Five Favorite Fall Foodstuffs

Linking up with sweet Hallie for another edition of Five Favorites!

The Internet is dangerously near, if it has not already reached, its absolute saturation point with regard to all things pumpkiny/pumpkin-spicy, but I don't care.  My birthday has come and gone, which means it is now officially allowed to be Fall.*  Here are the autumnal yummies I've been binging on this week:

1.  Mystic Monk Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Malt Balls

Y'all.  Pumpkin Spice.  Chocolate.  Malt Balls.  From monks!  They're basically the perfect food.  I love all malt candies, and these might just be the best ever.  They're perfectly spiced, and the malt center is great (no weirdly stale, chewy bits here). 

2.   Mystic Monk Pumpkin Spice Coffee
This is a delightful pumpkin spice coffee.  My only regret is that the decaf is only available pre-ground, which means it is not ideal for my Chemex.

3.  Mystic Monk Thanksgiving Blend**
This one is even better than the Pumpkin Spice, I think.  The flavor is deep and complex and perfectly fallish.  I'm counting down the minutes until naptime so I can curl up with a(nother) cup.

4.  Trader Joe's Pumpkin Toaster Pastries

I impulse-bought a box of these and then had to send my husband back to get another box the next day.  They are the Platonic Form of pumpkin pop-tart.

5.  Trader Joe's Pumpkin Biscotti

These were Paul's impulse buy at TJ's.  They're particularly good with the coffees mentioned above.

Honorable mention (not-pumpkin division): my grandmother's hot chocolate.  We tailgated my high school's homecoming game on my birthday, and Nanny brought along a giant cooler full of her magical cocoa concoction.  I will pass along the recipe as soon as I can remember to get it from her.


*Yes, my birthday (Oct. 11) is several weeks after the autumnal equinox.  Don't care.  It makes me sad when it gets cold (read: below 75) before then.  Just ask me about the year it snowed on my birthday when we lived in South Bend...actually, you don't have to ask; I still complain about it all the time.  Snow in mid-October is an outrage.

**I don't get any sort of kickback from the monks, promise.  I'm just kind of obsessed with their products.