I’ve got some good things for you Girlfriends!!! MUSICA
Oh, how I’m loving October! 🍂 Weather has totally changed on the island, summer is a thing of the distant past. We’ve had two Nor’easters recently, wild wind and rain out of nowhere . . . ferry boat was stopped, we’ve been cut off, out here alone, leaves flying by the windows. My favorite. Light the candles, make a fire, cook, and cozy-in to the quiet. With Jack. And Joe.💞
Look at me! After three months of an out-of-order broken wrist, I’m painting again!
I wasn’t sure I’d still know how! I’ve started working on the 2021 calendars (yes, 2021 😜, try not to think about it). As you can see Jack has been lending support. I’m still going to Occupational Therapy once a week, working to get all that luv-lee flexibility back. But I’m sooo much better. Lifting little weights! See that writing up there? Now look at this:
This is a shopping list I wrote with my left hand a couple of months ago! I told my brain, “MAKE A ‘G'”, but my brain said, “Is that a right turn or a left?” This took HUGE concentration! I kind of liked it!
Still eating healthy, and still loving it. Doesn’t that look delicious? Well, it was! Best words I ever told myself about losing weight? “I don’t care how long it takes, I’m doing it.” Very powerful. As they say in the Biz, “It’s a Lifestyle Change.”
Here’s a wonderful little healthy snack. If you are a homey cottage-cheese lover like I am (and many aren’t for good reason ➡️), there is nothing nastier than the milky wet cottage cheese you find in so many grocery stores. So I have something new for you to try. Look for Friendly Farms Cottage Cheese. It’s heavenly. Sturdy and creamy. Not drowning in milky wetness!! Available in tons of places. Perfect to put on crackers, or, like above, on buttered, toasted Ezekiel Bread, sprinkled with seeds, nuts, salt and pepper! Sprouts taste good on it too. It’s a treat!😋
Yes, it’s that time of year for Carrot Cake! Lots of Birthday’s around here lately . . . and Saturday is Rachel’s Birthday! 😘😘😘 Sending love to you Ray ~ I really wish you could help yourself (all of you!) to a piece of this! I won’t be a bit surprised if they figure out how to do that someday! Wish they’d hurry! You can wish Rachel a Happy Birthday here in the comment section, OR, write her on Twitter, HERE!❤️
You’ll recognize the recipe for the three-layer carrot cake I took to Jaime’s house for a birthday party . . . I forgot how good it is! Everyone loved it!
If you’ve never tried to make a carrot cake, you really should! It comes together so easily, and it’s filled with fruit and nuts! Right, Jack? Right!
Here I am at the party, sitting on the floor in front of the fire, among my oldest and dearest, toasting Joe through the crowd as he takes a nicely blurry photo of me!
In this one, I have the camera, so you can see what my view was from my floor position. People putting their rings around the candles, so everyone gets to make a wish.
My cake came in last and I was too busy cutting it to take pictures! I’ve made it lots of times, but usually, I just 
put frosting between layers and on top. This time I made extra frosting and did the sides. Decorated with chopped (green) pistachio nuts, a marigold from the garden, and strips of carrot peel I rounded at top with a knife, and made pointed at bottom. Isn’t it cute? I thought it looked like a happy circus cake! There were zero leftovers, no crumb went unattacked! You could do this!!!😘
The fans would love it! This recipe also makes amazing cupcakes. You can tint the cream-cheese frosting if you like.
All home-sweet-home this time of year. Hovering between 50º and 60º most days now. See our wisteria, so insidious, sneaking its way around everything, will crawl under a window and into the house if we aren’t careful! But very gracefully!
I love being a homebody. Garden is changing so fast . . . but we still have a few herbs, some nasturtiums, kale, lettuce, and a couple of tomatoes growing. A few rose buds and marigolds. No freeze yet, so we’re milking the garden for all it’s worth.
The wind blew our yard full of leaves . . .
And, btw, that Carrot cake recipe (and cupcakes) is in the book on the table! (Heart of the Home 30th Anniversary Edition.) If you make it, cool the cake before you put the frosting on!
Look at this! Fun with food! Joe cut into this radish and look what he found! Good enough to sell on eBay! (No, we won’t😅) Had to take a picture of it! Love the tail! Crazy radish bug!
And yes, Casper is back in his high spot, in the guest room on the second floor . . . looking out . . .
Over the neighborhood . . . he’s become a tradition, lighting up this window every October for years.
Cheering a stormy day, a harbinger of Halloween . . . he’s got a perfect view.
I wob him. When we go into downsize mode someday and sell this house, I hope the people who buy it will want Casper too! Because I know he will want to stay.🎃
There is something in October . . .🍂🍁🍂
Out on our walk, the bittersweet is wild!
Such a magical vine . . . invasive, they say, but what a way to go! We’ll be decorating around our front door with it!
The woods are prettier every day . . . we’ve had lots of sunny, crisp, and breezy days . . .
