Octubre

This week I spent some time savoring the end of autumnal daylight. There is a steep hill off the side of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and this year I have tried to go up it more often so I can improve my uphill stamina. I went there twice this week.

The view from the top

Lingering snow

Looking up, but I was already partway up the hill

I have been spending more time with the local mid-singles ward, and this week we went to the fall festivities at Cross E Ranch, which is conveniently located near us. I like corn mazes for the ambience, not for the maze itself.

Yesterday I ran to Ensign Peak, which I do a few times a year, usually in the spring and fall, since it thaws sooner than the other trails when it has snowed recently. 

This portion of the trail is new within the last five years, so I had to check it out

This interpretive sign featured a rainbow trout, even though that's a nonnative species😬

The fire in Sugar House was still smoldering, and I could see the smoke from far away

I was also invited to a Halloween party, so I was happy to wear my Gilligan costume. I was obsessed with Gilligan's Island when I was in high school (it's so unabashedly silly), but I've always had glasses, so I couldn't dress up as him before. So now that I no longer have glasses, it was my year! I was happy that several people recognized it.

Mirror selfies are trashy, but at least it wasn't in the bathroom

I thought if someone asked me who was my type, Ginger or Mary Ann, I would have to say the Professor. 😉

This week's Come, Follow Me was about Ezekiel. I don't know how I feel about the curriculum. They left out Ezekiel 18, which is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Old Testament. But I'm glad they seem to be moving away from the kind of proof-texting I learned in seminary in the mid-2000s (at least somewhat). There's also a lot of weird stuff in Ezekiel.

This scripture cracks me up. Every time.

***

It was a big week for pumpkinundation roundup!

This Sweet Chaos Candy Corn Drizzled Popcorn was just generically sweet. I like sweet popcorn, but it didn't really taste like candy corn. 6/10.

When a friend brought these Original Two-Bite Candy Corn Cupcakes, we debated whether they were candy corn–flavored or just candy corn–colored. But I'm pretty sure the frosting was flavored like candy corn, which was a relief. They're fine. 7/10.

This Julie Ann's Pumpkin Vanilla Caramel tasted like homemade, which is fine for homemade caramel, but not what I expect from a store. It does have a spice flavor and a vanilla flavor. 6/10.

And the Julie Ann's Caramel Apple Caramel has an apple flavor, but it wasn't reminiscent of a caramel apple. 6/10.

I made this pumpkin salsa with a recipe I found online, using the jack-o'-lantern pumpkin we've had in the freezer since last fall. I like how unique it is. It's fine, but I have the feeling it's one of those foods I will like less and less the more I eat it. 5/10.

I liked the Planters Pumpkin Spice Almonds better than I remembered. They have actual pumpkin powder in addition to the spices. 8/10.

When I went to get this Parsons' Bakery pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, they gave it to me for free! It has an orange glaze on top, which is unusual, but it's a fairly mediocre cookie. 6/10.

After my 9.8-mile run yesterday, I was craving pumpkin eggnog, so I bought Hood Pumpkin Eggnog. It's more eggnog than pumpkin, but there's nothing wrong with that! (I always dilute eggnog with milk.) I don't buy eggnog as much anymore—counting calories ruined it for me. 8/10.

I had to laugh that it was limited edition, since eggnog is always limited edition

I can only remember one other time I've had gnocchi, so maybe that's part of why I didn't love Trader Joe's Pumpkin Gnocchi. It has some pumpkin flavor, but it kind of has the texture of paste. Maybe my homemade tomato sauce just wasn't liquidy enough. 6/10.

Good & Gather Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal is one of the better brands of pumpkin oatmeal. 7/10.

I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon rolls, but I liked Pilsbury Grands Pumpkin Spice Rolls. 7/10.

I enjoy the sweetness and flavors of Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli. 7/10.

Cross E Ranch had caramel apples with pseudo–Harry Potter themes, so I got a pomaceous pumpkiinous apple, which had pumpkin spice flavoring and a churro stem. The flavoring was mediocre, as was the mass-produced churro. 6/10.

Cross E Ranch apple cider donuts are good, but they didn't seem very appley to me. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Cheesecake Croissants have a croissant with a cheesecake topping. I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake, but I still enjoyed these. 7/10.

I had this Trader Joe's Harvest Blend Herbal Tea leftover from last year. It has a nice appley, autumnal flavor, even though there's no pumpkin. But it's still just pompous water. 6/10.

I had this Great Value Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa leftover from last year. I don't think it has any pumpkin, but the spices still make for tasty hot cocoa! 8/10.

I like to go get Nielsen's pumpkin frozen custard. It's sufficiently pumpkiny and refreshing. 8/10.

The Pumpkin Pie Larabar is better than I remembered. But maybe I just remember them after they've sat it my cupboard all winter and I'm eating them on springtime runs. 7/10.

You get blurry pictures when you're taking them in the twilight

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bagels are mediocre and kind of dry. 6/10.