Go loco, er, local

So far I've written a lot about food (one of my favorite topics as many of you know) but I want to include other items as well, such as clothing, household products, really anything that you might spend money on.
The best place to start is local stores. Back in the day (which day? I'm not totally sure) all stores were locally owned. No big box chain MegaMart with $1 items made in China. Now I do realize these stores do have some positive aspects. I'd just like there to be a happy medium.
I live in a relatively small town, about 25,000. We have a quaint, historic downtown area with a great history. There are stores downtown that have been in families for generations. The problem is we are becoming a "bedroom" town - one where people only go home to sleep - and they work and shop and have fun elsewhere. Most people in my town barely know we have a downtown.
Explore your town or neighborhood! You never know what fabulous gems you may find!
Here is just a taste of what I've experienced in this town over the last 7 years:

• A coffee shop that didn't take credit cards. I forgot cash one day and they owner let me come back the next day to pay - no questions asked.
• A downtown business group fundraiser with some amazing deals at their silent auction.
• Antiques stores with just about anything you could want, and then some. Last week I bought a locally hand made repurposed wool sweater for my daughter that was adorable!
• A yoga student of mine who gave me all her old canning jars and wouldn't take money for it.
• An amazing photographer that no longer charges me sitting fees because I've given or referred her so much business.
• An e-mail to save a great local restaurant.
• A bank where the employees know me by name and I don't need to show ID
• A small hardware store that often has things that Home Depot doesn't with amazing customer service.
  

This is just a sampling of what I've experienced. When you buy chain store you may appear to get consistency or better prices or more selection but I encourage you to explore the alternative. When I go to the small store that is locally owned I can often meet and deal with the owner. They can negotiate or bargain with me, they can custom order for me, they can recommend for me. When I spend money I like knowing that it goes not only to support the person working there, but also the owner and his/her family who also live in the community. And if the product also comes from my community, that is a true home run.

This pumpkin could make some serious pie

This past weekend I made a most fabulous Maple Glazed Pumpkin Cake. It was quite impressive partly because it was a gluten free/wheat free/dairy free cake (I made it for friends that follow that type of diet) and also impressive because it was the moistest cake I think I've ever had.
I casually mentioned that I made it with pumpkin I had left in the freezer from last season. They joked, "you mean not pumpkin from a can?" and "you mean pumpkin comes some other way than in a can?". Seriously, you are missing out if you've never actually had fresh pumpkin. It is a variety of squash and can be cooked like most other winter squash. The only problem is it's size. You will see, however, that there are generally separate types of pumpkin sold - for carving/decorating and for cooking (the cooking ones are much smaller). I usually cut it down in to small parts, cut the seeds and the rind off and then steam in batches in my steamer over a pot of boiling water. I then puree it in the food processor and freeze for pie, cake, bread, muffins and more.
Which brings me to the local part. It is pumpkin season and at least in our part of the world you can even drive by patches in random spots (across the street from an airport??). Very near us in Shakopee is Peter's Pumpkins, Seever's (they have a great corn maze and I believe the patch by the aforementioned airport. The only other one I've been to is in Bemidji at the Lazy Acres Farm, which also has a corn maze. This time of year many of the apple orchards sell pumpkins, and the pumpkin patches have corn mazes so you can get apples, pumpkins and some entertainment too. If you have a great pumpkin patch or maze I'd love to hear about it!