watching the leaves fall as we eat our tomato soup with whole-grainy grilled cheese croutons?
I like this already.
We have lots to talk about today, because September is basically the best ever, amiright?
Exactly, Sage. 👆🏼Exaaaactly.
Recipes
I totally love summer. Summer is my spirit season. I love to be warm, I love the sun, and if spending every day of my life in the water laying on a flamingo floaty sipping a watermelon smoothie was a career option, you might never see me again.
How-ev-er.
Fall has something on summer that is worth possibly more than the warm-and-sun-and-water combo. Fall is my FOOD SEASON. After months of feeling like cooking shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes ever (summer at its best), I find myself suddenly wanting to stand in front of 15 pots of soup, stirring here and there, in between baking batches of bread to go along with it, and all the better if it takes all day. Dreamy though.
Yesterday I had a chance to make the first of my fall cooking dreams come true. It was 60 degrees and sunny, so I left the windows open and put on some nice relaxing music and lit a candle (more on candles in just a second). I was having a hot craving for tomato soup and grilled cheese, so I busted out all the stops to make my favorite homemade tomato soup which includes frying up some little bits of bacon with onions and garlic and carrots and OH MY LANTA, the house! the house smelled amazing: smokey and earthy and crisp, like exactly what fall should smell like.
I love to try new recipes and I am very excited about the new recipe posts that are yet to come this fall. But you guys, don’t you sometimes just want to make your old favorites all over again? Agh. Just totally the best. I am feeling so nostalgic for all my fall foods this year, so here are the favorite fall recipes that are on my meal plan for September:
- Crockpot Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- Rockin’ 5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
- Detox Crockpot Lentil Soup
- Crockpot Red Lentil Curry (happening TODAY in my hizzouse)
- Simple Homemade Tomato Soup (note: THE BEST TOMATO SOUP IN THE WORLD, pictured at the beginning of this post with a pile of whole grain grilled cheese croutons)
- Creamy Pumpkin Spaghetti with Garlic Kale
- Miracle No Knead Bread
Currently Loving
It seems almost too basic, but we are currently really loving our lake walks. Fall walks are not the same as the warm and well-lit summer walks but they have a chilly, cozy magic all their own. The days are getting colder and shorter – it’s dark by 8pm now, and yesterday I had to wear not one but TWO long sleeved layers for the quick two-mile jaunt around the lake. That’s the strangeness of life – that in the middle of summer, you can’t really imagine yourself ever needing to wear anything other than shorts and a t-shirt, but then one day, out of the blue, there you are: wearing jeans and thick socks and a sweatshirt with a long sleeved shirt under, and you’re pulling the long edges of your sweatshirt sleeves over your hands to stay warm and wishing you would have worn a hat. LIFE, man. It’s strange and wonderful. Some people roll their eyes when Midwesterners talk about loving the change of seasons. But honestly: I LOVE THE CHANGE OF SEASONS. It breathes new life and energy into the mundane day-to-day of our normal routines.
Also currently loving: CANDLES! Tis the season for a little flickering glow on the mantel or the kitchen counter as the sun sets for the day. Here’s my dilemma. I’m trying to clean up my home and beauty situation – like low or no chemicals, toxins, that sort of thing. I’ve made a lot of the easy swaps already – like dryer balls for dryer sheets and Norwex water-only cleaning cloths for bleachy cleaning supplies, but dang Gina, puhhhlease NOT MY CANDLES. I’ve been looking for something that is clean-burning and scented but not overly scented. Like, naturally scented? Is that a thing? Except I’d like it to smell like a pumpkin pie oatmeal cookie cider spice latte. They can naturally scent that, right?
Kidding, sort of. I know some of you are experts on clean living and I would love your clean candle recs.
On the cooking front, I’m loving our red Lodge Dutch Oven, which I’ve mentioned only about 800 times on this blog. It is home to all the soups that are happening in this little kitchen this fall, and it couldn’t be cuter. I’m also loving (still, more than a year after buying it) my Saveur cookbook called The New Classics. It’s just the best, you guys. I’ve made so many recipes out of it – like, at least 30, which is A LOT for me and a cookbook – and they’re all winners. For some reason, I associate this book with fall, so I’m currently re-falling in love with it all over again. PUN!
