Thanks for all your kind comments regarding my posterior, it’s good to know that you guys have my back! Ha!
Anyway, putting all butt jokes behind us (ha again!), let’s get back to the topic at hand.
Today (for lack of better blog post ideas), I’m going to go all Martha Stewart and share some of my favorite tips for surviving Fall.
Be Flexible
In New Mexico, Fall is a very very fickle thing. You have to be ready to go full bore with warm clothing and hot tea one day, and then bust out the shorts the next day. Case in point was Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a cold and rainy day, so I wore some handknit socks, drank hot beverages and made a delicious fall cake (more on that in a second). Friday seemed to be along the same lines, with a thick morning fog covering my house…fast forward to 12 PM and it’s sunny and 80 degrees. So while Fall vacillates from one extreme to the next, my advice is to keep a supply of warm knitted socks and some flip-flops near by.
Drink Hot Liquids
Tea is especially good for warmth on a chilly evening, when paired with a nice hot Fall cake (just a little more patience). I recommend some tasty black tea with milk and honey.
Knit, Knit, Knit
The best way to cope with those chilly weather blues is to work your fingers to the bone, making some knits to keep out the cold. Fall may not be the best time to start an extensive Christmas knitting list, but hey, you’re already crazy right? Any extra craziness is like a drop in the ocean, so bring it on!
Make a Delicious Cake
This one might just be my favorite cool weather remedy, and it’s certainly the tastiest. My cake in this case is a Chocolate Zucchini Cake, which my Mom has been making since I was a little kid. It sounds like a strange combo, but it’s really a lot like a carrot cake, and so very chocolaty. I’m drooling just thinking about it now! Oh, and because I’m a nice guy, click the cake picture for the recipe.
Nothing like the start of Fall to make me feel all domestic. Now get to baking! ;)
I love chocolate zuch cake too. :) And have you seen the foodblog Chocolate and Zucchini? :)
Love the sock! I was thinking about that same pattern to use with my Snow Angels yarn! :)
Oh, thanks for the cake recipe–yums!
Everything here looks perfect..today in New England it’s 85 and a tad humid.. not a great day for baking or hot tea.. have a great rest of your weekend!
Isn’t that an awesome mixer? And I LOVE that yarn with that sock pattern, it looks awesome.
Weather here is the same as always. Hot, dry, and humid. Thats Florida for you.
Yes, NM sure does have a fickle fall. I want to wear scarves, dangit! That cake is truly drool-worthy. The sock is also lovely! Is that the Austermann Step? And when are you going to come to SN’B?
Martha, please….get on back with your bad Kitchen Aid self! I am all about cake and will be making that one for sure. I am also a black tea enthusiast, such a clean buzz…
Oh, I’m so baking this cake!!! Fall in Finland is a little (hehe) different than in New Mexico. No need for flip flops, but mittens and hats and warm socks are essential for survival!
That sock looks gorgeous! What yarn is that?
thanks for sharing the cake recipe, some people don’t like sharing their recipes. Have to agree that cups of tea and cake really hit the spot. Also agree the only other way to keep out the cold is to knit. Happy knitting.
Yes, weather here in Texas is similarly unpredictable but I think fall is my favorite season anyway. I love the sock you’ve started! the colors are gorgeous! what brand/colorway is it?
The cake looks yummy too….and hey, I’ll take my veggies where I can get them. When they’re in chocolate it’s a bonus!
I am so sorry for myself that I am not over at your place sharing that YUMMY looking cake!
oh yum! thanks for the recipe! Fall in North Carolina is similar to the NM fall…cool one day then scorching hot the next…Personally, I like the days that call for hand knit socks, hot beverages, and warm cake:)
Here in Wisconsin we have a saying: “If you don’t like the weather….wait a minute!” This is especially true in the spring and fall, when the seasons are like self-striping sock yarns, changing on a moment’s notice. In the summer here (roughly three months) I drink half-iced-tea-half-lemonade (apparently known as an “Arnold Palmer” in eateries); in the winter it’s black tea with cream and honey or my NEW favorite, Agave Nectar, discovered in Colorado (and available at Whole Foods here). Incidentally - there’s a new delicious tea with extra caffeine (!!) from Celestial Seasonings, only you have to order it online and they’re threatening “Limited Time Only”. (I’m fighting the urge to order 100 boxes.) But it IS officially Autumn now, and I’m just squeee-excited and arranging my winter knitting, which is a most delicious pursuit. (Also, merci - one can never have enough yummy-with-tea cakes.)
Adam, your timing with the receipe couldn’t be better! Check out my blog to see why it’s going to come in handy.
Fall in NM doesn’t sound that different from fall in MN!
seems like New Mexico is like New England for fall! We were freezing and in the 50’s last week - this week - 90 degrees!!!
It’s been in the 80s here since the snap freeze but the kabash on our garden!!!
Your post made me hungry, so last night I made a zucchini cake! My neighbor had given me 2 enormous zucchinis so I grated one of them up and got to work. The girls helped me make the cake, and we piled on the chocolate chips and nuts…boy was it yummy! There are some great things about fall and that cake is at the top of the list!
Love ya~Mom
Yum! That cake looks GOOD! Pecans and all. :) I am definately aware of the fickle weather in NM. I am leaving on Saturday to go there and I seems like I am going to have to pack for two trips - warm vs. cold. :)
Adam - your pics are gorgeous! Glad that new camera and you are making friends nicely!
Adam–
Your sock pattern looks really cool and I love the yarn. Can you tell us what/where the pattern is/came from? I would love to know.
Oh that cake. To die for. I wish I baked. Perhaps it’s best that I don’t. Love the sock! Can’t wait to hear more about it!
your pictures are beautiful - what camera do you use???
I have a family favorite zucchini cake recipe too - and it had a little bit of fame back in the 80’s - I used to work at a radio station in DC, and Jesse Jackson was on one of the talk shows the day I brought a batch in to work. He LOVED it. And his many body guards did too. Nothing starts out the day like a good frisking by BIG men, I tell you whut.
Mine has bananas and walnuts in it too - I’ll have to give yours a shot though. It sounds faboo.
How serendipitous for me that I found your blog on the same day that I was gifted with a zucchini approximately the size of Delaware! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Your current socks, like all of your knits, look great.
What wonderful warm and homey looking pictures! They make me want to settle down in front of the fire with a big cup of hot chocolate and some knitting needles. :)
Hey…how about a new blog post…I need some new reading material!