Hi Everyone! Happy Monday! I’m so glad I have today off from work (though, really, Columbus Day? Why is this still a holiday?). Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! I hope your days are full of love, gratitude, and plenty of good food.
This Saturday we went to the Ashfield Fall Festival. It was a perfect fall day: partly cloudy, temperatures in the high 60s, and just enough cool, crisp fall air to require a sweater. Fall isn’t my favorite time of year, but it certainly has its moments. 
If you’ve never been to Ashfield before (most people haven’t-this place is truly up in the hills), it’s a tiny New England town that doesn’t have much going on for the majority of the year. To get there from my house, you only have to drive north for about 20 minutes, but the farther you go the less houses, stores, gas stations, etc, you see. In fact, the only gas station you’ll pass in Ashfield is a tiny old 1-pump station that can fit one car at a time. It’s truly like driving into the past.
The one time of year people are drawn here is the fall. The Ashfield Fall Festival is small, quaint, and welcoming. People from the community set up stands showcasing whatever craft they have mastered, be it blueberry cobbler, hand-forged garden tools, reclaimed wood benches, jewelry, clothing, or dance. Someone is always willing to stop and chat about their craft, or to welcome you from afar (they can spot a non-Ashfielder from a mile away).
The whole town comes together for this event, with handmade signs, families volunteering to run book sales and church fundraisers, and good food abound. Spending money at the Ashfield Fall Festival just feels right: the food you buy directly benefits the group selling it (police department, school, fire department, church, etc), and the craftspeople selling their wares get a direct sale for their pottery, woodwork, maple syrup, etc. There are games for kids, fun fall-themed competitions (how many pumpkins can you carry? what about giant zucchini?), and plenty of entertainment. 
I have a lot of complex, often negative feeling about the church as an institution, but the entirely-for-charity church yard sale is wonderful. Items aren’t priced, so you just pay whatever amount you want to donate to local charities in exchange for the items you select. I got this awesome retro sun tea jar (soon to house homemade kimchi), and a tarnished sundae spoon. I was talked into paying $2 instead of the $1.25 I valued them at, but helping more families in the community is always a good thing. 
The main event, if I’m being completely honest, was the fried dough with maple cream. I swear I would travel far and wide for freshly fried dough with maple cream. We missed the Franklin County Fair this year (our usual spot for this maple-adorned treat), but made up for it entirely this weekend. Hot, flaky, barely sweet dough slathered in thick, gooey maple cream? To quote Kevin, “it’s just a good combo”. 
Have you ever had maple cream before? I’m guessing it’s a New England/Canadian thing, since we’re maple people (adding this to my resume as we speak). Maple cream is just extra-concentrated maple syrup that’s been boiled down to a thick, creamy spread; any thicker and it would start turning into maple candy. Slather it on top of warm fried dough and I’m in heaven. Kevin’s only regret (this weekend? in life?) is not going back for more fried dough. Clearly there’s a reason I married this guy. 
Before we left for the festival I put a pot of water, leftover rotisserie chicken bones, and veggie scraps on the stove to simmer. I knew we would be gone for about 2 hours, and the soup stock would be nearly done and ready to become soup when we got back home. As fate would have it, I ran into a woman selling fresh, organic bay leaves at the festival. She made a point of restocking the basket of bay leaves when I was at her stand, and she clearly took pride in growing them. I brought home a stem of them, and one leaf went straight into the pot when I got home. The other 6 leaves are in the freezer, waiting to perfume my soups over the winter. 
I spent some time Saturday night writing down my ideas for upcoming blog posts, and Kevin and I started planning our costumes for a Halloween party we’re going to in a few weeks. (Side note: I really don’t enjoy dressing up, and find the idea of spending lots of money on a costume for ONE NIGHT to be utterly pointless and entirely wasteful. Unless you’re a little kid, then go for it). Kevin already has a Spider-Man suit, and wants to go as Spider-Man dressed up like a banana. As in, he’s going to wear a banana costume on top of his Spider-Man costume. The party is tentatively circus themed, so I’m probably going to make a picket sign and go as a protester. Yes, really. If I don’t stand up for the elephants, who will?
What are your plans for the coming weekends? Any fun fall festivals or Halloween parties? Feel free to invite me, I’ll be the one holding a sign, passing out pamphlets, talking about social justice. Clearly, I’m the life of the party. I mean, I could bring some cake, too, if that helps.