Edgar Allen Poe and Pumpkin Spice Everything

This weekend I started reading Edgar Allan Poe. It’s been years since I’ve read his stories and poems and reading them all over again has been a joy. He had such a distinct writing style, setting the mood within the first sentences of his stories and poems.

So far, I’ve read The Tell-Tale Heart, The Goldbug, and his poem The Raven. Then I stumbled across this video of The Raven, read by Christopher Lee, and listened to it a few times. He had the perfect voice for this poem.

The raven is one of my favorite birds. When I stayed in North Carolina with my son a few years ago, I enjoyed watching huge flocks of ravens in the meadows and fields. Where I live in Texas, we might see 3 ravens a year. So it was interesting watching a flock of them and listening to their “kraa” sounds. I even have a Raven Spirit Animal Journal on Etsy that explores their symbolism.

My daughter and I went out for groceries this weekend and splurged on a pumpkin pie spice chai at Starbucks. We had just been to Market Street, a local grocery store, and the entrance to the store was filled with the aroma of pumpkin pie spice. So of course, that’s all we thought about the whole time we were shopping, and decided to go get the chai. It was delicious.

Here’s the recipe to make your own pumpkin pie spice mix that you can use in many different ways. You can find this recipe and many other spice mixes in my book Homemade Spice Mix Recipes.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix Recipe

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Blend mixtures well in a bowl.

Put in a jar and keep dry.

Ways to use:

• on French toast
• marshmallows
• whipped cream
• snickerdoodles
• oatmeal
• pancakes
• fudge
• coffee
• latte
• smoothies
• spiced nuts
• pasta
• roasted vegetables
• popcorn

Halloween is just around the corner, so if you are looking for a Halloween Planner (or the paperback version here), I have one in my Etsy shop as well as bookmarks and stationery. These are suitable for Autumn, Halloween, or Samhain. Some have crows / ravens that would go with your reading of Poe’s The Raven. You can use it for note taking, writing to a pen pal, or copy the poem on it and add to a gothic-themed junk journal.

I’ve also put the entire Etsy shop on sale!

We have a cold front coming in tonight. Time to make potato soup!

Missing summer already . . . (but kinda enjoying the pumpkin spice)

Shanna