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.
Ohhhhhh, WONDERFUL! Fall is in the air in California, too, but each year that passes I am reminded that it’s another New England fall I’m missing. It’s at the top of the dream list, and has been for years. Thanks to you, I got a sneak peek. And thank you for the donut recipe! I am looking forward to making them. So glad your wrist is better! XXO
I love homemade donuts! My grandma always had a big jar in the pantry filled with old fashioned, plain cake donuts. It was a child’s dream. These sound delicious. I’ve never seen a donut tin! Happy autumn days ❤
Saturday (today, the 19th) is also the birthday of my Rachel! Twenty years old, in her second year of college, driving home in her little MGB today to celebrate her day. Seems just yesterday she was scooting around here on her bottom–she refused to crawl, had to do things her own way.
I lub your Casper, too! Yes, he definitely should stay with the house!
Happy Birthday to your Rachel! xoxo
Thank you so much, Susan. And a very happy birthday to your Rachel, too!
I love seeing your pictures of Autumn on your beautiful island. Autumn on the central coast of California is more of a ‘feeling in the air’ 🙂 Still a favorite though. Thank you for the fun apple cider recipe. I am dreaming of those donut pans as I found a great recipe for pumpkin donuts that are also baked. Happy Fall!
Dear Susan, So glad your wrist is better! I am a lefty and recently had 2 surgeries on my left wrist, after a long-ago broken wrist! I am facing another possible surgery as well- not looking forward to more time in a cast without my left hand! My writing with my other hand was a disaster! Yours looks so much better than mine 🙂
Love apple cider donuts- thank you for the recipe 🙂
Hope you continue to strengthen your wrist- I too am still having occupational therapy for mine!
I’ve never tried Apple Cider Donuts – would love to taste them.
Happy Birthday Rachael! Oh Susan! So glad your wrist is better! Your cider doughnuts look wonderful! I can almost smell them! I’ve got to try these! Wonder if they would be good as muffins also! We live in apple growing area and love going to the apple stands and tasting all the apple samples!
Happy Fall, and love seeing Casper!
Love to all!
Jeannie
Thank you for the sweet wishes Jeannie! X
What a fun drawing! Loving all the fall pictures! Our leaves are just starting to turn in the Midwest but we’re heading up to the Hudson Valley in a few days!
I so enjoyed this Autumn post! Would love to win, I plan to make the donuts. They look delicious. Hoping for complete healing for your wrist 💕
It all sounds so divine! I can smell the donuts! Thanks for the chance to win ♥
I so want to try this donut recipe! And, my Girl Scout Camp Counselor name was, DONUT!! (not making this up, either 😂)
Lucky!
FALL! My very favorite time of the year. The sun and soil are still warm, the air is crisp and clear, the sky heartbreakingly blue…..be still my heart. Out here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the vineyards are all aflame in color, the trees are so beautiful it hurts to look at them and I can hardly stand to be inside because soon it will all blow away! We’ve had 3 frosts already, very early for us, so my garden is done. Soon it will be windy and rainy and we’ll hunker down with candles and books and enjoy the next season….Christmas is coming! Thank you for sharing your life with us, it’s a blessing!
Hooray! Wonderful fall, nippy air, beautiful colors and now yummy doughnuts with hot cider, by the fireside! Thank you Susan!
Can’t wait to try the apple cider donuts. They look yummy!
I’m so glad your arm is better so you can paint and draw again. The apple cider donuts look amazing.
Happy Autumn Susan! Thanks for always sharing such positive and happy posts. I love them!
Don’t quite know how you do it dear Susan, but you are a fantastic stress-reliever for many people. Just reading your blog can change my day. Fall is my fav. time of year and I am glorying in the beauty of it. Lovely autumn light pouring out on the Midwest with golden corn flowing into wagons and trucks, hay bales on the meadows and cattle grazing in the pastures. So different from your lifestyle but aren’t we all blessed with our own little corner of the world? Hugs to you and thank you for being your own sweet self and passing along your gift of encouragement to us.
We love driving through the corn fields in the midwest! Or seeing them through our train window. xoxo Thank you Deanna!
Fall has finally arrived in Georgia, and brought us a rainy day too! Perfection!! I’m in the kitchen with pumpkin chocolate chunk bread in the oven—can you smell it?
