Dear October: Thanks for the memories



October is officially in the books and it was a beautiful month here on the east coast. 
 I have always loved the month of October---
football (yes, football is always an answer no matter what the question is)
autumn leaves bursting in color
weather still warm without all the humidity yet, enough cool days to remind you winter is around the corner
pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread....well, you get the point!
soups, stews and other warm-you- to- the- bones kind of foods

 And of course,  Halloween closes out the month.

While we have never been a ghosts and goblins and vampires and witches and zombies kind of family,  we do enjoy the festive atmosphere that Halloween presents.  We were lucky to have  neighbors who would spare no expense to make trick or treating fun  for all the children in our subdivision.  These days, we give out candy while volunteering  with our church's Trunk or Treat celebration. 

All dressed up and ready for Trunk or Treat


I also like to send a care package for each holiday to our son and his wife (and our two grandkids) who live overseas. I try to be creative with my holiday mailouts.  Thanks to Pinterest  and a few visits to the local craft store, I was able to send out some cute (not scary) Halloween items.  Luckily, the glass Pumpkin  didn't break , the chocolate didn't melt, and only one of the bags was open.




I have also been doing some baking this month. Pumpkin and apples are always plentiful during the fall season and as I already mentioned, I love anything with pumpkins.  Several types of pumpkin muffins and apple bread were on the menu for October.  Let's just say there was not a crumb left of these tasty creations.

Apple Pie Bread



Mini cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins


                                               Pumpkin chocolate chip bread/muffins

Yes, thanks for the memories October! And thanks for the sweet smells that have enveloped my house. And, of course, extra special thanks for all of the Halloween "miniatures" you bring to us  every year.

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