Land of Pumpkin and Nog

The holiday season is fast upon us. My food shopping plans go into overdrive. Some of my favorite food items rotate into the store in October but rotate out by early January.

Trader Joe’s grocery is the land of pumpkin, for about two months, then it’s gone. I need to grab as much fall spiced tea and pumpkin spice almond milk as possible right now. Scrumptious stuff with far-off expiration dates.

Oh, yeah. Now is the time to corral your prized fall and holiday foodstuffs to tide you over till spring. That is, those with extended expiration dates.

I don’t miss the Christmas in July ads from a few years ago. And Christmas stuff on shelves before Halloween is creepy. But, if eggnog appeared in September, I’d jump for joy.

That creamy, syrupy substance hated my some and loved by others, but only for the holidays. The beloved additive to my coffee is only available for two and a half months out of the year. It’s criminal.

I buy tomatoes in February, grapes in January, and bananas year round. I hate bananas. But, I can only purchase eggnog late fall through the holidays.

If you see an old strawberry blonde woman rummaging through the grocery dairy section in early January, that’s me. Searching for that last carton of nog which escaped detection at the Christmas party rush.