Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Now that the weather has gotten chilly here--OK, I know that some of you in colder climes just snorted coffee out your nose, but it IS chilly!--Tallulah Mae has donned her fuzzy scarf, which matches her coat perfectly. She is so happy. Not.

When Someone Shares Their Buttermilk...

. . . make buttermilk coffee cake. Which I did, and it was pretty good--but for a simple and basic coffee cake, it's hard to beat the Bisquick version (I have a Martha version that comes close). I'm seeing now that the slice I chose to photograph (I love corner pieces, don't you? Corner brownies rock!) doesn't have NEARLY enough sugar/butter topping on it.

Buttermilk is one of those things that you never have when you need it--at least I don't--but then you buy a carton, use a cup, and then what? So my friend shared her carton with me, and wouldn't you know it? I had trouble finding a recipe I wanted to make that had buttermilk in it!

Here's how you fake buttermilk, apparently . . .

The Line-Up in the Light of Day

Here is the jolly plastic Hallo(*)een brigade, before they (*)ere put a(*)ay for the season. Cute, no?

Note the asterisks above? A certain key (comes after V and before X) has stopped (*)orking on my computer. Could be a problem, I think!

Comfort Food

Ah, chocolate pudding . . . so yummy. When I was a kid, we'd have Jello chocolate pudding, made by my mom on the stove, and then we'd pour milk over it while it was still warm. Mmmm . . .

I made this pudding from scratch, just five ingredients. It was OK, not killer . . . and it got disgustingly watery in the refrigerator. I must find another recipe, I think.

Gourd Afterlife

Once you've tired of your pumpkin, plant it up with some colorful fall perennials and use it as a centerpiece. (I know, it's rather Martha-esque, but remember, I loves me some Martha!).

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

LOL!!!

Pretty, Random: Pretty Random

It's been an interesting (and frankly, exhausting) few weeks: several family members in and out of the hospital (boo), but one of them got a new kidney (yay); sick with a cold-like thing (blegh); terrible wildfires (oh no; sigh); loads of work (yuck); a good friend diagnosed with breast cancer (damn). So . . . a random photograph of something quite pretty.

This is brugmansia, or angel's trumpet, and you usually see it in yellow, so this one--which is huge--is a bit unusual. And pretty!