Pumpkins on Parade

Traveling around New England you see farm after farm selling mountains upon mountains of pumpkins.  All of them unique yet all of them beckoning you to stop in for a closer look.

 There are  crates of pumpkins still dusty from the field
 

Vintage buckboard wagons piled high with the day's harvest.

Around New England in autumn , orange is the new pink! 

Unless of course its white.

Baskets brimming with pumpkins waiting to decorate the mantle, front porch, back steps or even baked into a delicious dessert.

Where ever you live , whatever farm road you travel down, or neighborhood you pass through on your way home from work.
Make sure you stop in for a closer look and treat yourself to a pumpkin.  Its always best to buy local. Happy Fall !!!!

The New England Dessert Showcase

What a fabulous time we had at The New England Dessert Showcase . The event was held at the prestigious Westin Copley Place in Boston. The Showcase featured some of the very finest designer desserts,  chocolates, ice cream, cupcakes, fruit tarts and all of it irresistibly delicious.

Chocolate mousse with fresh mango and ginger.

The caption speaks for itself.

The Boston Cream Pie was over fifteen feet in diameter and weighed in at over three tons. Do you think it's big enough?

 These cupcakes were soooo delicious!!!

These delicate pink and white cakes on lollipop sticks had just the right amount of sweetness.
It was a day filled with yummy desserts,  full stomachs and lots of fun !

An Apple A Day.........

Here are some fun facts about the humble apple:

• The Pilgrims  planted the first apple tree in the Bay Colony, now known as Massachusetts.
• One medium apple is roughly 81 calories.
• Apples are fat, sodium and cholesterol free.
• The average person eats 65 apples per year.
• The more apples a person eats the lower the risk is of developing lung cancer .
• Apples and apple juice are two of the best sources of the mineral boron, which may promote bone health.
• Because of apples high fiber content, the fruit's natural sugars are slowly released into the blood stream, helping maintain steady blood sugar levels
• Apple trees can live for over 100 years .
• More children prefer Honey Crisp apples than any other variety.
• Granny Smith apples are the most popular variety worldwide.
• It takes two pounds of apples to make an apple pie.

 Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? That's a question I don't have an answer to, but I do know apples are good for you, taste delicious and are fun to pick!!!

A is for..........

 

Do you think I have enough apples to make an apple pie?  My guess is yes.  There is another question that needs to be answered though.  How do I showcase these fall beauties while they wait to be eaten.  

There is the always elegant simple white bowl.

 

The very old fashioned Grandma's bowl.

The grab an apple from the basket by the gate (bowl).

Glamor them up  in some  BLING bowl.

Well, there seemed to be more than plenty of apples to make my pie and the best place to showcase them was baked right inside . 

Happy Labor Day

What is it about Labor Day that makes us believe summer is over?  The feeling of fall that creeps into our psyche and tells us to rip up the geraniums and plant some mums.  Perhaps that is why I had my first and last Margarita of  the summer today.  I don't know if it was because I was saluting the end of summer, or toasting the thought of the approaching fall.  

For whatever the reason it was nice to sit out on the deck sipping a little and munching on chips and salsa.  Tomorrow though,  I think I might just take a trip to the nursery and buy some mums.  Got to go now, the geraniums are calling out to me. Not to worry , it will be quick.  They'll never know what hit them.   

Red Pepper Jelly

I am new to preserving, but I think I have everything I need to get started!

Only a professional master chef could chop peppers with such precision!

Soooo, that is why I use this contraption!!!  LOL!!!

Not too bad for my very first try.  I got the recipe from www.allrecipes.com

Let's Give It A Try

 Today I start my much stressed about blog.  I have lots of ideas, recipes, and hopefully a little redecorating.  Thanks for stopping by, the next post will be much more interesting I promise.