This post was printed last year as part of my 31 day challenge to bless our homes. Since fall is just around the corner, I wanted to share something wonderful to get you all in the mood! I am making these tonight, and it smells unbelievably wonderful in my house!

31 Days to Bless Your Home: Easy Tips for the Domestically Challenged

Week 1- The Sensual Home: Learning to Appeal to All Five Senses to Create Beauty in Your Home

Day 5 – There’s Nothing Like Mama’s Home Cooking!

“When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.” John 21:9 NLT

My Yummy White Bean Chili.  Awesome on a cool fall evening!

 

Gotta have some home-made cornbread to go with it!

This week’s challenge: Choose one new idea from each of the five senses to enhance the atmosphere of your home.

Today’s challenge: Try a new recipe.

Is there anything that makes a house feel like home more than great food?

I have been blessed with the most awesome mother-in-law!  I am so happy to have married my husband’s entire family!  However, I used to be so intimidated by her.  She is known near and far as one of the best cooks around.  How could I ever compete with that?  Whenever we would have pot luck dinners, no matter how hard I worked on my special dish, it always seemed inferior to hers.  What was her secret?

I have had some talks with her that has helped me gain some confidence.  For one, she said that she made 50 lemon meringue pies and threw each one away before she finally got it right.  In other words, she said you just have to keep trying until you feel confident.  The point is to try!  She said to sample recipes online and in books and magazines, and keep practicing them until you feel good about it.  Don’t quit when it doesn’t turn out, because it probably won’t the first time anyway.  Try it again!

We also talked about entertaining.  I am the kind who sweats and frets until everything in my house is neat as a pin, but then I’m exhausted.  She said instead, relax and put food as the first priority when preparing for company.  She said the meal and the time spent with friends and family is so much more important than the tiny little details in your house that no one notices anyway.  That is a hard one for me, because I am a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning my house.

However, I noticed that she is the most wonderful hostess. People love coming to her house!  She must be doing something right!  When people leave her home, they are talking about the amazing food she served and the good time they had visiting with her.  She spends time laughing and talking with her guests rather than hiding out in the kitchen or cleaning up after everyone.  I think she has her priorities in the right place!

What about you?  When you think of home, what are some of the feelings and memories that come to your mind first?  Often, it is centered around great food.  Just the taste or smell of a favorite dish can send a rush of sweet memories and feelings of home.  My goal is to create that same feeling for my family.

I urge you to try new recipes often, and keep track of your family’s favorites to bring back again often.  Keep practicing until you feel confident about it.  You can do it!

Today, I want to share two of my favorite fall dishes with you.  I am making these for my family today! – White Bean Chili and Pumpkin Pie Cake

White Bean Chili (Adapted from Paula Deen’s Recipe)      

I love to crumble the cornbread on top.  It’s so good!

Wash beans, cover with water, and soak overnight.  Drain.  Place beans in large pot with chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium, and keep it at a low boil.  Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter and sauté’ onion, garlic, and chilies for about 5 minutes.  Add mixture to the beans.  Add chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, and cilantro.  Cook on medium for several hours, roughly three to three and a half, until beans are soft.  Add more chicken stock as needed.

Serve with cornbread.  YUM!!!

Pumpkin Pie Cake (Recipe from a family friend)

This is unbelievably good!  It tastes just like fall!

Have a slice!