It began when my husband and I were dating.
One autumn day, we chose a local pumpkin patch and each picked out a pumpkin. At my small apartment in Capitola-by-the-Sea, we cooked up Taco Soup and crafted caramel apples, then carried them to the doorsteps of friends.
The next October, we did it again.
And somewhere along the way, it became Pumpkin Apple Day.
After we got married and had children, the day grew with them. I began bringing home different kinds of apples. I sliced them, set them out, and my family tried to guess which variety was which. We read books about apples; a favorite was The Apple Pie that Papa Baked.
More than twenty years have passed and we still keep Pumpkin Apple Day.
The pumpkin patch in this photo we walked to from our house in La Selva Beach, California. We'll need to find a new-to-us pumpkin patch this year here in Franklin, Tennessee.
Here's a recipe for Caramel Apples in case your family would like to have a Pumpkin Apple Day of your own.