Pumpkin pie is a must-have for Americans around the holidays. In fact, an estimated 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed every year at Thanksgiving. But what if I told you that’s not real pumpkin pie you’re eating?

One of my favorite childhood memories is traveling up the mountain to Julian, and eating pie at the Julian Pie Company. When I smell apple pie, it always takes me back to that cozy pie shop. Now, I also make my house cozy as I put up apples in all forms, not just pie. And my house, well when September hits and I’m preserving an apple bounty, it smells like Julian to me.

The two areas I struggle with domestically are laundry and pie crust. While I make my own laundry soap, I don’t bother to sort by color, and I haven’t tried to figure out what gets washed in cold or...