Thanksgiving Snow

 As most of you probably know, I am pretty staunch when it comes to "No Christmas before Thanksgiving." Thanksgiving is a wonderful time in its own right, and I like to live in the moment. Plus, it makes Christmas all that much more special when it actually is Christmastime!

(I do have a caveat, though. I am always on the lookout for new holiday music, Christmas or otherwise, so I'm listening to holiday albums all year round to decide if I should add them to my collection. [For example, right now I'm listening to Halloween songs from my Discover Weekly on Spotify.] And then I only listen to my official playlists when it's the designated season. [As an aside, I must say, this is the biggest year I can ever remember for new Christmas music! Carrie Underwood, Tori Kelly, Matt Nathanson, Goo Goo Dolls, the Bird and the Bee, Ben Rector, and more! But Meghan Trainor covers "Last Christmas" on her new album, which is a deal breaker for me.])

Anyway, many people start Christmas stuff in early November, and one of the compounding factors is when it snows. People tend to equate snow with Christmastime, which has always been a bit puzzling to me. Snow is certainly part of Christmas, but it's not synonymous with it. I mean, in Utah, it always snows in November, January, February, March, and April. 

Given that it always snows in November, I think we should incorporate snow into our Thanksgiving imagery. I totally think fall leaves and harvest symbols are appropriate for Thanksgiving, but snow is also appropriate.

In fact, two hundred years ago, Thanksgiving was seen as a wintry holiday. A snowy Thanksgiving, where you could go ride on a sleigh, was the ideal. That's why "Over the River and through the Woods" is actually a Thanksgiving song, and there's a good possibility that "Jingle Bells" was also written for Thanksgiving. I decided to add "Jingle Bells" to my Thanksgiving playlist back in 2014, so now it fills me with cozy November feelings.

I love decorating for Thanksgiving, but I must confess, this year it all struck me as bizarre. The biggest symbol is the turkey, which is only a symbol because we eat them. Then we have Pilgrims and Indians, which really have nothing to do with the origins of the holiday. And then we have fall leaves and harvest symbols, even though the harvest is over and leaves hit their peak in October. If we included snow along with our pumpkins and leaves, it really wouldn't be any weirder than what we already have.

And now you have a glimpse of the things that go on in my mind.

***

Another problem with the snow is that it prevents me from hitting the trails. If I can't run on the trail, my motivation for exercise is drastically reduced, especially now that I have homework to do. But another problem is that lately I've found myself too sore or tired. The last week of October, I took a break from the trails because of snow, but I hit them again in November. On November 2, I ran to Ensign Peak, which I do a few times a year, but on the way back, I got bad side aches, so I had to walk the last two miles home. That never happens! On November 5 and 6, I wanted to do another 12.75-mile run up North Canyon, but my body told me it couldn't do that, so I only did seven and eight. And on my street runs, I've had some knee pain, so I've had to resume the knee therapy I did eight years ago. I'm hoping the snow will melt so I can get in some more trail time before winter starts in earnest.

Here is the Jordan River. I ran alongside it last night because the trail is paved, so it doesn't get muddy. What a wonderful November evening!

It's hard to tell, but there are wild turkeys in the trees. (From my Thursday run in the Summerwood neighborhood.)

***

After last week's turkey candy corn, I have actual turkey in pumpkinundation roundup this week. And apparently Blogger decided to add all the pictures in reverse order.

 Cutler's pumpkin cookie is just an ordinary pumpkin cookie. Good and satisfying, but nothing new. 8/10.

Cutler's Holiday Sandwich has turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It's delightful! 8/10.

I only buy frozen meals at this time of year, because they're wasteful, and even though they're cooked in the microwave, they still take a good amount of time to cook. The Hungry-Man Roasted Carved White Meat Turkey has turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and apple cranberry compote. This is probably the best of the turkey frozen dinners, and it's more filling than most. The dessert is OK, but most don't even have dessert. 7/10.

Marie Callender's Honey Roasted Turkey Breast might win for quality of turkey, though the other components are average and workable. 7/10.

This was the first time I'd had this Reser's Pumpkin Mousse. It's like pumpkin pie without the crust, but it's not even as good as regular pumpkin pie filling. 5/10.

I thought they had quit making Pecan Pie Larabars, because I haven't seen them in a few years. They are only dates, almonds, and pecans. I think it's oilier than most Larabars. It's functional, but I don't think they should call it pecan pie. It's really just pecans. 6/10.

I was expecting a sandwich, but since I wasn't specific when I ordered, I got this Arby's Cranberry Deep-Fried Turkey Wrap. The turkey and cranberry are great, but there's some other kind of sauce in there that detracts from the classic flavors. 6/10.

Arby's Sweet Potato Waffle Fries are new. They are just a little sweet, and waffle is the best texture for fries. 8/10.