And the rainy days just make it better!
We just make a fire! Last night, girlfriends came over after Mahjong, we sat on the sofa and talked in the quiet, listened to the fire popping, clock ticking, wind blowing outside . . . 🍂🍁🍂
What’s up at the Studio? We’re getting new things all the time, I can’t quite keep up. Doing our best to make our web store one-stop shopping where you’ll find lots of little special things filled with ❤️ ~ with the holidays coming up so fast, it’s that time again!
Just in ~ our brand new Winter Dream Charm ~ like any starry night, you can make a wish for dreams come true.
And these too, precious house cut-outs ~ one of which is now sitting on my stove shelf. I tried it all over the house, on a window sill with my rusty birds, on the mantle with a candle behind it, there’s no bad place! It’s going to be gorgeous with my white Christmas trees!
SO, something else . . . There’s a new article featuring guess who? Me! in Edible Vineyard (the 2019 Harvest Issue), a wonderful island food magazine produced through the Martha’s Vineyard Times. It’s available everywhere here on the island . . . and I have to say, every article in it is interesting! Really well-written. Kind of like the New Yorker of food! I don’t know if the paper is selling them, but I’m sure you could ask.
On October 26, I’ll be speaking and signing books at the 
newly renovated and beautifully restored Carnegie Library on North Water Street in Edgartown, MA, from 2-3 pm, sponsored by the Vineyard Trust and Edgartown Books. It’s free! And they have a gift shop! 😜 I’ll bring signed copies of Edible Vineyard to give out! Come join us! And guess what? Kellee and Sheri will be there (Joe too!). They’re coming to stay with us for a few days next week, to get a little taste of New England fall!🍁 💃
The Edible article was beautifully written by Alisun Armstrong, photos by Lexi Pline. Quotes from the Fairy Tale Girl and Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams. Recipes from the 30th Anniversary version of Heart of the Home and my Autumn Book.❤️
No reason for this photo, just loved the colors!
This too! I told you it was a huge Birthday Month . . . I also had a Birthday Party for Martha . . . this was the table setting. Very simple, purple flowers (Johnson Brothers WindsorWare plates) and plaid napkins on old bedspread, with hydrangeas from the garden.
Colorful! Girl Party! This whole lunch was scarily done without a recipe. When we were in Hudson, I tasted some fantastic things, spicy 
sweet-potato fingers with minted lemon sauce and a Coconut Cilantro Chutney (with hot peppers and garlic and ginger). I wrote down what I could, so I could try making it at home. I was nervous, realizing too late that this might not be the smartest way to do a birthday lunch, but it turned out GOOD. I served it with deviled eggs, minced red onion, and smoked salmon, and toasted walnut bread ~ with homemade Basil Ice Cream and Lemon Polenta Cake for dessert. My wrist allowed me to do everything except Joe chopped the onion and got that pretty green ice cream out of the freezer container! Pretty darn good!
And then there’s this! Because I couldn’t find them on the Island, I had to make them. Since they’re not here, I imagine you may not be able to find them either, so I thought this recipe could come in handy, for Apple Cider Donuts! They’re easy! They bake in the oven like a cake! You have to have them!🍁
So Here’s what I did . . . first off, on the stove, out of sight, is a pan filled with Apple Cider (the plain, non-alcoholic kind) boiling down to a syrup (don’t worry, I’ll put the recipe at the end of the post). Then I buttered the donut pans with melted butter and set them aside. Don’t have donut pans? Stay tuned . . .
I lightened the flour by stirring it with a whisk so I wouldn’t have to sift it. Then I measured it out lightly and put it in a medium bowl . . .
and whisked it together with baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
In another large bowl, I whisked together egg, milk, vanilla, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
whisking . . .
. . . adding in the reduced cider . . . whisking until it was blended.
Then, because it’s too difficult to get the dough neatly into the tiny donut pans with a spoon, I poured the batter into a plastic bag …
. . . then squeezed the messy thing down to get most of the batter in the bottom of the bag,
then I twisted it up at the top, and cut off a tiny bit of corner, so the batter would come out in a controllable manner.
. . . and Voila . . . into the oven they go!
While they baked, I melted some butter and mixed together sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon for coating the donuts when they were done.
And here they are, hot from the oven. I slipped a tiny spatula around them and they came out like buttah.
I dipped them, tops and bottoms in melted butter, and laid them into bowl with the sugar and spice . . .
Spooned over sugar, pressed it in, until they were well coated. Pushing Joe, get away. no touching. Oh, poor baby, okay, eat one. Gimmie a bite.💋
I wrapped the rest of them in an old linen bridge-table tablecloth, put them in a basket and walked over to lowely’s for Mahjong . . . we start with tea, and yesterday, with donuts still warm from the oven!
The recipe made six large donuts and ten small ones. So, who wants to make donuts? Leave a comment, we’ll have a drawing, and the winner will receive the exact tins I baked these donuts in! Two tins, used once only, they’re festive, they have red bottoms, together they make six large donuts and a dozen little ones . . . there are more in our web store, just in cases. And I’m including a package of holiday recipe cards!
