Caramel Banana Dip
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecan halves, chopped
1 medium banana, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12 ounce) jar of hot caramel ice cream topping
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Chop pecans and bananas. Combine ingredients (except pecans) in mixing bowl. Mix well. Pour mixture into small casserole dish. Sprinkle pecans over mixture. Bake 10-12 minutes until the top is bubbly. Serve with butter cookies or apple wedges.
Fall Activities for the Entire Family
Fall is a great time to enjoy activities that you may not have had the opportunity to enjoy during the summer because of the oppressive heat. Now would be a great time to plan a trip to enjoy the great outdoors. Camping, hiking, backpacking, and are just a few of the activities that would be more enjoyable during the crispness of autumn.
While it’s true that you can go camping during the summer, unless you are able to travel to the mountains where it’s always cooler, it may have been too hot to enjoy the trip. One of the benefits to camping in the fall over the summer is that bugs are less likely to be a problem. You’re also less likely to come across snakes as they will be searching for dens in which to hibernate this winter.
Autumn camping gives you the best of both worlds – warm days to enjoy hiking and traipsing around nature, but cool enough to truly enjoy cuddling up around a campfire. What is better than a crisp autumn evening, making around the campfire, and enjoying the aroma and sounds of the crackling fire? When the leaves start to change colors and the air turns cool, this is the perfect time to pitch a tent and enjoy a weekend of camping.
You can enjoy a hike in the woods during the summer months, but you won’t get quite so hot during the fall. In fact, one of the biggest reasons to wait until fall to go hiking is that you won’t have to fight with tons of other people as you travel along the trails. Not having to deal with as many people is a great reason to wait until later in the year to hit the trails. It would also be a perfect time to take someone on their first hike. They won’t have to worry about carrying quite as much in their backpack and the scenery will be a joy to behold.
Backpacking, which is really a combination of hiking and camping, is another activity that can be enjoyed during the fall. It’s a great way for you to take a day or two to get away from the daily grind, reconnect with nature, and refresh your spirit. Be sure to take along plenty of water, even though the weather won’t be as hot, you’ll still need to keep yourself well hydrated.
A recent activity that people are enjoying is geocaching. The best of hiking and backpacking, geocaching is a trip with a purpose – locating the cache that was hidden by another participant. This activity, however, requires that you have a GPS unit to find the cache, but requires you to be prepared to climb, hike, and hit the trails. You are allowed to remove items from the cache you find, but you are also required to leave something for the next person to find.
All of these activities can be enjoyed during the spring and summer months, but they can be just as enjoyable, if not more so, during the fall months. The weather is not going to be as hot, there will be less people to contend with, and the scenery will be beautiful.
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Fall Leaves - Nature’s Beautiful Gift
Can you feel the crispness in the air? Cooler weather causes the leaves to change throughout the country. It also encourages people to plan trips to enjoy nature’s beauty.
In many areas, you can find people who will set aside a day or even a whole weekend to drive around to see the beautiful colors that will splash across the landscape. Brilliant yellows and oranges contrast against the reds, browns, and evergreens in a cascade of opulence that can’t be equaled in the finest . Take a camera on your trip and share the beauty with those not fortunate enough to be able to go along.
Leaves change colors because of the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves. In the spring and summer, there is a lot of chlorophyll. In the fall, the chlorophyll moves into the rest of the tree. This movement, along with the amount of rain, sugar in the leaves, and the temperatures during the summer also help determine what color the leaves will turn.
The biggest determinant of what color the leaves will be is the type of tree. Birch, elm, ash, poplar, willow, and some maple tree leaves will turn yellow. Some oaks, some maples, sumac, and tupelo tree leaves will become red. Orange leaves may be found on some oaks and maples. Sugar maple, dogwood, sweet gum, and sourwood trees will produce either red or yellow leaves.
When planning your trip, whether for a day or a weekend, give yourself a little bit of leeway. Leaves won’t change on a specific date each year, so allow yourself a period of a week or so to take the trip.
New England is one of the most popular destinations for viewing the fall foliage.
If you live close to other areas of the country, you can enjoy the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in early October. The Rocky Mountains normally also have their peak viewing times around the beginning of October. If you live in Oregon, you can wait until early November to plan your trip. Are you in the South? Plan a trip through the Ozarks or take a trip to Alabama during October and November.
Check the weather reports in your area to find out when the peak viewing times will be or contact the USDA Forest Service. They should have information to tell you when the peak viewing times are in each state. With a little bit of planning, you will soon be enjoying all of nature’s colorful beauty.
And of course, if you can’t take a trip away from home, go to your local park: you may be suprprised of nature’s beauty right there, in your neck of the woods.
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