Meeting Susan Branch

Good afternoon my dears, I am back from a daytrip to Asheville, North Carolina to see author Susan Branch.

How I heard about Susan Branch

One Christmas, I was reading a bloggers home tour, and she mentioned that she puts out her Susan Branch Christmas book on her coffee table every year. So, I found Susan's website and a laughed, and cried as I read her posts one-by-one. That Christmas I bought a 2013 calendar, and the rest is history.

Over time, I have bought the Susan Branch book collection, dating back to her first book in 1986 (the year I was born). I've also read her stories (The Fairytale Girl, Martha's Vineyard Isle of Dreams, A Fine Romance), about her life.

So, on Monday my hubby drove me to Asheville, NC for a dreamy day. We first had lunch at the French Bistro at Biltmore. I had the crispy chicken which is THE best way to eat chicken anyways.

Afterwards, we strolled through Biltmore's gardens. We visit the house several times a year, mostly for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas and it's a lot cooler indoors at those times as the house isn't air-conditioned. However, we had the most SPECTACULAR views. This is the peak of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The rose gardens were fragrant and blooming. We had a little rain, which was welcomed after very little rain in a few weeks.

- The conservatory -

We then headed into downtown Asheville. If you've never been before, I'd say it is a lot like a hippy mountain town. We shopped at April Cornell's before heading to Malaprop's Bookstore to hear Susan Branch speak, and sign my books.

Until next time darlings,

Kiki Nakita

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Fall Reading, Family Time & Apple Cake

Getting ready for the Fall season in Florida is different than I imagined. It's still so hot during the day, it's like a continued summer break. Last Fall, we had the opportunity to travel to New England. It was such a lovely time to visit, the trees were golden and the Cape had lot's of stores decorated with pumpkins and mums. It was picturesque.

 

Sometime over the past year or so I heard about Susan Branch, the watercolor artist and author on Martha's Vineyard. She has a quaint life, and has just finished her latest book 'A Fine Romance'. As a treat, I bought Susan's first book, Heart of The Home and it's just arrived, there's lot's of recipes I hope to try this Fall.



Here's a list of fun family things to do this Fall:

via

 

Here's a recipe, I'm going to be trying out this Fall.

Mom's Tupp Apple Cake via Tartelette

Notes: if you do not intend to make a gluten free cake, replace all the gluten free flours (rice, tapioca, sorghum) with 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour.
The cake bakes in two separate times: first for 10 minutes, the remove it from the oven to add the cream topping and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
I added cardamom just because it reminds me even more of my mom but you can skip that part or add cinnamon instead.

For the cake:
1/2 cup (80gr) sweet brown rice flour
1/4 cup (30gr) tapioca flour
1/2 cup (65gr) sorghum flour
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon (5gr) baking powder
3/4 cup (190ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (80ml) oil
1 egg
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I like Granny Smith but any kind will do here)

For the topping:
5 1/2 tablespoons(80gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray or butter the inside of a 9-inch round baking pan or several 3 to 4-inch baking pans if you want smaller cakes. Place them on a baking sheet and set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and baking powder. Reserve. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and egg until just blended.
Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, whisking well to make sure that everything is well incorporated, about 40 to 50 strokes.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and arrange the apple slices on top in a circular pattern.

Prepare the topping:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Reserve

Bake the cake(s) in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the cake(s) from the oven and spread the creamy butter topping over the top(s). Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.

 

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You can keep up with my Fall pins, and I'd love to hear your Fall traditions.