Fall Flavors are my Favorite

It has been two weeks since I returned from my glorious trip to Africa, and while I still don't feel fully acclimated to being back in real life, I am so excited that Autumn has begun. It has always been my favorite season- especially when I lived in New York and could feel it in the briskness of the air while walking down the street, watching people clutch their steaming hot mochas and pumpkin spice lattes as they lingered in coffee shops or on the street corners. Even hearing Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett playing in the stores while I shopped or grabbed some food brought a smile to my face, and it is still something that, when I happen to experience it here on the west coast, always reminds me of Fall in NY.


But I have to admit that while I love to see the leaves change colors and feel the weather decline toward winter so I can don my big coat and fashionable scarves, my favorite part of Autumn is the flavors. Any excuse to cook or bake with pumpkin, butternut squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves--among many other things-- is something that I look forward to all year. So in honor of the first day of Autumn last weekend, I decided to give in to temptation and buy some canned pumpkin. Normally I would go through the effort to make my own pumpkin puree by baking a sugar pumpkin and scooping out the gooey interior (as well as roasting the seeds with cinnamon sugar!) since that tends to be more rewarding in the end. But I figured I would wait until closer to Thanksgiving to do that, when the presentation of dishes requires much more intricate preparation. At least, for my family it does.

Plus I decided that since this first recipe was more of an experiment, I didn't want to put in too much effort in case it completely fell apart. This was my first time attempting a roll, or log, and is something that I had actually been wanting to try for a long time now. So once again my coworkers acted as my guinea pigs to test if I had succeeded in pulling it off. Although I was not too thrilled about the presentation of it, the fact that it was nearly gone by lunch told me that I had at least gotten the taste part down. The decorative sugar pumpkins on top were gifted to me by a coworker last week, which is actually what prompted me to start this baking extravaganza in the first place. I'm not sure whether to thank her or curse her.



And then since I had half a can of pumpkin left, I decided on a whim last night to throw together some pumpkin chocolate bars-- much like brownies but with pumpkin instead of chocolate. Smelling the aroma of pumpkin and spices drift through my apartment again was enough to tell me I had made the right decision. I only hope my coworkers won't chide me for throwing tons of buttery baked goods at them so early in the season.

Africa Trip Highlights

Because the entirety of my trip was so incredible, I am afraid that writing about every detail in my blog would be nearly impossible. So instead I have opted to give you a few highlights that will probably always be some of the more memorable parts of my short stay in southern Africa:



1. First night cooking dinner with Daniella in Maun
I'm sure those of you who have known Daniella and me for awhile will understand how important cooking is to our relationship. I mean, we used to get together weekly at her apartment (or sometimes mine) to whip up something tasty.  So after 1 1/2 years of being deprived of each other's company, it was such a relief to be in the kitchen together once again. It felt so natural; like I had already been to her apartment several times before instead of having just arrived. Although we chose something fairly easy- her homemade tortillas with a butternut squash and onion filling and guacamole- it made me so happy to have that experience of cooking with her again that it made no difference what our product was. But of course it turned out delicious. ;)






2. Hitching a ride from Maun to Pandamatenga
It would be easier to tell the story of how Daniella and I almost failed to leave Maun together, as it was such a long and frustrating journey. I will just say that after nearly giving up hope of making it to Pandamatenga that night, we miraculously secured a ride with someone who agreed to take us as far as Nata (a sort of halfway point between Maun and Pandamatenga) where we would meet with our host to take us the rest of the way. I was of course skeptical when Daniella first mentioned the idea of hitch-hiking as I am fully aware that it is illegal and frowned upon in the U.S. But she assured me that it is actually a preferred way to travel for many people in Botswana who cannot afford their own vehicles, and even for those who have vehicles but need help with gas. So it is actually a welcome addition to pick up one or two people who are willing to share in the expense. This was definitely a new experience for me, and, I have to say, quite an exciting one.


3. Waking up to see zebra at the safari lodge
I was thrilled to go out searching for wildlife as soon as we reached Pandamatenga (near Chobe National Park), but never did I imagine it would be as easy as walking out the door of our room at the safari lodge. Our host, Justin, came to me our first morning there and asked if I had seen the zebras yet. I looked at him blankly, wondering if he was joking, before he pointed out the striped herd that had just assembled at the waterhole behind our cabin. I was so shocked to see them- my first African wildlife spotting- that I failed to take a decent photo. So I apologize for that. But how many times do you get to say you woke up, walked outside, and saw a bunch of zebra gathered within 100 feet of you?