It’s been so fun this month to be cooking and working together with a real live team for POY content and workshops. This is a picture of Alana (video guru) and Krista (our new shoot assistant) working on some videos, like they do. Secret tip: working with people makes this blogging thing a whole lot more enjoyable, and these two are just phenom. The videos? Have you seen them? All credit to Krista for the swift cooking hands and Alana for the video wizardry. We have the best girl-power team (+ Bjork, our v important non-girl member) and I’m so very grateful for all the hands – literally – that helps us continue to be able to do what we do. We’re working on a new About page so you can get to know our team even better. Teamwork makes the dream work! ✨ <– file under phrases you will hear when you go on a lunch date with me. You’re welcome.
One more fun kitchen thing?
WE GOT A TEAL SMEG FRIDGE. ♡ It lives at the studio, tucked up against a brick wall, and it’s so adorable, I can hardly stand it. I know it’s been a looooong time, but we should finally have the finished studio pictures to share with you sometime this month or next! It’s *thisclose* to done. And I haven’t been a perfectionist about it at all. …Promise.
Capsule Wardrobe
It’s that time again!
I sort of half-heartedly capsuled my way through summer, which basically means I wore the same two shorts and three t-shirts and my flip flops from 12 years ago for the entire three months of warm weather. It was not amazing.
I am so ready to get my capsule game back on point.
Luckily, I have a renewed energy for things like this in the fall, so we are capsuling once again. Since I started this whole capsule wardrobe situation last fall, I have most of what I need already and I will probably just give it a boost with a new pair of booties or a few new tops.
Do you fashionistas have any recommendations on shops or specific fall boots / scarves / sweaters you are loving? I mostly always shop at the Loft / Lou and Grey, Express, Athleta, and Macy’s every once in a while, but I would love for you to hold my hand and walk me through a virtual mall of expanded options.
Books
Hey, remember audiobooks? They are back, they are cool, and they are LYFE. I listen to audiobooks every day on my 20-minute commute to the studio and I can crush books at an absolutely ridiculous rate – like one per week. YOU GUYS. This is literally life-changing for me.
On the logistical side, I use Audible for paid audiobooks and OverDrive for borrowed – aka free – audiobooks from the library. I keep track of all of my read or want-to-read books like a Type A Bookworm in a supergreat app called Goodreads.
Current favorite (audio)books have been Bloom by Kelle Hampton (cried like a baby basically the whole way through it – so beautiful and incredibly moving) and Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist. If you are a human being who lives in the world, I’d highly recommend Present Over Perfect. I think her message is so timely and necessary and literally life-saving for so many of us right now – trading in the hustle for more rest, peace, and life.
Travel Tips Wanted
Alright, last thing I wanted to talk about before we wrap up: WE ARE GOING TO EUROPE! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I studied abroad in Spain for a few months during college, but Bjork and I have never been to Europe together, so for the first time, we are headed to Southern France, Switzerland, Southern Germany, and possibly London for a two-week adventure later this fall.
Here’s why I’m mentioning this -> I would LOVE love love your help in planning this trip! Probably worth mentioning that our time in Southern France is already pretty scheduled out since we’ll be jumping on board a river cruise (don’t mind us being all proper and adult over here?!?!!) for a good portion of that time, but we have a lot of flexibility with the rest of the trip and we know zero things about what to do in each of these places.
What are the must-see cities? Foods to try? Landmarks to hit? You guys never disappoint when it comes to travel info, so I am supes excited to hear back from you on this one.
Also if you have travel tips in general – like, for example, apps that will help us get organized and make sure we don’t miss any trains or boats or flights? – that would be amazing to the max.
umm, hi 👆🏼
Sage has been waiting very patiently right here, right next to me, during this entire post (this is my dog’s actual real life) and now she wants to know – what’s on your mind this September? How are things going in your corner of the world?
I’m a big fan of this lunch date thing. XO
How fun! So if you just happen to be passing through central Switzerland, my dad gives custom tours. You can read more at his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CustomSwissTours/?fref=ts
Have a blast! (First time commenter… long time lover of the recipes. Thank you from the bottom of my stomach!)
I’m so excited that you’re going to Europe! I would definitely recommend Lucerne, heading up Jungfrau and also visiting the cute town of Lauterbrunnen in the German part of Switzerland. If you’re only in the French part, then definitely visit Montreux (great for Queen fans) and Lausanne. In Germany, if you’re anywhere near Munich, head to Neuschwanstein – all your princess/castle dreams will come true!
