Fall Flavors/Foods......and More Sweets.

Hey everyone. I hope you all had a nice Sunday (technically only a couple of hours left for those of us on Pacific time). I just wanted to share my food experiences today. A lot of the flavors/foods mentioned here share an autumn theme. As you know, pumpkin and sweets are abound this time of year. So, let's get cracking.

Last night I made some pumpkin-spiced caramel popcorn balls, which was a recipe I followed from a fellow food blogger. They turned out very well and they can be pretty addicting. The main special ingredient is the pumpkin-spiced Hershey Kisses, which apparently can only be found at Target (I went to two different Targets in my area and they both had them in stock). Anyway, it's a fun way to make popcorn balls using the real homemade popcorn, instead of the microwaveable kind.


This morning I stopped by an Italian bakery in the city called Remo Borraccini. This place is always serving up delicious pastries and other Italian treats and dishes. I needed something filling and somewhat healthy, so I ordered up a scrambled egg and cheese croissant sandwich (sorry, I consumed it before I took a pic). I also needed something sweet to follow up, so I bought a couple of their freshly made October cookies. They were both decorated very nicely, but I thought the leaf cookie was especially very well done. I think they just use a normal sugar frosting and then maybe spray on food coloring for the leaf veins. It looks really cool. The pumpkin cookie was also well decorated, but more in a fun/easy way.


After church, the congregation held a huge birthday celebration for everyone in the downstairs fellowship hall. I haven't attended this church long enough, but I guess they have this annual event where they have separate tables each with a sign of a different month and everyone just sits at the table of their birth month. It was a lot of fun and delicious because after a little lunch, everyone got to sample the different cakes that were on all of the tables. I definitely made my rounds and took a picture of some really good desserts. My favorites were the coconut/pineapple cake and the angel food cake. They were both really moist, fluffy and had a nice flavor. The coconut cake was surprisingly not too sweet and had bits of pineapple in the cake. The coolest looking cake was actually made up of smaller cupcakes (look closely at the pic). They all did a great job with the cakes, and I basically ended up in a sugar-induced coma afterward.


Later, I was at Whole Foods downtown (after a quick stop at the Capitol Hill farmer's market) and bought some more kiwi berries, other groceries, and a pumpkin. I'm not sure if I'll carve this one for Halloween, chop it up and make something with it (pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, etc), or even just give it to one of my nieces. We'll see.

The next stop was at Pike Place Market, one of my favorite places to walk around downtown on the weekend....or whenever. It wasn't as busy as compared to a Saturday or when the weather is a little nicer, but there were still a significant amount of people there. It was a little drizzly and cold today, so I decided to get something really warm to drink. I headed over to the first Starbucks ever built at the market and waited in the long line to order up a tall pumpkin-spice latte (see, keeping with the Fall flavors). It was very tasty. If you like pumpkin, you should order this one because I think it's only here during the Fall to Winter months.

I finally made it home in time to work out and watch some football (caught the second half of the Giants vs. Cardinals game while I ran on the treadmill). Usually after a workout I eat something light. Tonight I had a bowl of cereal, some dry roasted peanuts, and a couple of really tasty persimmons. I don't think people buy persimmons that often since they're not like oranges or apples or any other common fruit. I actually love persimmons. After you cut off the leafy part, you can eat the whole thing like an apple. I think it's kind of a mix between an apple and a cantaloupe. You have the bite, crunch, and texture of an apple, and the interior look and slight taste of a cantaloupe. They're delicious and full of vitamin C and calcium. One good thing about persimmons is that they hold up very well after you buy them, unlike apples or other fruit when left out after purchasing.


That's about all. Be sure to get out there and enjoy all those Fall foods. Have a good one!