I look forward to each new post from you. I so enjoy ‘living’ on MV vicariously through you! Glad to hear you are back painting. Hooray for OT’s! I’ve been one for 39 years and 💕my career.
I love this time of year. Putting the gardens to sleep and bringing the house to life for the holidays. I have never made donuts before but definitely going to try these. Have a wonderful fall!
I really like the recipe to BAKE donuts instead of deep frying them. I haven’t had a doughnut in decades because of the frying. Thanks for the recipe and chance to win the baking pans.
I love donuts almost as much as your blog. It makes me happy when you have a new post.
Dearest Susan,
Just as the song goes: “What the world needs now, is LOVE sweet love. That’s the only thing there is just too little of”
You bring each of us *LOVE, JOY, CALM, COMFORT & PEACE*.
God bless you, Joe & Jack too 🙂
Susan,
Thank you for another wonderful blog. I consider you a true kindred spirit! Your carrot cake and Italian creme cake are staples in my cake baking for birthdays and any other occasion. Cannot wait to try the apple cider donuts and share them with everyone at work and my Mahjong girlfriends. Isn’t Autumn a lovely time to try new things and to be creative. I am just bursting with ideas and projects. So glad that you are able to get back to your painting and writing.
Next weekend some girlfriends and I are going to St. Charles, MO to take in all the wonderful Autumn festivities. Ever time I go there now and stop at the little book store on Main Street I think of meeting you there for the book signing in May 2016. Good memories are a wonderful thing.
Enjoy this lovely Autumn with all of its delicious food, fun happenings and cozy weather! Hello to Joe and Jack.
Autumn, as described here in your words, presents a beautiful picture even without photos…creative soul you are! The heart is lifted and the vision of nature fills the void left by this administration and the insanity therein. Thanks for being “you” Susan. XOXO
Love Apple Cider Donuts. Grew up with them in Michigan at an apple orchard.
Never tried to make them myself, but will now. Need the donut pans though.
Just found a recipe for an Apple Cider Doughnut Cake–made in a Bundt pan; going to try that one too.
So glad you’re doing better with your wrist.
Your post! Perfectly what I needed this sunny California morning. It did my heart and soul good to be lifted up by your magical pictures and heart warming words. It was exactly what I needed today. Thank you!!
I have not had donuts in YEARS, but those look delish. I’m wondering how almond flour would work, as well as Swerve in place of sugar. As to your downsizing some day, it almost seems that your first home on the Vineyard would be the perfect transition when that time comes.
Glad to hear your wrist is better. Keep up the exercises! Love your blog. Fall Haas not really hit here in Nevada but the mornings have gotten cooler. The doughnuts sound delicious. You are a beacon of light in these crazy times. Happy birthday to Rachel.
Thanks so much Margaret xx
Susan, those donuts look so delicious! I am a stay at home grandma and my grandchildren know they can over and bake anytime so will definitely give your recipe a try! Thank you for sharing your recipes,your love for all things home, and your life with complete strangers that become your unknown friends because of your generosity!
I usually buy apple cider doughnuts at the apple farm near us – my family would be amazed if I made them.
WOW! Donuts look Yummy and perfect for cold Fall morning with coffee!!🍁🍂🍁
Glad to see your wrist is healing and you can paint again🙏 God is Good💟❤️💟
Your final paragraph says it all…..I’ll be making the cider donuts very soon…thanks for the inspiration.
Oh my goodness! I just got back from the grocery store – wanted to get some apple butter, but they were sold out. I never even THOUGHT of apple cider, which I love – but now another trip to the grocery store is not on the table for today, because I live in a college town and today is homecoming, and the grocery store is now PACKED with college students buying for their tailgates! We’ll watch the game on TV (being now in our mid-60’s), but MINUS apple cider doughnuts! Such things should NOT happen! And alas, I do not have ANY donut pans! Hint hint…..!
Happy birthday to Rachel !! Here in Northern Cal, in the Sierras, there is an area called Apple Hill, and they sell apples and all things apple, including the cider donuts. Yum. Thank you for the recipe so I can make my own.
Thank you so much Shanna, I appreciate your good wishes xx
Dear Susan, thanks again for your wonderful blog.
