After 30 years, I have finally decided that my favorite season is fall. Whew. Now you can sleep peacefully, having learned that critical bit of information. I've tried not to play favorites all my life, but in the past couple of weeks, I've realized that there is no denying that fall is my favorite season. It's the baseball postseason (which is simultaneously exciting and depressing). I love it when the temperature starts to drop, the outside air feels cool and crisp, and the leaves turn gorgeous combinations of red, yellow, and orange. Sadly, I don't really get to experience these perks of fall in Southern California. The temperature begins to drop, but not enough for me to get out my fall jacket.
BUT, do you know what I do get to experience? Fall foods. Pumpkin, cranberry, and gingerbread, oh my! When fall rolls around, I start baking. A lot. I adore the seasonal fall foods, and I even begin to hoard them, saving them for later dates when stores don't stock them. A surplus in cans of pumpkin come in handy when you want to bake a pumpkin pie in May. Sometimes my stocking up is a tad unnecessary, but I do it anyway. I'm still using a jar of molasses purchased last season, and I still purchase extra jars, even though it's not a seasonal item. (It's just that last year, I went looking for molasses and I REALLY needed it, but the store had run out. That's just not happening to me again.) And did you know that cranberries keep in your freezer for a year? They do! I've already purchased a 3 pound bag from Costco. I never realized how much I liked cranberries until I found myself missing them last spring. I told Drew that I would stock up on like 20 pounds of cranberries so I would have them year round. He was certain that I wouldn't be able to use 20 pounds in a year, and I would like to prove him wrong, except that I'll get bored if I bake nothing but cranberry muffins, cranberry scones, cranberry coffeecake, etc for a year.
I recently purchased a gingerbread cookbook. It is fabulous. I've already made the gingerbread cake, and it is beautiful in my glass cake stand (a birthday gift from my parents- thanks mom & dad!) This weekend, I am making this. And pumpkin cupcakes. And ginger cranberry bars. It's going to be a yummy weekend.
BUT, do you know what I do get to experience? Fall foods. Pumpkin, cranberry, and gingerbread, oh my! When fall rolls around, I start baking. A lot. I adore the seasonal fall foods, and I even begin to hoard them, saving them for later dates when stores don't stock them. A surplus in cans of pumpkin come in handy when you want to bake a pumpkin pie in May. Sometimes my stocking up is a tad unnecessary, but I do it anyway. I'm still using a jar of molasses purchased last season, and I still purchase extra jars, even though it's not a seasonal item. (It's just that last year, I went looking for molasses and I REALLY needed it, but the store had run out. That's just not happening to me again.) And did you know that cranberries keep in your freezer for a year? They do! I've already purchased a 3 pound bag from Costco. I never realized how much I liked cranberries until I found myself missing them last spring. I told Drew that I would stock up on like 20 pounds of cranberries so I would have them year round. He was certain that I wouldn't be able to use 20 pounds in a year, and I would like to prove him wrong, except that I'll get bored if I bake nothing but cranberry muffins, cranberry scones, cranberry coffeecake, etc for a year.
I recently purchased a gingerbread cookbook. It is fabulous. I've already made the gingerbread cake, and it is beautiful in my glass cake stand (a birthday gift from my parents- thanks mom & dad!) This weekend, I am making this. And pumpkin cupcakes. And ginger cranberry bars. It's going to be a yummy weekend.
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