Just got back from a lovely trip through the green mountains of Vermont. It is the closest you can get to nature! I do love the mountains but the ocean is still my favourite place. I go down about 3 times a year and just relax and do some shopping. It is the only time I really enjoy shopping. Of course I had to visit my favourite baking store King Arthur's Flour which has a great blog with lots of wonderful recipes.
I picked up their boiled apple cider which I cannot wait to use to make their apple cake. I will have to dig out the skillet for this one! This is the time of year when I love everything about baking.
Besides selling all the ingredients a baker would want they also sell mixes that they put together. Although I usually make everything from scratch I love to have a couple of these on hand for last minute rushes. Doesn't this one look tasty... Caramel Pecan Ginger - we are great lovers of anything ginger. I like the idea of these individual little cakes.
It is also time to go to the local apple orchard and see what is available in this year's crop. Now that is a lovely fragrance! Yes it is that time of the year where the apples are being harvested - the air is crisp and cool and there is a smell in the air that tells me fall is just around the corner - well of course next week is fall (dare I say my favourite time of the year).
Of course a trip to Vermont usually means a stop at the Shelburne Museum. As we drove up it was unbelievably crowded - oh boy - what was going on? It was the "Museum Goes to the Dog Day". That is the day they open up the grounds to the dogs and their owners. It is a fun filled day of activities. So we sat a bit and watched the parade of beautiful dogs - oh my and then made a visit to the museum store. We passed on the museum itself as it was so crowded. Though they were having a Warren Kimble exhibit. copyright warren kimble
I may take a quick jaunt down in October and see that exhibit before it closes. He is one of my favourite folk artists along with Charles Wysocki . Another wonderful exhibit at the Shelburne is that of rug hooker Patty Yoder. She had a style all her own and her rugs are well recognized and very beautiful.
"I am in love with wool. I love to bury my hands in the living wool of our beloved Border Leicester sheep. I love the feel and smell of new sheared wool when I gather it into bags as our shearer does his work. I love the yarn produced from each individual fleece. But most of all I love the glorious pieces of dyed wool fabric stacked by color waiting for the perfect spot in a hooked rug that I will create." --Patty Yoder
"Y is for Yoder" copyright Patty Yoder 