I’ll toss in a signed copy of Edible Magazine too…
So that’s it . . . sunshine through blowing leaves, through kitchen windows, sliding across the stove, weaves through sugar-donut fragrance, skips along the floor, over the table, dancing fairy-like over a bowl of apples, and shimmers onto our walls.
Our world sometimes feels upside-down, we can feel overwhelmed by daily happenings, making ends meet, meeting the needs of our beloveds, drains energy, there’s no rest for the weary or the worried! Dreaming of a better tomorrow? Let it show in everything you do. Let the things you value in life shine through, home, family, friends, the little things that make life sweet. Do stop and smell the flowers, run and catch a leaf in mid air. Watch an old movie with your petty pet. You’ll feel better, I promise. Kisses and blessings on you and yours. Take a deep breath . . . ahhhhh.
Don’t forget to leave your comment for the drawing! HERE is a little chart that shows you how to sign up to get this BLOG delivered to your email address.❤️
A P P L E C I D E R D O N U T S
Makes six large donuts and ten small ones.
Set out 1/2 c. whole milk and one egg to come to room temp. Slowly melt 1 1/2 c. (12 TB. or 1 1/2 sticks) butter (you’ll ned some to grease the pans, some for donut batter, and some for the topping). Put 1 1/2 c. non-alcoholic apple cider in small saucepan. Bring to boil, then simmer until liquid reduces to one-half cup. 👀 Watch it. Takes about 15 min. Set aside to cool. Use a pastry brush, butter the donut cups.
Preheat oven to 350º
- 2 c. all purpose flour, whisked to lighten, then measured
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 egg, room temp.
- 1/2 c. whole milk, room temp
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 TB. melted butter
- 1/2 c. reduced apple cider
- 1/2 c. dark brown sugar
- 1/3 c. granulated sugar
T O P P I N G
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- the rest of the butter, put in shallow wide dish.
Preheat oven to 350º. In a med bowl, whisk together first 7 ingredients. Set aside. In large bowl, whisk the egg, then whisk in the rest of the ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until smooth. Fill a large plastic bag with batter. This is messy. Once filled, hold it at top and squeeze batter down, twist the top so batter is pushed into bottom. With scissors cut a tiny corner off the bottom of the bag (not too much, you can always cut it bigger). Squeeze the batter into the donut cavities, filling about 2/3 full. Bake 10-12 min until they spring back when you poke them (I baked the small donuts slightly less time). Let cool 5 min in pans, Use a small spatula to loosen each one and turn them out onto tea-towel-covered cooling rack. While they are baking, make TOPPING: in a small bowl, mix together first 3 topping ingredients. Put the rest of the melted butter in a shallow dish. When donuts are cool enough to handle, dip tops and bottoms in melted butter, put them in the sugar mixture and spoon over generously, patting them so the mixture will hold on. Eat! Lovely in a cloth covered basket to bring to tea! Excellent with a cup of coffee!
*You can make your own PUMPKIN PIE SPICE for the topping, just add 1/2 tsp.nutmeg, 1/4 tsp.ground ginger, and 1/4 tsp. ground cloves to the cinnamon.
Dear Susan,
It’s wonderful to hear your wrist is much better and you are able to draw and paint again. I love how Jack supervises you so well. 😻 Those doughnuts look yummy. 🍩 I’ve never made homemade doughnuts before, but I think it looks easy enough. I hope you have a beautiful autumn. 🍁🍂
❤️ Lori
Love autumn, love apples and apple cider and love donuts.
Interesting to see bittersweet growing–just see it in the stores here! Can’t wait to make the doughnuts!
Love your beautiful autumn post and would love to try the recipe!
I love this Fall-resplendent post! Those donuts look so good! I’m in love with cinnamon and cloves. It has just turned on a dime from numerous record-setting mid-to-upper 90s days in central Georgia to nice cool weather. It is such a relief after not being able to enjoy being outdoors for so long. My cats and dogs are all frisky and I am able to wear jeans instead of shorts, and hot tea tastes so good!
I’m glad your wrist is better and you can paint again. Hope you’re working on that UK book!!
I love apple cider donuts! I need to try your recipe! Love this cozy post. I’m reading a book you would like, The Little Book of Hygee, by Meik Wiking.
Oh, Susan! The Apple Cider Doughnuts look so yummy delicious that I can smell them. Thank you for sharing the recipe, excited to make them. Autumn is here and I’m so happy. To quote your October 2019 Calendar – There are only two seasons: Autumn – and waiting for Autumn. Truth!! 🙂
Thank you SO much, Susan, for your wonderful blog…….you help restore my faith when our world seems to be falling apart. You brighten our lives so much by reminding us to look for the simple joys and beauty in our everyday world. Thank you!
I’m very happy your wrist is better.
