News
Fall in Cincinnati
Fall in Cincinnati ….. the best place on earth?
It’s always a debate with me. Is Spring or Fall the best season? But right around mid- September, it’s always Fall, especially in the beautiful Midwest. I was just out in the real West visiting my niece for her 50th Birthday. It seems like whenever I’ve gone to Denver it always looks about the same, except for winter. Brown barren land punctuated by a flurry of trees, big blue skies and of course the purple mountains majesty way off in the distance are sights to count on. Sure they have pumpkin lattes and caramel apples, but can they see farmland twisted with orange pumpkins and vines on their drive to work or the unpredictable colors of the multitude of glorious deciduous trees turning different colors lining every street as if it was decorated for the grandest parade of the year?
We went out to a lovely restaurant the night of Erin’s birthday and after we parked, we unexpectedly passed under a lonely apple tree whose swollen limbs hung heavily with big red apples from a recent rain. I was so surprised to see such a thing in Denver and wanted to pick one right off its bountiful limb. Growing up, our neighbor had an apple tree in her yard. She always offered us as much of the bounty that we could carry in big brown paper grocery bags. Many a Fall meal was enhanced with applesauce or an apple pie because of this tree. I made an apple pie tonight with apples from our local farmer’s market. I couldn’t resist.
Discovering an apple orchard while driving about the countryside on the way back from my son’s soccer games made the game secondary to the joy of buying any of the fantastic varieties of apples you could find there, but never at the grocery store. Apple’s that had a heritage some going back 100 years. And then there’s that cider. I don’t think there is any drink more uniquely sweet than a glass of fresh pressed apple cider.
My friend Laurel grew up on an orchard in Northern Ohio and every September I think of her parents making homemade apple butter over a fire in their front yard. She often sends me pictures now of the plenty that have come from her own garden, tomatoes and flowers galore, so many shapes and sizes.
Tonight, I am writing this in my backyard. I couldn’t stand to be inside with this glorious and always fleeting Fall calling me to stay out a little longer. I can see the golden half-moon hanging over the edge of the garage roof. The crickets are still chirping; there is a new cooler breeze blowing through the redbud trees and I actually hear the hoot of an owl right here in Pleasant Ridge.
Before I left for Denver, I walked through the bakery and a wide smile crossed my face as I saw my beloved lemon ginger squirrels, sitting up with a twirl of orange icing as a tail. I promise there wasn’t one cookie like that in Denver. There’s only one place to get that particular cookie and it is right here at the BonBonerie, another reason to think Cincinnati may be the best place on earth to enjoy Fall. Just a little reminder that the cotton candy pigs are now dressed as ghosts and we started making our caramel apple cake laden with house made buttery caramel all over the top. Come on in. Fall never lasts long enough.
Co-Founder
Sharon Butler
