autumn's arrival.

Hello blog friends! Happy first day of FALL! Although autumn isn't in the air quite yet, it's definitely on my mind. I have been counting down the days until it is considered permissible to put out my fall decor. Today is my lucky day!

Yesterday John came home with a fall surprise—pumpkins! These beauts were the perfect final touch to our back porch.

I bought a few pumpkins for the indoors, as well. Smaller in size, of course. They are placed here and there throughout the condo.

Entryway table.

Tiger stripe pumpkin. Pretty apropos. War Eagle!

I went to HomeGoods today to pick up a few items for my fall centerpiece. I came home with a few balls and what-nots and two bundles of wheat. Here is the finish product:

Let's hope Coco and Goose aren't fond of wheat.

Some more touches of autumn:

And lastly, I had the urge to bake a little something this afternoon. Something, fall-ish, that is. To keep with the pumpkin theme today, I conjured up some pumpkin spice bread. MMMM. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:


3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer). Add pumpkin and mix well.
2. Combine dry ingredients; add to the pumpkin mixture alternately with water.
3. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until bread tests done.
4. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack; cool completely.

P.S. The bread smells AMAZING while it's baking. I highly recommend this recipe.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Welcome, Autumn.