First Day of Fall Equals Cake

Perhaps you're wondering how the first day of fall automatically equates with cake? Well, I'd be happy to tell you.

Despite the fact that I'm now middle aged and would be horrified at even the mention of a bikini, out of habit I've always dreaded fattening food in summer. It is sort of a habitual guilt left over from my beach babe days. So, the first day of fall is a day of freedom for me and I like to indulge in a sinfully delicious home baked cake.

Fall Spiced Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache

The first slice of heaven

This cake is very moist, super rich and absolutely delicious. A hint of cinnamon and nutmeg give the chocolate a cut of spiciness that gives another layer of flavor. In this one, I put a thin coating of my home-made strawberry jam between the layers with more ganache to hold it in place.

Peachy!

Just for fun, I thought I'd play show and tell with the first productive (sort of) season for my peach tree. Yes, I know I'm in Virginia not Georgia, but this particular peach tree does well as a specimen tree for coastal Virginia if you can give it a little TLC during peak cold times.

Peach blossoms blooming ever so prettily

My blurry attempt to show the nascent peaches

Tiny peaches as fuzzy as can be

Super fuzzy but growing quickly

This is just too fuzzy...whoops...that Boscoe not a peach! :)

After thinning off any that looked off, my still small tree has a small load of a few dozen peaches

And here they are now, still growing, still fuzzy and still not eaten!

Now, I don't know if it is because I still have this potted or because it is the first year it is old enough to bear fruit, but the peaches are rather small. They should be pretty much full sized right now. I'm inclined to think it is because it was potted still. It is a semi-dwarf but I wanted it to be mobile over the first winter with me just in case the cold got too much. I'll be planting it this year in a spot that is just perfect for it.

I'll let you know how those tiny peaches taste!

Cherokee Village Lots

Sorry all for the weird post but I'm trying to show a person who has recently visited my lots in Arkansas my CAD interpretation of their pictures to see if I'm on the right track. Be back with more homesteading news soon.....

This rendering is with more flattening at the 600 ft elevation and sharper inclines at the edges. Click the picture to see it bigger.

This one is a straight interpolation between the elevations as if it rose and fell absolutely evenly between elevation points.