Looking Back on September

Another month has gone by! Can't believe it. This month brought cooler weather for baking. I discovered European buttercream frosting, which I used to make two cakes last month. One was a chocolate cake covered in dark chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and glazed in chocolate ganache. The other was a simple vanilla butter cake swathed in vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. I will likely never, ever make American buttercream again!

Between cakes there were cinnamon rolls and chocolate crinkle cookies.

I also made challah, vanilla ice cream and the last smoothie of the summer.

And I finally perfected a recipe for a delicious, refreshing and filling smoothie:

• 1 cup ice
• 1 avocado
• 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk or honey
• 3/4 cup milk (I used 2 percent, but you can use any kind you want)
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice (to keep the avocado from discoloring.

Blend and enjoy! Depending on how much you love smoothies, this recipe serves between 1-2 people.

But there was more! I attended my first-ever yarn tasting!

I got to sample a dazzling array of luscious yarns at Sophie's Fine Yarn Shoppe. I even broke my diet to purchase a lovely ball of Berroco Boboli Lace.

Speaking of yarn, September also brought a flurry of finished knitting projects. So I guess it was a win -- one new skein of yarn for every four from my stash! I finished a sparkly shawl made from Lion Brand Trellis and a fluffy warm cowl knitted out of Patons Divine. That brings my total finished project count to 10 so far this year. I am making great progress on Christmas gifts! Just a couple more to go and I'll be done.