Pumpkin everything, cozy books, a Thanksgiving dish swap with friends, and a birthday I am very happy about.
Welcome to the November musings, with plenty of things to do in November. The calendar says the month begins on Sunday, but my kitchen has been living in it for weeks, with pumpkin in nearly everything that comes out of the oven and the house smelling like cinnamon by mid-afternoon.
I can’t say exactly why November feels the way it does, but I have a few ideas. The first is the birthdays. My aunt, my cousin, and I had birthdays three days in a row, so for years we simply celebrated together. My cousin died of breast cancer years ago, but we still celebrate her each November. The second is the road. We drove from Michigan to Wisconsin many times as a child to see my grandparents. I learned to make homemade pumpkin pie right at my grandmother’s side, which may be where the whole pumpkin habit began. The third is everything else: the decorations coming out, the family holidays lined up ahead, and the long, glorious run to Christmas. I am nearly sixty and I still feel exactly the way I did when I was small.
It is also the month I turn sixty, and I am excited to see what the year ahead brings.
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What I Am Looking Forward To in November
First on the list is Sunday morning, when the clocks fall back. I know this makes me unpopular. I do not mind. The extra hour of sleep is nice, but what I love is what comes after it. It’s dark early and the lamps are on by five. We turn on the fire and light the candles, the dogs claim their favorite spots in the room, and nothing is expected of anyone beyond a book and a blanket.
Then there is Thanksgiving itself, the biggest meal of the year, which asks only for a good appetite and a dish to pass. We cook and bake for days, and the whole meal seems to be over in less than thirty minutes. I am there for the sides, the yeast rolls, and the pie. And, obviously, my family and friends.
And then comes the birthday. Sixty sounds like a number that belongs to someone else. But I am grateful to have made it this far, and I am looking forward to the adventures of the next year. I am working on a post about what these years have taught me and what I have finally stopped apologizing for, and it goes up this month.
On The Blog This Month
On Tuesday the 10th, I am joining four blog friends to share our favorite Thanksgiving dishes. Five kitchens, five dishes, and by the time you reach the last link you will have most of a menu on your list. Bring a pen.
Between the dish swap, the birthday, and visits from friends and family, it is a full month, and I am excited about every bit of it.
What I Am Wearing This Month
November is when the weather finally makes up its mind here. No more flip-flopping between sweaters and shorts, which means I get to dress for the season without second-guessing it. Cashmere sweaters come first, then plaid skirts, riding boots, and a blazer when I need one. When the temperature really drops, a plaid cape or a Barbour jacket goes on over the top. Lately I have been adding to my plaid skirt collection, because one can never have enough plaid. I have been shopping Poshmark and I love it. I bought a vintage Lands’ End wool skirt that is beautiful and a vintage Liz Claiborne. One tip: be sure to read the measurements, because vintage sizes are not the same as the sizes today. Thankfully both skirts fit, but one fits so snugly that I will not be able to eat more than a hot chocolate all day. If I wear it to Thanksgiving dinner, the button may pop off.
The day starts in flannel pajamas, slippers, and a feather down robe to keep the chill off when I first wake up. At home I live in lounge wear. I love fancy clothes, and ball gowns have always had a place in my heart, but I have yet to find one that is practical for baking.
If you want the holiday version, Cindy and I are back on Thursday the 12th with holiday style, outfits and tabletop ideas pulled from TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I think you will love it as much as our Fall roundup.
My November picks are on ShopMy.
What To Cook This Month
Pumpkin is still the star at my house, and is not ready to share the spotlight. For something to bring to a gathering, the spiced pumpkin bars with whipped cream cheese frosting are dense, moist, and generously spiced, closer to a cake than a bread, with a tangy frosting on top. The pumpkin pie bars with streusel topping taste like pie without the rolling pin, which is exactly the point. And if you have an afternoon to spend in the kitchen, Ben Starr’s pumpkin carrot cake is the most ambitious thing on this list, with layers, a meringue folded into the batter, and cream cheese icing.
For something lighter after a big dinner, the pumpkin panna cotta with candied pumpkin seeds is made the day before, which means one less thing to think about on the day. And if you want to add your own warmth into everything you make, my homemade pumpkin pie spice takes five minutes and six spices.
On the savory side, the wild rice with pecans and cranberries is a Thanksgiving side I shared years ago and still think belongs on the table. If you are hosting this year, my favorite recipes for entertaining are a good place to start.
What To Read This Month
My reading this month is cozy, comforting, and mostly English. I will start with Nigel Slater, whose grocery list I would happily read. The Christmas Chronicles (I shared this last week on the blog) starts on the first of November and keeps you company through Bonfire Night, Christmas, and Epiphany, finishing only when January does, with stories, notes, and a hundred recipes for the dark months. It won the Fortnum and Mason award for best food book in 2018 and reads like a friend telling you what to put on the table and why. If you have not met him yet, Toast is his memoir of growing up, and The Kitchen Diaries follows a year in his kitchen.
For a little light reading, there is The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar, set in a sleepy Cotswold hamlet where an entire village built from gingerbread has been part of Christmas for decades. Margi, who started it, is sixty-four, feels her old spark has gone out, and has decided this will be the final one. And if you want a Christmas story with the sea in it, Jenny Colgan’s Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery takes you to a Cornish village where a storm isolates everyone from the mainland and the whole place has to pitch in.
A Small Joy
My small joy this month is the moment the first box of decorations comes out and the house begins to look like the holidays are on their way. This year there is also the new tree, which is due here any day now, fingers crossed.
That is most of the month. The rest will unfold as it goes, and I will tell you all about it as it does. In the meantime I have pumpkin to bake and a Thanksgiving menu to argue with Bill about(he likes to have 10 sides for 8 people). What is the first dish you make when November arrives, the one that tells your house the season has changed? Is it something you grew up with, or something you picked up along the way?
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On My Radar
Homemade cranberry sauce is the first November food I normally make because fresh berries are finally available. Love the pop of the whole berries. November is my birth month, too. The 17th will find me 78 and proud of it. Don’t put the shorts away just yet; WRAL says it will be 80 degrees on Friday!