Fall-ing for pumpkin dip.

I love Fall.  It's my favorite season, especially right around the time when the nights start to get a little chilly, but the days are still warm enough to forgo a jacket.  Fall is scarf season, it's PSL (pumpkin spice latte) season, it's apple picking season.

I took a walk with a middle school friend last week at work, and he picked these gorgeous red and orange leaves off the grass outside our building.  He kept stuffing them in his coat pocket, until he had a collection of 20 perfect leaves.  I know this, because he counted every single one.  The leaves smelled of summer days long gone, of a couple of frosty nights, and of birds starting their migration south.  I could have sworn they smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg, too.  This is why I like Fall.

Hayrides, Halloween costume dilemmas, nervously eating way too much popcorn through a scary movie, caramel apples, pumpkin entrails covering your hands as you carve a perfectly lopsided pumpkin, only to realize you've cut through the outline of the meticulous pumpkin design you've created, and all you have is a gaping hole on the front of a pumpkin (we've all been there-- possibly more than once or twice).  All of these memories remind of why I love Fall, oh-so-much.

There's also warm, nubby blankets and mugs upon mugs of hot cocoa or some spiced apple cider.  And donuts!  Let's not forget the most thankful holiday of them all, either... all that turkey and mashed potatoes, and how do you like your stuffing?  Do you take cranberry sauce?  Is it homemade?!  And warm, comforting pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert.  The flaky crust, the hint of nutmeg, the warm laughter around the dining room table.  Going to bed quasi-early, stretching out those calf muscles in preparation for a full day of Black Friday retail therapy/mayhem.

And then, there are the simpler things.  Maple, cinnamon, pumpkin, cream cheese, brown sugar.  Mix these together, and you've got a dang good pumpkin dip.  Make this.  I promise, it won't let you down.  Dip some slices of a freshly picked apple in this, and you've solved all of your day's problems.  You've got leftover graham crackers from summertime s'mores?  I bet they'd like a dip in some pumpkin goodness.  Of course, homemade gingersnap cookies are amazing with this, too.  Game over.

Recipe  (adapted from My Recipes)
8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C light brown sugar (packed)
1/2 C pumpkin puree (I use canned pumpkin--NOT canned pumpkin pie mix!!!)
3 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix cream cheese, light brown sugar, and pumpkin puree in a blender until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Add in maple syrup and cinnamon, mix for another minute.  Chill for 30 minutes, and enjoy!  Goes well with sliced apples, pretzels, animal crackers, nilla wafers, gingersnap cookies, graham crackers, and so on.