Of course one of the first foodie posts has to be an ode to FALL. Above is my little pumpkin from last year.
Fall is my favorite time of the year. It used to be summer, but as I get older, I’ve learned to love the cooler temperatures, cozy leggings and scarves, and all of the yummy goodness that comes with this time of year. Although I will admit, I’m not a PSL fan. I know, I will probably lose some of you over that statement, but I just can’t get into the hype. Nevertheless, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite fall recipes. This side dish is a perfect accompaniment for your Thanksgiving feast, but can also be put together (yes, it’s more of an assembly meal than actual cooking, so any of you can do it) for a potluck or served alongside a grocery store rotisserie chicken for a scrumptious dinner.
This recipe is adopted from Julia’s Album, and linked above. I found it for Thanksgiving a few years ago and it has since become a staple every holiday. It’s a simple recipe and requires very little cooking knowledge or experience, but makes people think you spent time more than what it actually takes. The colors are beautiful and represent the hues of fall – red, green, orange, yellow, brown – I love it!
Photo cred: Julia’s Album
Personally, I am not a huge recipe follower, which is why I love to cook, and not bake. A little of this and that and you can’t go wrong. However, I follow this recipe fairly closely. The only minor adjustment I make (and maybe this will win back some of those PSL lovers) is the addition of BACON. Everything is better with bacon. For the brussels sprouts, sub out 1 TBSP of EVOO for 1 TBSP of the bacon drippings reserved from the cooked bacon. Then add the crumbled bacon at the end with the dried cranberries and walnuts. Yep, I prefer chopped walnuts over pecans, but you do you. Also, I do not add the extra syrup at the end as I find it makes it too sweet. Last thing, make your life easy and buy the pre-cubed butternut squash in the produce section at the grocery store. You can use the time you would have spent sawing a butternut squash drinking wine. You’re welcome! Enjoy!
This is my husband of 5 years, James. We’ve been together since 2005, so it doesn’t seem right that we’ve only been married for 5 of those years. Most of our closest peeps know that we got married in September 2013, only to find out I was pregnant in December 2013. That was a surprise! We didn’t get to enjoy our Mr. & Mrs. titles for very long before we became Mom & Dad. Fast forward to September 2014 (yes, we love September) when Baby Brooks was born. Two and half years later in April 2017, our Evie Marie made her worldly debut. All of that to say James and I have been busy, and have not had a real vacation, just the two of us, since our honeymoon. So when it came time to plan our 5 year anniversary trip, we went all out! Here’s a look at our trip to Gateway Canyons Resort, in Gateway Colorado.
The Palisade
See that giant red rock cliff behind us? That is better known as the Palisade. Located in Unawheep Canyon, Gateway is a small town just over an hour from the Grand Junction airport. It makes sense this resort was created by the same guy who started the Discovery Channel. The resort was remote, peaceful, and absolutely gorgeous, painted with the most serene views of these giant red rock canyons, including the Palisade. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Being the boy scout he never was (but totally could have been!) James navigated us on several hiking trails, winding in and around the canyons. Several times along the way we came across these rock stacks, evident there was someone there before us, and that was how they left their mark. On our final hike, we made our own rock stack on one of the highest points of our hike. You can see James’ art below. You could not beat the 360 views of this place. It was breathtaking.
Just Keep Breathing…
Yall, when I say this is the most TERRIFYING thing I have ever done in my life, I mean it. This resort offers a lot of adventurous activities, including horseback riding, rifle shooting, archery, mountain biking, hiking, and UTV tours. When I called to reserve our UTV tour, the lady described it as a “scenic and educational tour” through the canyons. Not once did she think to tell us we would be driving (well James would) a UTV up the sides of sheer cliffs to an elevation of 7000ft – the resort sits at 4500ft so we trekked about 2500ft in about an hour. The roads were narrow and windy and traction was difficult on the dry desert sand and rocks. Here comes the best part – James and I are both terrified of heights. Yep. Had that lady told us what we were actually going to be doing, I’m not sure I could have said yes.
Words cannot even begin to describe how sweaty I was, not from the 90 degree heat, but from sheer terror. I’m pretty sure I was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Thank GOD for my courageous hubs who drove that bad boy up the cliffs. He failed to say very many words on the way up, and I knew why once we reached the peak. He was beyond scared. Anyways, I think you get the point. It was scary. But really amazing once we got to the top and could see for 100 miles. I’m thrilled to have shared something so challenging (physically, mentally and emotionally) with my partner in crime and come out of it 1. alive, and 2. braver than when we started. Just when you think you cannot do something, because trust me, we both wanted SO BADLY to turn around once we saw where we were going, you surprise yourself. We had to dig deep, and just keep breathing, but we did it, and it was one for the record books.
That peak behind the pool is where we drove to.
Eats & Libations
It’s safe to say we both needed a stiff cocktail after that UTV adventure…It’s a good thing we chose an “adventurous” vacation destination. I’d like to think between the hiking, yoga, and little biking we did (on top of the sweat that I poured out during the UTV tour), we balanced out at least a third of our meals. Maybe? Hopefully. The food at the resort was phenomenal. I ate my weight in chips and salsa and guacamole. We also had yummy wraps and sandwiches, and the best chicken wings ever dusted in chili powder (we might try and recreate them!). For our fancy night out on our actual anniversary, I had halibut over artichoke puree and James tried wild boar ragout. Both delish! We ended that night with s’mores for dessert over a poolside fire pit, while listening to a “real cowboy” tell stories about his great grandparents and growing up on a ranch in the West. It was quite interesting.
Prickly pear margarita.
Final Thoughts
If you are ever near Grand Junction, or are looking for a peaceful vacation mixed with the outdoors, you have to visit Gateway Canyons. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this place. It was absolutely perfect, and I am so beyond happy to have spent the quality time with my main squeeze. Hope yall enjoy!
Let the good times roll! Let me start my first post by saying welcome and thank you for spending your time reading my blog. My blog. That still sounds weird. Anyways, my husband and I recently visited Gateway, Colorado (post to follow) for our 5 year wedding anniversary and it was on that trip where I cracked open Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. Let me first say that I’m not a huge reader so it’s really tough to keep my interest in books usually. Funny story – I also hate writing, but whatever. However, there was something about this book – maybe the chapter titled “I’ll Start Tomorrow” about starting with a small goal – that sparked the crazy idea “Hey, why don’t you start a blog?”. I started thinking, “How hard can it be?! There are so many people you know that have a successful blog – it will be WAY easier than a food truck!” (The food truck idea is something I always joke about quitting my job and starting, but that goal is more of a glorified dream.) Having said that, I’m going to be 100% honest, which is also how Rachel’s book reads and supplies inspiration to follow in her footsteps – I have NO idea what I am doing!
If you’re still reading this, bless you. So here are a few ideas of how I envision to use this platform:
I want to share snapshots of my life, and things that are important to me, and what I consider myself to be decent at.
I am going to share my love of cooking, both kid-friendly and not (because it’s not always about them!), party planning, home decor, juggling mom/wife life, and whatever else may run through my crazy mind.
Although having followers would be a huge honor, I am doing this for myself. I know that sounds selfish, but it’s a test to myself to see this through. Like I said, I’ve never done anything like this, nor do I really have any experience with how to do this, but at least I can say I tried. I love being creative and I am excited to have this avenue to share my life with yall.
Last thing – the name: Charlotte Cajun Queen. Check out my About CCQ page to read more about me!
charlottecajunqueen.com 