Fall is here and winter is rapidly approaching. The weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, so what’s a better way to deal with the changing of seasons than food?

When it comes to fall drinks, many people I know will gravitate towards coffee and pumpkin spice lattes. However, I can’t drink coffee, so instead of a pumpkin spice latte I add pumpkin spice to my chai tea. Now a lot of people think it would taste awful or too sweet but it is actually a great alternative to a pumpkin spice latte. The pumpkin spice and the spices in chai tea blend together to make the ultimate fall drink. 

Another fall drink that I know many people love is apple cider. Fun fact, my step grandparents have an apple orchard so they have what we call an “apple squeeze” every year and we make apple cider. Okay, maybe it would technically be considered apple juice, but hey, if you warm it up I’m pretty sure it counts as apple cider. A great thing to add to it is caramel syrup because it tastes like, wait for it, a caramel apple.

One fall food that is a staple for me is soup. Soup is just so warming and comforting and delicious. My two favorite soups to eat during the fall are 10 vegetable soup and tomato basil soup. The flavors of both soups remind me of fall and make me want to curl up with a blanket when I’m done.

Okay, this next food is more of a side dish, although recently I’ve been eating a large amount of them for lunch. It’s baked potatoes! You can do so much with a baked potato, you can put chili on them, you can have bacon and cheese and so much more. Maybe I just love carbs, who knows. But baked potatoes make a great snack, side dish or lunch.

One of my favorite comfort foods that honestly I eat year round is fried chicken. It’s not necessarily a “fall” food but it makes you feel at home and also it’s delicious. My grandma will make it with biscuits and gravy which makes it even better.

Time for the desserts! Also known as pumpkin and apple pie because what screams fall more than pumpkins and apples. Now, many people I know don’t like pumpkin pie. But that’s mainly because they buy it from the store. I make my own pumpkin pie and use one of my grandma’s recipes for the crust. Generally speaking, homemade is usually better than store bought unless whoever is making it can’t cook. For example, my granddad is great at a lot of things but that does not include cooking. My grandma probably makes the best apple pie ever, I swear I’m not biased. She makes her own crust from scratch and it’s never soggy or burnt. And she adds just enough sugar so it won’t be sour but not too much that it’s too sweet. 

Now, it wouldn’t be fair to include all of these fall foods and drinks without bringing up some wintery ones as well. 

Probably the best two winter drinks out there are eggnog and peppermint hot chocolate. Sure, eggnog can be really sweet and rich but it’s not like you’re supposed to drink a whole container of it. Eggnog has always been something that I’d drink in the winter if I wanted something colder, also known as not hot chocolate. Speaking of which, peppermint hot chocolate in the winter is superior to regular hot chocolate. It tastes like candy canes and Christmas. Peppermint and chocolate go incredibly well together and mix to make the ultimate winter drink.

My favorite food to eat during the winter is probably pot roast, mainly because that’s what my Christmas dinner at my grandma’s has always been. Once again, maybe I’m a little biased because it’s my grandma but she’s an amazing cook who makes a killer roast. She always makes it with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. Spoiler alert, I really like potatoes. 

One of the best winter desserts is berry pie. I guess I really like pie? I don’t know what it is, but berry pie and vanilla ice cream make one of the best desserts ever in my opinion. By then, a lot of the berries used in the pie aren’t as sweet anymore so the vanilla ice cream adds back that sweetness that you’d otherwise be missing.

Fall and winter have some of the best food, I mean, how could they not? Fall has Thanksgiving, winter has Christmas, it’s like it was designed that way. But the more important part is that these foods are intended to make you feel at home which I feel they do a great job of. So when you’re planning something with family or friends and can’t think of any ideas for food, maybe think of what makes you feel at home and go from there.