Happy October! π There's something about turning the calendar to this month that makes me want to slow down, light a candle, and stay a little longer at the kitchen table.
This is the season I love most for baking from the old community cookbooks. The oven warms the whole house, and there's a quiet comfort in making a recipe some other homemaker stirred up in her own Missouri kitchen decades ago.
I'm also reminding myself that fall doesn't have to be a to-do list. We don't need to do every pumpkin-spiced thing to enjoy it. A little warmth, a little rest, and a heart that notices God's goodness in ordinary days is plenty. Grace over perfection, right?
So this week's goodies are cozy and simple: a chocolate pumpkin cake with a name I still can't fully explain, a few fall baking favorites, a gentle way to settle your home into the season, and a quick question for you below.
π From the Shop: Home Sweet Autumn + The Gathering Season Companion
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Our fall issue is here! 80 pages built around the gathering season: a 13-week autumn devotional, 8 cozy fall recipes, a Thanksgiving timeline that won't wreck you, and plenty for the kids. The digital edition is $11 and lands in your inbox right away, or get print + digital for $17.
β Recipe of the Week: Vintage Choctaw Bread (Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake)
This one came to me signed by Mrs. Jeanne Fitton of the McDonald Unit in Anderson, Missouri, under a name I still can't fully explain. What I can tell you is that it's a dark, dense cocoa-and-pumpkin bundt, gently spiced with cinnamon, and a cup and a half of oil plus canned pumpkin keeps it remarkably moist. It's the perfect first-week-of-October bake, and I share what I found (and didn't find) about that name in the post.
No credit card required Β· Also on iOS and Android
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π From the Shop: The Fall Cozy Starter
If you want your home to feel like fall without a giant to-do list, this little guide is for you. It walks you through gentle seasonal rhythm shifts, a cozy touch menu for scent and decor (even $5β10 a month is enough), eight soul-warming anchor meals, and a simple one-hour mini reset you can do this weekend. It's a 9-page printable, just $11, and you can come back to it every fall.
And that's a wrap on updates for another week here at Home Sweet Homemaker.
I hope you have a restful weekend and a cozy first weekend of October.
Grace over perfection, always,
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P.S. Have you ever come across an old family recipe with a name nobody could explain? Hit reply and tell me the story. I'm always interested in what interests YOU!
Know exactly where your grocery money goes. And make it go further.
Scan a receipt and see every item for the whole house. The ones you didn't mean to buy are easy to spot.
No credit card required Β· Also on iOS and Android
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