Highland Foods Store

The last of the leaves are falling, temperatures are dropping, sailboats have been laid to rest in boatyards and driveways, moorings have been pulled for the season. Fall is here with winter right around the corner.

One of our favorite outdoor activities this time of year is hiking in the Maine woods. We are especially fond of Mount Battie in Camden Hills State Park. The hike is steep and short, the trail blanketed with leaves and wild cranberry. At the summit, you are treated to a broad reaching view of Penobscot Bay with its many islands - Isle au Haut, Isleboro, Matinicus, and Lime Island. There are many others of course. You can see Blue Hill and Mt. Desert off in the distance and new wind turbines on Vinal Haven. The gray green sea is dotted with a handful of boats while the magnificent schooners of Camden Harbor float on their moorings, no longer moved by the wind rather the pulsing of the tides.

The last of the garden harvest is gathered and put up for the winter. One of our favorites is pumpkin. It is fun to watch them grow, speculating which will be best for the family Jack-O-Lantern. We judge them by size, color and shape. We carve their faces into spotty toothed mouths with devilish grins and glaring eyes. Boo!

Being the thrifty New Englanders that we are, we use the carving left overs to make hearty pumpkin soups and roasted pumpkin seeds. We used Maple Pepper® to season the soups and the pumpkin seeds are roasted in a mix of Maple Pepper®, olive oil and soy sauce. The meals are deliciously simple.

Do you have a favorite fall time recipe using our Maple Pepper® seasonings? We’d love to have you send it along to post on our website.

Happy Fall!