Six for the pot and six for the sweet tooth. These are some recipes that show up once the nights cool, the apples are in, and the sweet potatoes and cabbage are still coming out of the ground. Make one and eat it outside while the light is still up.

Savory

Soup Beans and Cornbread

Ingredients
1 pound dried pinto beans
1 ham hock or a piece of salt pork
1 onion, chopped
Water to cover
Salt and black pepper
Cornbread for serving
Optional chopped raw onion and chow-chow or vinegar

Directions
Soak the beans overnight and drain them. Put them in a pot with the ham hock or salt pork and the onion. Cover with water by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until the beans are soft and the broth is thick, about 2 to 3 hours. Add water if it gets too low. Salt and pepper at the end. Serve with hot cornbread. This is the meal that stretches.

Fried Apples

Ingredients
4 to 6 firm apples, sliced
2 tablespoons bacon grease or butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Directions
Heat the fat in a cast-iron skillet. Add the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cover and cook on medium-low until the apples soften and the juices turn to syrup, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir now and then so they don't scorch. Eat them beside pork chops, sausage, or cornbread.

Cabbage and Potatoes

Ingredients
1 head cabbage, cut in wedges
4 potatoes, chunked
1 onion, sliced
1 ham bone or 4 slices bacon
Water or broth to cover
Salt and black pepper
Splash of apple cider vinegar

Directions
If you're using bacon, cook it first and leave the fat in the pot. Add the onion, cabbage, potatoes, and ham bone if you have one. Cover with water or broth. Simmer until the cabbage is tender and the potatoes are starting to break down, about 30 to 40 minutes. Salt, pepper, and a splash of vinegar at the end.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Skillet

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
2 links sage sausage, or about half a pound
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter if needed
Pinch of brown sugar if the potatoes need it
Salt and black pepper

Directions
Cook the sausage in a skillet until browned. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the sweet potatoes and a little butter if the pan is dry. Cover and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir so they don't stick. A pinch of brown sugar at the end if they aren't sweet enough on their own. Works for breakfast or supper.

Leather Britches (Shuck Beans)

Ingredients
About 4 ounces dried green beans in the pod (or a pound of fresh green beans)
1 piece of salt pork or a ham hock
1 onion, chopped
Water to cover
Salt and black pepper

Directions
Soak the dried beans overnight and drain them. Put them in a pot with the pork and onion. Cover with water. Simmer low until tender. Dried ones take longer than fresh, often 1 to 2 hours. Salt and pepper at the end. If you don't have dried beans, ordinary green beans cooked the same way still count as the fall pot.

Chicken and Dumplins'

Ingredients
1 stewing hen or 3 to 4 bone-in chicken pieces
1 onion
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
Water to cover
For the dumplings: 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons fat, enough broth or milk to make a soft dough

Directions
Cover the chicken with water. Add the onion, carrot, and bay leaf. Simmer until the meat falls off the bone. Pull the meat, strain the broth, and return the meat to the pot. Mix the dumpling dough until it is soft but not sticky. Roll and cut, or drop by spoonfuls into the simmering broth. Cover and don't lift the lid for about 15 minutes. The broth should be rich enough to coat a spoon.

Sweets

Apple Stack Cake

Ingredients
For the layers: 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup sorghum or molasses, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup buttermilk, 3/4 cup butter or lard
For the filling: 1 pound dried apples, water to cover, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of clove

Directions
Cook the dried apples with water until soft, then mash or chop them with the sugar and spices into a thick filling. Let it cool. Mix the dry ingredients for the layers. Mix the wet. Combine into a stiff dough. Divide into 6 or 7 thin rounds and bake at 350 on greased sheets until dry and set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Stack the layers with filling between them while the cakes are still a little warm. Let the cake sit a day or two so the layers soften. Dust with powdered sugar if you want. It isn't tall for show. It is tall because that is how you stretch the apples and the flour.

Persimmon Pudding

Ingredients
2 cups ripe American persimmon pulp (after frost)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
Heat the oven to 350. Scoop the pulp and remove the seeds. Whisk the pulp with the sugar, eggs, butter, and milk. Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl and stir them in. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake about an hour, until set and dark at the edges. It is dense and damp, closer to a pudding than a cake. Serve warm.

Fried Dried-Apple Pies

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lard or butter
6 to 8 tablespoons cold water
For the filling: 2 cups dried apples, water to cover, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Fat for frying

Directions
Simmer the dried apples with water until soft. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon and let the filling cool. Cut the fat into the flour and salt. Add water until the dough comes together. Roll, cut rounds, fill half of each, fold, and crimp. Fry in a little fat until golden on both sides, or bake at 375 until browned. These were lunch-pail food and still work as one.

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar or sorghum
1 cup evaporated milk or cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 unbaked pie crust
Optional black walnuts

Directions
Heat the oven to 350. Mix the potatoes, eggs, sugar or sorghum, milk, spices, and salt until smooth. Pour into the crust. Bake until the center is just set, about 45 to 55 minutes. Sorghum instead of all the sugar keeps it closer to the older mountain versions. A few black walnuts on top if you have them.

Molasses Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup sorghum or molasses
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or lard
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Heat the oven to 350. Cream the fat and sugar. Beat in the egg and sorghum. Mix the dry ingredients and stir them in. Roll into balls or drop by spoonfuls. Bake until the edges are set and the middle is still a little soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. These keep. A glass of cold milk or a cup of coffee is the right company.

Apple Butter

Ingredients
4 to 5 pounds apples, peeled and cored
1/2 cup water or apple cider
1 to 2 cups sugar, to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Directions
Put the apples in a heavy pot with the water or cider. Cook on low, stirring often, until the fruit breaks down. This takes hours. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt toward the end and keep stirring so it doesn't scorch. It is done when a spoonful mounds and doesn't weep. Jar it, or keep it in the fridge and eat it on biscuits, cornbread, or by the spoon. This is the one that makes the house smell like October for a whole afternoon.

Any of these can be the working for the day. Make one, take it outside while the light is still up, and eat it where the season is actually happening.