Good Things by David

September is a busy month with kids returning to school, parents packing lunches, and everyone planning for the months ahead.  The 23rd of the month marks the end of summer, but that won't stop the fluttering of butterflies & moths, and the droning of the bees on blooms around our gardens.  A few trees and shrubs may start to show a bit of yellow or orange, crimson or brown here in the northeast, yet mother nature will continue to give us warm weather before there is any real chill in the air.   Farmers markets will be brimming with crisp apples for eating, baking and  cooking, and garden centers will have an influx of mums in wonderful autumn colors.   I can't wait to welcome the fall season this month, because it never fails to be beautiful.

Change is a part of life and, to my mind, it's a part of a good life.  Although I don't always welcome change, I find it is sometimes necessary when one wants to turn a new leaf.  Mother nature does it to us four times a year with the seasons.  I've always loved the transition from summer to fall, because the colors are absolutely stunning during that time of year here in Pennsylvania. If you live in the Northeast then you understand perfectly. My new routine of walking every single day is one of those changes in my life that I have welcomed wholeheartedly.  During these excursions of mine, I have become more observant of what's going on all around me.  Several of my neighbors, including ourselves, are starting to see a few trees, the dogwoods for instance, with yellow leaves, pale chartreuse leaves and even brown leaves.  The large 40 foot linden tree next to the kitchen is among the first of the trees near the house which changes.  I'm sure ...

September is out and October is in.  As I write this I keep wondering where the month went.  I feel like I was cheated out of a good summer because we had a lot of rain and not enough sunny days.  My only hope now is that we dry out so that our leaves get the chance to give us a glorious show of color.  What I don't want is a freak ice storm, early snow or some type of Hurricane like in years past.  Let's just have a good, simple Fall season with no surprises.  Pretty please. The month of September had some nice surprises for me which I shared with all of you.  Old favorites were rediscovered from my archives and new recipes were created.  I do like going back through my previous posts to see what was done several years ago and I especially love going through the tens of thousands of photographs I've accumulated since the early blogging days.  It's amazing to me to go through sets after sets of photo shoots, because I can see what I...

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...

An Everyday Cake with a delicious butter glaze meant to be baked anytime of the year, a batch of tasty Fig Cookies made entirely from scratch or a list of the Essential Baking Pans, are but a few of the topics I brought to you this past September.  The month seems to have gone by rather quickly for me and in actuality I'm quite glad.  I do hope, however, that many of you took advantage of the warm, sunny weather this past month wherever you happen to live and enjoyed the last of the season's tastiest fruits & vegetables at a get-together or perhaps at a barbecue with friends and family.  October is already here with the promise of cooler weather, beautiful colors and delicious flavors most of us seem to crave, so I expect all of you to be in 'baking mode' soon. Here on the blog I finally got around to some of the stories I wanted to cover.  The Fig Cookies I mentioned were just waiting to be shared with all of you as were the additional i...