Take care……Happy Birthday to your BFF, Rachel!
Love how your New England fall looks. Just heavenly with the wind and leaves and the lovely fire.
Love the cozy post and love that sous-chef Jack!! Also wanted to tell you how much I love the October owl on the mini wall calendar! What an artist you are!! He’s fabulous! Thank you!!!
Oh my those doughnuts look marvelous and I can’t wait to make some as I have never had Apple Cider Doughnuts before!! I was looking very closely at the pictures of your dinner plate and realized I have the exact same pattern. I bought a set of four this past summer at a cute antique shop that was located inside an old Victorian house (I love old houses) and I adore these dishes and to think you have them as well. We adore so many of the same things I can’t believe it sometimes! SO happy that your wrist has healed so well Susan. The leaves are really turning color here in Idaho and so gorgeous when I take my walks. Love to shuffle my feet in the crunchy dried leaves, do you like to do that to? Oh fall, a most wonderful time of the year!!
I always look forward to your blog updates, especially as the seasons change. You are always so inspiring in seasonal cooking, decorating, and homemaking. I appreciate all the photos of your town and travels- you are in a beautiful area of our country!
Sooo excited about the Apple cider donuts. I made a 2 page bucket list last year and did all but 2 items. I am using it again this year. On the first cool day we went to an orchard, the little store was decorated with pumpkins and sunflowers. I ordered apple cider donuts and their apple cider, the cake like donuts were fantastic. We sat under a colorful tree and cute hens clucked around. It was so peaceful, and quaint.
Loved your post on Autumn and I am reading your book now and will spend this week trying recipes.
Lovely post👍🏻 Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to try these for Halloween!
Thank you the reminder that it’s actually Fall! Still hot here in Texas! Looking forward to the cooler weather-and trying this donut recipe!! Happy Autumn!!
My dear Susan—I’m so glad your wrist is doing better. It looks like you are back to writing as lovely as ever. My friend was over today and saw the Apple Crisp recipe on my coffee cup and wanted your recipe🍎 I am like you the last few weeks—homebound. Between the temps and the wind. I don’t mind as I too love my home and my cat!!! Oh my, those donuts sure remind me of my mother. She always fried them in a pan of grease, that she had inserted in the old cook stove !!! Sweet memories !! I have never seen those pans you use, what a wonderful idea and much healthier I’m sure !!! Ha Ha
Stay well…Gert
The donuts look wonderful. Can’t wait to try them! Glad you are back to using your right hand.
Your blog posts are always lovely. I love everything about them. I have a few of your books. My favorite is A Fine Romance. Happy books, happy blogs, happy everything is what Susan Branch is. Thank you for all of your inspiration. You make every season so festive. Pure joy.
Dear Susan. I just loved everything about fall just you making the apple cider donuts I feel like I could even smell them I’ll have to try to make them. Love everything to do
Those donuts look pretty easy to make! I’ll have to give it a try.
Once again, your delightful email has made me smile and warmed me from the inside out 🙂 When I see it in my “inbox”, I don’t open it until I have the time to really savor it and enjoy all your beautiful photos and lovely artwork. The apple cider donuts look AMAZING! The perfect Fall treat- can’t wait to make them for my grandchildren.
I can smell these donuts coming out of your oven! I was born and raised in Michigan now living in Southern California. This time of year always calls me back. I always tell my husband of 31 years – You can take a girl out of Michigan, but you can not take the Michigan out of this girl. Will always love the fall- it’s part of the fabric that make me.
Happy Autumn! Carrot cake and falling leaves, how perfect! Thank you for sharing your joy! Blessings 😊❤️
Looking forward to making the donuts! Yum!
Can’t wait to make the donuts!!!
I love everything you do. So up-lifting & special!!! Miss New England so much. Live in Florida now. I travel through your Blog. Thank You for sharing your life with us all. When I win,I will make does donuts, can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!
Mmmm … those donuts sound so good!
Your donuts sound amazing!! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you ❤️
I’ve been looking for a good cider donut recipe! Thank you so much for this lovely recipe and all the lovely pictures. While I dearly love the PNW I’m envious of the colors on your side of the country! Happy Autumn!
Oh the donuts!!! This is the only time of year I am willing to leave my beloved Cape Cod and venture back to upstate New York for a trip to the local cider mill and hot apple cider donuts after picking apples to bring back so I can make apple butter.
So glad your wrist is better and you are painting again!
So glad your wrist healed and you’re back to painting! My daughter is getting her Masters in OT. So I will share your post with her to inspire her too. Your photos are stunning ! The cozy fire with Jack warming by it ! What could be better?? Love your blog it is like getting a letter from an old friend . Blessing to you and Sir Joe. Enjoy the autumn season , the calendar pages turn too quickly but at least we have your calendar pics to enjoy as they turn !
