Seasons

I hate Pumpkin Spice season. Every dang thing at every store is Pumpkin Spice flavored or scented from Coffee to Hand Sanitizer. 

My change of seasons probably looks different from everyone else...and not just because I live in the land where snow is possible October through May. 
Really, in all seriousness, while living in Minnesota these past 15+ years I have seen measurable snow fall 8 out of 12 months of the year. It doesn't every year - but I have witnessed snow in both October and May and every month in between. 

Also, most non-imported (real) Minnesotans believe there are only 2 seasons. Road Construction and Not Road Construction.

My (unique) change of seasons looks like this:

Though I've not illustrated it above, there are magical times of the year (like now) where there is a bit of seasonal overlap. 

As the price of strawberries neared $4.00 I knew..and happily exclaimed to my husband: Yay!! That means it must be Caramel Apple season!

This year, peach season extended a bit past it's usual August end-time and so I have the magical overlap of peaches and cream (the cream is my magical cream cheese fruit dip which is usually reserved for "fruit dip" season) AND caramel apple season. It's a very good year.

Soon it will be baking season. For those of you who are not within my baking circumference (I'd say a 100 mile range) you may not know that this begins around the start of November (just after the brief roasted pumpkin seed week and the end of caramel apple season). Baking season usually kicks off with Snickerdoodles then expands to a plethora of cookies on hand of every flavor, size and ingredient until it winds down with just the Karova (aka "Poop Roll Cookies") cookies which we all love and cannot part with even well into the New Year. Baking season is a season of excess. I will bake and give away cookies with wild abandon. My husband complains, we all gain weight..but as inevitable as the snow flakes..baking season comes and does not leave us until nearly what most of Minnesota considers to be High School Sports Playoff/Blizzard time (or the very edge of the beginning of Road Construction season).

There is a dark, dark period just before Easter (unless it's an early Easter). The snow is dirty, the entire State has developed SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and there is nothing but Trader Joe treats like English Toffee to break me out of my stupor.

Then begins Strawberry Pretzel Salad season. This one is dangerous because I've been known to eat myself sick during this particular season. This "salad" is not a salad. It's a strawberry gelatin topped version of cheesecake on a butter and brown sugar pretzel crust. Sweet, salty, butter and sugar overload..it's my kryptonite. I literally eat it three meals a day. Large pieces. (Hence..to the point that my gut says: NO NO NO!! Stop the Madness!!)

Fortunately, I can usually ramp down my addiction by switching over to Culver's Peanut Butter shakes. Peanut Butter shakes tide me over to Mango Smoothie (aka Mango Shake) season..and soon after follows all things Mango infused, which is a sure sign of warmer weather to come. Then we can begin Taco Salad and Fruit Dip season again. 
Whew! Another year has passed. Let the magical summer fresh fruit and produce season begin! 

So, while everyone else enjoys (or loathes right along with me?) the advent of Pumpkin Spice season...I'll just say: Yay!! It's Caramel Apple Season!!