Oh, you meant the Layer Cake!

This is just a gratuitous picture I took on Monday.  It was overcast and a little rainy at times, so I set up on the back screen porch to take advantage of what natural light was available.  There are some vintage thrifted items here of which I am fond.  Front and center is the Japanese Lustreware Sugar Bowl.  No lid, but I couldn’t leave it as I found the shape so appealing, the color so fall-ish, and I remember thinking it reminded me of a pumpkin, and it is in quite perfect condition.  I’m not above cutting out little paper jack-o-lantern facial features and sticking them on.  Hmmm… and maybe filling it with candy corn!  (If you find yourself falling for it, I listed it in my Etsy shop.)  I think I may have mentioned (maybe once or twice?) that I love old kitchen items, so of course it was love at first sight  when I found the small milk glass mixing bowl (it has a pour spout) with the iconic Art Deco parallel raised edges (think “echo”).  I don’t know if the grater is really very old, but it is very heavy, like the older ones.  Of course the milk bottle has the distinction of having my personal monogram on it!  Almost like the one I wear on my chest (no, not the Scarlet one).  And finally, that lovely dinner plate.  That is the Taylor Smith Taylor Brocatelle pattern.  I don’t know when it was designed, I just know I like it for the pretty little images, and the soft colors.  I had picked up dessert plates several months ago, and had never seen anymore pieces until last week.  Just one plate, and now it’s mine.  Doesn’t it look great with lustreware?  And it goes well with green or brown transferware.  With only limited pieces, I have to look for ways to mix and match.  Not that you’d notice, but the whole arrangement is on a new-to-me thrifted bread board.  I’ve been making bread for about a year, and wanted a bread board like my mother’s.  But I never see them in stores.  Well, except now in the Goodwill outlet.  Yippee!
I’m a sucker for pretty home dec and entertaining magazines, with their glossy styled photographs.  Some days I think I should be a Southern Lady, and for one year I had a subscription to the mag.  I start to drawl (and drool) while I’m reading one.
I think Phyllis Hoffman is the Southern Martha S.  She has Victoria, Southern Lady, Tea Time, and probably some others.  I couldn’t resist the Celebrate Autumn one.
How could I with that crazy cake on the cover?  We have one late September birthday and a mid-October one.  Surely, we could enjoy a new cake recipe this month.  This cake is why I had leftover buttermilk and caramel topping sauce to use on the coffee cake.
I had to show you what was left of the cake, even though much of the caramel frosting had slid off.  (My fault:  I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to consistency when I was making it, I added more milk than called for, and guesstimated the volume on the caramel sauce).  I am showing the jar, because the recipe mentions using Smucker’s, and I was feeling a little virtuous about using a lesser-known brand, Mrs. Richardson’s.  It was priced less and had more!  I really couldn’t tell you how it compared in taste, consistency and appearance.   That would require a side-by-side taste test.  Gee, that could be fun. I was supposed to make milk chocolate curls.  I don’t have any idea how to do that.  Anyway, I used Baker’s Semi-sweet chocolate, which just broke right up as we tried to shave it, so it is “flakes” instead of “curls”.  But the taste was perfect.
If you run into this magazine, it is worth the price.  Lots more recipes, great table and serving suggestions.  Gorgeous pictures.