I have never had cider donuts and can’t wait to try making them! Thanks for the recipe and the pics. Up here in Canada we have already had a bit of snow come and go so I am envious of your long fall and milder weather. It’s my favourite time of year none the less! Happy Fall and Happy Hallowe’en! 🍁🍂🎃👻
Susan I’m soooooo glad you’re wrist is feeling better and you’re back to painting, your art is such an inspiration and so too is this blog! I always schedule to read it early Sunday mornings before the family is up and about so I can have it all to myself. I read, admire the pictures, let my mind wonder about the weather, girlfriends, parties…then go back and do it again! When I got to the Apple Cider Donuts I’d already decided I was going to try the recipe. This is a big deal for me since I’ve never been a big donut fan due to my gluten allergies and trying to convert flour with the nasty substitutes NEVER resulted into anything worth repeating. Just when I’d given up on desserts I discovered a wonderful gluten free flour by Pillsbury that has changed everything including my waist line and those donuts sound so delicious I must make them for my poor deprived hubby, a true donut lover! It will make our home smell like fall and put our minds in the mood even if it’s high 80s and humid outside (SW Florida). Oh! to stand in a forrest of orange and yellow leaves in crisp cool air and breath it all in….someday! Good hearing from you “Lefty”, you haven’t missed a beat! Love, Ginette
Those donuts look soooooo good!
Looking scrumptious, Susan! Truly celebrating the season!
Hi Susan from Taos New Mexico
So glad to hear your wrist is doing better. Your blog is such a delight! What a sense of place and season you gift to us your readers. I love seeing Jack right there amongst it all. Thank you for including the donut recipe My husband will be thrilled. I am always reminded to take a step back and enjoy. Your friend Marianne
I’m in awe that you can write eligibly with your other hand! Shows just how much talent you have in “your little finger” as they say. 🙂 Also, using it probably activated the other side of your brain, so who knows what you will come up with now. ❤️ I’m glad to see no permanent damage was done. I was worried about that. I got to meet Norman at the Red Lion Inn last week. It would have been so funny if you were there when we were there. I could have come up to you and say “I see you are following us around again,” like you did in England. haha
I love your art! Thank you for the giveaway, it’s exciting, I would love it!
I was born on October 4,maybe that’s why I love Autumn so much! Always looking forward to your autumnal posts.You always brighten my day. Hugs from northen Spain!
Happy Autumn, Susan! I just love your Casper, and look forward to seeing him every year! When I saw that I had another of your blogs waiting for me, I even said to myself, “I bet she will have pictures of Casper in this one,” and I was right! I, too, love Friendly Farms Cottage Cheese. It is my favorite, too, because of its consistency. Living here in Florida we haven’t even had a whiff of autumn yet, but my antidote to that is having your “Autumn” book on my nightstand next to my bed so that I can pick it up and immediately be immersed in fall. I just love that book! I am so glad your wrist is better! Enjoy autumn for me–it was always my favorite season of the year.
Thank you so much for the donut recipe. I can almost smell them baking. Yummy! Perfect for fall.
Susan, I took my first water color class recently in Maine
at the age of 60! Wow! Your artwork has amazed me since I bought your first book as a new mom. And now to see you battling back with your wrist! You are an inspiration for us all…… thanks for the years of joy you’ve added to my life!
HI Susan!!!
It is a glorious time of year….. even here in Florida… the humidity has lifted and the cool breezes arrived… it pushes us to the kitchen…. cooking and baking at this time of year is the best… already have whipped up homemade chicken noodle soup and a batch of pinto beans and ham hocks…. and cornbread… For a treat… my famous looks-hard-to-make-but-it’s-really-easy-to-make PUMPKIN CAKE ROLL!!!! My snowbird neighbors are slowly trickling back and I like to prepare a little welcome home gift for them …. What better gift than food right?!?
Glad the wrist is in working order…. puts you in your happy place I am sure.
You and Joe enjoy this most spectacular time of year…the donuts look intriguing.. will try and report back. Stay cozy my friends….
Love, Cindy
Back door donuts has apple cider ones but I don’t think they taste apple cidery enough. I’ve been looking for a recipe for awhile so can’t wait to try yours.
Susan!!! Autumn in New England! Yes, I love it!! And I LOVE APPLE CIDER DONUTS! What nifty pans! Chilly here in Northeast PA started a fire in the stove, expecting RAIN today from a tropical storm, oh well, cozy in the home. If I had those cute pans, I could make donuts!! hahahahaa!!! 😉
Hugs from
Linda in PA
I love reading your blogs! I just want to get out and enjoy all things autumn. Thanks for the great recipes.
Susan, your blog post always makes my day. It could have 10 pages and it still wouldn’t be long enough. Glad to hear that your wrist is better. Those donuts look deelishis. I hope one day we can taste your food through the picture.
Loved EVERYTHING about your post, except for the word “downsizing”! We had personal experience with that. Moved from a larger home with property to a beach house on the Central Coast. That lasted 3 years before we “upsized” to a larger home in North Carolina. The good thing is it made us appreciate where we are now. There is nothing like SEASONS and the best is Autumn! Your donuts look much tastier than the ones at Trader Joe’s.
