Fall Tea Time With Black Transferware, Pumpkin Streusel Cake and Thanksgiving Prep

I am doing this post with such a joyful heart full of thanks!

Our daughter and son in law closed on their property after a 10 day escrow last Thursday, and they were out clearing brush the next morning to make a path and a clearing so that my husband who has Parkinson's Disease and I can safely walk to a chair and sit and enjoy it with them

We are feeling so blessed!

This will be the first Thanksgiving with them since 2007 when John was diagnosed, and found that the Parkinson's brought on altitude sickness so we could no longer go visit them at altitude in Utah.

So... hectic around here but loving it....

This is a post partially taken from one in 2014.... 

Fall is here, and I made some cookies, and decided to make a fall teatime for us in the sunroom....

I used some black and white transferware I got a  while ago and some fall decor I filched from the living room and dining room, including the gold and pumpkin colored woven runner that is usually on the buffet...

along with various pumpkins and gourds, and other autumn colored things...

I always display my cross stitched wall hanging of the Fruit Of The Spirit from Galations 5:22-23 that I did a few years ago during the autumn and Thanksgiving season....

And I added one of the fall pumpkins and gourds padded tea cozies I have in the shop because I love the colors!

My teaset is by Wedgwood, England in a black transferware Italian landscape design called Lugano...named for a lake town in Italy....

If you look closely at the pattern, there is a man with a goat walking by the lake...how cute!

Here is the cream and sugar. The set is made of Queen's Ware, or what Wedgwood calls cream ware.

The shape is an older Wedgwood shape dating to the 19th century, but the pattern was actually made between 1962 and 1980. I do love Wedgwood.

A couple of weeks I pulled out the holiday teas. This is my favorite fall flavor...Pumpkin Spice from Republic Of Tea...yummy! Just makes my taste buds know it's fall!

For more information on any of the Wedgwood, Lugano pieces on Antiques And Teacups website, just click on the photos.

Those cookies are long gone, but yesterday found my pulling out the favorite Pumpkin Streusel Cake or Coffee cake recipe from King Arthur Flour. Now I am back to thinking of having something on hand when the kids stop in on a work break...

Anyone tired of pumpkin yet??? We are not! Pumpkin is still around here...

I found the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website a few years ago, and it is definitely a go-to......

Pumpkin Streusel Coffeecake

AT A GLANCE

PREP

20 mins. to 30 mins.

BAKE

40 mins. to 45 mins.

TOTAL

60 mins. to 1 hrs 15 mins.

YIELD

about 12 servings

Topping

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, optional
• 4 tablespoons melted butter

Filling

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, optional

Cake

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger and nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8" square pan or 9" round pan.
2. To make the topping: Whisk together the sugar, salt, flour, spice, and nuts. Add the melted butter, stirring just until well combined. Set the topping aside.
3. To make the filling: Mix together the brown sugar, spice, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside.
4. To make the cake: Beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth.
5. Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.
6. Pour/spread half the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it all the way to the edges. If you have a scale, half the batter is about 13 1/2 ounces.
7. Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.
8. Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.
9. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.
10. Bake the cake until it's light brown on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
11. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve the cake right from the pan.

Tips from our bakers

• For a less sweet streusel, reduce the amount of granulated sugar in the topping to 1/3 cup.

Which I didn't  :)

So have a lovely week! We certainly will... 

a dream come true having some of the kids close!

Above graphic from The Cottage Journal