After living one year in New England, I never get so lonesome for it as I do in the fall! I’m going to make some apple cider donuts & enjoy them along with some good memories💛
Inspiring post! Off to your cookbook to make something yummy.
Susan, everything about this makes me want to stay inside all fall! (Except to take a daily walk, of course!) I live in North Idaho up near the Canadian border, and our fall has been chilly and beautiful–let all the nesting begin!!
yummm, my grandma made donuts for us from a recipe from her mama. they were “fried” but these look delish. gotta try, need those pans though! thankyou Susan
Thank you! I appreciate all the pictures and your love of fall. I’m in Amarillo Texas, but I’m from the Pacific Northwest. There isn’t as much fall in the air yet. Just the spirit and 80 degree weather.
I’ve just returned from a trip north to VT ( it’s been 10+ years since) and the very first thing I searched for were Apple Cider Donuts! You just never forget how fall they feel!
I just love you and shiver with delight when I see your name in my email In Box !!! You never disappoint me!!
Thanks for all the sights and sounds and smells and feelings of nostalgia!!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Oh my! Fall and Apple Cider donuts, what could be better!
I so love your posts. They always bring me back to a positive place and put a smile on my face. Thank you for being you!
Thank you for bringing that autumn feeling to Southern California. Cider doughnuts are one of those things I miss most about not living in the North East this time of year. That and the smell of leaves. I love the pictures but can you figure out how to add the smells you experience on your lovely walks? 😊
Thank you for the recipe! The weather in Northern California is mild and dry and our dogwood tree is the most beautiful red. I will be making some of those donuts to eat by the outside fire pit! Thank you Susan for your beautiful tales of the Island— Teri V
This blog post was the perfect way to start my Saturday. Thank you!
Your blog is a delicious letter from a friend, best read in my floral armchair on a Rainy Saturday. I would not say no to a few of those donuts. Enjoy your blissful, beautiful Autumn 💛
Those donuts look awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
My favorite time of year also! Love hearing about your wonderful friendships and how you celebrate together all the time!
Those donuts look awesome. Thanks for the recipe! I love fall!
My grandmother and mom made doughnuts the deep fried way, now my daughter likes to make them. Your post has inspired me to make a Birthday card for my friend Judy today. It is a rainy Fall day so, a perfect day for creating. Love your posts Susan and sending you, healing thoughts for your hand.
The giving thing! 👏
Thanks, Susan, for another delightful newsletter! Went to an apple farm in NC and they were making and selling fried apple cider donuts. I ate one, went back for another one and took some home! Would love to make the baked ones! Would love to win!
Soooooooooooooo happy to see your treasured right hand back in action!
The apple cider donuts look scrumptious. Thank you for everything you do.
You are a blessing! Happy fall y’all!
No cider doughnuts to be had in Oakland, so I!m going to bake some. But I need those pans ……….
You are always such a breath of fresh air! I get ridiculously excited when I see your name in my inbox! Apple cider doughnuts?!? Yes, please! Thank you for the recipes!
Hi Susan!
I’ve never made donuts before, or even thought I wanted to make them—until NOW! Sure would love to win and make my kitchen smell wonderful too!
I can’t wait to make the apple cider donuts! Thanks for posting the recipe! That carrot cake looked amazing too! I was also wondering when your new book will be out? I thoroughly enjoyed your other books as well! Your blog was so uplifting! It made my day! Also, I’m so pleased that your wrist is better! xoxo
Happy Autumn!
God is so good and I am so blessed and the world is lovely in the fall.
Thank you for the blog and pictures and general feeling of home.
Blessings to you and Joe……and Jack of course.
Fall is the best of all!! Thanks for the inspiration!
I was excited to find Apple Cider donuts st the grocery store in Wisconsin. It’s good to have a recipe!
Susan, your post and recipe puts me completely into the spirit of autumn. Thank you for the inspiration!! I have been cooking from your books for years and always feel warmed by their loving spirit.
Yea! Apple cider donuts – nothing better on a October day. Thanks for sharing – now to order a pan. Ellen
Every blog post from you is like a letter from a friend that we eagerly await. As you know, it’s difficult sometimes to feel Autumn here in California. I’m in the San Diego area where this week it will be in the 90’s. We have to make our own Fall feelings and I do with your help from your books and blogs. Thank you! the cider donuts look and sound delicious. I, too, am on a healthy eating way to lose the weight, but what a treat they would be for friends and family, too. Glad to hear our wrist is healing because we all need more of your artistry. Happy October!