Susan, Thank you for a vineyard Fall visit. I love your descriptions of my favorite season which leads up to my other favorite season….Winter! I can’t wait to make the doughnuts. I imagine the aroma will be as good as the treat. Many blessings.
Happy fall! I love cider and donuts….growing up I lived near a cider mill…no longer the case. Miss it during September and October.
Another lovely blog…Thank you again.
It makes me smile that your shopping list contains almost exactly what mine usually do! 🙂 Also, we live near the cider mill that you visited on one of your autumn visits to Vermont, so I think of you every time we stop there for cider and a donut.
Good morning, so much fun sitting here early in the morning, in Nevada, enjoying your blog. You inspired me, and once the sun comes up, and our morning starts, I will make a carrot cake. Why hadn’t I thought of that. Sheesh. Anyway, it will happen this morning. I really enjoy your blog. Thank you for sharing with us
Your donut recipe looks wonderful. I love reading your blog.
So happy to see fall in your posts. It is the thing I miss the most since
Moving to Texas 6 years ago. Your photos are fabulous. Thank you so much for always sharing your heart and creativity with us. I would love to make those donuts. In fact your bundle has given me the idea that the entire package would be a lovely hostess gift or even an idea for a ladies get to get her to make them together along with new memories.
Apple cider doughnuts definitely shouts fall (my favorite season). Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing it. Always look forward to your newsletter.
Hi Susan,
Your donuts look delicious! We grow lots of apples around Norfolk county in Ontario and are lucky that “The Apple Place” makes wonderful cider donuts – these are making me think about going to get some…
My grocery store used to make fresh apple cider donuts in the fall. They aren’t doing it this year. 😞
So good to see that your wrist is healed. That’s a relief!
My Ukrainian grandmother in Saskatchewan made doughnuts every day. She had a wood stove in the summer kitchen, and a pot of oil on a back burner where she popped the dough in to fry while she made supper/lunch for the men working in the fields. She must have made dozens every day as there were always at least a dozen men around the table at harvest time. I guess that’s where I got my love for ones with a crispy outside and a cakey inside…yummm! I’ve never seen the type of pans you’re offering, so what a nice treat to think they might head my way…thank you🌻
That’s how I like them too, crisp on the outside and cakey on the inside!
dear susan, when i wake up on some mornings, feeling a little drab, no spunk, i look up your blog and read a few lines and all is well w my soul. your zest for life and everyone in it is so satisfying. you are like an anti depressant, if that makes any sense. i wish you were my neighbor. anyway, where does the tradition of putting your rings on a candle come from? i love it
I’ve looked everywhere, to see if someone else may have come up with it. But No, it’s us, my girlfriends made it up . . . it sort of just happened, I’m guessing sometime in the 90’s, I don’t even remember who did it first. But we’ve done it forever. It’s a great way to join hands around the birthday person! Even the guys put their rings on the candles now!
Such beautiful and heartfelt inspiration Susan ! Thank you ! I was thinking that it was time for the blog to come out as I was having withdrawals! Lol
Thank you even more for that last paragraph about an upside down world . That it is ….but you always seem
To turn it right side up ♥️ Love you !
Thank you so much for the apple cider donut recipe!!
What a lovely post! Autumn is my favorite season, with the other three coming in a close second! The donuts sound delicious, can’t wait to try them.
Happy October! We’ve got a cool, rainy day here in Virginia, perfect for hot tea, football and blankets. Happy birthday to Rachel 🎂🎈🎉, I have an October birthday also and just love this month 🎃🍁🍵🔥
I retired last year and I get to be a homebody now too! Love it! The Carrot Cake AND the donuts look so yummy. I’m trying to eat healthy too so I probably won’t make them (tho’ I’m not ruling it completely out) but it never hurts to read the recipe and dream…Thank you for all you do to enrich lives and remind us what it’s all about.
Apple cider doughnuts! Yummy. Can’t wait to try them. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Loved the colors in this blog Susan; fall in New England is gorgeous and I look forward to this time every year in PA as the crisp cool days are inspiring. Thank you very much for ending a positive note; I don’t even watch the news anymore I get so upset so I try to do what Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I have your pottery with this quote on it by the way . …
Happy Fall!
Deborah
Please include me in the doughnut mold give-away! I am especially excited to get the magazine too…signed by you!
Just in time when this morning I was talking with my husband about cider donuts. Thanks for the recipe and for sharing your beautiful home and live with us! These uncertain days, I find certainty and beauty in simple things and your blog makes my day better every time I find one in my mailbox. Love to you and Joe!
First of all I am glad your wrist is getting better. I was in an accident about 10 years ago and had rods put in my right arm. I was surprised how well I did with my left hand. I can’t wait to try the donuts but will have to save and go buy the pans. Hope they taste as good as they look. Have a great day.
