How do you know Fall has arrived?

My mom always tells the story of when I was a baby and she would feed me vegetable beef soup {yes the Campbell's type}. We didn't have much money, in fact I grew up in the low income housing ghetto in Everett until I was 6 or 7 {go ahead and cry for me now, it's a sad, sad story {wink} then my mom married my wonderful "real" dad {you know the one who actually cares for you with his heart and money even though you don't carry his gene's} Ok, sorry, back to the story. I guess I would sit in my high chair and eat bowl after bowl, the whole time "mmmmm" and "mmmming" my way through it till every bite was gone.

I was the epitome of the Campbell's "mmm mmm good" slogan.

As I grew my mom would make a homemade version of vegetable beef soup that to this day is my favorite and if you are lucky enough to have had some you know what I am talking about.

It's full of

red potatoes - carrots - onion - yellow & green zucchini - broccoli - cauliflower - tomato base - and beef.... mmmm good!

The weather here in Seattle has been, um, should I say, rainy lately! You may ask... "isn't it always rainy in Seattle?" And I would say "not usually in September." Our average is 1 1/2 inches during September which is low for us. At 3 weeks in we are over 3 1/2 already! But here's my point... My family isn't all that obsessed with vegetables or soup like I am, but I can always tell it's Fall when the request is my mom's vegetable beef soup. So the other night I made this...

It's wonderful, a tradition, and my way of knowing fall has arrived. If you want the recipe {it's a bit of a family secret} leave a comment and I will tell you how you too can enjoy this fall favorite

{it even gets better the next day as leftovers, gotta love that!}