FRONT BURNER: Apple cake beats pumpkin spice as fall foodstuff

I've never understood what all the pumpkin spice fuss is about. I mean I like pumpkin, and I like the spices — cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves — known as pumpkin (pie) spice. But I'd much rather celebrate the arrival of autumn with apples and pears.

Maybe it's because I associate pumpkin less with pies and more with soups and other savory applications.

Or more likely, it's because when I was growing up my Granny Tommie almost always had my favorite pie — apple — and her pear cake — made from pears picked from the two towering trees in her backyard — on hand. Either fresh from the oven or, more often, her deep freeze, as she called it. That freezer was a wonderland of delectables, from homemade pies and cakes to corn and other goodies from her garden.