Autumn inspiration

It's October! The air is crisp, the sky is blue, the sun shines in a friendly way. Autumn has officially started. Dear Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is hosting a Fall Inspiration party today. I've been looking forward to this!

Here's a glimpse into a few spaces at my house that are sporting a fallish look. As you walk up the front walk:

And a closer look at each side of the door.

See that terra cotta jack-o-lantern? It was the first of my collection of pumpkins. My husband and I got married in 1985. Almost immediately, we moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, for my husband to go to graduate school at the University of Virginia. We lived in a tiny little apartment in married students' housing, just getting by on my income. Those were wonderful times, but they were lean times. My parents came to visit us in October that year, and they bought me this jack-o-lantern. I never could have afforded a pumpkin to carve into a jack-o-lantern, so I proudly lit this on Hallowe'en night as I gave out inexpensive candy to our trick-or-treaters. This year will be the 25th year that I've lit this little guy.

If you come to my house, you'll be greeted by Snickers (our beagle) and Cocoa (our pound puppy). Did you spot them in their guard dog positions? You wouldn't believe how often I have to wash nose prints off those windows.

The side door in from the front porch sports a wreath as well as the front door. This one is a pine cone wreath made for me by a friend many years ago. I wired this fun little sign to the wreath for fall.

And now inside. A simple autumn arrangement on the dining table. . . a burlap runner (okay, a piece of burlap from the fabric store), a few of my beloved pumpkins, and a couple of topiaries I made. I do so love topiaries, but I struggled to find a pair that were the right size and the right price. So I finally made a couple with materials from Michael's: clearance-sale urns, foam spheres, florist moss, and foam spheres. They're not fancy, but I like them--and they cost me less than $10 each to make.

A fallish look for the coffee table in the living room. I'll bet some of you have these same pumpkins--the two smaller ones were Dollar Tree finds.

I showed you my prized dough cabinet here. Now it's proudly holding many of my pumpkins.

Isn't it fun to cozy things up for Fall? Visit Rhoda and be inspired!

Mountaintop retreat

George Vanderbilt's mountaintop retreat, that is.

Have you been to the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina? If not, you should plan a trip there. Really. You'll be amazed.

Here I am in front of the house. See the red-headed woman in the foreground in the orange top? Yep, that's me. That photo was taken this past Friday, on a weekend trip that my husband and I took. Asheville is about three and a half hours from here, so it's a great place to go for a long weekend.

As we planned this trip, my husband and I realized that it had been nearly two years since we'd spent the night alone together anywhere--unless you count the hospital. We'd spent several nights alone together at Duke Hospital. Incredible room service, I must say, but otherwise not quite what I prefer in a romantic getaway.

This weekend, though--everything about this weekend was just exactly what I prefer in a romantic getaway. Most of all, I have my husband to get away WITH. Believe me, those nights spent in the hospital will make you think. As I reflect upon our journey, I am grateful for a husband who is alive and healthy and who, after 24 years of marriage, still wants to share a romantic weekend with me.

I have been to the mountaintop.

Gratefully Unwrapped with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

Bake someone happy: Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

I want to share with you a favorite recipe. I'm a fair-to-middlin' cook, not a great cook. . . but I think I could call myself an above-average baker. I love to bake cookies, pies, cakes, breads. Maybe I'm better at cooking these kinds of food because these are the foods I love to eat. Hmmm.

I made a birthday cake for a dear friend this week. It's a bit of a tradition that I've established with a few precious friends, all of them fellow moms (you know--the people who are responsible for making the cakes in their families). It's great fun for me to lavish this little bit of love on them on their birthdays.

Nine times out of ten, I'll make them a chocolate pound cake. The recipe was given to me years ago by a sweet woman named Ruby Bea (isn't that a wonderful Southern name?), so my kids always call it "Ruby Bea Cake." Call it what you want; this is one of my favorite cakes EVER. Why? It's delicious. It smells heavenly when it's baking. It travels well (no frosting). It freezes well. And it's easy to make. Here's the recipe. Try it for yourself. I can pretty much guarantee good results.

Chocolate Pound Cake

1 devil's food cake mix (any brand, any variety)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

1 heaping cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt pan (or do what I do and just spray it with nonstick cooking spray).

Place cream cheese in mixer bowl. Beat cream cheese a bit to soften. Add cake mix; beat a bit to combine with cream cheese. Scrape sides of bowl. Add oil, water, and vanilla; beat well. Scrape sides of bowl again. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in pudding mix; beat until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour/spoon batter into prepared pan. Note: the batter will be very, very thick. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour, not a moment more. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Remove cake from pan.

I wish there were a scratch-n-sniff feature on your computer. Mmmmm. Heaven for your nose, right here in this little cake.

Dust it with powdered sugar if you like. Serve it with vanilla ice cream or raspberry sauce if you want to be fancy. Or just cut a slice and eat it with your fingers: it's very dense, so it's a good eat-from-a-napkin cake.

You will like it. I promise. Try it yourself and see!

Linking to  DIY Day at Kimba's and Favorite Desserts at Kelly's Korner.