If you’re after the BEST, authentic Italian pizza in London head to Santa Maria in Ealing. A bit out of the centre of London and tiny inside, but easily accessed on the tube and there’s a cute pub next door.
Your soups are some of my faves! Soup season is a real thing. Love the idea of a capsule, maybe I will have to try.
Hey there Lindsay!
If I ever win some kind of a lottery, I’ll most definitely come to one of your workshops. Well, a girl can dream…
Anyways, about your visit to Europe. If your intinerary for your European trip isn’t totally fixed yet, you should change your life and visit Slovenia. Ever heard of it? A certain first lady wannabe is from here. But don’t hold that against us, we have some awesome people too. If Bjork follows NHL, he should have known Anže Kopitar. Or Goran Dragič if he follows NBA.
You can go see mountains and lakes, vineyards, caves, seaside all in one day! Yes, it’s a veeery small place, but a very beautiful one. Our capital Ljubljana is worth seeing as well! It’s this year’s European green capital and it’s an old ancient roman city. Worth seeing. And the foood! vanilla layered cake from Bled, pasta dishes and fish at the seaside, game at the vineyards… And on top of it all – there’s a direct flight from Munich to Ljubljana. 😉
Because, London is surely beautiful, but so big and impersonal… Ljubljana + Slovenia is soooo much cutter, beautiful, impressive. And not to mention safer. 😉 Anyways, coming here or not… now you at least know about my country. 🙂
I have so many tips for Europe and little Unique places to
Stay!!! I’ll tell you this week! In person! Yay!
When you say “Southern Germany”, I assume you mean Munich, which will be awesome! But, if you have time, a short trip to Salzburg, Austria (less than 2 hours from Munich by train) is a gorgeous town (Mozart’s birthplace, setting for Sound of Music, World Heritage site). If you go, be sure to get some “Mozartkugel”, a delicious bon-bon sold all over town. Also, you may want to save England for another trip…you’ve got plenty to see in central Europe!
I second the suggestions you received for Murren and the Jungfrau region. We honeymooned in Wengen (other side of the valley from Murren) and hiked the Jungfrau…incredible beauty!
I went to Switzerland with my husband a few years ago. We rode the train throughout the entire country. It was AMAZING. First suggestion, pack a backpack and only bring what you can carry. This is not the time for a roller bag. Second, have a loose itinerary so you can make last minute changes based on experiences you have while there. And, one restaurant recommendation, if you find yourself in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland go to Restaurant L’Arcade. It’s a quaint little restaurant that is overlooking a quay with warm fireplace giving the entire place a glow. The food is all served tapa style and is amazing. Seriously some of the best food we have ever had. So much so that we spent the last two nights of our Swiss tour dining here. The chef came out to our table the second night as he was told the American’s came back and he wanted to practice his English. Seriously an amazing place.
PS. As you mention loving walks I think you will really appreciate all the green space in London – there are so many amazing parks, gardens and fields – ALL OVER!
Fingers crossed you get nice enough weather (something that we can definitely *not* guarantee).
Everybody has hit some good suggestions for your European travels. I’m a Midwestern girl myself (Indiana) who married a Swiss guy and has been living here in Europe for over 10 years now. First four years in Switzerland, three years in Heidelberg, and now in Southern Germany, not far from Ulm. If you can and the weather permits, definitely try to go hiking. So beautiful in the mountains. One idea I had was eating at Schattenberg in Feldkirch, Austria. It’s an old restaurant in a small castle on a hill. They’re famous for their huge Schnitzel. Feldkirch is not far from the Swiss border. Neuschwanstein is probably the most famous thing to see. I’m about an hour from there. Very pretty area. I’m around if you need help. 🙂
I love this fall post so much! It really reflects a lot of my feelings on fall and I can’t wait to get the candles out and make my first batch of soup (maybe your tomatoe one!)
About Europe I can really recommend Munich and the region around it. I grew up there and only have the best memories! The city is beautiful with loads of old buildings, museums, parks and lovely cafes to sit outside in the fall sun. Two big lakes (Ammersee & Starnberger See) are really close and you can do some really nice walks around there. A bit of a tourist trap is Neuschwanstein Castle. It is beautiful to look AT but not really much on the inside. Better go to Schloss Linderhof or Hohenschwangau which have a lot more to offer in my opinion.
