Pumpkin Picking

I haven't shopped for a pumpkin in years.  Add a baby into the mix and your habits certainly change.

Recently, we got together with my sisters and their girls to start the pickin' tradition.  And it turns out, that nearly 1000 people already had the same idea.

When we arrived at the pumpkin farm there were police directing traffic.  Oh boy.  There were parking attendants.  OOHH BOY.

To say the least, it was a little nutty.  Throw on top of that: The Petting Zoo.  Now, I don't know much about natural history of the Midwest, but I'm fairly confident that giraffes and camels are not indigenous species.  The crowd of people and kids went crazy for all the exotic animals.  It wasn't what I expected at a pumpkin farm.

I imagine that when you head to your neighborhood pumpkin patch (ours was an hour drive and 1/2 dozen towns later), you have your sights on finding the perfect orange pumpkin.  Noble.  I, however, have my sights on something else: Apple Cider Doughnuts.

Have you had them?  What do you think makes them so yummy? The cinnamon and sugar crunch when you bite in? The special taste when you eat them with hot apple cider? Are they so wonderful because they are only available for a few weeks a year?  Yes, yes, and yes.

The crowd at the pumpkin farm was nutty, but I will certainly fight my way through to secure myself a baker's dozen of those doughnuts.  Without a doubt.