News of the Week: Fall Foliage, the Pillsbury Bake-Off, and You’re Gonna Make It After All

Brown and Gold and Red and Sometimes Green

Lots of news this week. First, the rapture that was predicted didn’t happen, and Hamburger Helper is making a comeback. When you have a week like that, you know it’s a good week.

Also: the first day of fall! Goodbye, summer. Hello to the best months of the year.

The fall means fall foliage, when the leaves change color due to some process I should probably remember from middle school science. If you’re a foliage aficionado, here’s a map that keeps you up-to-date on the colors around the country. (New Englanders might want to hurry because the bright colors might be fading fast.) And if you’re more interested in what’s happening in the sky this autumn — the moon, the planets, the meteor showers and all that — The Washington Post has you covered.

The Pillsbury Bake-Off

If I made a list of the “things that would probably be really cool to do but I’m probably never going to do them,” entering the Pillsbury Bake-Off would be on that list.

The classic baking contest is back. Even though it started in 1949, this year’s contest is only the 53rd. There were several years when it stopped being an annual contest and some years where it wasn’t held at all. (It looks like it’s an annual contest once again.)

You have until October 6 to enter your quick and easy recipes (under 20 minutes prep time and 8 ingredients or less — you have to include Pillsbury products!). This year’s contest seems to have a football theme. In January, fans get to vote for the winners, and the four finalists will battle for $50,000.

Last year’s winner? These Mini Beef Wellingtons with Smoked Gouda Dipping Sauce.

This Woman Has Kept a Diary Every Day for 90 Years

And I have a hard time writing something in mine once a week.

Uploaded to YouTube by Land of 10,000 Stories: The Complete Collection

Quote of the Week

“Don’t you love New York in the fall? Makes me want to buy school supplies.”

    -Tom Hanks, You’ve Got Mail, written by Nora and Delia Ephron

RIP Claudia Cardinale, Sonny Curtis, John Masius, Bernie Parent, John Luckadoo, and Elaine Merk Binder

Claudia Cardinale starred in such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, 8 1/2, The Pink Panther, The Leopard, Big Deal on Madonna Street, and The Professionals. She died Tuesday at the age of 87.

Sonny Curtis played with Buddy Holly and the Crickets and took over the band after Holly died. He wrote such songs as “I Fought the Law” and “More Than I Can Say.” You know him as the writer and singer of a classic TV theme song. He died last week at the age of 88.

Uploaded to YouTube by Channel7

John Masius produced and wrote for such shows as St. Elsewhere, Providence, L.A. Law, Hawthorne, The White Shadow, and many others. He died Saturday at the age of 75.

Bernie Parent was a Hall of Fame goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers who won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the mid ’70s. He died last weekend at the age of 80.

John Luckadoo was the last surviving member of the Bloody 100th bomber group that flew 25 missions during World War II. He died earlier this month at the age of 103.

Elaine Merk Binder was one of the last surviving Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz. She died recently at the age of 94.

This Week in History

West Side Story Opens (September 26, 1957)

Here’s a behind-the-scenes account on how the Broadway masterpiece was created.

First Televised Presidential Debate (September 26, 1960)

If you listened to it on the radio, you thought Vice President Richard Nixon won. If you watched it on TV, you thought John F. Kennedy won (Nixon refused to wear make-up and also had just been in the hospital).

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Maxwell House Coffee (September 26, 1953)

This was the only coffee my mother drank, because it was (and is) “good to the last drop.”

Monday Is National Coffee Day

Foxes Love Lemons has a recipe for Caramel Coffee, and Simmer and Sage has one for an Easy Vanilla Latte. I know a lot of you drink iced coffee all year-round, even if it’s 4 degrees outside, so you might like The Pioneer Woman’s Perfect Iced Coffee recipe.

Perchance to Cook has a recipe for Coffee and Cocoa Powder Chili, while Bon Appétit has a Grilled Green Salad with Coffee Vinaigrette.

That’s right, Coffee Vinaigrette.

“Coffee” and “chicken” aren’t two things you would expect to see in the same recipe, but FoodiePrints.com has a recipe for Coffee-Cured Chicken that sounds pretty good!

For dessert, Bake Cook Repeat has a Coffee Banana Bread, Taste of Home has a Coffee Cheesecake, and Pillsbury has Fudgy Mocha Cookies, which were entered in the 1998 Bake-Off.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Ask a Stupid Question Day (September 30)

As the saying goes, “there are no stupid questions” (and I would add, “only stupid people who ask those questions”).

Yom Kippur (October 1)

It’s the holiest day in Judaism.

Name Your Car Day (October 2)

Why would you do that? “Day” seems like a weird name for a car.