Traditionally, John and I have tried to spend a weekend away prior to the start of basketball season. We decided that this year it would be easiest to make a few day trips together rather than deal with the packing of overnight baby gear. I had my sights set on a day trip to Tehachapi to pick apples, select pumpkins, and bask in the crisp fall air...
Henry, however, came down with a fever on Friday night, so we were a bit worried about traveling with him. He seemed to be feeling much better on Saturday, so we decided to forgo Tehachapi and settle for a family farm stand in Arvin instead. We packed a picnic lunch and set out, only to discover that this particular family farm is quite popular and literally crawling with people...we were a bit disappointed. We were looking for more of a small-time farm atmosphere, and while this farm had plenty to offer in the way of variety, it was far from the intimate farm experience that we were after...
We did take this little picture of Henry with their pumpkins though:
So we decided we would indeed travel the extra 20 miles east and head for Tehachapi. I left all of my apple picking research at home, so we just figured we'd stop and ask the locals for a few good farms to visit. Turns out that the end of October is not the best time to go apple picking...we should have gone earlier in the month, or even in September, but there were a few apple farms that were still open. We couldn't find a U-pick farm, but we did find a lovely 20-acre orchard with the nicest farmers you could ever meet. They sold us some delicious apples and pumpkins and then sent us on our way. It was a good day, even though it didn't go as planned. Next year we'll make sure to plan our apple picking trip a bit earlier in the season though :)
Henry with our 3 pumpkins
We decided to forgo our packed picnic lunch, and eat here. It's John's new favorite pizza place. He discovered it while at a tennis tournament last spring, and has been eager to take me ever since. It did not disappoint.
After we returned home, we took the picnic lunch that we didn't eat, and had ourselves a picnic dinner in the backyard...
Then we got down to the business of carving our pumpkins. It's been a long time since I've carved a pumpkin, but it's kind of like riding a bike...once you learn, you never forget :)
I'm not much for the traditional jack-o-lanterns. Too time consuming & too much room for error. I decided instead to drill holes in each pumpkin to form the first letter of each of our names: J, K, & H. Very quick & very easy.
I was quite pleased with the way they turned out, considering they took me all of 5 minutes to "carve".
Then, afterwards I took all of our pumpkin seeds and roasted them with a little salt & olive oil. Yum.
Despite Henry's sniffles & our lack of preparation it turned out to be a good day. We love fall!
I was a little bit scared of the hominy in this recipe, but it turned out to be quite good. If you are unfamiliar with hominy (I was until just a few days ago), there is a great description of it here. If you enjoy a good sweet potato & like a nice Mexican soup, then this recipe is for you. I found it in this month's issue of Better Homes & Gardens, but you can find it online here.
