The Great Pumpkin

First off, let me say, I love being here! But, I can't deny that there are a few things that I miss very much. Besides the Christmas season, fall is my very favorite time of the year.
There's this certain smell in the fall that isn't around any other time. It makes me happy. Cheesy, I know, but it's true. Everything here stays so green for the most part. As much as I like it, I can't help but miss all the fall things back home. Just a little bit. :) I miss the changing leaves, "fall" apples, wearing sweaters, my neighbor's wood-burning stove, candy corn, the chilly (not cold) air, watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on tv, and apple cider.
But what I think I miss the most are the pumpkins. I miss pumpkin spice lattes, my pumpkin spice candles, my pumpkin spice air fresheners, decorative pumpkins, pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving....ok pumpkin anything. I've desperately been keeping my eyes open here for anything pumpkin/fall related, but the closest I've come are the scarce Halloween decorations in the kid's section of department stores. Even those are few and far between it seems. I thought I was going to have to settle for the pumpkin seeds that came in a box of granola cereal I had gotten. That was until Sunday, that is. Jeanine and I were grocery shopping after church when she excitedly informed me that there were pumpkins for sale at the front of the store. There weren't many to choose from, but they sure were there! I was thrilled, to say the least. So, I'll get to have my own pumpkin after all. Not only that, but we'll get to carve it AND make homemade pumpkin pie! I have searched high and low for canned pumpkin for pies but there hasn't been a can to be found. We've already started planning a little bit for our Thanksgiving meal that we're going to make, and I'm that much more excited knowing that it will not be lacking a pumpkin pie!


I shouldn't be complaining. We have three apple trees in our backyard. One has regular eating apples and the other two have cooking apples. We love it because we can have as many as we want without having to buy them! Apples with peanut butter has become a staple in my diet. We've eaten so many, I'm pretty sure I have them coming out my ears. Like yesterday, I had two small apples (and peanut butter) with my lunch, an apple tart at a bakery later in the day, and then Monica made apple crisp last night. YUMMMMMM!! Needless to say, we've had our fair share of fall treats. In addition to the apple crisp, we've had sliced cooked apples with cinnamon, an apple drizzle over cheesecake, apple sauce, and then baked apples tonight,
which I helped make. My roommates are all culinary experts and are responsible for all of the previously mentioned desserts, so I was glad I was able to contribute tonight to the plethora of apple foods. I'm bound and determined, though, to make baked apples and sausage that my mom usually makes every fall. We'll see how that turns out...

So, the next time you're at Starbucks and you order that grande low fat pumpkin spice latte on a crisp fall evening, enjoy it and think of me. :)