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One of the many things that I love about fall is the increased insect activity as they rush to feed, mate, and nest (or die) before cold weather hits.  Ladybugs will hibernate under tree bark, in rock piles, or in any tight place where they can avoid the frost and the wind (including your walls!).  

Most adult grasshoppers die after laying their eggs in the fall.  You see them in great numbers, hurrying to do what they need to do before a killing frost.

I didn't even notice this guy until I leaned in to admire a thistle plant!

All around, insects are mating as quickly as possible, as our nighttime temperatures dip into the low 50s. 

Both caterpillars and spiders spin webs inside of leaves.

Getting that nectar while they can!

I'm seeing more fall berries, too.

Increased deer foraging...

...and the first touches of color here.

Still, the flowers are going strong in the garden...

...with just a few starting to show signs of going to seed.

It's a great time to take a walk through the back fields...

...or just enjoy the view!

Next week looks miserably hot but at least the days are moving along and October will be here soon. 

Have a great week!

"do-nut" doubt the virility of the grasshopper

At long last, it's October...my favorite month.  Right on schedule came the chilly temperatures and the steady rain.  I'm happily padding around the house in a sweater and slippers, sleeping in my warm flannel pajamas, within warm flannel sheets, but with all the windows open to let the cold breeze shiver down my spine.  Especially after the long, hot, dry summer, I'm delighting in every cool rain drop.

I love fall in the garden.  The rain pools on the spider webs...

...and collects on my nasturtium leaves, which look like miniature lily pads.

It glistens on the lilac blossoms...

...and weighs down the delicate, graceful stems of the cosmos.

The little wet-weather creatures are out in force, like this slug.

Others, not so fond of the rain, hide where they can.  Beneath the arching stems of the Russian Sage bush, like this carpenter bee...

 

...under the leaves on the lilac bushes, like this fly...

...or under the protective lip of my bird bath, like this grasshopper.

Grasshoppers seem especially prolific this year, and that was never more in evidence than this past week.  Fall is grasshopper mating time, and, well, they've really hopped to it.

Grasshoppers prefer to mate in the protection of bushes or other similar covering, because their preoccupied, immobile state makes them particularly vulnerable to birds and other predators.

Grasshoppers have a fascinating courtship.  Many species sing to each other, or emit pleasing pheromones, or drum on their thoraxes to attract a mate. 

One species of American grasshopper can perform up to 18 elaborate poses to draw in an admiring female!

Not all the grasshoppers I saw in the yard were mating pairs.  Several were singles, either pre- or post-mating.  Eating...

 

 ... or resting.

Soon their jobs will be done, they'll die with the coming cold weather, and we'll have to wait for the life cycle to begin anew in the spring.

There's no easy segue between grasshoppers and donuts, unless you acknowledge the obvious fact that both life cycles and donuts are circular.   If you can accept that air-tight logic with the knowledge that donuts are a delicious treat and that this is a recipe you'll want to try, we can move on!

I have a particular aversion to stale pastries, so I rarely buy donuts.  I also have an aversion to gaining more weight, so I've avoided learning how to deep-fry foods.  But when I saw a donut pan at Jo Ann Fabrics on clearance, I couldn't resist.  Fresh donuts with no deep frying?

 

Now, of course, frying does something remarkable to donut batter that baking just cannot replicate, such as provide the firm exterior and additional flavor.  But these baked donuts are nothing to sneeze at.  They have a nice, chewy texture and a really soft, flavorful interior.   And I'll take any excuse to incorporate more "fall" into my fall.  Pumpkins?  Spices?  Bring it on!

Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Adapted from Blue-Eyed Bakers

Makes 16 - 18 large donuts

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the spices and flour together with the salt and baking powder; set aside.  In your mixer, combine the oil, sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk.  Slowly add dry ingredients and combine. 

Spoon into your greased donut pan and bake about 10 minutes.  

Cool on rack.

Now, how do you want to top your donuts? Chocolate?  Vanilla?  Melted candy melts?  Powdered sugar?  It's up to you.  I chose a mixture of turbinado sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  I melted 3 tablespoons of butter into another bowl...

  ...and dipped the donut tops...first in the butter, and then in the sugar mixture.  That's all there is to it!

