Walking outside this weekend meant feeling the cool fall air announce its arrival on the Hill. Fall in Bowling Green could mean trips to Jackson Orchard, hammocking in Centennial Mall or making some fall food with friends.

Here at the Herald, we’ve put together just a few of our favorite fall recipes for our fellow Hilltoppers to try out.

Brandie’s Potato Soup – Nick Fuller, Digital Director

Soup Ingredients:

• 8-10 cups of cubed potatoes (use whole 5lb bag)

• 8 cups of chicken stock (64 oz)

• 1 cup of diced carrots

• 1 cup of diced celery

• 2 cups of diced onions (yellow or purple)

Rue Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter or margarine

• 5 tablespoons of flour

• 2 cups/1 pint/ 16 ounces of heavy cream (not half & half)

Directions:

1. Peel and cut potatoes then boil until half done. (Do not over boil.)

2. Put broth, vegetables and potatoes in a pot and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Melt butter in a sauce pan and add flour as the butter melts. Stir well until a thick paste forms. Then add the heavy cream and mix well. Next, add the gravy/rue to the soup mix…after it has boiled for 20 minutes.

4. Let simmer after adding the rue until thickens, 20-30 minutes.

Total cook time around one hour.

Tomato Bisque Soup – Lily Burris, Assignment Editor

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons of butter

• 2 onions thinly sliced (or a little over ¾ container if you buy pre-chopped at the store)

• 3 teaspoons of garlic

• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped thin

• Two 26 ounce cans of stewed tomatoes

• ¼ teaspoon of basil

• 14 teaspoon of sugar

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 4 cans of chicken broth

• ½ teaspoon allspice

• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream (can use more)

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a large soup pot. Add onion, carrot, and garlic.

2. Cook over medium heat until vegetables have wilted.

3. Add tomatoes and their juice, basil, sugar, salt and pepper.

4. Cook for 5 minutes then add chicken broth and allspice.

5. Slowly bring to a boil.

6. Reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 50 minutes

7. Puree the soup using a hand blender or in batches using a traditional blender or food processor.

8. Return to and when it has cooled enough add cream.

Buffalo Chicken Dip – Laurel Deppen, Editor-in-Chief

(Good for football season!)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz block of cream cheese

• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup hot sauce

• 1/2 ranch

• 10 oz can of shredded chicken

Instructions:

1. Set the oven to 350. 

2. Mix all ingredients into a baking sheet. 

3. Bake for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Joy’s Banana Bread – Ellie Tolbert, Social Media Manager

(This recipe is from allrecipes.com, but it is my go-to when making banana bread. It’s perfect if you’re like me and always overestimate the number of bananas you can eat before they get too ripe. I don’t know who Joy is, but I love her banana bread!)

Ingredients: 

• 3 medium (7″ to 7-7/8″ long)s ripe bananas, mashed

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 egg

• ¼ cup melted butter

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• Cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

2. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and butter together in a bowl. Mix flour, cinnamon and baking soda together in a separate bowl; stir into banana mixture until batter is just mixed. Stir salt into batter. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Zucchini Sausage Casserole – Kelley Holland, Reporter

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pork sausage

• 4 medium zucchini

• 1 10.75 ounce can of condensed cream of chicken soup

• 1 8-ounce carton of sour cream

• 4 cups of chicken flavored stuffing mix

• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 3-quart baking dish; set aside. In a 12 inch skillet, cook sausage over medium heat, heat until brown. Drain off fat. Return sausage to skillet

2. Halve zucchini lengthwise; cut crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces. Add zucchini to sausage in skillet. In a small bowl, combine soup and sour cream; stir into sausage mixture. In a large bowl, combine stuffing mix and melted butter.

3. Spoon half of the stuffing mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread sausage mixture over stuffing in dish. Spoon remaining stuffing evenly over sausage mixture. Bake, covered for 30 minutes or until heated through.