4. Sunset safari cruise on the Chobe River

While some parts of this cruise were a bit too touristy for me to want to do again, I have to include this excursion in my highlights just because it was my first time seeing African wildlife up close.  We saw several species of birds, baboons, several species of antelope, buffalo, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, giraffe, and water monitor lizards. Plus I just really enjoy smooth boat rides, even if it is a bit nerve-wracking knowing that underneath us dwelled hippos and crocodiles.







5. Fancy dinner at Camp Kuzuma while watching elephants battle at a waterhole
Okay, maybe "battle" isn't the right word- but we did witness one elephant snap off part of the tusk of another one! It was loud and sounded really painful, and we saw the tusk go flying. We didn't retrieve it, though, don't worry. But what was most special about that night was sharing a private elegant meal with Daniella (who appreciates good food just as much as I do) on a terrace while watching elephants bathe and/or drink from the nearby waterhole. It was quite a magical moment, I have to say, and one that must be experienced to be appreciated.

6. Rosh Hashanah dinner with my relatives in Johannesburg
This was another one of those surreal experiences. Not only did I get to meet these long lost relatives I had heard vaguely about several years prior, but I got to spend a major Jewish holiday with them. They actually expressed how fortunate my timing was since I was able to meet nearly the entire family and normally it is impossible to gather them all together for one occasion. I learned so much about my family's history, which is something I had always been interested in discovering since I was young. And I got to experience Jewish life in South Africa, which is something I never would have imagined doing even months before this trip. Oh, and did I mention the mountains of delicious food that we had to choose from?


7. Making Christmas cookies with Daniella
As silly as this may sound to most people, Daniella and I felt that we couldn't leave each other without celebrating our favorite holiday together (even if it is a bit early). So we resolved to bake some sugar cookies together, which we then either rolled in cinnamon sugar or cut into Christmas-themed shapes with sprinkles. It made me so happy to sing Christmas carols with her while laughing at our horribly deformed cookies, even if it meant coming to the realization that the actual holiday was not for months.


8. Driving out to the Cradle of Humankind with Daniella
As an archaeologist, I knew I couldn't leave South Africa without seeing where some of the first human species have been discovered. So Daniella and I, without any other mode of transportation, opted to rent a vehicle and drive ourselves out to the Cradle of Humankind about an hour outside of Johannesburg. Well, it took us longer than that to find it of course, and we arrived too late to actually visit the Sterkfontein caves. Fortunately we were still able to explore the Maropeng museum, which ended up being pretty entertaining in itself. I'll just say there was a dodo bird replica spinning in a case in the center of one of the rooms and an indoor raft ride. But the most memorable part of that excursion was probably the drive back to Johannesburg. My phone, which we were using to guide us, died when we got about halfway back. But instead of freaking out (like I was as the driver with no sense of direction), Daniella miraculously was able to guide us back on pure intuition. We were shocked to make it back to the car rental place without any sort of outside help, and just in time to drop of the car before the workers left! We decided to celebrate by going to a Portuguese restaurant in the nearby upscale shopping area for some good food and wine.


9. Walking atop Table Mountain in Cape Town
This had to be the best way to spend my last day in South Africa-- atop one of the most beautiful places in the world. Well, it was recently rated as 1 of 7 of the world's wonders of nature. I had no idea how spectacular it would be until I had gotten off the cable car and walked toward the railing where there was a view down toward Cape Town and the ocean beyond. There were several trails running around the mountain so I walked along one of them for a couple hours, basking in the beauty surrounding me. I can't even explain how elated I felt up there, alone with nature. I knew it was where I was meant to be at that time; such a perfect place to reflect on the last week and remind myself how incredibly lucky I was to be alive and loved.

10. Watching the U.S. Open with my relatives in Cape Town
While tennis is not an enormous part of my life, it is something that connects me with the rest of my family. It is the only sport all 5 of us (my parents, two brothers, and I) will all watch together, and will actually play together. So to sit down with these distant relatives in South Africa, who remind me quite a bit of my family in many ways already, and watch that sport of all sports, made me feel so at home. Like I was back home with my own parents and brothers.