But last week we had a cooler day, with rain even, and the evenings have definitely started cooling off. Inevitably when this happens every year, I start to get excited about fall, or at least, certain aspects of fall. Or perhaps it is that for some reason, fall is the season every year when I feel a little homesick for home. But on a beautiful, crisp fall day, when leaves have begun changing and the sky is a perfect shade of blue, and apple trees are heavily laden with apples begging to be made into all kinds of things, like French Apple Pie, I love fall. And fall in Minnesota is wonderful. Perhaps fall also makes me feel a tad nostalgic for the beginning of the school year, and memories.
In any case, on Saturday we fly back to Sweden, and there is one thing on my mind that I want to accomplish before we go, and that is: pumpkin. Eat foods with pumpkin...drink hot drinks with pumpkin. I have been on a mission for the past week, even calling Starbucks to ask when their Pumpkin Spice Lattes will be on the menu. According to one source, they might be available in the middle of this week. (Yay!) In that case, this weekend, before we go, you can find me at a Starbucks, enjoying my all-time favorite, Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Last night, thanks to Mom and Bruce babysitting, I went out with my good friends, Stephanie and Danell. We went to the Olive Garden and had a great time, laughing and talking, and then laughing some more. The food was also good, but except for the company, the best part was the dessert: Pumpkin Cheesecake. It tasted like a slice of Thanksgiving. I loved it, and I savored every bite. How is it possible to be nostalgic for something, at the same time as one is already doing it?
I suppose my obsession with being able to enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Latte before we go back to Sweden is actually a semi-subconscious attempt to prolong my stay at home, perhaps as if digesting a food item could bring a little piece of home with me when we go. Or...perhaps it is simply because it is delicious!
In preparation for supper tonight, with Darin, Brandi and the kids coming to join us, Yaminah and I made Pumpkin Cupcakes for dessert. They turned out great, so I thought I would share the recipe with you. View it here.
I can hardly believe the summer has gone by so fast, and that fall is just around the corner. As always, a beginning of one thing is also an end to another. Looking back, this summer has been great because it has been restful. But most importantly, it has been about spending lots of quality time with family, especially including David and Erin's wedding; staying a lot at Sarah and Scott's house; camping with Dad; staying with Mom and Bruce, plus being able to see close friends. Yaminah is now completely fluent in English as well as Swedish. One other reason I have loved this summer is that Tomas and I have been able to spend a lot of time with Yaminah, and I have even had nearly three weeks extra with her. We have had such fun, sleeping in, relaxing during the day, having pretend tea parties, taking walks and bike rides. It will be hard to go back to class and bring her back to daycare again, but it is inevitable; summer has to come to an end. And luckily, fall is the next season, and it is my favorite. And with fall there will be new beginnings again--the beginning of my (hopefully) final school year, and of course time with our Swedish family and friends.
Could it be that the lovely, pleasant aspects of fall--the pumpkins, spices, apples, colored leaves, blue skies--are a way to ease us into the following season, the cold, dark winter?
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