Your carrot cake recipe has been a staple for me for the past several years. I make one for my nurse friend every year on her birthday and all the docs and nurses enjoy it – especially one of our neurosurgeons. My colleagues request the cake for other special occasions, too. (We have to put a piece aside for the surgeon if he is in surgery when we cut it!) I bake the layers a day ahead and freeze them. I frost the layers frozen, which is helpful when assembling the cake. Everyone Loves it!
I bought two of your calendars (3 actually) and love both, the wall calendar with the photos from England and the smaller wall calendar. I bought 2 of the smaller ones, 1 as a gift for one of the neurologists who had admired my 2019 calendar hanging next to my desk. She is so sweet, I had to get her one and I know she will be thrilled.
While I was sad to see summer go, I am enjoying autumn in spite of the frigid forecast for this coming winter! Thanks for the sunshine!
Chris
People who bring cakes to work, are always the MOST popular!! 💞
I always look so forward to your blog, Susan. It is full of “cozyness!” Thank you for reminding me of all the good things about the season that is upon us & to appreciate the enjoyment of inside pleasures. I am sad that Summer is over & Fall came quickly with rain & cooler weather here in Oregon but you have put me in the mood for Autumn. My husband &I love to cook( his grandfather was a baker by trade in North Dakota & one of his specialties was carrot cake!) so we need to get busy in the kitchen! So glad your wrist is feeling better. I just might have to buy the cute little house cut-outs; my passion is collecting little houses( do you remember the tiny ceramic Irish cottage, tree & fence I gave you when you had a book talk in SLO a few years ago?) I love tiny houses too!
On this Glorious day, I re-read this blog, and of course it lifted me even higher…no drugs involved. Tom has put the bacon on for our usual late Sunday morning “brunch”. He has a lovely fire going, and all is right with the world.
My wonderful neighbor, Beverly, insisted that we come over for a big Thanksgiving meal. We used to do that years ago, because we wouldn’t be here for the actual day. I have the sweetest pictures of little Matty and young Anna in their fabulous Halloween costumes that multi-talented Bev made…Anna as Princess Amadala (?) from one of the Star Wars movies, and 5yr. old Mr. Matty as a vampire with his hair greased into a sharp V down on his little forehead. I had put him up on one of the bar stools around my kitchen counter so he could help me cook. That year it was at our house. I gussied up two tables put together and let folks serve themselves from my Grandma’s round oak table. Of course we had to have the saurkraut that is traditional in Baltimore. One of our Dirt Road People is from there. My first husband and his lovely family were there, and I fell in love with it. You cook it for hours with a few country pork ribs. Makes it mild and sweet. Anyone from that part of Maryland will understand. 🙂
Last night, after we’d finished a marvelous dinner and had lots of laughter with Anna, now 24, and a lovely dear Scottish lady in her 80’s who mentored Anna when she was the tiniest drummer in the St. Andrews Pipe and Drum Band, Tom and I walked home in the crisp, clear night, leaves crunching beneath our feet and the stars meeting the trees. Our wonderful little house, with our treasures inside, made my very soul sing! Some day there will be new families with laughter marveling at the beauty. Sorry, guys, a bit of treacle, I know.
All you younger girlfriends out there, Know that time passes exponentially faster as the years go by. Treasure all those special moments, and do a mental “coupon” for later when you need it. Anytime the Dark tries to rise, close your eyes and hug yourself with one or more of your memories. Add a review of a few of Susan’s Blogs or books. Then….find a new thing that Floats your Boat and dive in, all your Flags Flying.
Mucho Grande Love to you, dear Sue,
Debbie still in the State O’ Maine
Your treacle is my treacle Debbie! Love to you and Tom. xoxoxo
I would love to win the doughnut pans! But, if I don’t I can easily make apple cider muffins, and dip them in melted butter and roll them in the sugar mixture just as well.
What a fun blog. My husband, Jim, would love the doughnuts. Thanks so much for the recipe. Here, in eastern Iowa, it’s a gray day with fog. Temp’s in the 50’s. I believe I here my teapot calling me to make a cup of Lady Grey.
I’m in the mood to make a cozy blanket.This afternoon I’m going to the fabric store in search of some fun fall/Halloween fabric to add to a fleece backing. Can’t wait to curl up in it. Perhaps with another cup of tea? So glad to hear your wrist is doing better. Don’t over do now.
Thanks once again for making so many so delightfully happy with this post and about everything you touch and do! So many creative ideas and suggestions and always giving from a full, lovely heart ♥️I thank you! So grateful your wrist healing nicely!
Just lovely! October is my FAVORITE month!
How can one diet when there are yummy donut recipes about? They really do look scrummy. So glad you wrist is improving too xx
Trick is to give it away! After you’ve had your bites!
Dear Susan
Your blog is so very beautiful. It brings me so much joy to read your words, peek into your lovely world, view your photos, thank you.
Marybeth
I’m so happy that you’re healing well, Susan, and writing/drawing/painting again! Where would we be without this delightful escape into your dreamy world?! Thank you for this … and the recipes are wonderful, too!