I feel guilty buying the Maverik Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin, because convenience stores aren't struggling during the pandemic, and it really isn't good for you. But it's really yummy and satisfying! 8/10.

Here's the Leger's Deli Turkey Stuffing Sandwich. I think they sell it year round, but only on Tuesdays. (Why not Thursdays?) Now, Leger's Deli is a little deli in the industrial area of North Salt Lake, and its Facebook page has more than a thousand likes. But I don't get why; the sandwiches are mediocre and way overpriced. This was ten dollars! But it was the best sandwich I've had there. The stuffing really brought it up a notch. 8/10. 

The Maverik Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa wasn't as good as I remembered it being. 6/10.

Trader Joe's Apple Cider Fruit Spread is good, but there's a reason that apple isn't as popular for jam as berry flavors are. 7/10.

Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Spice (Waffles) don't specify that they're waffles. It says "6 Waffles" on the bottom of the box, but the product itself doesn't have "waffle" in the name. Weird. Naming convention aside, these might be the best frozen waffles that currently exist, and they're vegan! 8/10.

Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Soup has tomatoes, squash, and pumpkin. It's a tasty savory soup. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Pepita Salsa is made with pepitas, which are pumpkin seeds. But I don't notice them. It's just salsa. 7/10.

Penguin Bros. is a cute little ice cream shop in Sugar House (I think there's one in Provo too) where you get ice cream sandwiches on their own cookies. I got Penguin Bros. Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream on snickerdoodles. It was as good as any pumpkin ice cream, but the snickerdoodles, which are not seasonal, stole the show. 8/10.

Yay election!

 It is a great day for America!

I have kept my disdain for Donald Trump no secret. It's not that I'm a flaming liberal. I'm neither Republican nor Democrat. True, at this moment in time, I lean left—but that's mostly because of Trump! I think the Republican party has totally lost their minds by electing and supporting a bully who had never been a politician. I can kind of understand if they said, "I don't like him, but he supports the policies I agree with, so I'll vote for him." But people actively like him and defend him! It baffles me! My respect for those people plummets.

Trump is the first incumbent president to lose re-election since 1992. I hope you all have learned your lesson. The next time you elect a reality TV star, make sure he has at least a little bit of moral character!

I don't understand how Republicans saw Trump as the godly candidate. Joe Biden literally went to church on Election Day morning—a Tuesday! And on the other hand, Trump's favorite Bible verse is "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," which entirely misses the point.

I also don't understand how people dislike Biden as much as they do. They don't articulate real reasons for disliking him. I mean, my first choice was Amy Klobuchar, but I don't see anything really bad about him. I'm not comfortable with his touchy-feely nature or that he forgot Mitt Romney's name, but those are nowhere near as concerning as a president who doesn't concede elections or who brags about groping women.

On Friday night, Biden said he will work as hard for people who voted against him as he did for people who voted for him. I can't ever imagine Trump saying anything like that. Oh, and can we talk about how exciting it is to have our first woman vice president?

On Wednesday, I went into a convenience store wearing my Biden/Harris t-shirt, and one man complimented me. But there were also two men without masks (of course 🙄), and the cashier (who was wearing her mask below her nose) complained about her mask. She said, "And now that we have Biden, we'll be wearing them. And he'll shut things down. I'm just so sad that Trump won't be president. And now there will be civil wars." And one of the anti-maskers said, "And there should be! I'll join!" Really? You think there should be civil wars just because your preferred candidate didn't win? What a moron! Trump refusing to concede is reason enough that he shouldn't be president, all by itself.

Really, you Republicans should be glad in a way that Trump lost. This way, I'm hoping that once again I can like the Republican Party someday. But as long as Trump is in power, I can't take them seriously. 

I lean left because the environment and gun safety are important to me, and Republicans don't seem to care about them. But I lean right when it comes to police and states' rights. (Truthfully, though, I don't think Republicans care about states' rights. They only support states' rights when it benefits their agenda.) 

I am thrilled with the result of the presidential election. And fortunately, I don't think we had a bad choice when it came to Utah's governor. Back in 2016, lots of Republicans wanted to be president, and they picked the worst one. But this summer, in Utah, we had four Republicans who wanted to be governor, and they picked the best one! I even bought a Spencer Cox yard sign.

I ended up not voting for Cox, for a few reasons. But I'm not sad he won. I have mostly appreciated Gary Herbert, and I think Cox will likewise be a good governor. I think he has a moral conscience (unlike many other Republicans right now, *cough* Mike Lee *cough*), and he will work across the aisle.

