Farmers' Market Flowers

It was rainy and gloomy most of this afternoon, with passing crashing-cymbal-filled thunderstorms that pelted the ground with gumball-sized hailstones. It's been years since I've seen hail! Such a strange sight, and so weird to hear thousands of little dings and whacks at once as they bounce off of different surfaces and ricochet around.

So here's a photo of bright and sunny bouquets of zinnias, veronica, amaranth, black-eyed susans, and kale from the local farmers' markets to harken back to sunnier, hail-free days!

By the way, what do you go with - farmer's market, farmers market, or farmers' market? I go with the latter because there's always more than one farmer present, but I honestly have no idea which is right.

What do you think?

Fall Decor, Projects, and Food

Minus the little blip of the 82 degree day we had yesterday (let's not talk about, that's how much I dislike hot weather!), it's definitely full-on fall in Boston. I'm loving the cool days and crisp nights. I've already pulled out my fall leaf banners and lantern pumpkins from last year, but I'll definitely have to add a print of this Kerria japonica illustration to my decor. I love how it has bright autumn yellows in it, but is versatile enough to be left up all year if wish.

How goes does this Hungarian apple cake by "From My Mother's Kitchen" look? In case you were wondering, yes, the entire middle is a big fat layer of baked apples. I don't think I'd be able to wait until dessert for this - I'd make it a weekend brunch treat. It'd be perfect alongside a steaming mug of cider or pumpkin spice coffee.

This paper strip pumpkin project by MerMag Blog is so different than most fall crafts projects I've seen. It's also simple yet modern, and you could use the basic paper strip idea to make wreaths for Christmas, eggs for Easter, shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, and so on. 

I want to make this crispy kale autumn salad from Half-Baked Harvest asap. Butternut squash, pecans, kale, and grilled cheese croutons. What more could you ask for? You could also sub regular croutons for the grilled cheese ones and add in chicken or pork for extra protein. I'm sure it'd be delicious either way!

What are you making and baking this fall?