Fall is such a delightful, colorful time and you made it even more fun with this blog. You are fabulous and so creative. Love you and all that you do to make the world a wonderful place!
Doughnuts…brings to mind my lovely mother, they were part of her repertoire for feeding 7 hungry kids and husband. Along with homemade bread, pans of apple squares, bars, cookies, pies, on and on, often greeting us when we arrived home off the bus from school. She loved us so well. Thanks for the spark to bring that memory!
Can’t find my post so I’ll do it again. *L* The donuts look amazing. Will have to try a gluten free version for me though. I did find a pumpkin spice one and it was really good. I made it in a Baby Cakes electric donut maker. Am also going to try it in the oven. I just need to buy a handy pan like you have. Donuts are my major weakness so I was happy to find some recipes I can eat. Just need a cider one!
Glad to see your hand is working and you can paint. There is always that concern with an injury. I was in a car wreck and damaged my primary hand. I can use my hand but it ripped the webbing between the thumb and index finger and double fractured the bottom knuckle. I haven’t been able to do some of the things painting I had been able to. Small things like eyes and outlining. But I just did ceramics for myself or as gifts. Cutting fabric can be a pain, literally, depending on how thick and how much. But I can use it so what can you do but carry on. Could have been much worse!
The birthday parties looked great, carrot cake tops my list of my favorites. It was the first cake I made my husband that wasn’t chocolate and he loved it. Good thing or he’d have had to go without at times as I’d have had to made them anyway. Of course I could rustle up a chocolate cake for him too! Luckily I loved to bake.
OW! They are telling me it will be a year before my wrist totally feels back to normal. Hopefully yours will have a chance to get there too!
Cider donuts! I’ve been looking for the best near me. Grocery store ones are not impressive but I trust yours will be! Can’t wait to make some. Now if I only had some donut pans! yum yum😋
Those donuts look soooo good!
Your blog brings sunshine into my day! Thank-you!
Your warm, cozy books and beautiful illustrations have inspired me for decades. I’ve dreamed of visiting your charming island for years and last Wed. finally arrived in Woods Hole just as the grumpy storm blew in cancelling all ferry crossings. I made the best of things by exploring the beautiful Cape full of charming Main Streets and many warm bowls of chowder. On Saturday, my last full day of the trip, the winds and waves calmed enough to get me to the Vineyard. It was kind of love at first sight as we pulled into the harbor. I spent a glorious evening soaking in as much of the beauty as possible and must say it is every bit as magical as you always described. In Edgartown Books I happily bought A Fine Romance and the next morning enjoyed reading it during my entire flight home to KC. Can wait to visit again and hopefully get to stay longer than one day!! P.S. Thank you for the yummy donut recipe!
I’m so happy you liked it! It’s magical to me, as you, know, love it when others feel it too!
The donuts look LUVVVV-ly and so very autumn where my favorite color is October. Please put me into the drawing and I will run outside and catch a leaf to make a wish to win your donut pans!
You had me at….sugar donut fragrance 👏
The apple cider doughnuts look so good. I think I will make them when we get some cool weather here in Florida. I have so many of your books Susan and I love them. You are an inspiration to me.
I am loving the October weather now that it has finally cooled off here in northwest Arkansas. I can commiserate with you and your wrist; I had rotator cuff repair and bicep tendon repair on my right arm September 6. Two weeks later I had a reaction to the sling I’m supposed to wear for 8-10 weeks. Had to give up the sling and make the best of it. Dangling is not something you’re supposed to do for at least 6 weeks after surgery. Oh, well! The admonishment from EVERYONE medical was DON’T USE YOUR RIGHT ARM FOR ANYTHING!!! So impossible to do. But I’ve started physical therapy 2 weeks ago and it’s coming along slowly. I get soooooo impatient. And with the holidays coming?! But we’ll work it out. Glad to see your occupational therapy is going so well.
I love your descriptions, Susan.
I am such a homemade is better person.
Thank you fir reminding us.
Apple Cider baked donuts—peefect
I love baked, rather than fried, donuts. Thanks
Hello,
I love the fall too. I’ll have to come see your neck of the woods someday. It sounds so lovely through your eyes. I tried to post a comment earlier but I don’t see it there. I apologize if two come through.
