Autumn is the harvest time for crops of all sorts and of Holidays of all kinds for enjoying the bountiful harvest. The recipes below are simple and feature prime ingredients from the fall harvest. Added enjoyment can be had if you grew the ingredients yourself! If not, check your local farmer's markets that are open on weekends along the streets of small and large towns throughout much of the autumn season in North America.

SOME AUTUMN & WINTER HOLIDAYS

• Labor Day
• Autumn Solstice - Sept. 22
• Native American Harvest Moon Festival - Native Thanksgiving (12,000+ years old)
• Rosh Hashana
• Columbus Day - celebrate with Native American, American, and Italian Foods
• Yom Kippur
• Native American's Day and Indigenous People's Day- Oct. 13
• Chinese Harvest Moon Festival
• Native American Hunter's Moon Festival
• Canadian Thanksgiving
• United Nations Day - Oct. 24 - Foods form everywhere.
• Halloween - Oct. 31
• US Election Day! - Red, white, and blue foods <or> Scary black-icing cakes if the wrong candidates win.
• Veterans Day
• Native American Beaver Moon Celebration
• US Thanksgiving
• Wright Brothers Day - Dec. 17th
• Kwanzaa
• Winter Solstice
• Christmas Eve/Christmas
• New Years Eve/New Years Day 

Serves 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS 

• 5 Pounds of Michigan white or any good-quality red potatoes
• 1/2 Pound bacon, cut up
• 3/4 Cup chopped onion
• 1/2 Cup vinegar (white or cider - I like cider)
• 2 Cups spring water
• 3/4 Cup sugar or honey (adjust to taste)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Few sprinkles of pepper
• 6 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley 

PREPARATION

• Boil potatoes in water until tender. Then drain and when cool enough to handle them, peel them and give them a coarse dice. Then place the pieces into a large pan.
• Cook the cut up bacon in a large skillet until lightly browned.
• Use a slotted spoon and carefully transfer the cooked bacon to paper towels for draining, but do keep the drippings! Combine the drained bacon and the onion with the potatoes in the pan.
• In a small pan, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper. Mix and bring the mixture to the boil. Then turn off the heat and remove the pot and set it aside on a heat-resistance surface.
• Heat the bacon drippings in the skillet again and then add flour and mix it all well. Then add the hot vinegar mixture to skillet and boil until thick, always stirring.
• Pour the larger vinegar mixture from the skillet over the potato mixture in the pan. Blend all together well and heating it over low heat for a 5 minutes.
• Serve in a nice serving dish and garnish with the chopped parsley.

• Provides 3 - 3.5 cups of dip for a meal or party.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup canned or cooked pumpkin

• 1 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple (drain the juice and drink it)

• 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese (more if the recipe turns out too moist)

• 2 Cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• 1 Hanging Peg Pak (2.5 or 3 ounces) of dried beef, torn to small pieces

• 1 Tablespoon chopped Spanish onion

• Parsley for garnish

• Crusty bread, crackers, and raw vegetables for dipping

PREPARATION

• In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, pumpkin, and pineapple together.

• Stir in the shredded cheddar, the beef, and the onion.

• Place into a serving dish or form the dip into a ball and score the sides with a knife to imitate a pumpkin. Add parsley for a stem.

• Serve with the bread, crackers, and vegetables and enjoy.

Serves 6 or 8

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PIE

• 1 Single pie crust
• 2 Cups cranberries, chopped coarse
• 1 Cup sugar
• 2 Egg whites (use yolks in another recipe)
• 1 Tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup whipping cream

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GLAZE TOPPING

• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 Cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/3 Cup spring water

PREPARATION

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
• Place pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and bake for 10 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.
• Combine the cranberries and sugar, mix and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Combine egg whites, orange juice, vanilla, salt, and whipping cream in a mixing bowl. And beat on low speed setting – or by hand - until frothy. Then beat on high setting until stiff peaks form.
• Next, fold in the cranberry mixture carefully and do not overwork. Pour it into the pie crust and place in freezer until firm.
• When ready to Serve: Combine sugar and cornstarch in a pan. Mix and add the ½ C cranberries and water. Then cook and stir until it gets thick and bubbly. Set off the burner to cool. When cool, spoon the glaze over the pie and serve immediately. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

Do not let this pie set out at room temperature long before serving, because it will wilt and also because raw egg whites can cause illness through possible salmonella outbreak. Put leftovers back in the refrigerator and use them within a day.

INGREDIENTS

• For Soup:

• 1 Chicken cut in half

• 3 Quarts spring water

• 1 Small onion, chopped

• 1 Bay leaf

• 2 Parsley sprigs

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 6 Ears fresh corn, kernels scraped from the cob ( or use a 20-oz. bag frozen corn plus 1 can of creamed corn)

• For Tiny Dumplings:

• 2 Eggs, beaten

• 2 Cups all purpose flour

• Pinch of salt

• 4 Bard-boiled eggs, sliced

• 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

PREPARATION

• Rinse the chicken and put it into a large soup pot.

• Add the water, onion, bay leaf, parsley and some salt and pepper. Bring it to the boil and then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer 60 minutes.

• Remove the chicken from the pot, keeping the stock in the same pan. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat of the chicken from the skin and bones (discard these last two).

• Chop the chicken meat coarsely – not too small.

• Skim the fat from the broth and discard it.

• For the Dumplings: Mix eggs & flour with salt. Stir until the mixture look like large grains. Rub this mixture through your fingers over the soup pot, so small lumps of dough fall into the broth.

• Stir carefully and simmer 10 minutes until the dumplings are tender.

• Re-season the soup with salt and pepper, add the corn and chicken and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

• Serve with parsley garnish.