a tiny pie on every table.

let it be known: this pumpktoberfest was the most difficult one in recent memory. it wasn't just me. it's been difficult for all of us, a time akin to the life that tiny tim lived in cartoons, one where the sunday holiday dinner featured a tiny ass turkey on a large silver platter. we don't need to get into it right now, but it's all OBVIOUSLY all obama's fault. SOCIALISM! in trying times like these, it's important to appreciate the little that we have & live in the moment, enjoying every bit of what little we get for what it is. THESE ARE INSPIRATIONAL WORDS TO LIVE BY, PEOPLE.

take table talk pies. for almost a hundred years now, the worcester, ma-based company has been dispensing 4" & 8" pies to the good citizens of the u.s. & in doing so, they've ensured that, for under a dollar (for the 4" one), people can appreciate a few minutes with a relatively-edible mass-produced pie. for the pumpktoberfest season, they roll out their pumpkin pie & while i don't LOVE pumpkin pie, i couldn't resist the lure of a tiny, bodega-purchased one.

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spice up yer nuts.

when it comes to my nuts, i like to keep things spicy. give me a bunch of nuts coated up with copious powder flavor & i'm all good. i'm sure you fondly remember the inaugural year of this blog, when i declared blue diamond wasabi & soy sauce almonds to be my number one snack of the year. maybe your memory ain't that good, so you can only recall as far back as last year, when planters' five alarm chili peanuts came in at #4 on my year-end list. even with that nut love, until now the glorious pumpktoberfest season has been relatively nut-free.

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the enten-menn.

if one day some rapscallion has a sawed off shotgun to my head & the only way to avoid a brain-splattering death is for me to form a 50's-style doo-wop group & tour the country, it's all good because i already have our name picked out. we will be totally throwback & totally beloved & lawsuits be damned, we will be called "the enten-menn." as we roll through branson, MO & rome, GA & other family-friendly villages, our unique brand of doo-wop will spread soul & fond memories & shameful arousal across this great nation.

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pumpkaphenomenal.

is it the final day of pumpktoberfest already? well gosh darnit, i guess all "good" things must come to an end & stuff. that doesn't mean that we can't go out with a bang though, right? today, to mark the final day of the season, we've got not one but TWO PUMPKTASTIC POSTS!!! ISN'T THAT TOTALLY AWESOME?!!! to be honest, i was hoping to post this some time this past weekend but then i got lazy & slacked on writing it. my weekend sloth is your monday reward! anyhow, the other day, we shared a recipe for pumpkin oatmeal cookies with you & today, for our last snack of the pumpktoberfest season, we've got another tasty vegan pumpkin cookie--alternative baking company's phenomenal pumpkin spice cookie.

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five questions: robicelli's.

over the past year or so, i've gone from cupcake hater to cupcake appreciator & one of the main reasons for that change in attitude is the cupcakes from brooklyn's robicelli's. run by the husband & wife duo of matt & allison robicelli, they've been distributing their cupcakes to various shops around the city for a while now & this past summer opened up a sweet-looking physical location in a shipping container at dekalb market. their cupcakes are creative & unique & the lineup is constantly changing. a cupcake with a piece of chicken on top? you've got it with their chicken n waffles cupcake. they've got not one but TWO sweet ptoato cupcakes on the schedule for november. nuff said. it doesn't hurt that they seem to be good people too. good people get my snack dollars.

earlier this month, on their oft-hilarious & less-oft-but-still-oft-poignant tumblr, allison declared that "matt will not stop until he’s created ONE BILLION MILLION PUMPKIN TYPE FLAVORS THIS FALL. or something of that nature." i'm not sure if that was a statement or a challenge but it intrigued me so a few days back i stopped by their booth at madison square eats (which is now closed for the season) to sample a few of their pumpkin cupcakes. bonus: allison was kind enough to answer a few pumpktastic questions for eat!drink!snack!

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