Absolutely Beautiful and Delicious (there's a recipe too!)

I can hardly bear Fall this year - it is so incredibly colorful, vibrant and glorious that I am near to bursting with joy and have been like this for several weeks.  The foliage is at Peak right now in my area of New Hampshire for the most part and you know that when you are at your peak you cannot go higher - you've peaked!  And I keep saying to the many trees I pass or visit - "you could not be any more beautiful - well done!"  Dan and I just keep driving around to take it all in.  Every errand is bliss.  We took a day trip to Vermont where it was peaking almost 2 weeks ago, Dan took two of his kids up to the Lake Winnipesaukee area last week to see that fall show and this Friday we will head to northwestern Connecticut to see the peaking there.  I can't wait!  Cemeteries are especially gorgeous when the neon trees turn the gray stone to pink, yellow and orange.

 Over at the Yellow House - our trees peeking over the neighbor's house.

 Rye Cemetery

 Down the street from our house.

 New Castle Cemetery

 Even the family room AKA the "smoking room" (there's a story there, another time, from another era) is wearing fall.  And below, look at the October Glory Maple we planted in our yard this summer - she's doing her fall thing!

And Vermont below:

 The two pics above and two below I took from the top of the Bennington Monument

I said good bye to all the dahlias in my yard with one big cutting and then after a couple frosts (early this year), I dug them all up yesterday to prepare for winter storage.

 Dahlia tubers below.  Such an ugly tuber producing such beauty is amazing.

 You can't really tell here but my neighbor's red tree turned their tan garage a fabulous purpley/mauve in the glow of sunlight.
Look at this aster below - so cute - she's called Lady in Black.  Purple and white with a little black ring in the center.  Thousands of tiny blossoms still going strong in the border.

We canned a lot of apple sauce, apple lemon preserves, and apple pie filling from all the apples from the Yellow House yard and the Rye yard.

Down in the 'Larder" they go.

 I won a chili contest at a church event last Saturday out of over twenty entries - bippity!  Chili is such a fall dish isn't it?

 I've been wearing this lotion a lot lately - so delicious smelling I want to eat it!

And this one too every other day!

 And this candle from dw Home is absolutely sumptuous!  Our house smells fantastic!

And!  Today I was driving home from errands and leaf peeping and I heard from the radio announcer that it was National Chocolate Day (how could I forget!?) and that we should eat as much chocolate as we can and not feel badly.  So I remembered I had some chocolate in my purse in my "just in case" plastic bag and ate some and then tonight I made these cookies.  Dan is a chocolate chip cookie monster; I adore brownies and recently I found this recently on a blog, a blend of both,  so here is the "Brookie".   Instead of typing out the recipe I will send you to the blog link Baker by Nature.  They are really good - make these soon and eat chocolate before the day is done!

 Raw doughs pressed together and below ready to eat!