Wednesday, October 10, 2007

a couple of simple pleasures

In a world that tends to be on the complex side,
I have come to love that which is simple,
anything that adds a little goodness and beauty to my day,
They may not be world changers but they add a little joy.
And who doesn't need a little joy?
As soon as fall hits, I long for pumpkin. Strange I know.
It could be because pumpkin only comes to visit in fall
(you just never see it in spring)
and I happen to love fall because
stores are flooded with millions of tiny chocolate bars,
I got married in October and my birthday is near Thanksgiving.
To me, anything pumpkin-y seems to personify autumnal goodness.
Crisp fall afternoons seem to shout out,
"For goodness sakes, where are the pumpkin muffins?"
And apparently they are at Trader Joes. In a box.
I love baking from scratch but this is "scratch" in half the time.
They have hidden them in between the lemon pound cake box
and the cranberry orange cake box in the baking aisle.
And they are little boxes of pumpkin gold, so if you find them
and pumpkin signifies all the happy to you that it does to me,
get more than one box.
I made them and all my boys (Scott included) wanted 2 and
declared me "pumpkin goddess" for the day.
Okay, they didn't declare anything but they did want 2.
If you sprinkle them with brown and white sugar before baking,
like my sister Erica suggested,
it forms a carmelized sugar crust
which is a nice texture play against the moist lovely muffin,
(I have been watching WAY TOO MUCH food network)
the heavens will open up and rain down pumpkin joy upon you.
And did I mention it comes in a box?
Onto simple pleasure #2
While browsing at Target...
which is a simple pleasure in and of itself,
I happened upon a dishwashing soap called,
you are not going to believe it,
Simple Pleasures by Dawn.
And it is.

Because not only do you have the grease cutting power of Dawn,
but in a seperate little cage at the bottom of the bottle,
they have enclosed tiny air freshener pebbles that fill
your kitchen with a lovely scent, apple/pear.
And if you have a house full of boys, or stinky diapers,
or you let your laundry sit in the washer for 3 days and
go horrificly sour, you need 4.7 bottles of this to
distribute around your house.
It is fantastic. And I see they now have lemon/tangerine.
Could anything be more simple or pleasurable?
I don't think so.

5 comments:

Beth said...

Sue, I am so with you on simple pleasures!!! I am constantly battling the complexities in my life and longing for simplicity. I guess that helps me appreciate the simple things in my life even more.
...thanks for using your words to create such a beautiful picture of Fall.

Jules Bergman said...

Even as a summer baby, I have always loved fall. It is light sweaters, football, beautiful leaves and cool nights. And in this part of the US, cooler temps are a true blessing.

And bonus! I am extra excited for my Target run tomorrow - I'm going to grab some Simple Pleasures for my kitchen! I am all over the Lemon and Tangerine stuff. Thanks!

scott aughtmon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
scott aughtmon said...

Ah another great post from confessions of a tired supergirls!!!! by mom. jack

FrazzMom said...

(delurking) I love the lemon/tangerine Dawn. I bought it several weeks ago and it still smells good on my kitchen counter. I even find myself washing dishes by hand so that I can enjoy it!