Susan, I would love to know where you purchased or if you made the string of hearts that appear in the window in this blog. I’d love to put them in my home.
Oh thank you! I keep mine up year-round! And we sell them in our webstore!
Susan,
You make the fall season, my favorite, so much more fun, sharing your simple pleasures of outdoor walks, baking, cozy decorating, and times with friends. Also, so glad you’re wrist is healing and you’re able to paint again. Just a wonderful post–thanks so much.
Baked donuts sound wonderful. I don’t have a pan but I can pipe “donut holes”.
Love fall 🍁🍂🍂 ! Thanks for sharing the donut recipe – something my husband will love ❤️ . We just celebrated our 49 th year Anniversary a couple of days ago .
So glad to see your wrist is healing well & your back to your lovely painting.
Penny from Mt.Rose 🌹
i am a terrible fryer and have been needing to get baked donut pans! i make the smitten kitchen apple cider caramels every year (she reduces the cider too!). lovely season at your home!
Thank you for the apple cider donut recipe! I can’t find them in Canada and no one else has even heard of them!
Also, thank you for your last paragraph about feeling overwhelmed. It was really just what I needed to hear. I can always count on your blog posts to make my day that much better. <3 🙂
Yum!!!!!!!
Always so nice to spend a few moments with you, my friend. Thanks for this post.
Never made a baked donut but you make them look and sound delicious.
I just tried making apple cider donuts two weeks ago- they were just OK and difficult (and fried in oil!)- it was a one and done for me. These look so much more DO-ABLE and healthier. Can’t wait to try them!
I’m in California so I love hearing about the fall changes on your lovely island. I can almost smell the leaves flying by…. and hear the rain against the windows… ahhh! Can’t wait for our first rain!
Those doughnuts with some coffee are calling my name.
I would love a doughnut with tea right now thanks for sharing your recipes.
Cindy
We visited Arroyo Grande yesterday and thought of you as we walked up Branch St. and gazed into the window of what used to be your fabulous store. How wonderful to find your Autumn Blog this morning! It’s filled with so many lovely photos, and I savored every word. I’m not much of a cook but I’m truly inspired to try some of your mouthwatering recipes, both from here and from your scrumptious Autumn book which sits among the leaves on my coffee table. Sending much love to you and Joe from California!
Love that little town! Thank you Ilene!
I love you! That is all! 🙂
😘
Yum! I can smell the spicy warm aromas in your kitchen today. I made pumpkin bars and apple cider donut cake today. Fall is fabulous for baking. Grandkids are coming for Christmas…donuts would be a fun activity. So glad to hear you are doing so well.
I love when I receive one of your emails! So glad you are healing nicely! You make your beautiful area so enchanting through your writings! Now I need to go order one of your 2020 calendars!❤️
Fall, cooler nights but still warm days in California. Leaves fall here in January! Just back from the mountains and the color of fall was everywhere! loved it!
Looking forward to trying the do-nut recipe. We get lovely cider donuts from nearby in Oak Glen where apples are grown. We share a dozen minis yum!!
Cannot wait to try this! One of the reasons I love autumn so much is freshly made cider donuts. Even though I live within commuting distance of NYC, I’m also close to the North Fork and East End of Long Island, where they have lots of farm stands (mainly on the North Fork, along with vineyards) and apple orchards as well.
Just love each blog you post, & loving the cooler weather as well. Always scan each pic of your lovely house so that I might see a decor that I have to replicate. I live on the coast of New Jersey, often think our Nor’easters travel up to you.
Thank you for sharing little glimpses of your life
Fall is my favorite time of year! Must try these apple cider donuts! I make pumpkin bread with a cream cheese center…my grandkids can’t get enough of it! Thanks for sharing your journeys with us!
Here in NJ we have quite a few apple orchards where you can pick your own! Last weekend we did just that along with our daughters and 4 grandchildren. We picked enough apples for 2 pies and them some! The orchard has a quiant little store that sells apple cider donuts and apple cider. So, I think I will try yoir cider donut recipe with my “fresh from the orchard”cider ! I look forward to your blog every month.
I would love to win the donut pans!! I never knew there was such a critter 🙂