Why pumpkin when we have yet to apple? It seems we are forgetting all about the apple! This is the time to buy a quart of freshly pressed apple cider. A chance to pick apples off the tree and make homemade applesauce. Isn’t it true an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Or how ‘bout you are the apple of my eye? Have you ever sliced an apple across its waist and seen the star inside? Or eaten a fresh apple slice dipped in local honey for good luck? Or made an apple pie from scratch? Look what we would be missing!!!
Regardless of the reason, I will admit to kind of loving that the world seems to have embraced celebrating the seasons and holidays. It’s just the skipping of holidays that upsets me.
Maybe it’s the kindergarten teacher in my heart and that “Calendar Time” was crucial to our day. But, each and every month has something wonderful to be celebrated. Either holidays, birthdays, scents or foods that should not be missed. It just makes me so sad that somehow our All-American holiday Thanksgiving seems to have taken a backseat to Christmas. Retailers seem to be taking more calendar time and shelf space to sell December holiday merchandise. I understand their retail dilemma, and sometimes I do appreciate being able to get a jumpstart on my monthly crafting projects. But how does a store in the USA go straight from Halloween without pausing to give thanks with a clear conscience? It seems to me that more and more stores are displaying holiday merchandise WAY TOO SOON! I mean really, it is barely Labor Day and two entire rows are dedicated to Christmas???? For heaven’s sake, my daughter told me she saw a Christmas commercial this past weekend on TV! REALLY, three months early????
It may seem odd that I have a need to honor each month, but I just cannot help myself. I pull out my buckets of holiday and seasonal tchotchkes ( choch-kas ) the first of each month, and not a day early! It is the Allison unwritten rule in our home … never shall decorations be displayed prior to the first of its month. It is a hard rule I hold myself to but I manage, except for the December melee of course! Once Thanksgiving has passed and I awaken from my food coma, I do indeed begin the changing of the guard because I just cannot help myself.
This past Labor Day weekend my daughter came home from college for the night and I broke my very own rule. She requested fall time food for her dorm and I obliged. After all, it was not going to be in my home, right? And I cannot lie, I REALLY enjoyed the house smelling like Fall, but composed myself when I wanted to switch my room scenters to my favorite fall scent! She took back to school two of our favorite Fall-time foods: Butternut Squash Soup and Pumpkin Bread.
Now--I am going to share my Butternut Squash Soup recipe with you, but I highly suggest you wait until October to make! If you cannot wait, then add apple instead of pear and then THE rule has really not been broken!
Moral: The apple taught me that there is a star within each of us! Excerpt from Reach for the Sky.
your monthly celebrating friend,
A little question for y'all: What is your favorite fall treat?
