The $40 cupcake

October is one of my favorite months. When I was gainfully employed, I would spend the first week of the month on Cape Cod, quietly celebrating my birthday and taking advantage of the fact that the days were still warm enough to spend hours on the beach and the evenings quiet enough to actually enjoy the restaurants.

October and Autumn also usher in one of my favorite seasonal taste treats—Pumpkin. If there was a 12-Step Program for pumpkin eaters, that would be me in the front row proudly stating..my name is Larry and I am a pumpkin addict. I will eat anything pumpkin from seeds to lattes and am just as happy having a store-bought $5.99 Entenmann's pumpkin pie as I am a $19.95 Little Pie Shop version.

So when I spotted Ina Garten's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting in the October issue of House Beautiful, I knew I was in trouble. Being a "builder" and not a "baker," making the commitment to follow any recipe can be a daunting—and expensive—prospect. By the time I filled my shopping cart with all the ingredients (very few of which I had at home, starting with the eggs) I watched the tab quickly rise to about $40. I was tempted to return everything and opt for the ready-made bakery goods visible in every direction, but stayed the course and took my purchases home to become a student of Ina's. When the room filled with the scent of fresh-baked pumpkin and I dipped my finger in the maple frosting to sample a taste, I knew the cost was worth it!

Pine Needles as Mulch? I'll let you know!

I have an enormous towering pine on the edge of my property that drops a carpet of needles every fall. In the past I've raked, bagged and disposed of the crop, but this year I wondered if the needles could be used as an alternative to cedar wood mulch. And guess what? They can.

Known as pine straw, dried pine needles make a good ground cover particularly for acid-loving plants like rhodedendons, azaleas, berry shrubs and other evergreens. They are completely eco-friendly (since they decompose and add nutrients to the soil), enhance moisture retention, prohibit weed growth and—unlike their wood counterparts—are less likely to wash away during a heavy rain. One proviso: if the needles are green they may alter the PH of your soil, so be sure to use the dried, straw-like needles if you plan to use as mulch. You can find out more at mulchtypes.org

Trout House Soap

During a recent trip to Minneapolis, MN, and The Creative Connection event, I was able to spend time with the soap queen—Ann Marie Craig—who was selling her artisan handcrafted soaps at the event's three-day HandMade Market. Her Century Farmhouse soaps are simply the best and, as you know from my earlier soap posts, she is the one who inspired me to dabble in a soap making enterprise of my own. (See Can I Make Soap? from January.) I brought some of my sample bars for her to critique and, while she offered some helpful suggestions, she did acknowledge that I was well on my way. Being a creative soul and marketer at heart, I have already been playing with packaging that would fit the brand and vision for my Trout House Trading Co. Here is a glimpse of things to come.

Courtney and Jamie get hitched!

This Saturday, I had the pleasure and distinct honor of attending the Woods-Teska wedding. Courtney Woods and I worked together at Country Living and she was one of the brightest and most dedicated assistants that I ever had the pleasure to work with (a sentiment that was shared by another former boss attending the wedding—Donna Warner, long-time editor-in-chief of Metropolitan Home who hired Courtney about six months before Hachette pulled the plug on that title).

Having worked with Courtney, I had no doubt that everything would be beautifully orchestrated and run like clockwork. The ceremony was held at the same Collinsville, CT Roman Catholic Church that her great grandmother was wed and, the cocktail reception on the picturesque grounds of the nearby Avon Old Farms Hotel. As you can see, the bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, the country setting perfect, and the weather. . . now how did Courtney manage to pull off such a glorious Autumn day? Cheers to the happy couple!

Faded Glory (but not the pretty kind)

At Country Living magazine we learned to appreciate the beauty of distressd finishes, like weathered shutters, hand-worn knobs on dressers, and the look of aged shutters, doors and lawn furniture. But, the peeling paint on my front porch—now visible from the road—was anything but attractive. (For the record, my house was painted a couple years ago by a professional, and while the clapboard siding has retained its paint finish beautifully, the old shake shingles on the front and sides of the porch have not.) So, this weekend, I grabbed the rotary sander, goggles and dust mask, and began the process of removing the peeling paint.

Sanding is not fun. It's messy and tedious, and a lot of work. In the beginning, I tackled the project with full conviction; even contemplating taking the shingles down to the original cedar. It didn't take me long, however, to realize that the work was already more than I bargained for. (By removing all the paint I was also flattening the subtle ridges that give classic shakes their appeal.) I needed to make a decision—to sand down to the cedar or sand just enough to prime and repaint? If you've ever tackled the job of sanding a house, you'll know the option I chose.

Magnificent Obsession

If you follow this blog you already know how much I love to find old discarded furniture that I can restore, refurbish and re-imagine. (My Daybed project on Aol.'s DIYLife is one example). But, this week I discovered a kindred spirit in the Handmade Market at The Creative Connection Event in Minneapolis, MN, when I met Sandy Stone of Sandy Stone Design Studio.

Based in Southwest Minneapolis, Sandy showed some of her imaginative and oh-so-stylish chair make-overs. What makes her work so inspiring is the broad range of salvaged materials that she incorporates in her upholstery treatments. Fur coats, oriental carpets, bark cloth, men's neckties, and even old canvas U.S. Mail sacks, are put into service with unexpected and delightful effect.

I have included a couple of photos, but you can learn more about Sandy's creations in her just released book, "Fabric Remix: Repurpose & Redecorate".

A Bloom—At Long Last!

Remember last year when I posted my "Hydrangea envy" post about watching my neighbor's hydrangea bushes bountiful with blooms and my three-year-old, seemingly healthy plants, revealing no signs of blossoming. Well, I am here to tell you that it's true—all things come to those who wait. Of the four hydrangea bushes that I planted, I was able to produce one bloom late this summer. And, what a beauty it is!