It Smells Like Fall

There's something about the autumn season...   it just has that smell, you know?  
There is a crispness when you walk outside, of course, those leaves meeting the coolness of the season. I just love the smell of the great outdoors in the fall...

But I'm talking about the smells inside the house today.  I took the summer-ish decorations down and packed them away, brought out the pumpkin spice candles, the silk mums for the front porch, the little pumpkins scattered here and there throughout each room... 

I just love these warm, welcoming, relaxing colors...

                                          

...and the food.  Mmm.  Fall has its own food.  I made Apple Crisp the other day.  I only make it in the fall.  I'll make Apple Pie all year 'round, but not the Crisp.  Hmm.  Pumpkin Bread.  I make that each fall, when the crispness hits the air.  Potato Soup.  Definitely in the fall.  Rice Pudding.  Homemade Chicken Soup...

We've been enjoying the delicious smell of chicken soup simmering since lunch-time today.  (Actually, I began this pot of soup yesterday afternoon, as that enabled me to chill it overnight and skim off all the coagulated fat before we ate it.)   Is there anything quite as comforting as a big bowl of homemade soup?  I can't think of anything at the moment.  Of course, I had to make drop dumplings to go with our soup.  When asked if we'd have dumplings tonight,  and I answered yes, we would, children's cheers were echoing throughout the entire house!  Funny thing though, I only make these dumplings with my chicken soup.  I'll make biscuits with stew.  Fresh bread goes so well with my Beef Vegetable Soup.  Cornbread with Chili.  But with Chicken Soup, it HAS to be these dumplings.

Every time I make my chicken soup and dumplings, I think of my in-laws.  This was my father-in-law's absolute favorite meal I made.  My mother-in-law raves about my soup, but my father-in-law could've eaten just the dumplings and been completely happy.  He loved the dumplings.  His mother made dumplings like these when he was a boy...  need I say more?  It truly warmed my heart to make him so happy, and by doing such a little thing as making dumplings with chicken soup.

So I'm thinking that the love of the dumplings must be in the blood - but, oddly enough, it skips a generation.  My hubby graciously leaves all the dumplings for the rest of us.  He does not like them - at. all.   

As we were settling in at the dinner table tonight, Crash said,  "Mommy?  I'll just eat those (pointing to the dumplings) and not that (pointing to the soup pot), okay?"  So sorry, Little Man.  He had a bowl of chicken soup, then asked for a second helping!  And he darn near ate his weight in dumplings tonight.  Liza was a close second...  and Mimi ate whatever was left.  Their Grandpa would have been so proud of them!