October First Fest

October. Okay, now it’s pumpkin season. So drink that pumpkin beer if you want. Pumpkin lattes are still forbidden, not because it’s the wrong time of year, but because they are a crime against espresso.

Outside, leaves are turning. Leaves are falling. Autumn is undeniably in progress.

Every year around this time I recall the spring, when all the leaves looked pretty much the same. Tiny buds emerged bringing a faint hint of green to barren brown branches. Then impossibly small leaves unfurled, and grew, and grew, until the canopy was filled with a lush uniform greenness. But those same leaves, at the end of their life, all go out differently. Some turn early, some hang on. Some go out brightly, while others simply brown. Some fall while they are still green. Death is rarely as beautiful or poetic.

Okay. That’s about all the writing you’re getting out of me today, mostly because I’m getting sidetracked by a few pet projects. Nothing all that interesting. Just time-consuming. Which isn’t to say that I’m leaving you empty-handed today. I would never do that.

What I will do is this.

The start of a new month can be a time to look forward, but it can also be a time to look back. Right now I’m not nearly organized enough to look forward. I’m deeply concerned there will be no good weekend for cider donut picking this year, and that has me all in a tizzy.

So let’s look back, and give me a chance to collect myself and give me a few days to figure out a plan for the month moving forward.

October 1, 2013
Last year at this time I was in New Jersey. I had just written what would become my most popular post of the year, but at the time I had no way to know it would take off like it did. Anyhow, today I was struggling with the classic Jersey condiment of saltpepperketchup. Mostly, it was the ketchup part. Maybe you have to grow up putting ketchup on pork roll, but dammit, I just could never develop a taste for it.

October 1, 2012
It was already Sukkot. Perhaps one of the reasons I’m struggling today is because it’s not even Yom Kippur yet. The high holy days really take a lot out of me. Anyway, two years ago today I was super excited to be judging an Iron-Chef-style cookoff between Max London and John Ireland. It was also right around the time when The Cheese Traveler and Albany Distilling Company opened their doors.

October 1, 2011
The first of the month fell on a Saturday. I don’t post on Shabbos.

October 1, 2010
This is when I revealed the A in ADS to be my lifelong friend Adam. After he left (and left a few bottles of booze in his wake), I invented a cocktail in his honor. Looking back on it, this seasonal blend of aromatic bitters and apple brandy really sounds good. I just wish there was something similar to Aperol that didn’t use artificial color. Surely there is. Maybe it’s time to consult my cocktail gurus.

October 1, 2009
There was a time that I used to write posts on important topics. Like this one on crimes against cheese. Specifically, I was going after those who scoop out the paste of soft cheeses like brie and leave the rinds behind. I called them cheesediggers, and they must be stopped. They aren’t bad people. In fact, I don’t even think many of them know they are doing anything wrong. But they are.

Wow. So much has happened since I started writing this thing. It’s amazing to occasionally take a look back in the time capsule. Thanks for playing along and indulging me in this flight of fancy.