Celebrating Fall :: Day 1

Fall seems a long way off down here in Florida.  I know that if I am patient, it will arrive eventually.  So here I wait.  I cleared off the summer nature table yesterday.  I replaced the sunny yellow silk with an autumnal orange one.  A small pumpkin, a handmade (hibernating) bear and a few pinecones are all that sit there for now.  Even though I love the look of a full nature table that tells the story of so many adventures, I have to admit to also liking the bare look of a fresh and open nature table.  So many possibilities.  So many adventures just waiting to happen and discoveries to be made.

We began our celebration of fall yesterday with a homemade pumpkin pie from scratch.  What was a humble squash in the morning, was a delectable pie by dinner time.  I am trying to get the children involved in the kitchen, which really means I am trying to be more patient with them “helping” me. But they both helped yesterday in very real ways with this pie.  And rather than my usual, “would you like to help me with this?” I simply stated, “I need your help with this.”  And we were off.

We baked the pumpkin, scraped and mashed it.  We made a pie crust by hand and from scratch.  We rolled it out, baked it, then made our filling.  It was then baked again and we waited (somewhat) patiently for it to bake and cool.  This was a labor of love, with no corners cut.  This pie was our entire day’s work.  It was about the journey, not the destination.

What a sweet reward.