Go for the pumpkins...stay for the brandy

Fall is my favorite time of the year. The air is becoming crisp and cool (or at least should be), the leaves on the trees are bursting with color and apples (I eat an apple a day in the fall...with a side of cheese of course!) are a dime a dozen. Mums are everywhere and every time I see one I think of our backyard wedding in Virginia (mums were cheap and in season, and so were our flower of choice). And last but not least, pumpkin patches are bursting with bright orange gourds just waiting to be carved!

I'd have to say that carving a pumpkin (and then subsequently gorging myself on roasted pumpkin seeds) is my favorite part of the Halloween season. I can take or leave the costume part, but there's something enchanting about carving and then illuminating a pumpkin. I simply love it.

Now, it should be mentioned that I probably shouldn't be allowed to carve my own pumpkin anymore. I've had some unfortunate run-ins with knives over the years, and one in particular that sticks out in my mind involves a pumpkin, a carving knife and a puncture wound through the top of my hand. But I recovered and obviously didn't learn a damn thing from that experience because I can't wait to start carving the pumpkin we picked out last weekend!

Looking for a great spot to pick your own pumpkin (with a side of fall fun...and a lot of it)? You've got to check this place out... Joe Huber's

Just over the river in Indiana is a fall wonderland. Want to go on a hayride? How about a corn maze? Perhaps you're looking to pick some apples? Or maybe you're looking to do some wine tasting? All these things and more can be had at Joe Huber's...that is, if you're willing to share the place with about all of Kentuckiana (it was PACKED!).

Honestly? This place has it all. It's a one stop shop fall day trip for the whole family. And even if you don't have kids you can still enjoy the hell out of this place...because they have a winery.

We returned from Joe Huber's with a perfectly round pumpkin, a bag of apples, a slab of fat-back (they had a cured meat and cheese case...I just had to!) and a bottle of Apple Jack brandy.

We haven't carved the pumpkin yet or broken into the fat-back, but I can tell you honestly, the brandy is mighty nice.

They had a large selection of wines, apple spiced wines, brandies and such but we chose the Apple Jack because it was apple brandy that was aged in charred oak barrels...think apple bourbon.

Nick tried mixing it into a few concoctions last night but I think the winner was the apple jack with Ale-8-1 soda (which we just recently discovered I might add). The apple and the ginger married perfectly and made a lovely cocktail. We haven't come up with a name yet (I leave that to the hubby) but when we do I'll be sure to post it. I mean, if it turns out to be the next cosmopolitan or seven and seven, it's going to need a catchy name!