I know, i know...we haven't even gotten past Halloween yet and already thoughts of Christmas are dancing in our heads like the proverbial sugarplums.  That's really not such a bad thing because, as Dickens said about the spirit of Christmas, "I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year".

For instance, take baking.  Between you and me i absolutely hate cooking, but baking i kinda like.  Maybe it's because i'm really a dessert kind of person.  I'll take a cupcake over a chicken leg any day of the week.

So autumn and the impending holidays seem to be a time that even the least Julia Childs types among us pull out our old family recipes and try again.  Don't you just love those old handwritten cards with grandma's favorite cookie recipe, or those yellowed clippings from the women's section of the newspaper with the formula for the perfect white frosting?  Every time i see them a flood of childhood memories rushes over me.....the scents of baking from mom's kitchen, and her delight even at us kids grabbing most of what comes out of the oven. I supposed that's why she did so much baking after we went to bed!

 So, pull out that treasure trove of old family recipes, and enjoy the memories....even if it's not quite Halloween yet.  After all, those memories know no season....

original painting on vintage recipe box, with Christmas ornament! (available on Etsy)

hello october!!!  thanks for the Indian Summer weather, and i'll probably regret this when it snows on Halloween, but brisk autumn days would be much appreciated!  The leaves are changing fast and despite the ultra-dry summer, we have glorious color.  The sugar maples seem to give off their own light as their leaves are soooo golden, and the red maples are redder than i can remember them ever being.

Inspired by this change of seasons, here' what i've been working on!

a fun tray for breakfast in bed when it's too chilly to come out from under the covers!

and these kind of span  autumn through to Christmas!!!!