Good Things by David

For those who love the flavors and aromas of autumn's best treats, this cake is for you.  Packed with delicious pumpkin puree, freshly grated orange zest, crystallized ginger and spices, my Pumpkin Pound Cake is certainly going to entice your palate in the coming weeks.  I don't know about you, but the moment I begin to feel change in the air as Fall approaches I must turn on my oven and get baking.  There's something so comforting this time of year about having a toasty kitchen redolent of sugar and spice. I recently had the opportunity to recreate this delicious cake for a small event and I can assure you that it was a hit with guests.  Aside from the scrumptious attributes found in every slice, the pound cake is very easy to make as long as you have the ingredients in your kitchen.  I think the most difficult thing to do is choose which bundt pan will best suit your event.  In actuality, one doesn't need an event or special occasion to create th...

The calendar says autumn has arrived, yet I look out of our windows and still see green everywhere.  On a walk over the weekend I decided to photograph our surroundings to give you a perspective of eastern Pennsylvania as it is now, with the intent of showing you what it will eventually be like next month and in November.  As much as I do it for you, the reader, I also like to catalog the property from year to year so that I note the differences in the landscape.  Storms, fallen trees, dead foliage, etc., can have a significant impact on the areas around our home.  A tree that no longer stands where it used to, for instance, can make a space feel completely different.   With such a wet summer and cooler-than-normal temperatures these past few months, it's going to be interesting to see what our foliage will look like this season.  Several years ago we had the most amazing colors that were simply breathtaking, yet the following year, the colors wer...

Making a Lemon Honeypot is such an easy thing to do at home and it was one of my very first posts when I began blogging.  The idea isn't new, but it is a nice one if you're expecting company over for some tea and cookies.  A natural honeypot like this not only adds charm to your table, it also adds flavoring to your tea in a most fragrant way.   Lemons are fruits that can always be found in my kitchen.  No ifs ands or buts about this.  If I'm visiting my parents on the west coast during the winter I make it a point to bring back a suitcase of lemons from their citrus trees.  I can't imagine my life without lemons. Rather than grabbing a honey bear which may or may not contain actual honey, source your honey from a local farmer if it's possible.  With farmers markets springing up everywhere, I have a feeling that local honey is more readily available these days.  The beekeepers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, provide me with my favo...

We all like cakes that are beautifully iced for special celebrations throughout the year.  Many of us enjoy decorating them for our friends and family with tinted buttercream, piped with exact proportions and sometimes we even add a bit of whimsy to make them unique.  Many years ago when Martha by Mail was available, the product developers provided us with a wonderful cake decorating kit which had every tool needed to create lovely cakes.  With this kit came a small decorating booklet.  The booklet is now a collector's item and I'd like to share it with you if you haven't seen it before. The cakes, tips and decorating instructions found here were taken from previous Martha Stewart Living publications and were collected in a very informative 12 page booklet.  A few classic recipes from  marthastewart.com  were included, such as the ever-popular royal icing and buttercream recipes, plus a typical yellow cake recipe.  I did not include them in t...