A prequel

I love this month. It's true that October is perhaps the more fall-ish month of the two, but September is the beloved prequel to true fall. Granted, Austin's weather likely won't reflect the seasonal change in either month too much, but that won't slow my joy.

I've decided to bake all the recipes in my new, yet already beloved Fika Book. So far, I've made nearly all the naturally gluten-free recipes (made with meringue, almond flour, oat flour and the like) but I want to try my hand with gluten free flour substitutions for other, more traditional Swedish treats. In particular, the Swedish cardamom buns sound perfect for a chilly morning in the coming months.

In the spirit of baking, I picked up some Swedish pearl sugar, as several recipes call for it. So far, I've made chokladbollar (chocolate balls) and hasselnötsflarn (hazelnut crisps), both of which were simple to prepare and enjoyable to eat, as you might guess. I'm off work today (naturally) and so I made up some little treat plates for us this afternoon, because why not?

It's a happy transition for me, but a sneaky one too. We're easing in, with bits of travel this month, and creating coziness at home whenever we can. The days are getting shorter, as my commute to work now begins and ends in the dark. But all is well—we appreciate the long summer days all the more for the short winter ones. I've started knitting a pair of cabled mittens, in a warm, plum-colored yarn. All as part of the experience of early fall, naturally.