By: Kendall Schneider
One thing that all humans have in common is food. Everyone has to eat in order to survive, and almost everyone enjoys it. For thousands of years, food has been uniting people in a way that nothing else can. People have different opinions and beliefs; they are raised differently, and have different careers. People come together and are able to simply be together when sharing a meal. There are many occasions for sharing a meal, and a lot of them happen to be in fall.
Fall is a time of change in seasons, as well as change of senses. There are new sights like falling leaves and the first frost. There are new feelings like cozy sweaters and hot cups of coffee. Some of the most memorable are the change of scents and taste, and most of them come with the favorite foods of fall.
Several favorites of students at Eastern New Mexico University included mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and the most popular of all, pie. The pie is sweet and so are the memories that come with it.
“My favorite fall food is apple pie. My mom makes the best homemade apple pie!” said senior, Alyssa Garza. She explained that her mom has a very special and very secret recipe for the pie.
Leah Taylor, a graduate student at ENMU, shared a story about her favorite fall food, pumpkin pie. She said that she was very sick one year and had to stay in bed with a bad ear infection.
“Since I wasn’t able eat at the table my dad brought me a piece of pie with whipped cream on it and since he did that, it made that thanksgiving one of the best,” she said.
While pie itself is delicious, each student had memories with family attached to the delectable dessert, including sophomore, Heath Gossett.
“I love having big family gatherings for Thanksgiving, and eating all kinds of different pies,” he said.
Another student spoke about her love for New Mexican fall foods. Senior, Kiersti Bertolas went into detail about her special memories with her family and green chile. She explained that she and her mom would take road trips to the Hatch Chile Festival every year.
“I always remember mom and I eating chile on the car ride home. The car would flood with the smoky smell of roasted goodness and seeds would fall everywhere in the car. I remember my mom’s face every time she ate a super-hot chile when she was driving—talk about a distraction! By the time we got home, half the bag was gone and the rest were cleaned and saved for later” said Bertolas.
Bertolas also spoke about her love for homemade stuffing and baking desserts during the fall season. She was happy to share her recipe for pumpkin spice cookies (below).
After hearing from students about their favorite foods, from pie to green chile, it is apparent that fall food is important to people. Seasons change, but memories made around the table in the fall seem to last.
Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cookies:
- ½ Cup Butter (Sweet Cream Salted)
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
- 2 Cups Flour
- 4 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 2½ tsp. Cinnamon
- ½ tsp. Nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. Ginger
- 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (optional)
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ Cup Butter (Sweet Cream Salted)
- 8 oz. block of Cream Cheese
- 3 tsp. Vanilla
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
Instructions
Pumpkin Spice Cookies:
- In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs and canned pumpkin— mix well.
- Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and fold into cookie batter.
- Mix until well blended.
- Drop a spoonful of the cookie batter onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake in a 350-degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool.
- Frost with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a mixer until blended.
- Add powdered sugar a cup at a time and continue to mix until sugar is incorporated.
- Finally, add cinnamon.
