A Few of Miss CherryBubbles' Favorite Autumn Things... Five Years Later

Miss CherryBubbles has sorely neglected her blog for three years... a new post is looong past due. 

I have Facebook "memories" to thank for reminding me how much I enjoyed sharing with all of you here on my blog. Just the other day one of my "memories" was a link I'd posted to Miss CherryBubbles' favorite autumn things, a Past Life blog post from 2011. Oddly enough, five years later my favorites remain the same and I've added a few in that time. Well, maybe it's not so odd.

Let me  backtrack for a moment as a way of updating you. In the summer of 2013, I moved to a wonderful little village on the edge of Lake Champlain. Vermont is just across a bridge over a narrow part of the lake, the village is in the scenic Adirondack Park, and Montreal is less than a 2 hour drive (or train ride). I've enjoyed learning how the seasons here are different in some ways from where I used to live and yet quite similar in other ways.

One thing that hasn't really changed and perhaps has even been enhanced by living here is my favorite season of the year, Autumn. I still read Nancy's Mysterious Letter, watch The Trouble with Harry and either read or watch Peyton Place but now I also throw on a wool plaid Pendleton 49er in fall shades of gold and rust, leap into the jitney, and head out into the colorful autumn world of the Adirondacks and Vermont. One of my new favorite things to do is go to Gunnison's Orchards in Crown Point, NY for the most amazing cider donuts, cold crisp apple cider, and a jolly pumpkin (this year with a swell twisty handle!).

Another new fall favorite is heading to the keen old-timey diner right here in the village for pumpkin pancakes (with real maple syrup, of course). 

Little did we know when I wrote a blog post about Foote's Port Henry Diner that within a year we would be living close enough to walk to the place... for pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie, and even maple pumpkin cheesecake.

Here's to autumn!

Cheers to you!

A Few of Miss CherryBubbles’ Favorite Autumn Things...

Fall is my favorite season of the year and I observe many annual autumn traditions of my own making. One tradition involves reading books and watching movies with an autumnal backdrop or theme. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you...


Nothing says autumn like the biggest college football game of the year. Now, I'm certainly not the biggest football fan around, but I am a Nancy Drew fan. So, what do football and Nancy Drew have in common? They both appear in the 1932 fall-themed Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene, the 8th book in the Nancy Drew series. Nancy solves a mystery revolving around an unusual letter she receives at the beginning of the book, but most of the action takes place at Emerson College, where Nancy cheers on her special friend, Ned Nickerson, in the big game.

"Indian Summer is like a woman."  So begins Peyton Place by Grace Metalious, published in 1956 and quite controversial in its time, for revealing those things about small towns that one wasn't supposed to reveal. Sometimes I read the book... sometimes I watch the film version, starring Lana Turner. Sometimes I even read Return to Peyton Place.

The gorgeous fall foliage of northern Vermont provides the perfect backdrop for my most favorite autumn film, The Trouble With Harry. I simply can't imagine the movie taking place in spring or summer. It just wouldn't be the same. Although I have read the book it was based on, nothing, in my opinion, surpasses Alfred Hitchcock's film version.

What are your favorite autumn traditions?

 

A Great Big Thank You!

...to ArtDecoDame and Lady Luck!

A little while back, ArtDecoDame at Pretty Little Things blog hosted a fabulous giveaway to celebrate reaching 300 followers... and, oh my goodness, Lady Luck smiled on Miss CherryBubbles! My name was drawn as the winner! Now, just see all the swell vintage things that arrived in the mail one day...

The black floral hat is just gorgeous and the petal hat is too fun! I've used the lovely corde purse for a couple special occasions and worn the bracelets (separately, I might add) several times to work or just about town. But, oddly enough, I think my favorite thing is the leafy handkerchief. I'm a complete sucker for anything with autumn leaves!

Thank you, ArtDecoDame! You're the most!


Sophisticated lady? No, but she plays one on tv.


Now, hold still, Mr. Lucky, and blow.

Fall Foliage and Antiques Make a Winning Combination!

I've often wondered why "leaf peeping" and "antique-hunting" go so well together....

On our way to the apple orchard a couple weekends ago, we made a stop at one of our favorite little country antique shops, Dokter's Treasures & Trees. The neat thing is that it is a tree farm in addition to an antique shop. In fact, we get our Christmas tree here every year. But let's not think about the winter holidays just yet. I'm still enjoying the beauty of autumn!