They were really good and I was only twenty minutes from I ought to try out those new donut pans to the finished product. 

I hope you'll give them a try this week.  They're perfect for good-book-and-flannel-pajama evenings.

Have a great week!

Ore-oh, yeah!

The recent rains have cooled things off a bit, and I've been more active in the yard.  I've really enjoyed watching the little creatures there...something I haven't done for a while because of the heat.  

Moths are especially prolific in late summer.

There are endless varieties of moths - much too many for me to be able to identify by sight (yet!).  So far I either identify them as "bushy-headed" or "needle-nosed".  This one, of course, is of the bushy-headed variety.  I love the feathery antennae.

It's easy to see them clinging to screen doors and windows, but I can usually find their natural hiding places.  Moths love to hide behind blades of grass...

...or under large leaves, like this "needle-nose".

Of course, we've got the omnipresent carpenter bees, which nap on the Russian Sage at night...

Grasshoppers get bigger, browner, and more sluggish as the season moves on.  They've lost their jaunty hops and seem to have a staring, harassed look.  It's definitely grasshopper mating season.

I've found a few insect nests, too, like this strange marble-sized mud nest built in the branches of our pine tree.  

 

I wonder who lives there?

 

The rains have brought my nasturtiums back from the brink.  I love their bright, saturated colors.

Nasturtiums are edible.  What a beautiful salad they'd make!

I cut back my stocks earlier this year and they've finally rebloomed.

Stocks have an amazing scent.  I planted them along our back walkway so their delicious smell wafts up as you brush past them.   Ahhhhh!

They're annuals, but I believe they re-seed nicely.

My snapdragons have gone strong all summer long...

And believe it or not, one of my lilac bushes is blooming again!

I made the mistake of planting morning glories years ago, and spent the subsequent years ripping up transplants all over the yard.  This year I decided to pot one of them up.  It was an interesting experiment.  I got the same blue flower as the parent plant...

...but the blooms are much smaller.  Also, instead of the large spade-shaped leaves, this plant has jagged, fuzzy leaves of a completely different shape.  

I think I created a monster!  It allows me an opportunity to use one of my favorite words:  transmogrify.

trans·mog·ri·fy [trans-mog-ruh-fahy, tranz-] 

verb (used with object), trans·mog·ri·fied, trans·mog·ri·fy·ing.

to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform.

I think it fits!  This is the parent plant's sinister cousin.

Anyway, I can't break my flower-buying habit, but since we're moving soon, I stick to bouquets.

I can't wait to plant rose bushes at our new house!

A friend of mine was recently talking about her love of Newman's Own Oreo-style cookies, and I remembered a recipe tucked away in my collection.  After she left, I pulled it out and preheated the oven.  Could homemade Oreos taste as good as store-bought?

In my opinion - they taste even better.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

makes 16 - 24 cookies

Annie's Eats

Directions

For the cookies:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
10 tbsp. (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg

For the filling:
4 tbsp. (¼ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F and grease your cookie sheets.  In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Add the butter and mix briefly to incorporate.  Next, beat in your egg and mix until the dough forms a mass.  

Take a small ball of dough and roll it into a ball.  Flatten it slightly and place on cookie sheet.  

Bake for 5 - 7 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire racks.   What a beautiful cookie!

While they're cooling, make your filling by combining your butter and shortening and beating until smooth.  Add your powdered sugar and beat 2 - 3 minutes, then blend in the vanilla.  **My filling seemed too thick to pipe at this point, so I thinned it out with some milk.  It was still quite thick!

 For cookie assembly:  pair up your cookies by size.  Fill a pastry bag with cookie filling and pipe frosting onto one cookie half.

Put cookies together and press so that filling is evenly distributed.

This recipe makes some gorgeous stacks of cookies! 

They taste like Oreos, but are softer in the middle.  They are amazing and I'm sure I'll never buy store-bought Oreos again.  They didn't take any time to whip up, either!  Truthfully, you can cut the sugar down quite a bit in this recipe and still have a great-tasting cookie.  I feel great about adding this to my roster of kitchen DIY recipes, and I love having the excuse to say:  Ore-oh, yeah!  :)  

Hope you give them a try.  Have a great week!