Tasty Fall Treats

I love this idea for a fun fall taste treat - perfect for a pumpkin picking picnic, a cute little dessert or something more unique for your trick or treaters. I think the little guys in your lives are going to love these, especially with the sugar, sugar, sugar!

Sweet Acorns

Pick up your favorite glazed donut holes - mine are the honey glazed holes from Donut Delight. Dip the top portion of donut into nutella, roll in chocolate jimmies, then break off a small section of a pretzel stick and add to the top as a stem, voila! Adorable, delicious, chocolate acorns. 

Yum!

The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze

There are still tickets left for this special Halloween event - see more than 5,000 individually hand carved, illuminated jack o'lanterns while walking the riverside landscape of Van Cortlandt Manor. Tens of thousands of visitors experience this sold out event every year - don't miss out! We're very excited to have our first tickets to this years Blaze, we plan on hitting up The Ocean House Oyster Bar for some delicious seafood before we scope out these awesome pumpkins.

Van Cortlandt Manor
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Adults $16, Children 3-7 $12
Advance tickets required, times very by evening
www.hudsonvalley.org/store
*very limited tickets remain!

Ocean House Oyster Bar & Grill
49 N Riverside Ave, Croton-On-Hudson
oceanhouseoysterbar.com

Half Price Wednesdays

Having that mid week slump and don't feel like cooking? Head to China White in Greenwich for 1/2 Off Wednesdays - 50% off your entire bill, every Wednesday, for the month of October! I've yet to dine at China White but this will certainly bring me in, I enjoyed their delicious lo mein at the Food + Wine Festival and I look forward to trying their spring rolls, pan fried dumplings, sesame chicken with baby choy or wok lobster! The perfect opportunity to come in and test a bunch of items!

Can't be combined with any other offer and only valid for in house dining.

249 Railroad Ave, Greenwich
203.422.5232
chinawhiteusa.com

Traveling Tacos

My friend EHA has long spoken about the famous taco in a bag but I'd yet to see them come to life until I stumbled across this post online. This is a fall football must! EHA is definitely on to something and I'm so excited to try these for our friends on a lazy lounging Sunday. No muss, no fuss - easy to clean, easy to eat and what's more fun than dining out of a Fritos bag??

Genius right? Fill little bowls with taco meat and all your favorite toppings, hand out bags of Fritos and forks, everyone picks their favorite fillers, shake and enjoy! 

Pick Your Own

Thanks to Suzy Said for a list of fun places around CT to pick apples and pumpkins this weekend! We're head to Jones Family Farms for pumpkins and wine tasting! Here are a few of Suzy and FFC411s other favorites. Take advantage of the long weekend and dive into Fall!

Jones Family Farms
Shelton, CT
www.jonesfamilyfarms.com

Averill Farm
250 Calhoun Street
Washington
860-868-2777
www.averillfarm.com

Daily apple picking, hayrides, pizza made fresh on site for lunch. Sound good? If that isn’t enough, they have alpacas making a comeback in October. Come pick some apples, grab a pumpkin and check out these funny little creatures on Sundays!

Blue Jay Orchards
125 Plumtrees Road
Bethel
203-748-0119
www.bluejayorchardsct.com
Open 9AM to 6PM

Boasting 17 different varieties of apples to choose from, this place is apple heaven. But check their web site for picking availability. The unusually warm winter and spring set off budding early and gave a low yield this year. Wagon rides start Saturday, September 15th and run from 10AM to 5PM 

Bishop’s Orchards
1355 Boston Post Road
Guilford
203-453-2338
www.bishopsorchards.com 

With 110 acres of orchards, the apple picking is available from mid-August to late October. You can also pick pears and raspberries from 10AM to 5PM The farm also is home to a vineyard on the Connecticut Wine Trail.

Horse Listeners Orchard
317 Bebbington Road
Ashford
860-429-5336
www.horselistenersorchard.com

Pony and tractor rides, a hay bale maze, baking demonstrations, hot cider and donuts—this place has it all. Over 25 different apple varieties provide plenty of chance to pick some nice and juicy ones. They can even ship apple gift boxes to loved ones who live far away.

Lyman Orchards
Junction of Routes 147 & 157
Middlefield
860-349-1793
www.lymanorchards.com

Who needs apple picking when they’ve got a Yankees vs. Red Sox corn maze? Or stop off at their market and pick up one of their famous pies. Is dad hoping to practice his backswing? Great, they’ve got an 18-hole golf course. If you like, you can even shop on their web site. But if you’ve got your heart set on picking, they’ve got over 20 different varieties to choose from. 

My neighbors are giving me pumpkin envy!

Greenwich Food+Wine Festival

We're very excited that the Greenwich Food and Wine Festival is almost here! We'll be going to the Food+Wine Grand Tasting on Friday night - Featured Chefs will be cooking dinner for the event, there will be wine from participating elite wineries and of course performance by the Ian Murray Band and Big Head Todd & the Monsters. I can't wait to meet a few of my favorite celebrity chefs - Ted Allen and Graham Elliot. This will be an awesome event and I encourage everyone to get their tickets before they are sold out, hope to see you there!

We are also looking forward to the Food+Wine Festival on Saturday. The culinary village will be open from 12pm-5pm featuring more than 90 exclusive food, wine and spirit vendors as well as tastings, demonstrations and book signings. Starting in the afternoon will be a beer garden(12pm-10pm), BBQ pit masters (3pm-8pm), a burger battle with celebrity judges (5pm), and starting at 5:30 there will be live music from Will Hoge, The Felice Brothers and Gregg Allman. Be sure to get there in time to sample all the amazing vendors and then enjoy a great evening of food and live music!

Don't miss out - purchase your tickets soon! 100% of the net proceeds support The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.
http://greenwichfoodandwine.com/tickets.html