Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel

Happy Halloween, season of all things spooky and pumpkin! While I'm not actually super big on pumpkin, I couldn't resist making this cake after going apple and pumpkin picking and sampling all the baked goods at the orchards. There's nothing better than the smell of spiced cake in the kitchen as the weather cools down.



I have to admit, it took me several tries to get this recipe right. Way too much pumpkin puree the first time and the cake was just a dense, gloppy mess. The next couple tries were pretty good, just not quite what I wanted. Finally, the fourth cake was everything I was looking for, not too dense, lightly sweet and spiced with a nice crunch from the pecans. The perfect fall afternoon snack with coffee! Or perfect breakfast, warmed up in the toaster oven. Really, this is an anytime of day kind of cake.

Make your own jack o' lantern!

Geez, I can't believe that September is almost over! But that means Halloween is on its way, one of my favorite holidays! Every year I pick out the nicest pumpkin I can find and make plans to carve it into a super awesome jack o' lantern. Something that would really impress the trick or treaters. And every year, I end up with a rotting, uncarved pumpkin on my front doorstep by Thanksgiving.



This year, I've finally accepted that actual pumpkin carving is just not my thing, so I turned to my trusty yarn and hook and made this little crochet jack o' lantern instead! It's small, fits into the palm of my hand, and won't get all moldy and mushy. A win all around! Now you can make an everlasting pumpkin too with the new Design a jack o' lantern kit in my shop!



Like all my other kits, this one comes with everything that you need to make the project. The kit also comes with a crochet booklet that teaches all the basic stitches, so if you don't know how to crochet, this is a great stepping stone! You can choose to do either an open or closed mouth and there's an assortment of eyes along with some pink cheeks. Go with traditional triangle eyes or mix it up with round eyes and cheeks, or even do one round and one triangle eye. Celebrate the fall season with some yarn and crafting! Happy crocheting!