Anyway I hope this helped a little bit and have the most wonderful time on your trip!
Hello,
If you are looking for London tips, I’ve created a very robust ‘London Guide’ on my blog. I’ve been an American expat in London since January 2015 and the guide keeps expanding as I go to new places. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to reach out directly.
http://www.thesavvybostonian.com/london-guide/
-Jessica
Love this post! I needed some lunch meal plan inspiration – thank you!
So excited for you – your upcoming trip is going to be amazing!
How cool that you’re coming to Europe, and Germany specifically! When you say “Southern Germany”, that’s kind of a big area to cover though.. where exactly are you thinking? Bavaria, or closer to the French Border?
If you’re thinking Bavaria, of course, Munich is a must. It is SUCH a beautiful city, and on Sundays, the big art museums are only 1€, and they are stunning. Food-wise, of course you need to have beer there, and then I would recommend trying Leberkäse (get it in a simple bread roll, at pretty much any butchers shop) and some type of Knödel.
If you’re staying closer to the French/Swiss border, I would recommend going to visit Heidelberg and the beautiful castle there, as well as taking a drive through wine country (Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, etc.). Wine country is located in the state Rheinland-Pfalz, but both it and the neighboring state Baden Würrtemberg also have really beautiful forests for hiking or spending a night in a wellness hotel. Food-wise, you should definitely try Flammkuchen (you can also have it in the Elsass part of France, which is where it originates from, I think) and enjoy the white wines of the region. If you’re staying closer to Switzerland, then Konstanz and Lake Konstanz are beautiful to visit, with lots of lake walks and gorgeous little towns.
Wherever you’re going, I highly recommend bringing clothes that you can layer with, and some sort of sturdy rain jacket. Let me know if you have any questions about Germany, I’d love to share more with you about my lovely country 🙂
Illume candles. Omg. Every scent.
https://www.illumecandles.com/
Oh, I love Switzerland! My family used to go hiking in Zermatt during the summer when I was younger. Zermatt is the perfect Swiss town. No cars are allowed and you get there by train. I highly recommend staying at the Coeur d’Alpes visiting the Ricola (like the cough drops!) herb garden, and eating ooey-gooey fondue at the Ritti. It is a short hike to Ritti but just think of it as burning off all those cheese and bread calories that are in your future! And breakfast at the Coeur d’Alpes is perfection!
I have my own version of the capsule wardrobe….it’s called maternity wear. I miss having more options, I don’t know how you do it! I’ve resorted to different earrings and lipstick colors as I am wearing the same 5 outfits on rotation, lol! I have to read Bloom, it’s next on the list.
I’m a reader from southern Germany. You probably know about Neuschwanstein and Munich and the Chimsee are in Bvaraia is also wonderful, but here are a few tipps on where to go in the south west:
– Hohenzollern: A beautiful castle close to Tuebingen (one of the oldest Universtity towns).
– Triberg in the black forest: there is a beautiful living history museum and they still make Kuckuck’s clocks there, but it is pretty touristy.
If you come to swabia, you should try eating Kässpätzle and Zwiebelrostbraten and Maultaschen (the swabian ravioli) with potato salad.
Come to London! Make sure you get the citymapper app – it will make your life 100% easier. Also, don’t be scared to walk or bus around town – you miss so much on the tube and most central parts of the city are pretty close together. For food, definitely check out Borough market and eat all the free samples and delicious things there! Book a slot to visit the skygarden in the walkie talkie – it’s free and the veiw is just as good as the London Eye but you also have the option to drink cocktails!
Hi Sage!
Your parents should find a way to download maps online to use offline. Maybe you can show them. I never mastered this and found myself in quite a pickle a few times. The best I could do was take screenshots of maps while I had WiFi to use when I was offline, which was most of the time. This works but a good app would be worth its weight in gold. Also, an emergency rendezvous point in case of an emergency would help also, like when the train doors close and you are separated or, unfortunately the case of a terrorist attack and you are separated. We chose the closest McDonalds, because they are everywhere and they have WiFi. Just a thought. Our communication of choice was FB messaging, worked great! Also, buy about 100 euros before you go in case your ATM card doesn’t work at the airport and you need a cab/train/bus ride. ATM’s work great, usually, and have few fees. Let your banks know you are traveling. One more thing, make sure they eat lots of pastries, they are so different over there;) Pass on this advice Sage and I’m sure they will bring you back an extra special treat;P
Love the talk of cozy fall everything and the gorgeous photos of Sage’s dark chocolate eyes! I see you’ve pretty much exhausted the audio book possibilites, but have you heard of Hoopla? If your local library supports it, it’s better than OverDrive!
