November has arrived! Welcome! Johnson Brother Brown Transferware, Peekaboo Pumpkin Cake

This is what I walked below as I took my walk yesterday...along a side street with a parking strip of deciduous trees bordering the road...and was so glad I had my phone when the sun managed to peek from between the clouds....

Welcome to tea with me on a crisp...but now rainy...fall afternoon. It's been pitter pattering on the sunroom room on and off  all day...

But don't care! We are elated as our daughter and son-in-law have just purchased a piece of property just a few miles away... mostly forested. It is lovely! My better than them being 3 states away!

I thought what I'd like to share a cup and saucer today, I decided on brown transferware, because there is something so perfect about that for fall...

This is a favorite Johnson Brothers, England ironstone teacup and saucer in the Staffordshire Bouquets pattern from the 1940s....The pattern is hand colored on the brown transfer...so no 2 pieces you will find are exactly alike, because the artist who colored the pattern had a bit of license as to what they did...as long as they met their quota for the day! The artist got the item when it had been bisque fired, the pattern applied...or transferred on...and fired again. Then it was up to the artist to add the pale colors you can see...often referred to as polychrome...meaning many colors. If you look closely you can see blue, green, yellow and red like watercolor on the brown transferware pattern. I love that!

The pattern was made for quite a few years and was quite popular...dating is by the wording on the marks.  

And an autumn patterned padded fabric tea cozy as well...

A great fruit, vegetable and flower pattern reversible to a mottled green lining. Goes perfectly with the transferware for a fall tea time! They work so well and are so decorative! For more info on these items at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

I wanted to share some of the November illustrations by Edith Holden in my Country Diary Of An Edwardian woman...

This is the Starling...sorry...a bit out of focus...

Toadstools and a Green Woodpecker...what a talented woman to draw so beautifully...her November mottoes are:

"November take flail,

Let no ship sail"

"If there's ice in November that will bear a duck,

There'll be nothing after, but sludge and muck"

One of the reasons I love the book, is it is in the area my husband was born, Warwickshire, close to my family's home in Leicestershire, and near towns and villages where we still have relatives. Very fun...although the landscape has certainly changed since her time....the Song Thrush is below...

I decided to post the wonderful fall cake idea from Sheknows.com (to go there and see step by step photos, click on the cake photo) called:

Peekaboo pumpkin pound cake with brown butter pecan icing

Ingredients:

For the pound cake

• 1 (14-ounce) box pumpkin bread mix
• 1 (16-ounce) box pound cake mix
• Orange food coloring

For the icing

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Prepare pumpkin bread

Mix up pumpkin bread ingredients according to the directions on the box. Add orange food coloring to make it more "pumpkin-y" looking (less brown).

Bake and cut

Bake in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan according to directions. Remove from oven before completely done, about 8-10 minutes less than instructed. Let cool, remove from pan and refrigerate for up to four hours. Cut cold pumpkin bread into large slices. Cut pumpkin shapes from slices.

Align them down the center of a lightly greased and floured 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Make pound cake

Mix up your pound cake batter according to the directions on the box. Pour over your pumpkin bread cutouts in the pan, making sure to cover the tops of the pumpkins. You may have more pound cake batter than you need. Try not to overfill the pan. Bake according to the directions on the box. Let cool when done.

Prepare icing

Meanwhile, prepare the brown butter pecan icing.
Put powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, melt butter and boil, stirring until it starts to brown and form dark flecks on the sides and bottom.

Remove from heat. Pour the melted brown butter and flecks over the powdered sugar. Add the evaporated milk and vanilla. Stir until combined and creamy. Add more powdered sugar if it appears too runny or more evaporated milk if it seems too stiff.

Ice cake

Remove baked and cooled pound cake from pan and top with brown butter icing. Add chopped pecans, if desired. Cut into slices and delight your guests with the pumpkin-shaped surprise that peeks out from inside!

As we all in the group thought, a little extra work, yes, but what fun! And think of all the other holiday shapes you could make with this! Terrific!

Thanks so much for joining me!