Random November things

 I suppose the most interesting thing about this week actually proceeded with little fanfare. After more than a year, I finally resubmitted my revised version of my article on the history of Pioneer Day! I hope the journal likes my revisions. It would be awesome if it could be published by next July 24, but of course that's not up to me.

On Monday evening, I knew it might be my last opportunity for a trail run this season, but I got home after dark, so I took my headlamp and ran to the top of the hill I like going up lately. 

This picture makes it look lighter than it really was.

Then we had snow, which does not appear to be melting very fast. If the snow is not going to melt, I would rather have it continually be snowing so we could get more water. But I'm not in charge.

My default run for late fall/winter/early spring is to run to the Bountiful Temple (eleven miles round trip), so I did that Saturday. And I passed turkeys on the Bountiful Golf Course, which is always fun in November. (It's just not the same when I see them in February.) And one of them was even dead.

It's nice to have someone who loves me, even if that someone isn't a someone. Reggie loves to sleep on my bed, and when I'm in bed he likes to come sit on my chest, if only for a moment. (I like that when I'm awake, but not so much at 2 a.m.) I like that Taylor's new album makes reference to "a cat, purring in my lap 'cause it loves me!"

Do you like my Thanksgiving pillowcase?

I just love him!

So overall, it wasn't that exciting of a week. But my blog isn't over yet because of...

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Pumpkinundation roundup!

Trader Joe's Harvest Apple Salad is a typical salad with a sweet vinaigrette. I don't love salad in general, but I like this one fine. 7/10.

Brach's Candy Corn is the best brand of candy corn. When people say they hate candy corn, I often wonder if they have the wrong brand. 7/10.

I was really thirsty, so I went to Cafe Rio just to have Cafe Rio Pumpkin Spice Horchata. I don't drink much horchata, but this had a nice flavor. 7/10.

Here's two ice cream flavors: Handel's Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream (top) and Handel's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream (bottom). The pumpkin pie was enjoyable but typical. 7/10. The cheesecake was tangy like actual cheesecake, but I don't love cheesecake. 6/10.

After my long run, I had this Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Hot Drink Bomb. It was just a white confection with some vague flavor. It was OK. These hot drink bombs are fun, but I think they're a weird fad. 6/10.

The Good & Gather Apple Pie Date & Nut Bar is Target's answer to the Larabar. It's fine. 6/10.

The Crumbl Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie is a chocolate cookie with a pumpkin cheesecake topping. The frosting did have both pumpkin and cheesecake flavors, but the flavors were overwhelmed by the chocolate. It ended up tasting like most of their chocolate cookies. 6/10.

Thanks to a friend's suggestion (thanks Sandra!), I went to Rockwell Ice Cream downtown and had four flavors of ice cream, since I'm a glutton like that. The Rockwell Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream was what you expect, I think, but since it was the last of the four flavors I ate, it didn't stick out to me. 7/10.

The Rockwell Pumpkin Smash Ice Cream is pumpkin ice cream with brownies in it. It tasted like pumpkin pie rather than typical pumpkin ice cream. I love brownies, but I'm not sure I think pumpkin and brownies go together perfectly. 7/10.

Rockwell Apple Pie Ice Cream had actual apple pie filling, and it was great! 8/10.

The Rockwell Apple Cider Sorbet has an authentically fall flavor. Sorbet isn't as satisfying as ice cream, but this was great in its own right. 8/10.

The Vitality Bowl Pumpkin Bowl has açaí mixed with pumpkin in the base, and the topping includes pumpkin seeds and nutmeg, along with various fruit. It was fine, but it really didn't taste much like pumpkin or spices. 6/10.

Safe + Fair Honeycrisp Apple Pie Granola has a nice apple flavor. I've had better granola but also worse. 7/10.

Kneaders Apple Pie is a typical apple pie. (They apologized for the pie not looking pretty, but I was more mad about the single-use plastic.) 7/10.

And Kneaders Turkey Cranberry Croissant is a year-round sandwich, but it's especially suitable for this time of year. There's a reason it's available all year. 9/10.

Apple Pie Toast Crunch came out last year. I think it should come back every year, and also come out for the Fourth of July, because it's great! 9/10.

I made Krusteaz Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread with zucchini mixed in. I would like more nuts, but it's fine. 7/10.

I also made it into pancakes with zucchini, which were hard to cook. They stuck to the griddle, either because of the griddle or the zucchini or both. But it's still a 7/10.

The RubySnap Isabella is a pumpkin cookie with raisins and mascarpone frosting. It's definitely unlike any other pumpkin cookie you'll get. 8/10.

I ate the Trader Joe's Roasted Turkey & Sweet Potato Burrito while it was hot, so it made it a little hard to taste. But you can't go wrong with a burrito! 7/10.