Autumn
by: Juliet Cranbourne
Autumn comes so late to Fireside. When autumn apples don scarlet and great pumpkins blush orange, I shiver in delicious anticipation of days to come. Thousands of blackbirds migrate beyond the limits of my vision, yet I see their purpose and am sad for them. I love to nest here when the days shed long-held heat and reach for reflection! I live for fall and winter so that I might enjoy the comfort of my favorite knitted sweater and light a fire of live oak in my grandmother Ruby's wood stove. I long for the smell of a good rum cake baking in the oven and the cheerful glow of my favorite hot apple pie candle. Withese simple indulgences, autumn smells, looks and feels as good as my favorite memories of it. I pause to thank God for this day in all its abundance and then decide to play some old Glenn Miller records on the phonograph. Next, I put on the Queen's Mill flour sack apron that my sister, Evangeline, made for my twentieth birthday so long ago. Now it is too faded to be used for company, but too comfortable and meaningful to throw away. Then I pull out the jade green mixing bowl and get to work. I do not want to bake alone, so let's bake together.
Ruby's Best Rum Cake Recipe
By: Ruby Cranbourne
Ingredients:
1/4 pound butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar (kiss a picture of Elvis, first)
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup of buttermilk (if you don't have milk cows and their buttermilk on hand, you can substitute 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 cup of regular milk.)
1/2 jigger of rum
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Autumn Glaze:
2 sticks butter or margarine
1 cup sugar (kiss Elvis, again)
3 ounces of rum
