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Showing posts with label Pumpkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pumpkin. Show all posts

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Top Ten Things I Love About Autumn

TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT AUTUMN


A few months ago someone on the RB4U loop asked this question: What’s your favorite time of year? My answer was summer. And it still is. But I do like autumn. The only problem with autumn is that winter follows. If we could only get rid of January, February and March. But wait, then we’d all be living in San Diego. If only. So here are the top ten things I like about autumn, in order of importance:

10.  The clear, crisp air that dispels the pollution from the nearby chemical plants.
9.  Crockpot stews and soups with warm crusty bread.
8.  I get to wear my new cowboy boots. (Picture and story to follow).
7.  No humidity which means my hair doesn’t fall flat like it does in the summer. Unlike so many of you, I have zilch curl and body to my hair, so while you all fight the frizzies, I fight the flatties.
6.  Good time to travel. With the kids in school, the tourist places aren’t as crowded.
5.  The new TV season. I’m a TV junkie. I study TV Guide’s Fall Preview issue every year and map out my viewing schedule.
4.  The beautiful autumn foliage that paints the trees in a colorful collage that brightens every day.
3.  Pumpkin. I love pumpkin. I make pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin squares, and pumpkin bread. I drink pumpkin coffee laced with pumpkin spice creamer and I slather my pumpkin English muffins with pumpkin butter. Pumpkin ice cream is a real treat that is only available in autumn. Yum, Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream. As soon as I hear TJ’s has this seasonal favorite, I run out and buy it. They sell out quickly. I have a great recipe for pumpkin gingersnap ice cream which I’ll share if anyone wants it.
2. My birthday is in the fall.

AND MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT AUTUMN:

1.  Thanksgiving.

Now, about those cowboy boots. I bought them brand new, tags still on, this past May at a local resale shop. I haven’t had a chance to wear them yet. You might ask: What does an East Coast born and bred lady do with a pair of cowboy boots? Heck if I know, but they are so pretty. There’s a background story here. When I was thirteen, my family took a road trip to the West Coast. We stopped off in Fallon, Nevada, a one-horse town near Reno where my father was stationed at the naval air base during WW2. Yes, there was a naval station in the middle of the desert, still is. We were walking along the one main street in Fallon and passed a shop selling cowboy boots. In the window was a beautiful pair of supple-looking brown boots in my size. I begged my parents for those boots but they said no. I understand now why they said no, but I wanted the boots. So, fifty years later, I got my boots, and here they are.


Please tell me. What are your favorite things about autumn? What don’t you like about the season? And what the heck do I do with my blue cowboy boots?

And to get into the Christmas mood, here's the blurb from my latest release, A Groom for Christmas, a sensual romance that is like a Hallmark Christmas movie with some intense love scenes.
.
When a young woman hires her hometown’s former bad boy to be her pretend fiancĂ© for the holidays, she finds she can’t wrap up her feelings as easily as a Christmas gift.
New York jewelry designer Graceann Palmer has two days to find a fiancé to bring home to Pennsylvania for the holidays so her matchmaking mama will quit fixing her up with jerks. The Falcon, a motorcycle-riding, leather-clad former high school crush, helped her out once before. Maybe he'll do it again.
Jake Falco, man of many mysteries, is back in town on a mission—one the people of Spirit Lake most likely won't appreciate. When Graceann presents him with her crazy scheme, it gives him something he's always wanted—a chance to get to know Graceann. It also gives him the perfect opportunity to add fuel to his project of revenge.
But as Jake and Graceann grow closer, their engagement-of-convenience begins to feel like the real deal—until Jake’s secrets are revealed.
Can a relationship that began with lies and secrets bloom like a rare Christmas rose into happily-ever-after?
www.caramarsi.com

 




Monday, September 24, 2012

TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE & DON'T LOVE ABOUT AUTUMN


TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE & DON’T LOVE ABOUT AUTUMN

It’s September. That means, sadly, that summer is over. I love summer and I’m always in a blue funk when it ends. Fall can be beautiful with much to recommend it, but it’s not as much fun as summer.

Here are the top ten things I love about autumn, in order of importance.

10. I get to wear cool boots.
9.  Leaves crunching under my feet.
8.  No humidity which means my hair doesn’t fall flat like it does in the summer.
7.  Good time to travel. With the kids in school, the tourist places aren’t as crowded.
6.  The new TV season. I’m a TV junkie who studies TV Guide’s Fall Preview Issue every year.
5.  The beautiful autumn foliage.
4.  The clear, crisp air.
3.  Pumpkin. I love pumpkin. I make pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin squares, and pumpkin bread. I drink pumpkin coffee and slather my English muffins with pumpkin butter. Pumpkin ice cream is a real treat that is only available in autumn. Yum, Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream. As soon as I hear TJ’s has this seasonal favorite in, I run out and buy it. They sell out quickly. I have a great recipe for pumpkin gingersnap ice cream.
2. My birthday is in the fall.

AND MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT AUTUMN:

1.  Romance stories set in the fall. I love to write stories set in autumn. There’s something romantic about couples falling in love amid the bright foliage and the crisp air. My very first short story sale to the confession magazines was titled “The Thanksgiving Dance,” and was in the November 2009 issue of True Experience. In the opening lines I mention the leaves blowing across the parking lot right before h/h meet. My romantic suspense, “Logan’s Redemption,” starts off in early November. I describe Logan as he puts up the collar of his black leather jacket against the autumn chill that sweeps down the Philadelphia streets. I’ve written several other short stories set in autumn. The beauty at that time of year sings to the poet in me.


Things I don’t like about autumn:

10.  I can’t wear sandals. I love sandals.
 9.  No fresh corn-on-the cob.
 8.  No locally-grown fruit and vegetables.
 7.  Not much sunshine.
 6.  Popular restaurants are more crowded than in the summer.  
  5. TV viewing cuts into my writing time.
  4. Dead leaves all over our lawn.
  3. School buses clogging the roads.
  2. Have to wear more clothes.

AND THE THING I DISLIKE MOST ABOUT AUTUMN:

  1. Winter follows
 
Please tell me. What are your favorite things about autumn? What don’t you like about the season?

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