Changing seasons

 It wasn't that exciting of a week. I have been getting back into spending time with other people, since COVID and grad school left me socially isolated. Otherwise, I have been enjoying the last bits of the season outside before it gets too dark, cold, and snowy. (Let's hope it gets too snowy!)

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, I took some time to bring all the produce in from the garden before it snowed. We had two watermelons, lots of green tomatoes, and some apples. I left the spaghetti squash out, because I think they last longer.

The watermelon is edible but not great.

I was also annoyed when the cable box in my room quit working. I went to the Comcast store to get a new one, which also gave me a good reason to go to Trader Joe's. But I was annoyed that they gave me a new box, because I thought the old box was easier to navigate channels with. Why does so much new technology just make things worse? And I'm especially annoyed because I can't get the new one to work, and it's going to be a hassle to figure that out. I really love watching Halloween Baking Championship on Monday nights before I go to sleep!

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Time for pumpkinundation roundup!

Swiss Miss is a household name for hot cocoa, so I was disappointed the Swiss Miss Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa wasn't better. It's not bad, but I've had better pumpkin spice hot cocoa. The spices aren't very strong. Maybe I'm just spiced out? 6/10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds taste more buttery than I remember, and they're not as good as I remember. But they're still good. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spiced Joe-Joe's Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies take their Pumpkin Joe-Joe's and put a yogurt coating on top. They're fine but taste a little artificial. 7/10.

Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream is one of those items that has been around for years, but I haven't tried it until now. And I'm glad I did! It has a nice but not overwhelming pumpkin flavor. I'm not a big fan of tangy cheesecake, but this one keeps the tanginess down. 8/10.

The Chip Naughty Pumpkin Cookie is a pumpkin cookie with whipped cream, caramel, and toffee bits. I just didn't think it was that great. The cakey cookie was kind of bland, and the toppings didn't make it much more interesting. 6/10.

Arctic Circle pumpkin shakes are one of the oldest pumpkin treats I remember, so I got a variation with the Arctic Circle Pumpkin Oreo Shake. The pumpkin base is very flavorful, and the Oreos made it even better. 8/10.

I got two treats in one with this Bahama Buck's Caramel Apple and Candy Corn Shaved Ice. They have had candy corn in the past, but it was just the syrup. But now, they have different colors and also add cream. If I had known, I would have just had candy corn! It really does taste like candy corn! 8/10. The caramel apple is just apple with caramel on it. 6/10.

I always felt guilty buying the Maverik Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin, because it came in a wasteful plastic container. So I'm so happy they don't come in plastic anymore! The chocolate chips on and in the muffin provide a great flavor counterpoint to the pumpkin muffin. 8/10.

Not pumpkin, but I went and got a Baskin-Robbins Spicy 'n' Spooky Ice Cream. It is described as "White Chocolate Ghost Pepper flavored Ice Cream & black Dark Chocolate Ice Cream speckled with spicy Blood Orange Flakes." It was amazing! It was spicy, but it worked well with the dark chocolate, and the blood orange flakes were a great flavor contrast. A home run! 9/10.