Fall is my favorite season. Not only is it the season of my birthday, fresh donuts and cider, finally cooler temperatures, agricultural bounty, but it's also the start of the holiday season and the time for my favorite annual publications - the thanksgiving editions of the food magazines. Oh there's nothing better - it's food porn and I'm an addict. I love the pictures decorating the shiny pages of perfect food; golden turkeys, fluffy potatoes, browned casseroles, vibrantly colored vegetables.

My addiction to Thanksgiving isn't limited to the food. The seasonal decorations and the table settings are also a focus of my addiction. Autumnal colored linens, elegant holiday china, cornucopias, leaves, pumpkins and gourds, mums; I can't get enough. I hit the store to collect all the Thanksgiving editions of magazines I don't already subscribe to (yes, there are ones that I don't subscribe to thankyouverymuch), then I head to the library to check out all the cookbooks they have too. I plot and plan the menu, the table, the snacks, and the dessert with my mom and sister beginning more than a month in advance - discussing holiday menus past and assigning items for preparation.

This year we have an additional reason to be excited (and thankful) - two new family members trying holiday food for the first time (well, one actually trying it herself, one trying it second hand).

We have favorite dishes that return yearly to grace the holiday table (sausage stuffing, sweet potato casserole) and new items being tested for the first time. What are favorites on your holiday table?

I have friends (and they have birthdays)

Happy birthday neighbor!

Seasons change

It's starting to happen. At first you don't even notice it. The first time you wear jeans instead of a skirt out in the evening. That first night you shut off the air conditioner and open the bedroom windows. The first night you rise in the early morning hours to pull an extra blanket onto the bed. The first time you shut some of the windows as it gets near dusk. The first time you grab a sweater before heading out the door. Oh the stores have already known about it; they've had their Halloween decorations out since July, but you're not ready to realize it yet. You're still enchanted by the smell of charcoal in the air, still drunk on the sound of Cicadas, still enjoying the feel of sun baking your back and the droplets of sweat on your brow. But even as you ignore it it's happening.
I realized a hint of it as the hum of Cicadas gave way to the rasping of squirrels grinding their teeth against the tough, green hulls of the walnuts from the tree in our backyard. I felt it again during my hike at Al Sabo when I was chilled by my sweat as I hiked back into the cool, shadowy woods. It was there when I pulled out a blanket to cover up during a movie this week, and present as I put my slippers on as I crept out of bed this morning.
You may not want to realize it, may want to push it back or delay it's coming but the inevitable will soon be here.
It's turning into fall round here.

St. Phil's Day

Birthday + old Peninsula = happy Phil.

Happy birthday!