It’s October and Andrea is keeping cozy in the kitchen making homemade pantry items — granola, mayonnaise and a dried mushroom powder that’s perfect for sprinkling on eggs, veggies and popcorn. In London, Stefin is plowing through the six pounds (!) of wheat germ she (mistakenly) ordered with batches of granola and muffins. And both hosts want to know: How low can you go when grating a fresh nutmeg?

Listeners: What pantry items do you enjoy making homemade? Catsup? Applesauce? Bread?

Amish Apple Dumplings proved a challenge for both hosts. Stefin led the staff of the London flagship Whole Foods on a merry chase while trying to find vegetable shortening for the pastry crust. Though they were extremely helpful and suggested she substitute goose fat (when it comes available in November), she ended up finding this ingredient online. Good thing, too, because she loved the pastry, which includes an egg and vinegar in addition to the usual flour and salt. English favorite Bramley apples were the perfect choice for her dumplings.

Unfortunately, the dumplings made Andrea angry. Oh no! She substituted her go-to crust from Preheated listener Mary Beth, but hated the hassle of peeling, coring and wrapping the apples individually. Hence, she made several modifications, including adding apple-pie spice and sugar, buying a commercial caramel sauce, and making a dairy-free whipped topping with coconut milk.

Fortunately, the next recipe in the Fall Festival lineup is sure to restore good humor: Pumpkin Cake Donuts. Both hosts are huge fans of baking with pumpkin, which is ubiquitous this time of year. (Though Stefin has yet to see a Pumpkin Spice Latte at London Starbucks.) Stefin will pull out her trusty mini-donut pan, and Andrea will experiment with a free form donut, as well as the muffin variation noted in the recipe.

Speaking of donuts, Andrea recently indulged in a delicious Whiskey Donut Bread Pudding which Stefin would happily travel back to the US to try herself. Meantime, this Globetrotting Gourmet is eating her way through France, Italy and Germany for baba au rhum, nougat-covered beignets, and (appropriately for National Apple Month), beer-battered deep fried apple rings with salted caramel ice cream.

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