Living in Northern California, we don't usually get the dramatic change of seasons I grew up with on the east coast and in the midwest. While I love the distinctly moderate weather out here, I do miss marking time with the passing of seasons.
Fall is my favorite. Even as the temperature hovers at 70 degrees in late October and my garden begins it's third trimester bloom, many of the leaves manage to turn from green to lemony yellow to fiery orange and red and the sun begins to fade away a bit earlier each day. The stores spill over with Halloween candy, Thanksgiving centerpieces and those sneaky Christmas decorations that just can't wait until December. The kids have their Halloween outfits all picked out and ready to go (one Cleopatra, one Go-Go Dancer) and the ever-popular Pumpkin Spice Latte is on menus everywhere. Starbucks, Peets, the local Terrace Cafe -- they all offer it. Walk into any coffee store and the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon envelopes you like your favorite oversized hoodie.
Every year I order one, hoping it's going to taste like my mom's pumpkin pie and every year I'm disappointed. Somehow, the sweet seasonal pumpkin flavor just doesn't translate into a latte. Instead it tastes a bit bitter and strangely like squash instead of pumpkin. Oh well, I sigh to myself as I dump the doctored coffee down the drain, and that strange sense of deja vu hits me. Just like it did last year.
This Thanksgiving, my parents are heading back east to be with my sister and her family, so I'll be missing out on the pie. I wonder if I should give it a whirl myself, see if I can make this pumpkin thing work for me. I send my mom an email asking for the recipe -- and promise myself my regular non-fat, vanilla latte in the morning.
