Seems like if you’re going to have a blog, you should…write some things in it! It’s been a low-output year, blog-wise, but busy in every other department around here, and now we’re thinking ahead to NEXT year. We open on March 1 in 2023, but there’s still the end of this season to see through, and Christmas Tree season to accomplish.
  Several of us are compiling lists of what to reimagine for next year, small tweaks and big items are on the list. We’ll see what we accomplish. Seems like mindsets are the most difficult thing to change, so maybe we can work on those. It’s comfortable and easy to say,  “that’s how we always do it,” when circumstances behind the “always” change, and change might be needed.
  One project I took off my to-do list was compiling a book which was published late this summer. I say “compiling,” not “writing,” because the book is really a collection of letters that a relative wrote to her twin sister in 1918, so I really only wrote an introduction. If you’ve ever done a home remodel,  I can tell you that compiling a book is a lot like that:  you start out really excited about the project and discover it’s very time consuming, inconvenient, a lot of decisions have to be made that are outside of your wheelhouse, a lot of research  has to be done. Eventually a kind of blanket of grim drudgery falls over you and you think it’ll never be finished. Also comparable to pregnancy!
  But it’s in print now, available at YFM, on Amazon and in the museum shops of the Skagit County Museum and the Sedro-Woolley Historical Museum, and in the hands of family. Preserving that relative’s story for our family and for local history was the goal, so I feel good about that.
  Yesterday as I was ready to check out early for the day, I went to explain myself to our younger generation. “Well, I accomplished what I set out to do today,” I said. “I cleaned the sign closet and I had that meeting with the kid who got busted for vandalizing and stealing from the market.”
  “Why would you put yourself through that?” was the reply. I knitted my brows but understood the reservoir of good-deeds-gone-punished that caused that question.
  “Because it’s the right thing to do?” I said. “Because maybe I can make a difference for that kid?” I didn’t really believe what I was saying, because I’ve been there, done that a hundred other times with no appreciable results. Little had I realized that as I was meeting with the kid, staff members were taking bets on whether or not I’d punish the kid by hiring him to work at the market! It wouldn’t have been the first time that happened, by the way.
  My dear one laughed and said, “No, I mean why did you clean the sign closet?”
  Truly, it’s a thankless job, that unless you keep up with on a regular schedule, is pointless. The sign closet is where we toss huge sheets of Corex that have “organic” or “local” or “69 cents lb.” written on it, along with random pieces of lumber, cardboard or sheet goods that “could come in handy later”  for future signs. Old signs that could be reused on the “other” side, lots of that. An actual skeleton (Halloween decoration). Pieces of wire and metal that could either poke your eyes out or be fashioned into a sign hanger, charts about dahlia tubers, flocked Christmas trees and seed potatoes. In short, a colorful, chaotic mess.
  Exactly like life. If I’m honest with myself, I don’t think that bringing order to chaos, doing the chores, hoping that my actions will create a better future, are ever really futile gestures, so I guess changing-the-mindset is exactly what’s needed, starting with me!

  Fruitfully yours,

  KARIN

OCTOBER BIRTHDAY CAKE—APPLESAUCE SPICE CAKE WITH MAPLE BUTTERCREAM
  This is an old favorite of mine, from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and I use applesauce I’ve made from Jonagolds, with no sugar added.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I use fresh ginger)
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
  Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking pan, set aside. If you don’t have buttermilk, make the substitute now: in a glass measuring cup place 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar and fill with regular make to make 1/4 cup liquid. Let stand 5 minutes before using.
  Stir together flour and dry ingredients, including the fresh ginger if that’s what you choose. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening together with electric mixer on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla, mixing till combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
  Alternately add dry ingredients, buttermilk and apple sauce until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
  Bake 35-40 minutes or till cake tests done, cool on a wire rack. When cool frost if desired, or sprinkle with a sifting of powdered sugar mixed with a little ground cinnamon. I love maple buttercream for the frosting:

MAPLE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 cup softened unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add syrup, vanilla and salt. You may need to add additional powdered sugar if texture is too thin.

"A party without cake is just a meeting" - Julia Child