Muddy trails

Sundance has had very little work for me to do so far, but it's just the calm before the storm. I've appreciated the free time at work before it gets hectic in a few weeks. It has given me time to work on my Pioneer Day research, though I'm entering the second half of the twentieth century, where fewer resources are online. I might have to go back and flesh out my nineteenth-century information.

Since I love eating pumpkin everything, I know I have to exert calories to justify it, so I go running during my breaks. Unfortunately, there has been too much snow on the ground. It last snowed almost two weeks ago, and we've had nothing but warm, sunny days since then, but the snow remains.

Nevertheless, I decided I didn't care that it was snowy, and I ended up going on some of the Park City trails anyway, because who knows when it will snow and they will be covered in ice for months. I found a small nature preserve that was some kind of wetlands.

 There's also a river next to a soccer field.

Looming over the main part of Park City is PC Hill, and I decided to run to the top of it. The trailhead is only a mile from my office, and it's only like half a mile to the top. Unfortunately, there are many unofficial trails, so it was hard to follow the real trail. Parts of it were also extremely muddy. I will let this one dry out before I go back, but I'm glad I went.

This is the P.

 Directly across the street from the office is a small hill with a weather station and some kind of reservoir (or something) on top. That one is short enough that I have already gone up it a few times, and it's mostly dry.

I even found another, longer trail that also goes to the top of this hill, but much of that trail is on a north-facing slope, so it's still too muddy.

Me: We need snow to help with our water supply, and we need the whiteness of the snow to reflect heat away. Snow is absolutely essential.
Also me: Won't you all melt already?!!

I also got the rest of my Thanksgiving decorations up. I don't understand the early Christmas people, because for one thing, won't you be sick of it by the time Christmas actually gets here, but also, I get a great deal of joy from Thanksgiving decorations and music. I used to think of Pilgrims as a seventeenth-century thing, but now that I'm a nineteenth-century historian, I think of them as a nineteenth-century thing. Late-nineteenth-century Americans loved Pilgrims, and many of our (sometimes erroneous) ideas about them (including their connection to Thanksgiving) come from the late 1800s.

I decorate with toys, because I absolutely love kitsch.

When we went to Plymouth last year, I saw the Plymouth Rock squishy thing, and I knew it would be the perfect accessory for my Little People Mayflower.

Since there was still snow in my yard on Saturday, I knew the local trails would still be muddy, so I did my default sidewalk run of eleven miles to and from the Bountiful Temple. It makes me feel good that that run is no longer even that difficult for me. I don't like doing hard things. I only do things that are a little hard until they are easy. But my calves were more sore (in a good way) than I thought they should be.

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For real though, much of my motivation for running so much is so I can eat all the junk food I have in my drawers and so I can go out and buy more for pumpkinundation roundup.

I used this Trader Joe's Organic Pumpkin...

 ...to put in this Turkey and Pumpkin Black Bean Chili from Fix-It and Forget-It Diabetic Cookbook. (No, I'm not diabetic.) It also includes onions, peppers, cumin, chili powder, and garlic. This isn't the best chili I've ever had, but it's good enough for me to make it every year. 7/10.

This Maddy & Maize Apple Pie a la Mode Gourmet Popcorn nails the "à la mode" part. There's this white confection that feels cool and creamy. But I only get the faintest bit of apple, and it's not really pie-y. 7/10.

I took these Trader Joe's Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies to a work function, and everyone seemed to love them. But to me, they're not especially out of the ordinary. They're great, but I love all chocolate oatmeal cookies. 8/10.

At that work function there were mini apple tartlets, which were like apple pie filling in a phyllo crust. It was fine but somewhat weird. 7/10.

 They also had pumpkin bread, which is hard to mess up. 8/10.

 There's a Maverik across the street from work, and they had a discount on this Hershey's Candy Corn Bar. It's a white chocolate, candy corn–flavored bar with soft candy pieces. It's fine. 7/10.

This Smith's Bakery Bite Size Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie is a typical pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. Generally speaking, you've had one, you've had them all. 7/10.

 I was only going to buy the above Hershey's bar, but the Maverik cashier told me the clearance candy was two for a dollar, so I also got White Candy Corn M&Ms. These have been around for almost a decade, surprisingly. They're enjoyable but not spectacular. 7/10.

 For some reason I'm drawn to seasonal protein bars, such as this Quest Pumpkin Pie Protein Bar. It's not especially pumpkiny. It has a somewhat waxy coating with a dry interior. But at least there's very little sugar. 5/10.

Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! is a cute little brownie shop in Sugar House that I found via Google Maps. The brownies themselves aren't especially noteworthy, but what makes the shop unique is that they make brownie sandwiches with different fillings and toppings. (This is the first time I've been back since I had their Peeps and Cadbury Egg brownies back in the spring.) For November, they have pie flavors, so I got a Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! Pecan Pie Brownie. It has pecans on top, and I'm not sure what the filling was. I love pecan pie, and I love brownies, but I didn't think the combination was extraordinary. 8/10.

During this time of year, I like to get frozen turkey lunches. Doing so makes me realize how wasteful frozen lunches are; this is like the only time of year I eat them. A waste of money, a waste of time, and especially a waste of packaging. This Banquet Turkey Meal has turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and peas. It's OK. 6/10.

Three years ago, I got this container of Apple Pie Tic Tac, and I still have it. Not because they're bad, but because I just don't go through that many. These are my favorite Tic Tacs ever, so I'm sad they only made them one year. It was this very pack that got me my gig over at The Impulsive Buy.

Overall, the Hungry-Man Roasted Carved White Meat Turkey is my favorite of all the frozen turkey meals. The turkey is closest to a Thanksgiving meal. The veggies are bland, though. The cranberry apple dessert isn't noteworthy, but I appreciate the effort. Unlike most frozen meals, this one is big enough to be a meal itself. (Of course, I exert enough calories that I need bigger meals.) 8/10.

My mom thought Cutler's Frosted Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie was too dry, but I thought it was better than most in its class. 8/10.

It's hard to keep all the meals straight, but I think Stouffer's Classics Roast Turkey had the best stuffing of all of them. 7/10.

It's been a few years since I've had Nielsen's Pumpkin Frozen Custard. I'm going on a little rant about Nielsen's. I think they are a ridiculous restaurant. Only recently did they start accepting credit cards. They're like literally forty years behind the times! And it's annoying that you have to look at a physical menu when you go in; they don't have the menu on a sign. And their menu is confusing. As for the custard itself, it's good, and it's nice that it has fewer calories than ice cream. 8/10. 

Marie Callender's Honey Roasted Turkey Breast might actually be the least authentic turkey of all of them, and I'm sad it doesn't have stuffing. 6/10.

I like most pumpkin soups, but I'm not a fan of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bisque. There's something in it that doesn't appeal to me, whether it's the apple cider vinegar, tahini, or something else. 4/10.