I thought I'd share some of our photos of Dokter's wares, the fall foliage, and a few interesting sights from our autumn excursion...

Oddly enough, I have green lawn chairs similar to those in the photo.

This gives new meaning to "outdoor hot tub."

On the table of goodies in the background, I found a black feather chignon clip still in its original round clear plastic box!

It seems somehow more substantial than a "clip."

A bit of fall decor next to the doorway to the shop.

Since there were quite a few people inside this tiny shop, I didn't take any indoor photos. However, there were lots more good things, as well as a refreshment table with apple cider, donuts, and cookies.

We also found a couple yard sales on our sojourn. I didn't see anything to buy at the first one, but they had these adorable little burros in the pasture just waiting for their picture to be taken.

And somewhere along the way, we spotted this tiny vintage camper hiding way back in the woods.

A bit spooky, don't you think?

Geese, who will soon be winging their way south.

And here are the vintage goodies I brought home from the antique shop and one of the yard sales.

Cookie cutters and head gear - does that seem an odd combination to you too?

Speaking of odd, I'll leave you with a photo of my swell bumpy pumpkin, acquired at the apple orchard we visited...

I love my weird pumpkin - can you tell?

A Few of My Favorite Fall Things...

One of my favorite vintage magazine covers includes a few of my favorite fall things...

McCall's, September, 1944

...going to an orchard for apples and cider, seeing the sky a shade of blue that only happens in autumn, having a fun fall outing as a reason to wear cute overalls and braids.

This weekend, my mister and I will be off on our annual October excursion for apples, cheese, maple syrup, and hopefully a bit "leaf-peeping" (see this post about our swell lunch stop on last year's trip). At the moment, the fall foliage isn't too fabulous in this area. The recent rain knocked most of the leaves off the trees that had already turned, but I must say, I'm still hopeful.

Our autumn excursion always includes stops at Jayne's Orchard, LeRaysville Cheese Factory, and Back Achers Farm, as well as an interesting lunch spot. In past years, we've sometimes just stopped at a roadside rest to enjoy a snack of apples, cheese, and cider. Yum!

One of my most favorite fall things is seeing the asters in bloom. I love the purple petals with the yellowish-orange center. Here's one of the spots in my yard where I have asters blooming even as we speak...

Hope you're enjoying this autumn season too, wherever you may be!

Experiment...in...Pancakes!

Tastier than an Experiment in Terror, don't you think? Okay, okay, let's just say they're equally tasty. ;)

Yesterday, I bought a small jug of locally-made apple cider, thinking only of enjoying a nice cold glass of the autumn manna. Then, an idea came to me... Apple Cider Pancakes! Could it be done?

After searching a bit online, I only came up with apple cider pancake recipes that called for "pancake mix" or Bisquick. Well, I'm more of a "from-scratch" kinda gal, so I thought why not experiment with one of my tried and true vintage cookbook recipes.

I started out with the pancake recipe that I normally make for Sunday breakfast - Sweet Milk Griddle Cakes from my oft-used and well-loved The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook (copyright 1941, 1943, 1947, 1950).


Now, here's my Apple Cider Pancakes version...

2 cups flour
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (depending on your preference)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons maple sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups apple cider
1 egg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Mix and sift (yes, I do sift - makes a lighter texture!) flour, salt, baking powder, maple sugar, and cinnamon. Mix together beaten egg, cider, and melted butter. Combine with dry mixture and mix well. Drop by tablespoons or pour from a swell vintage batter bowl (the kind with a spout) onto hot griddle (greased well if it isn't cast-iron, otherwise grease lightly). Brown on both sides. Serve hot with butter and real maple syrup (I also think a ginger syrup, blackberry syrup, or cinnamon syrup would be tasty).


As much as I love my well-seasoned round cast-iron griddle, someday I'd like to have either a vintage stove with a "griddle in the middle" or a vintage six-burner stove that I can use a two-burner-sized rectangular griddle on. But, it'll do for now. ;)

Here come the bubbles...


Nicely browned, although I think the cider and/or the maple sugar make the pancakes a darker shade of brown than the usual milk/white sugar recipe...


Sage & Thyme Chicken Sausages (organic, even) for "on the side"....


Now that's a fine fall feast fit for family and friends...

Happy October!

Apple Cider: Jayne's Orchard, West Auburn, PA
Maple Syrup: Back Achers Farm, Rome, PA