We love baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet

There is an old car commercial with a catchy tune.  "We love baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet" so it goes. It is a summer kind of tune, but I think about it in the fall as well.  Baseball season has moved into playoff mode, and sadly, our Twins are once again done.  I'm not a huge baseball fan, games get a little long, but I am a die hard Twins fan.  Next year boys.  I have a sister who is a fanatic.  No doubt she'll have the season analyzed and know just what the General Manager needs to do in the off season and if he would just listen, 2015 could be the year. 

As for the hot dogs and apple pie part, fall in the north is a great time for fire pits and roasting a hot dog on a stick, and following it up with a great big  slice of pie, made from apples picked earlier in the day. You can buy little pie tin roasters and make apple pies over the fire using bread and pie filling and do both fire side.  As the playoffs get started, an interesting thing you can see as night gets earlier and earlier is folks pulling out their TV's, loading a portable fire pit with wood, and combing the three together.  I got a great smell last night on my walk, lit up from the glow from the fires going in drive ways and off patios in my little neighborhood.  

I have a friend from high school that manages a farm household, with all the extra hands needed for harvesting.  She has her own supply of apples from trees on her farm.  Here is just a glimpse of her hard work keeping the boys (and girls) nourished and happy. The picture on the heading is also hers-talented in the kitchen and with a camera I'd say.

Deliciousness from the kitchen of Chris "Chicky" Ries Otte

I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit picking apples into the weekend, but we have a little store of them in the refrigerator, so will come up with something, and I know there are hotdogs ready to be thawed from the freezer.  Tonight is supposed to be dry and cool-perfect.  I don't think we'll be pulling the TV outside, but supper will be done and done.  The thing about the commercial jingle and its staying power in our heads after all these years, is that it emotes a feeling of hominess and belonging.  These simple things can bind us as a country, a community, a neighborhood, and a family.  I'll take that, in my Chevy Malibu, wearing a Twins cap,  to the bank.