Happy Columbus Day

I love fall. It means all my favorite holidays are around the corner. Everything starts with a bunch of September birthdays for us. First my daughter's. She turned five and we made her an oreo cookie cake! Gotta love Williams Sonoma!

Then my husband's birthday, then mine. You can see that my kids took every single one of my favorite candies/junk food and decorated the table for me! Then we spent the evening eating it all up (in the name of cleaning, of course).

Sugar babies, candy corn, zebra cakes, Brach's candy pumpkins...all that sugary stuff that I tell my kids never to eat!mmm i love it:)

But the best part of fall for me is that we get a lot more quality family time together. Usually the summers are busy with fun bbq's and get-togethers where our kids run off to play with the other kids while we adults eat, drink, and be merry! Now that the weather is getting cooler, and we're seeing some more rainy days, we tend to find fun in indoor activities. For our family, it always means getting in the kitchen. The kids know just when to pull their chairs up to the counter to get a front row seat to the action. Then they, of course, help mix and stir whatever we're cooking up. Today it was pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin pie is so easy to make I don't think I will buy another one from the store again! Plus with all of our apple pie baking, I have the crust method down 100%! I make a mean homemade pie crust. Plus - making it from scratch means you know exactly what you're eating.

NOTE: I just watched the movie "Food, Inc." and was pretty much grossed out by every single thing I put into my mouth each day. Actually, I was mostly grossed out that I was feeding this my kids. I already know I'll probably have cancer in another 20 years or so - but my kids? Now the food industry has messed with the wrong person!

Anyway, I have a new found inspiration (which will likely diminish after a few weeks) to make everything from scratch. Like I said - we'll see how long this lasts:) But, in keeping with Longo Columbus Day tradition, we made a pumpkin pie and its already nearly gone!

So what to do when the food runs out and its still a rainy day? How about some indoor crafts? Last year, my Columbus Day articles for La Voce and Italians R Us highlighted a few Italian themed crafts that were good for young children. There are even a few that the older kids might enjoy. You can make anything from colored pasta flags to Italian themed trivets. check it out, and send me your Italian craft ideas!

Visit my article on Italiansrus.com using the link above!

CIAO!