Fall is here! This morning I was treated to my favorite weather on earth. Fog. Wonderful, misty, curl up with a book in front of a fire fog. Chilly damp mystery novel fog. I love it. I think it’s deep in my English blood to adore a nice foggy morning. Or so my Nanny tells me. It is quintessential autumn weather. I had my best ever experience with my favorite weather this morning at “walking club”.
What is walking club you ask? It’s a morning activity before school where the kids walk laps and earn badges from the school. As a parent volunteer I sign off on each lap and monitor the track as they walk. It’s fun. This morning on my way to school I noticed a police officer settling in at the top of my hill, totally invisible in the dense fog and right in the middle of a school zone. A perfect trap. I lamented all the poor people that officer would catch this morning. Then when I got to the school I realized from the starting point, we couldn’t see the far two corners on the field. The foggy soup gave the kids a perfect opportunity to cheat. So, I marched down to the corner to be sure the little rugrats were going all the way around. I’m ok being the bad guy apparently. Sure enough, just moments after parking myself in the fog, I saw kids cutting across the corners. I could see them but they didn’t know I was there. They’d dart across the first corner, then come upon me waiting as they tried going thru the second one too. I’d send them back with a point and a smile. They took it in stride.
One group of 4 or 5 boys was the best moment of my morning. All but one of them went all the way around like they should. And, started calling out their friend who cut the first corner. “Cheater!”, the chants rang out from the kids. As the boy came thru the part of the field where I was standing he was yelling back “They can’t see us! You’re all losers for going around!”. He practically ran into me as the words were floating back across to his non-cheating friends. With my sweetest voice I looked him right in the eyes and said “I can see you just fine, and you should do the right thing even when you aren’t being watched.” It’s wonderful the lessons we learn from kids. Immediately I flashed back to that cop in the fog at the top of my hill. Doing the right thing even when nobody is watching is quite possibly the greatest lesson of my life. It’s never easy. Ever. I was thankful for the reminder this morning. So, I had to share with you. And since I’m in such a giving type mood, I’m sharing these cute little fall pumpkins too. They are made from rich creamy cheesecake. Yuuuum! I saw the idea on Bakerella and decided to put an autumn spin on them by dipping them in orange coating and adding a little stem with some flattened fruit snacks.
Make this super easy by purchasing a cheesecake to use. You could make it even more fall like by using a pumpkin cheesecake! I utilized the leftover New York Cheesecake I recently made. I wanted to send it into work with my hubby, but cheesecake is kind of difficult to share cause there’s cutting and forks needed. So, I made up these little balls with it. Perfect! Check out my dipping method here. I’m a fan of the two forks way of doing things. Pop on a stem after dipping and you have an adorable fall treat! Enjoy!
Cheesecake Balls
adapted from Bakerella
Cheesecake (you can buy one, or make up a basic recipe to use)
Mini ice cream scoop
Chocolate candy melts
Green fruit snacks, flattened and cut into triangle stems (or you could use fruit roll ups or any other green/brown stem you like)
Scoop out portions of the cheesecake with your mellon baller/ice cream scoop. Set them on a tray in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Shape slightly and dip into the candy melts (melt according to package instructions). Add your stem while candy is still wet then set on wax paper to harden. Store in the refrigerator.
Bakerlady 
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