Decorating for Fall

I love fall. It’s my favorite season! The weather here in Indiana turned to fall about 2 weeks ago, and then it warmed right back up again last week. (Dani came to visit from New Hampshire, and thought it was still summer here!) This morning, it was pretty cool, and I’m hoping it stays that way for the rest of the season! (It gives this 9-month pregnant lady a nice break from the heat!)

Last year, my fall decorations were all about the mums. This year, we had a phenomenal year for pumpkins in our garden, so it’s all about the pumpkins!

Fall Decorations

It should be no secret by now… Fall is my favorite season! I love when I can pull out those big sweaters, and hats, and scarves! I love scarves!

I also love the colors of fall. Last year we were getting packed up and moved out of our old house to make way for the remodel project. So I really didn’t decorate for fall like I wanted to.

I’m making up for that this year!

I brought home a truck full of mums and pumpkins over the weekend!

Pumpkin-Sausage Penne, recipe #6

Is it Saturday already? How the heck did that happen?!?

With no further ado, here is the post I had planned to have up last Tuesday!

Recipe number 6 from Autumn with Family & Friends from Gooseberry Patch!
This is another one I cooked for girls night. We do love our carbs!!

First, I browned up a pound of pork sausage. This was supposed to be maple-flavored sausage, but I didn’t have any. So I cooked the sausage in real maple syrup. It worked – the sausage had a great maple flavor when it was done!
Once that was done, I put it in a bowl and set it aside. I used the same pan to make the sauce…
8 ounce package of cream cheese, cut into cubes; 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1/2 cup butter, cut; and 1/2 cup milk.
(The girls said, “anything is great with cream cheese and butter!”)

Once the cream cheese was melted, and the sauce was creamy, I added the spices…
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and some nutmeg.
Stir that all up, and then add 1 cup of canned pumpkin. Be a little patient here – it takes some stirring and some time, but I promise, this will turn a beautiful gold color, and have a fantastic creamy texture!Then add the sausage back to the sauce and stir it all up, and add a 16 ounce package of cooked penne pasta.Toss to coat.
And that’s it! No need for oven baking for this dish!

I used whole-wheat pasta for this, and the brown color of the pasta really did not complement the beautiful gold of the sauce. I think next time, I will stick to good old regular white pasta.

It is entirely likely that I made a double batch of Garlic Bubble Bread to serve to four people with this dish. And I didn’t have many leftovers!

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and to share with you. If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Printable recipe card:

This post is linked to:

{Affiliate links were used in this post.}