Merry Meet, October!

The golden month of October has finally arrived. In some ways, it seemed to take longer than usual to get here. A hot-hot, dry-dry summer caused the days and weeks to drag and drag on. Of course, I think we would have been complaining if it had been a cooler, rainier summer too. A love-hate relationship with weather!

Anyhoo..the autumn is now upon us and the Wheel of the Year is turning to its final spoke of the annual cycle. Samhain (pronounced sow-wen; sow as in cow) is at the end of the month and Wiccans, pagans and all manner of witches love this season. There is a lot to prepare for, get excited about and to think about, both in physical terms and in spiritual terms. The blog-o-sphere will be bursting at the seams with parties, giveaways, crafty stuff and photos, videos and a whole lot more. It will be spook-tacular.

To celebrate today being the very first day of a very favorite month, I wish to present you with a most delectable cake recipe. It is called "Grandmother's Apple-Nut Cake" and it is an extremely old recipe. Unlike most apple recipes, this cake has no cinnamon or nutmeg or brown sugar.  It's simple, and simply sweet.

This recipe makes an 8" square cake, but can easily be doubled.

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Combine egg, sugar and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to egg mixture and mix well. Before you add the apples the mixture will appear dry.

Stir in apples and nuts. I used one granny smith apple and one gala apple. Any apple good for baking is perfect.

Chop the apples into tiny bits.

Spread in a greased pan. (8" square).

It might seem there is not enough batter, but just spread it to all sides. It will increase in size with baking.

Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes. It will be golden, and toothpick inserted in center will come out clean.

This is what a perfectly baked side should look like.

This is delicious warm either plain, with ice cream, sour cream or whipped cream.

Please enjoy.