Apple, Pumpkin & Maple Season

I'll never forget this Bon Appétit cover. Wow, was that one 
dreamy chocolate-cream pie. I made it for a New Year's brunch at our house.

One of the first lessons I learned at Good Housekeeping was that the November and December issues were the fattest of the year, and January and July were the slimmest [at least in the 1990s].

So when we worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas, in the summertime, we had more editorial pages to fill to balance out the plump ad count. You know, the perennial ads that include recipes for classics like Libby's pumpkin pie and green beans topped with fried onions. They're old standbys, but we readers love them every time.

Well, it's November again. Not really....it's September 20. But who could resist the October/November issue of Fine Cooking [priced sky-high at $6.95 but really trusty and beautiful]? It was front and center at Whole Foods, with a cover line that trumpets:


GREAT PUMPKIN CAKE!
Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake, page 80

And then, the mailman brought my October issue of Bon Appétit....with this yummy promise:


APPLE
DESSERTS!
CIDER TART
MAPLE PIE
FRITTERS


LIDIA'S 
APPLE TORTE
WITH
HAZELNUT
CRUST


Oh, I could go on and on. I love reading food magazines and cookbooks. I live for it. But tonight, with Punch visiting, I decided to make simple baked apples. She filled a bag with Honeycrisps at Whole Foods and they were pretty good. H., Punch and Figgy loved them for dessert, but next time, I would spice them up a bit more with freshly ground nutmeg and more cinnamon, maybe pecans too.

I guess I won't mention that we had whipped organic cream on top.

Strange but true: I do feel fuller for having had an apple. That counts for something, right?