I don't understand how the US House District 4 race is so tight. I don't live in that district, but I feel like it affects me because of all the attack ads we've been enduring. Ben McAdams seems like such an obvious choice! I mean, when he was mayor, he pretended to be homeless so he could see what the homeless shelter was like. And this year, he told Nancy Pelosi that it was inappropriate to tear up the State of the Union speech. Burgess Owens, on the other hand, is a football player who moved to Utah in 2012. I don't like any attack ads, but I must say, the anti-Owens ads are more intelligent than the anti-McAdams ads. I hope Ben wins.

I am optimistic about our country now. 

***

Pumpkinundation roundup has entered the Thanksgiving season! That means I now include some savory items, because turkey is a savory Thanksgiving food. 

But apparently turkey is also a sweet food, at least in Brach's Turkey Dinner Candy Corn. This might well be the weirdest candy I have ever eaten. It has six flavors. Sweet potato pie is generically sweet, and it has more of a marshmallow flavor, which makes me wonder if it's actually sweet potato casserole. Cranberry sauce tastes like those strawberry hard candies with the soft center that come in those red and green foil wrappers; it's fine, but it doesn't really taste like cranberry. Green beans is gross, and it doesn't even taste like green beans, so what's the point? Ginger-glazed carrots is the truest to its name. It has a noticeable ginger flavor, with carrot as backup. I would love to see these at Easter. Stuffing actually tastes like stuffing! But it's super weird to have it in candy corn. Same can be said for roasted turkey. When I was eating those flavors, I almost got lightheaded, because my brain was like, "What is going on!?" I have four and a half categories of seasonal candies. Technically these are a category 2a, because they are a candy with a seasonal flavor. But I wonder if I should create a fifth category for candies that are an experience. These are clearly an experience rather than just a flavor (similar to Pop Rocks or Zombie Skittles). I still have the bag in my junk-food drawer, and I don't really look forward to eating it. I like regular candy corn better. But it truly was a fun experience! I just wish the bag were smaller. 4/10 for the candy. 7/10 for the experience.

Trader Joe's Turkey Jerky is sold all year, but I eat more turkey in November. As my body was craving protein, this hit the spot! But I never realized before how expensive jerky is. This package has about 240 calories and cost six dollars! 7/10.

Trader Joe's Thanksgiving Stuffing Kettle Chips have a new name (they used to be Turkey and Stuffing) but the same flavor. I don't really think it tastes like stuffing. If I were choosing from a selection of flavors, it wouldn't be the first I would pick. But I still enjoy eating them, especially because they're seasonal. 7/10.

Apple Pie Kit Kat has a nice spice flavor mixed in the white coating. 7/10.

Turkey & Pumpkin Mole Burrito has turkey, sweet potatoes, and a spicy mole sauce made with pumpkin. I don't think the seasonal flavors are very noticeable, but it was still a fine burrito. 7/10.

Archer Farms Apple Cinnamon Pecan Trail Mix has lots of apple chips, and I'm not really a fan of apple chips—but I still finished the bag in a few days. 7/10.

I thought the kale and butternut squash were a little odd in the Trader Joe's Gobbler Quesadilla. But you can't go wrong with a quesadilla! 7/10.

It's been a few years since I've had a Dunford Bakers Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie; they often sell them in vending machines, and I haven't had a job with a vending machine since 2017. It's fine, but it's a little dry. 6/10.

They sell Apple Pie Larabars all year, but apple pie is a Thanksgiving flavor. It's OK. 6/10.

Kneaders Turkey Cranberry Croissant might well be the best lunch item on the Kneaders menu. All the ingredients work well together—even the cheese, and I have a strained relationship with cheese! 9/10.

I asked for a pumpkin chocolate chip cake, but instead I got the Kneaders Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie. It's basic, but it's a satisfying formula, with spices in the batter. 7/10.

I think the Good & Gather Apple Pie Date & Nut Bar is slightly better than the Larabar. 7/10.

Dannon Light + Fit Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt is the best pumpkin Greek yogurt. It's not sour like the others. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli was better than I expected. It had a nice fragrance of pumpkin, and it was just a little sweet. It's also very pretty. I had it with my homemade tomato sauce (seen on the right), but I thought it clashed a little, so honestly I liked it better plain. 7/10. (We seriously need a Trader Joe's in Davis County! There's only three in the entire state, and the one on 400 South is always busy and crowded, no matter when you go.)

I Believe It Was Our Most Horrible Yet

What a strange Halloween season it was.

Obviously, the pandemic has put a damper on everything. I really struggle with the people who don't take this seriously, who believe conspiracy theories more than they believe experts. The anti-maskers are some of the dumbest people on the planet, and the anti-maskers who are jerks about it are purely evil. I really believe that.

But being in grad school has also impacted the season, because I always have homework looming over me. I didn't do all the Halloween things I might have wanted to. Oh well. I guess I should be happy about all the things I did do over the course of the season.

