Today: A taste of fall.

If I had my way, we’d skip from summer to winter, mostly so that I’d have reason to decorate for Christmas in early September.  Since moving to our new place, though, I’ve had a chance to crunch through the fallen leaves with Clark each day and I am beginning to think that fall isn’t so bad after all.

While I am still counting down the days until I pull our twinkle lights, glittery wreaths and sparkling ornaments out of storage, I am passing the time by embracing a taste of fall.

Nespresso Spiced Apple Coffee

This festive fall drink is perfect for warming up family and friends.  And for keeping small children awake for six days.  Just kidding.  Don’t serve this to children.  And pretend I didn’t suggest that.

Ingredients:

• 1 capsule of Linizio Lungo Grand Cru (or Decaffeinato Lungo)
• 1 caffeine free cinnamon apple spice tea bag (the original recipe calls for apple and ginger tea, but this was what I had on hand — so delicious!)
• 2 teaspoons of maple syrup
•  3 tablespoons of milk froth
• A pinch of ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Place the herbal tea bag in a Cappuccino cup and prepare your Grand Cru directly over it
2. Allow the tea to infuse for 4 minutes, then remove the bag
3. Add the maple syrup to the coffee and set aside
4. Prepare the milk froth using the steam nozzle of your Nespresso machine or the Aeroccino milk frother
5. Place 3 tablespoons of frothed milk on top of the coffee and sprinkle with ground cinnamon

Recipe provided by Nespresso

Boots and tall socks

Finding normal-ish maternity clothing should be an Olympic sport.  I am not sure who decided that pregnant women want to look weird for nine or ten months, but I’d prefer to look like… myself.  I don’t like wearing wool, which eliminates 98.4% of all cozy, fall sweaters on the maternity market.  Fortunately, my tall socks and boots still fit (knock on wood, but the feet swelling thing hasn’t happened yet).  So there’s that.

Seasonal scents

Fearing it might be too soon to break out the Christmas Yankee Candles (they are like a gateway drug for overzealous holiday decorators like myself… light one candle and the next thing you know, you’ve chopped down your neighbor’s decorative fir tree and have hauled up to your condo to adorn with lights and garland), I borrowed this idea from BuzzFeed’s list of holiday party hacks.  Citrus, rosemary and vanilla seems to strike a balance between fall and winter.

All things apple

Apple crisp (easily made gluten free with the use of these oats), apples with nut butter, the limited edition apple cider Chapstick I hoarded from Target last year… I can’t get enough apple.

This post was just a ploy to distract you all while I download a few new Christmas jams and start tacking up the Advent calendar.

Also On Tap for Today:

• 8 “light and lovely” soups from The Kitchn
• Bundling up… brrrr
• Love this post and infographic from Savvy Eats: How to Create the Perfect Thanksgiving Menu

Fall or winter? (And you can’t say summer, that’s cheating.)