Pumpkin Apple Pie Journal
Whoever said you can’t go home again, must not have been from a small town…because that’s exactly where I am. And the best part is I’m at my Grandma’s house. This will be a different trip for me than my usual world travels. This is the kind of trip that makes all that travel worth while.
My 80-year old Grandma is in the kitchen baking, and I feel like I’m back at 8 years old. This time she’s teaching my daughter how to make her “World Famous” apple pie. The home is full of warmth, cinnamon, brown sugar and sweet apples. The pumpkin pies she made earlier are still cooling on the counter…pumpkin spice dancing with the other aromas. I get a week off, so I’m not here to work, but the combination of fragrances has got me thinking…
Just a short drive south of “home” is Green Mountain Orchards. This orchard is over 100 years old and still family-owned. My grandparents took me here every fall. I ate too many apples, drank too much cider and scarfed down every warm apple-cinnamon donut I could get.
This is the first time my daughter has been and she is just as full of excitement as I still am. The trees are heavy with the fall harvest of apples just waiting to be picked. Sweet, ripe and delicious. We almost giggle as we image all the delicacies we are going to make with these apples.
…And I’m giddy at the fragrances they’ll unlock.
Still at Green Mountain Orchard and stuffed on apples! As my daughter and I recover from our overload of sweets, we decide to further this adventure in the pumpkin patch. The vibrant orange gourds are waiting. Which is the “perfect” pumpkin? Too big? Too small? Not round enough? There seem to be a million choices. That is until my daughter finds the ONE! She exclaims that it will be the “cutest, scariest pumpkin—EVER!”
Of course I can’t forget the perfect pumpkins for my Grandma to make her perfect pumpkin pies. With this, I’m well on my way to something new at Wallford.
Back to Grandma’s in Montpelier and the artistry in the kitchen is about to happen!
My grandparents came to the Green Mountain State in the 40s and settled in Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. The wonderful thing about Montpelier is it has the distinction of being the smallest capital city of any state. And with a population around 8,000 it still retains the small town feel.
Dating back to its charter in 1781, Montpelier is as quaint and peaceful as you can imagine. When I was a kid, my grandparents would take me on hikes in the nearby mountain trails, and bike rides to the parks. Being able to take my daughter on these same trails unlocks so many wonderful memories. The crisp fall air, color-changing foliage and the scent of autumn make me want to capture that in a bottle.
The kitchen is alive with so many fragrances—Pumpkin spice, cinnamon, apples, pumkin and rich clove! In the fall the country goes crazy with “pumpkin spice” infusing virtually everything. From our coffee to our cakes, to chips, cereals, and even (blah) beer!
But none of these can beat the aroma and flavor of the real thing! As Grandma, my wife and daughter prep the ingredients I am ordered to “stay out of our way!” And I am glad to do so and simply take in the sights, sounds and delicious aroma wafting through the house. I want to capture all of this. And I want to unlock this again at a moments notice.
Apple pies are done! The filling still bubbles through the lattice crust. The smell of apples and cinnamon and fresh baked pastry fill the home. The smell is even better right out of the oven.
My daughter is so proud of her latest creation and I can’t wait to get a slice. When the vanilla ice cream hits the top of the hot apple pie and melts into the crust I can’t resist…and burn my tongue in the process, but it is so well worth it! And they are not done! The pumpkin pies are next!
Not going to lie…I ate too much! After the apple came the pumpkin and I couldn’t say “no”. Fresh pumpkin, clove, pumpkin spice and vanilla, each ingredient blended together to make the pumpkin filling. My daughter stepped up and made her first pie crust, kneading, then rolling out the dough.
After it baked and set to cool, I was ready for that slice too! I make it a rule to add a smothering layer of whipped cream to the top so that every bite gets the sweet cream with the delicious pumpkin spices. As I took that bite, the fragrance of apple and pumpkin mingled and I knew what to do next.
That week away with my family at Grandma’s house was just what I needed. Each time I visit the memories of my childhood come back like it was yesterday. Every laugh, every sound, and all the glorious scents of that house replay those moments as vividly as if it was just happening.
The real key to unlocking those memories is the aroma behind them. For me it was fresh baked apple and pumpkin pies…long before the ‘pumpkin spice’ trend, I was hooked. So I decided to craft the perfect combination of fragrances.
Unlocking moments in time and creating new ones is what we do at Wallford. And with our Apple Pumpkin Pie in our Grandma’s Dessert Collection, we achieved a fragrance that is sure to do just that.
I am so proud of the Apple Pumpkin Pie Collection and what it represents. Bring that fresh baked aroma into your home, relive wonderful memories or create new ones you’ll cherish for a lifetime–all with a breath. Introducing Apple Pumpkin Pie exclusively from Wallford Fragrances.
Follow the Journey at Wallford Fragrance “Grandma’s Dessert Collection Apple Pumpkin Pie”
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