Thoughts and memories of November are invariably of a dismal, dark and wet month. So miserable that we pine for winter to arrive and November to be gone. The sun usually absents its presence in November's stormy skies. The days are short, windy, cold and dark. Well, there are always exceptions to any generalization. Here we are, in the first week of November and the sun has unfailingly taken over the sky, banishing clouds with warm temperatures prevailing and gentle winds. Today was the warmest yet, reaching 20C. Night-time temperatures are another story altogether.

 

 

Cooling off in the evening hours still calls for comfort food. And that's the kind of dinner we had yesterday, although who ever thinks of a fish dinner as being comfort food. When it's hot and savoury, brimming with texture, colour, fragrance and flavour it's comfort food. And my version of Paella fits that bill. Lots of vegetables, garlic, onion, tomato, bell pepper, parsley, green peas. And oh yes, of course, fish. And rice, let's not forget the rice, and to liven it all up, hot smoked paprika and saffron. I worried it might be a little too hot this time for Irving's taste, but to my bemusement and satisfaction he cleaned up his plate.

 

I'm always a bit challenged to think of what I can bake that's a little different for dessert on Friday. That's the one day I'm certain to do some baking. When the children were  young that became a tradition; desserts following every meal; now they're reduced to once a week, since it's just the two of us. It occurred to me that 'Butterfly cupcakes' would be a different treat. I haven't baked them in ages. So, that's what I did. The recipe is simple and all in my memory bank.

First came the cupcakes, a simple vanilla cupcake recipe with few ingredients; Becel margarine, granulated sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla flavouring, cake and pastry flour, baking powder, a dash of salt. Once they were baked and cooled off, I made a simple icing of margarine, icing sugar, vanilla. And simmered a pint of fresh blueberries with water,sugar, and cornstarch, then added butter and almond flavouring when it cooled.

I sliced the tops off the cupcakes and dolloped the cooled blueberries over the cupcakes, then slathered icing sugar over the sliced tops, cut each in half and perched the two pieces atop the blueberries to complete the butterfly effect. Visually attractive, lots of fun to put together and even more fun eating it. It's a treat of a treat.

 

Earlier, I had taken down the drapery sheers hanging over our bedroom windows. It occurred to me that fall was a better time to wash curtains than spring. After all, during the summer months windows are flung wide open and curtains are introduced to dust and all kinds of pollen and other floaters-through-the-air. It took no time to re-hang them, now I have to think of doing all the others in dining room, living room, family room....

 

 

We did get out to the ravine earlier than usual. An irresistible day of sun and warmth. The temperature, after last night's light frost nudged all the way up to 20C.Yesterday while we were out we noticed that some kind soul had sprinkled birdseed on the rails of two of the bridges. Today we watched as black and grey squirrels congregated on the rails tucking right in.

 

We couldn't have imagined a more gracious weather day. Eye-dazzling bright, the sun picking out colour still in the leaf pack on the forest floor. Mostly the golds with the occasional flash of red not yet drained out of the leaves while they become more wan as the days go on and proceed to a state of desiccation. 

 

Irving now and again found himself surrounded briefly by his cookie=adoring club; inclusive of course of the most entitled of all, Jackie and Jillie, so glad to see their friends' presence setting off a series of motions to extract the cookie bag and begin dispensing them.