FEEL LIKE COOKING?

What is it about fall and food? 

Every fall, I get this wonderful urge to make piles and piles of food - food that asscociates to certain seasons.  Seriously - you don't feel that way?

I guess its my Mom's fault then.  The end of summer and beginning of fall in our home growing up was a constant excercise in "Putting down food"!  She canned and froze produce from the garden in large quantities... Cases and cases of BC peaches and Pears dissapeared in to quart sealers.  She even canned chicken  for casserols.  She baked and froze bread, cookies, pies, and in late October early November when the weather was really crisp and cool, my parents spent a weekend out at my unlce's farm butchering, and processing a whole beef, sometimes a pig and about 30 chickens.  When they got home they would wrap and label all the meat - and then it was sasauge making time. 

Nothing was wasted - Mom even rendered the fat for making laundry soap, and the crunchie bits from that (suet) was saved to feed the wild birds outside in the winter.

Just thinking about it makes me feel warm inside.  I guess in a way it was a comfort to us all, and especially to her, knowing she had food to provide for her family.

I don't really want to "Put down food" to the extent she did - but I do want to in my own way.  So last weekend I started by making 7 dozen cabbage rolls.  Those will last us until just before Christmas - when I will make another fresh batch.  Next I will make cabbage buns... Mom always made these for my dad to take with on his hunting trips.  All they are is fried cabbage, hamburger and onion with some flavouring of salt and pepper - wrapped with white bread dough and baked.  My family love them - and they make a filling meal with a bowl of soup on a chilly fall night.

I might make a few batches of cinnamon buns, some loaves and such - but that will be the extent of my "Putting down of food".  Pretty sketchy compared to my Mom's efforts - but completely suitable for mine!

Okay - now I'm hungry... gotta see if I can find some food...