Your European trip is an almost identical itinerary to the one my husband and I took last summer! We loved the Black Forest region of Southern Germany. We rented a car and basically drove the entirety of it from south to north, stopping in villages and hiking. Heidelberg and Baden-Baden are lovely stops if you’re looking for a somewhat bigger city, but we loved the small country villages the best. The hikes throughout the region are breathtaking. In hindsight we do wish we had gone to Munich. Please eat spaetzle and wurst every day like we did! As for Switzerland, you can’t go wrong, the whole country is incredibly beautiful, but we especially loved a city called Interlaken. It’s on the edge of the Jungfrau region of the Alps and you can take trams and cable cars up into the mountain villages to hike. We didn’t have time, but I’ve heard good things about the villages called Grindelwald and Murren. The train infrastructure in Europe is amazing, but I highly recommend renting a car to give the most flexibility and to be able to see the countryside at your own pace. Happy planning!
Ya’ll are going to have SO much fun in Europe!! Two weeks is a wonderful length to explore a lot of different places. We did a 25-day trip and I was definitely missing home towards the end.
As far as recommendations, one of our favorite places on our trip was Heidelberg, Germany. It didn’t get destroyed in WWII so there is tons of beautiful history to explore.
Of the entire trip, we couldn’t stop gushing about the hostel we stayed in. The owner was incredible and the place is so fun! It was called Lotte – The Backpackers. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it.
So excited to hear about ya’lls trip later on!!
It sounds like London was only a possibility, but if you are in the UK…go to Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s the best city in the entire world, in my opinion. And this little place called Anteaques on South Clerk Street has the most amazing tea and scones that I still try to recreate back at home. LOVE!
Hey Lindsay, i really enjoy reading you blog for a long time now. Keep up the good work!
Funny thing, i am a native german and i live in southern Germany in Stuttgart and grew up in Freiburg which is located directly at the french an swiss border. So i know all of the countrys you will travel to very well. My current hometown Stuttgart is the provincial capital of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and about two ours apart from Munich. It’s a lot of fun reading all the comments people left here about Germany… :), especially when it comes to Bavaria. But i have to say it is a very beautiful region and the german Alpes are breathtaking! When you stay in southern Germany and you like Mountains, you should consider visiting the Zugspitze, the 2962m-Beauty is Germanys highest Mountain and the view is unbelievable. From there, Munich and Neuschwanstein aren’t far. The Castle really seems to be taken just out of a Disney-Movie and is very popular. So be prepared for some serious queuing. Early morning is probably the best time to visit. Munich offers a lot! Beautiful architecture and a bubbly culture. Maxvorstadt (quarter) and the Englischer Garten (park) are a Must! And yes some people are wearing bavarian Tracht (Dirndl and Lederhose) – it is very common in Bavaria especially on festive days and celebrations, but it is not the workaday wardrobe for everybody 😀 !! Traditional german cuisine can actually be rustic and heavy, you should definitely try Käsespätzle (german homemade noodles scolloped with aromatic cheese) and the bavarian Schweinsbraten (roast pork with potato dumpling). But you’ll also find everything what international cuisine has to offer, modern german cuisine is flavorful, light and uses consciously local products. Please make sure to try the different german wines and beers and different sort oft breads – Germany is famous for. Did you know that the german “Brot-Kultur” (bread culture) was priced UNESCO-cultural heritage? I would say most of the young people in Germany speak english and people are helpful and polite in general. Another tip, you should bring an adapter for european power outlets…
Oh gosh i could go on and on and on..there is so much to tell about Germany, Switzerland and France!! Please if you have any questions, i’m happy to help 🙂
Ooh! In London- if you guys are into history at all – actually even if you’re not. Go to the Winston Churchill museum. IT is so cool! THey recreated the entire bunker system he had underground during the war and you get to walk through and see where people worked and slept and hear audio from that time period. That was a hidden gem in my opinion and not really boasted to us from other tourists. And I second – the changing of the guard. Just the fact that they keep that up after all this time – gotta check it out. They shut that whole part of the city down for that every day. Unbelievable. Loved London!