Happy autumn!
Have a lovely autumn day!
(From the garden today: Fragrant Phlox, Russian Sage, Chrysanthemums, Beauty Berries, Liriope, and Blue Mist Spirea)
Tag Archives: Autumn
Pumpkin Snack Cake
Pumpkin Snack Cake
Ingredients
2 c. all-purpose flour (stir before measuring)
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking power
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground mace
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
15 oz. (425 gm.) canned pumpkin
3/4 c. granulated white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. canola oil
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 lg. egg
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. dried currants
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe at bottom of page)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×9″ pan with baking spray or with butter and flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together pumpkin, sugars, canola oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla until smooth and well-blended.
4. Stir pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients until smooth and no dry spots appear. Then fold in currants and walnuts. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Level top with the back of a spoon.
5. Bake for 38 – 48 minutes or until firm on top and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.
6. While cake is cooling, prepare cream cheese frosting. Once cake is cooled, invert onto a cooling rack, then re-invert onto a cutting board. Frost top of cake, then cut into squares. Enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. + 1 T. confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. + 1 t. milk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
Directions
Beat ingredients together until perfectly smooth.
Autumn’s Chill
Along with bringing down a lot of leaves, yesterday’s winds ushered in a drop in temperatures. Brrr! It was only 16F. here this morning. If I didn’t have to rake this afternoon, I would stay in and do some baking. Maybe tomorrow : ) Have a lovely day!
Bright Color, Gloomy Day
This has been a wonderful year for autumn foliage in Manhattan, Kansas. The wind was gusting this morning, so I decided that I had better get some pictures before all the leaves come down. Here is a photo that I took looking up into one of the maple trees in our neighborhood. The colors looked especially vivid against the grey fall sky. Have a lovely day!
A Touch of Orange
Orange chrysanthemums in the garden this morning …
Travel Theme: Delicate
Thanks, Ailsa for this week’s travel theme!
Pictured here, a Japanese Painted Fern in the autumn garden …
Not a Pumpkin
One of my goals for this morning was to photograph some of the pumpkins that I have arranged in the yard so that I could have a nice end-of-October themed shot to share on the blog today. But once I got outside, I succumbed to the temptation of photographing my roses which, by the way, are enjoying the cool weather and occasional rains. (They came through last week’s snow just fine – thankfully!) Here is a picture that I took of Marilyn Monroe, dripping wet on this gray morning after last night’s rains. Enjoy! Have a lovely day!
Snow Falling on Roses
Just three weeks ago, I posted a photo with the title Summer in September. How quickly things change. Today started out with cloudy skies, turning to a mix of rain and sleet, then rain and snow, and just a little bit ago turned over to snow. I am hoping that it doesn’t nip the roses. We have a garden wedding tomorrow! Fortunately, the forecast is for sunny skies and 66 degrees F. in the afternoon.
Have a lovely day!
Early Autumn on Konza Prairie
I was out on the Konza Prairie the other afternoon and it was just about the prettiest that I have seen it. The grasses are starting to put on their autumn colors – subtle shades of golds, oranges, reds and purple – before they turn brown for the winter. It is delightful to walk on the trails and hear little besides the wind blowing through the grasses, the songbirds and crickets, and the crunch of one’s own footsteps. In some places, the grasses are tall enough that I could extend my arms almost straight out from my sides and touch them with my fingertips as I passed by.
Summer in September
It is supposed to be around 90 degrees F. here in Manhattan, Kansas today and tomorrow, so I needed to water the garden this morning. I was just captivated by the light and had to take some photos. This is Crape Myrtle Royalty soaking up some sun and water.
A Taste of Morning 