Besides Halloween itself, my favorite part of Fall is the abundance of pumpkin everywhere. Coffee creamer, ice cream, recipes of all sorts, even bath products…. I’m a woman obsessed (and I’m not the only one - Hi Mel!). Today, in honor of my birthday, I’m making Harvest Pumpkin-Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Icing. I found the recipe in a book I bought last year at a checkout… Betty Crocker Fall Baking or something like that. You know, one of those little mini-magazines. Anyway, they’re in the oven right now and the house smells SO good! I’ll have to post an image of them later if they turn out. Also, I decided that I want ham for my birthday. So instead of going out to eat again, I’m cooking my birthday meal! It’s all good though, because I really love to cook. I’ll be making a small ham, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls and maybe another veggie. Yum!

Since we’re scaling back on spending this year, I’ve decided to do food gifts for everyone in addition to a very small actual gift (or money/gift card to somewhere) for the people on our Christmas lists. I know that a lot of times, recipients end up throwing the items away after letting them go stale… I’ve done it myself. What I like to do is make up a tin of goodies. Here’s what I’m including so far:

- peanut butter and/or chocolate fudge
- peppermint bark
- brown sugar shortbread cookies
- buckeyes (possibly, if I’m brave enough to make them)

What would make you NOT throw one of these gifts away? I’m going to tailor it somewhat to each person and include things I know they like, but I also need a master list of basics. I might try some gingersnaps or something, too. I saw an idea for using holiday-themed cupcake liners to arrange the cookies, etc inside the tin to keep it neat so I need to buy those before the stores run out. Throw your ideas my way!