This past spring, my family planted a garden that turned out to be more successful than we have ever had. We planted more plants, and last year we installed a deer fence to keep the deer from eating everything. And we had seven pumpkins grow! We were able to use them for our jack-o'-lanterns, and there was one for each of us. But my family carved them without me, because my dad goes to bed early but I have a late class.

Mine is on the left.

Last week, my dad and our neighbors moved the deer fence, because our neighbors decided they wanted to keep deer out of their yard too, so it was a collaborative effort. Within a few days of moving the fence, the deer already broke through it! It's been fixed now, and there are plastic chairs to discourage the deer, so hopefully they stay out.

There were two pumpkins that we didn't carve, and I put them on the step as decorations. And the deer ate one of them.

It otherwise wasn't a terribly exciting week. I stayed off the trails because of last week's snowstorm, so I won't bore you with the details of this week's street running (and biking one day).

For Halloween, we set up a table at the end of our driveway and put candy on it. I've been wondering if I've been making enough sacrifices in my life to help stop this virus, and that was one way we sacrificed. I did see a couple of trick-or-treaters go past, but I don't know if any others did. Our street was deserted. Most of our neighbors had their lights off. I just thought it was tragic that in so many ways, it was a perfect Halloween: warm, full moon, Saturday—but the perfection was wasted. 

A depressing picture for a depressing Halloween

Throughout Halloween day, I made progress on my research paper for my US West class and made tomato zucchini cobbler and apple oatmeal cookies. I watched various Halloween shows with and without my family throughout the day: The Nightmare before Christmas, the combination Halloween/Election Day episode of That Girl, The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone, and "Catspaw," the Halloween episode of Star Trek(!). Then last night I had a dream that I met the Monkees, and I asked them why their monster-themed episodes didn't originally air at Halloween.

I have a lot of things to get done over the next few weeks for school. I am really looking forward to December, when I will get a break from homework always nagging me.

***

It is now the Thanksgiving season, which means pumpkinundation roundup continues! Here's what I had during the final week of Halloween season.

Pumpkin Spice RXBars are a strange little chewy protein bar. The pumpkin spice is fine, I guess. 6/10.

Blacksmith Ice Cream is a cute little ice cream shop in Bountiful, and Blacksmith Ice Cream Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream was the first flavor I ever had from them last year. I wasn't impressed last year. This year was better, but it's still not one of their stronger flavors. 7/10.

The Blacksmith Ice Cream Caramel Apple Ice Cream has a nice apple flavor with caramel running through. A lot of Blacksmith's ice cream has kind of an elastic texture to it. 7/10.

Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries are like an upscale version of Pop-Tarts, except they're not better than Pop-Tarts. They're drier. But they're still good. 8/10.

The Maverik Pumpkin Spice Donut is a nice cake donut, but it doesn't really taste like pumpkin. 7/10.

Noosa Pumpkin Yoghurt is often regarded as the best pumpkin yogurt. I'm not a big fan of Greek yogurt (or Greek food in general), and I don't think Noosa is that much better than others. It's still sour. 5/10.

I've said that Chip is my favorite cookie place, with Goodly as a close second. But I don't know, Goodly might tie for first place. This Goodly Pumpkin Spookerdoodle Cookie has a comforting flavor, and the interior is perfectly moist. But I don't get much of a snickerdoodle vibe. This might not be as good as some of Goodly's other flavors, but it's still fantastic. 8/10.

Lisa's Passion for Popcorn is a local company that sells their product in some gas stations, and this summer they opened a store in Trolley Square. That's rough. Not only is it a pandemic, but Trolley Square businesses struggle to stay open as it is. So to support them, I got this Lisa's Passion for Popcorn Caramel Apple Popcorn. I'm happy to say it's better than the red, white, and blue one they have in the summer (which is the only other one I've had). There's caramel popcorn mixed with apple-flavored popcorn. It's tasty, and my family had no problem finishing off this bag. 7/10.

Oikos Pumpkin Spice Greek Yogurt is similarly sour to Noosa, but you don't have to mix in the pumpkin. 5/10.

Café Zupas Pumpkin Chorizo Soup has a bit of a kick to it. Last year, I learned that you have to eat it warm. So this year, I ate it warm, and it was just fine. But it didn't blow my socks off or anything. 7/10.

Café Zupas Pumpkin Spice Crême Brulée doesn't taste very pumpkiny to me. It has a lot of caramel on top. I'm not a big fan of custardy desserts. 6/10.

Lisa's Passion for Popcorn Pumpkin Spice Popcorn isn't as good as the caramel apple flavor. A lot of pumpkin spice products have an overwhelming artificial flavor. This one isn't overwhelming, fortunately. 6/10.

Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Baking Truffles are strange things. They're little blocks of artificially spicy white creme. I wouldn't call them "filled" at all. 6/10.

I put them in my apple oatmeal cookies, and they had a rather benign influence. 7/10 for the cookie.