An Autumn Luncheon

A few weeks ago I hosted an Autumn Luncheon for two friends. It was so much fun to put together! We gathered on a Friday and each day of that week I did a little something towards getting the luncheon together. That way there was no pressure come Friday morning - after schoolwork, I set the table, made up the parfaits and prepared the cider recipe.


Our menu included:

* Fruit & Granola Parfaits
* Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup
* Pumpkin Cornbread & Leaf-Shaped Butter Pats
* Spiced Jam Bars
* Hot Caramel Apple Cider


For favors, I filled vintage, heart-shaped Jello molds with Pumpkin Gingerbread Potpourri from a bag that I picked up at a recent craft show.


Here are the recipes for the Spiced Jam Bars & Hot Caramel Apple Cider:

* Spiced Jam Bars – Preheat oven to 350. Cream ¼ C. sugar, 6 tabl. softened butter, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 egg. Stir in 1 C. flour, ½ C. chopped walnuts, ½ C. quick oats, ½ tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. ground cloves. Spread half of mixture into an 8” or 9” pie plate. Spread ½ C. strawberry jam evenly over the top of the dough, then drop teaspoonfuls of remaining dough over the jam. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and cut into wedges.
* Hot Caramel Apple Cider – Press 12 whole cloves into the skin of an orange. In a large stockpot, over medium-high heat, bring 2 quarts of apple cider to boil. Add prepared orange and 3 cinnamon sticks. Reduce heat, and simmer on low for 1 hour. Stir in 1 C. heavy whipping cream and 1/8 C. caramel ice cream topping. Cook until just heated through and serve immediately.


The ladies blessed me with these sweet hostess gifts as well as a delicious loaf of just-baked whole wheat bread -