So happy your wrist is all better. I love fall and not just because I’m an October baby. Love the cooler weather, the colors, the holidays, and the pretty decorations. Your carrot cake is amazing, not to mention the apple cider donuts! Over here on the Cape we’ve been without power since the big storm last week. Thankfully it’s not so cold like it would be in a couple of months but so glad for a fireplace to snuggle in front of at night. Love you Susan. You bring sunshine with every posting.
Yum!
Mmmmm! Donuts😋 So glad your wrist is getting better💗
Love your blog and enjoying your fall weather from afar. Just starting to see some cool down here in Texas. Can’t wait to try the donut recipe!
Wonderful that you are getting your hand mobility back. Thanks for the recipe; will try it. Love your winter charm – just ordered it.
Homemade donuts! Heavenly! I’d love to try and make them.
So loved your blog this time. Cannot wait to try the donut recipe. so glad your wrist is so much better and you are back to whipping up those delicious recipes again. Heard about that “Nor-eastern” that passed thru. My daughter is a travel nurse working there in the ER. She said it was bad with all of the power outages. She absolutely loves it there and all of the beautiful homes and villages to explore on her days off. I will tell her of your book signing and maybe she can make Edgarstown if it meets her day off from the Hospital.
I too love, love October…My favorite month.
JUDY ANN
Those doughnuts look amazing! Also good work on getting that wrist back in shape. It’s not easy. Happy fall to you and Joe and Jack.
Thank you for sharing these wonderful fall photos! Even though I’ve lived in Southern Florida for the past 20 years and should be used unchanging foliage, I’m always a little sad when October rolls around…but your all your “change of season” photos bring a smile to my face every time!!
Just came back from a trip to Salem Ma. Lovely place to visit for Halloween. Bought some cider donuts! Can’t wait to make my own
I would love to win your prize especially the Magazine.
Thank you SO much for this recipe! Last fall on a girls trip to your island, my darling friend, Tawni, asked every day at the bakery for apple cider donuts and the answer was always “No, not today, it’s a specialty item”. She would say “Will you have them tomorrow?” And they would say “I don’t know”. We have giggled about that all year and said “I don’t know!” in a very deep voice about all kinds of things. I am going to make these to share as soon as possible! It will be another fun remembrance of a terrific trip!
Sending assortments of love from the desert-
thank you for all!
I can smell the doughnuts!! My garden is on my deck nowadays & I still have flowers blooming along with a gorgeous mum found at Kroger. Fall is my favorite time of year as it is my daughters, so we have a good time with pumpkins, mums, & leaves!! The recipes sound so good & Thanks so much! I’m glad to know your wrist is doing so much better as we don’t want you to stop painting!! My daughter is getting two older kitties tomorrow & they are black & white like Jack. He is so lovely for sure. Enjoy autumn!!!
Jack has so much “dog” in him. Your faithful companion. I just love him. I do not like to think of all of you ever leaving that home!
I will whisper the dog “compliment” into Jack’s ear and see how he likes it! 😁
Would love to make the donuts, if only they were gluten free! They look so good. I was diagnosed with celiac a couple years ago and it is a constant struggle not being able to have make and eat all the good baked goods I liked. But there are worse things that could happen so I try to remember that. I’ll have to see if I can find a gluten free recipe. At least cider is gluten free!
I think you can get a gluten-free baked-donut recipe on the Bob’s Red Mill web site. Try it! Also, I have a killer Pumpkin Cheesecake in my Autumn book which is all gluten-free as is, except the gingersnap crust, but all you have to do is get gluten-free gingersnaps and you’re there! SOOOO Good!!!
Thank you for the blog from the East. We woke to snow dusting the Rocky Mountains here in Utah. Carrot cake is one of our favorites and now I will have to try these donuts- they look delicious! Breaking out my Autumn book while I enjoy the afternoon by the fire. Thank you for sharing your love of the seasons and the beauty of the island with us… So glad to hear your wrist is getting better! Love to you, Joe, Jack and all the girlfriends
Oh my-O! My 7-year-old loves cider donuts. I can’t wait to make these! Thank you for sharing, as always. And I am so glad your wrist is on the mend.
Susan,
I’ve very late to the party, but I just finished A Fine Romance, Martha’s Vineyard and am waiting for Fairy Tale Girl from my library. I know, that is out of order but I’ve loved every chapter!
Your blog is always like a little surprise gift when your email notifies me you have a new post. Thank you for being one of life’s joys.
Karen B.
It’s out of order, but exactly the order in which I wrote them! We are on the same page! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the books, Karen. Thank you!
Thank you for your positive message at the end of your post. I needed to hear every word. I hope you know how your words lift us up. Thank you again.
I’m happy Debra Ann, I need them for myself, so I figure others might need them, too! xoxoxo
I can almost smell the apple cider donuts! Happy Fall Y’all!