Hurry up, there is only about one week left.
It is the end of October and in some places people already encountered this years’ first snow. This made me wonder whether I had fully enjoyed autumn yet? Autumn is a great time of the year, if you don’t mind rainy and windy weather.
Autumn is the best time really to cuddle up with a cup of hot chocolate and your favorite book (when else will your excuse “The weather is so bad, I’ll stay in tonight” be so unresistingly accepted by your friends?).
Today I would like to share 5 must-have-done’s for this autumn season, which will hopefully have made you enjoy this time of the year even more. Just because clouds are hanging low, it doesn’t mean that your mood needs to be.
To me, if you haven’t experienced these moments, you might run a risk of not making the best of your autumn. So, grab those wellingtons and …
1. Jump into a puddle!
Ah, how I love the sound – splash! – and the endorphins performing their happiness magic to my brain when I jump into a puddle.
Surely, you want to be well equipped: have warm trousers or jeans, a warm anorak and the most important item would be good wellingtons.
Yellow color is recommended, but not mandatory.
2. Chocoloate chaud au gingembre aka hot chocolate
When I was living in Paris, I made an investment. I spent a large amount of money (in my student eyes it was indeed a large amount of money) on a French cooking book. It was one of the best investments I had ever made: Every time I open it, I feel myself thrown back to those miraculous Parisian days and reminded of what true haute cuisine means.
Here is one of my favorite recipes for a warming cup of hot chocolate with ginger.
Ingredients for 4 portions:
150 gr dark chocolate
75 cl milk
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or more if you like, depending on your preferences)
30 gr sugar
How to cook it:
1. Chop the chocolate into very small pieces.
2. Boil up the milk with the sugar and ginger inside.
3. Add the chocolate and stir until it dissolves. Enjoy hot!
3. Pumpkin soup – The classics
It must be the color and the taste – pumpkin soup is one of my autumn favorites. I’ve already encountered many variations: with cinnamon or with a shrimp. Every time it turns out just delicious!
Did you know that pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber? They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.
Find more interesting pumpkin facts on history.com.
4. Start and finish a good book
I hardly know anything I enjoy more than reading a book. Sought up in the pages of an adventure, a romantic novels or a non-fiction book is how I could spend an entire lifetime.
Reading fosters your imagination, reassures and centers you. You spent time with yourself and feel relaxed afterwards.
I have recently read these books and can recommend them to you:
By Gaslight (Steven Price) - A magnificent literary historical-suspense novel
Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar—Your Brain's Silent Killers (David Perlmutter) – Non-fiction about the funniness of sugar and gluten
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (Elena Ferrante) – The Neapolitan Novels follow the lives of two perceptive and intelligent girls
Alles kein Zufall (Elke Heidenreich), Elke Heidenreich is a German author, TV presenter and journalist.
5. Trees on fire
Sometimes when I look at trees in autumn I feel like someone must have photoshopped them: these vibrant colors stretch from yellow to wine red.
Nowadays when we take snapshots of so many things I recommend you to take a picture of these colored trees – it really does look like they are on fire!
But, hurry up. Soon they will put on their winter dress – which is no dress at all covered by a frosty layer of water crystals.
Thanks for stopping by and see you soon!
Photos all taken from unsplash.com