Fall Walk Photo Dump

A walk through Pennypack Reserve in Huntingdon Valley on a gorgeous fall day. 

No more words really necessary, amiright?! 

I love fall.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

It's a typical stereotype, but every fall I go a little nuts for all things pumpkin and apple. This year I decided to manifest that stereotype in some cop-out pumpkin spice pancakes! 

Most of the time, I make pancakes by mixing up some Aunt Jemima box mix with different ingredients. I've done yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, various fruit or chocolate chips...this fall, I decided to try pumpkin spice. 

I followed the basic directions on the box to make the batter, but then I added a couple teaspoons of Trader Joe's pumpkin butter, a dash of cinnamon, and a splash of vanilla extract. 

Voila! 

Perfect fall weekend breakfast. 

Even More Apples

Among many other things, my mom instilled in me the very strong habit of picking apples every year. 

Without fail! 

It's always fun, always worth the effort, and I get to make delicious apple treats for weeks thereafter. This year, I went with just Sister, and I'm kind of glad because it was a bit of a fiasco. 

We usually go to Solebury Orchards in New Hope, which is a bit of a hike, but they have a great vibe and some extremely delicious apple cider donuts. However, this year they were completely mobbed when we showed up. The trees were fairly picked over (we theorize that they were about to switch over to new rows, because the rows available were picking were almost empty, but there were rows of trees a few yards away full of beautiful apples and signs that said "DO NOT PICK"). We, however, rose to the occasion and I channeled my inner Katniss to climb some trees. 

Success!

It ended up being a blast, but we were a little miffed at the availability of apples, and apple cider donuts. We got some cider ice instead, some beautiful pictures, 

Pretty sister. 

and skedaddled with our bags of treetop apples. 

Do you have any favorite fall traditions? 

Finding Some Air

I got to go outside for recess today (which doesn't always happen because of timing and life of an aide).



It was glorious outside. A last few rays of warm sunshine on my back and gorgeous fall leaves.



Tonight I came home, put on my hoodie, and curled up on the couch. I haven't moved since, except to make a quick tomato soup and some cheesy toast.



It's not that I've been so busy, I don't have a good excuse. I'm just spending time thinking of things besides this blog lately. I'm not giving up, nor am I trying to justify. But there are readers out there (right? You haven't left?) and I didn't want to disappear.


There will be more posts, and there will be pictures and recipes and weekend recaps. But maybe a little slower.



In the meantime, I'll be snuggling with my dog, hanging out with my sister, walking in the last days of fall, eating cheesy toast and ignoring my to-do list. Some air will be nice.

Punkin Time(lord)!

Can you believe, in the nearly five years I've lived in this apartment, I've never carved a pumpkin here?



Me neither.



Sister decided it was time for that streak to end. Just in time for a Who-y Halloween.

Yes, she's also a gladiator. Woman of many talents. 

We sketched out our designs and began to carve. 

Little dog was very interested in the proceedings-especially nibbling on the discard pile. 

I opted for a happy-dappy smile, since I'm taking this to a friend's house for Halloween night. We're passing out candy together, and this will likely be the only decor present so I wanted it to be kid-friendly. 

Sister, on the other hand, went the Awesome route. 

Yep, it's a TARDIS. A Whovian Halloween!

All lit up!

Bring on the trick-or-treaters!! 

Accio Fun!

Did you know that people actually play Quidditch?



(You know...the magical sporting event from Harry Potter, played with four balls, seven players, on broomsticks?)



Yep, it's an actual collegiate sport played by several real schools. And every fall, Chestnut Hill College hosts the Brotherly Love Quidditch Tournament.



On top of that, just in case you weren't sure that magic was real, Chestnut Hill transforms itself into the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. There's costumed children (and adults...), performers, events, and the shops give themselves Harry Potter style nicknames for the weekend.



Naturally, I was psyched to spend my Saturday there with Sister.

There are our "magical faces." That was my prompt. 

We stopped by the sweetshop and bought a delightful pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting (they were out of butterbeer cupcakes, so sad). 

The bakery is actually called Cake, when it's not Harry Potter weekend. 

We walked the whole avenue at least twice. 

Finally, we jumped the Knight Bus (or...school bus...) and took a ride down to the college to watch a Quidditch match. 

The Snitch has been spotted! (The guy in yellow). 

So (obviously) the players don't actually fly on their broomsticks, but when in play they run with them in between their legs. When they get hit with a Bludger (which is essentially a kickball) they are "out" until they sprint back and tag their goalposts. The Quaffle is tossed around, just like in the books, and thrown through the hoops to score points. The Snitch can run around the whole campus, and he's got a tennis ball in a sock tucked into his waistband, which the Seeker tries to get (like in flag football). 

There was one particularly violent Snitch who actually wounded the Penn State Seeker quite badly. Guess even in the real world Quidditch is a dangerous game. 

After the game, we finally found one place that was still selling butterbeer! I know there are a million versions out there, but this was a cider-based concoction with caramel flavoring. Sooo warm and tasty. 

Cheers! 

Perfect Fall Weekend

After a couple days of dreary, gray, rainy weather, the sun broke through to give us some glorious fall days. Happily, they were just in time for my mom to visit!

She had a wedding to attend, but I got to spend time with her and Sister on Saturday morning (farmer' market and Elcy's cafe, yes please) and Sunday afternoon. We ate pumpkin French toast and went apply picking. It was our pre-Oktoberfest apple picking event, and it couldn't have been nicer.



Good friends,

Delicious apples,

And family.

Yes, that's my mom. Are you surprised? 

Add in a weekend bonfire,

And a glowing dog,

And it's pretty much a perfect weekend.