Spiced Buttermilk Bundt Cake

So now that fall is in full swing, how have you been spending it? Watching leaves changing? Buying new boots (yes!)? Yearning for food-filled holidays?

Or have you been drowning in pumpkin? I have seen so much pumpkin out there on the webs. Too much pumpkin I think. Don't get me wrong. I like pumpkin, especially in pie form. It's just that I'm feeling a bit overloaded with pumpkin recipes. Plus, there are some places that pumpkin (or its flavor counterparts) is not meant to be, such as in coffee. No more homemade pumpkin spice lattes please. Just stop. Please. I'm begging you.

Besides, there are so many other delicious, warm, beautiful fall flavors! Like pear and apple, which I've clearly been obsessed with recently. And spice!

Yes, I rang in fall with spices tossed in buttermilk cake. Mini bundt ones of course, because that's how I do. There's just something about allspice, clove, nutmeg, and the like that make everything feel and smell and taste like fall.

Spiced Apple Cider Caramel Sauce

Did you know that you can split, scrape, and chop up a vanilla bean, throw it in a saucepan, place it over medium heat, toast it for a few minutes, then grind it up with a mortal and pestel and have this amazingly delicious vanilla powder stuff to mix with sugar? How did I not know this before coming across it last week on the lovely blog Top with Cinnamon? Never again will I simply bury scraped vanilla beans in my sugar. Never again. OhmygahI'msoobsessedwithit! For real.

Speaking of obsessed, last weekend at the farmer's market, Dale and I got some Mercier Orchards apple cider. And holy moly, it's good! I've decided that warm, spiced apple cider poured over bourbon is my official go-to fall drink. Mmm yes.

So naturally, I began thinking about spiced cider and dessert. Something warm and smooth and comforting.

This caramel is it. Creamy, sweet, thick, delicious, magical.

Best Ever Caramel Sauce

Brace yourself for insurmountable amounts of wit, y'all. I started a Twitter yesterday. Or is the proper lingo "I'm on Twitter"? I'm Twittering? Tweeting? I'm still not sure, but whatever you call it, it's happening. Hashtags and @s will abound outside of my normal Instagram comfort-zone.

It was a mildly horrifying moment, realizing I had no idea how Twitter actually worked. How long has Twitter been a thing anyway?

Ok, just wikipediaed that--6 years. What the hell. I'm still trying to figure out the source of my aversion to social media. I am overcoming it though, one step at a time. First Pinterest, then Instagram, now Twitter. Things are happening. For real.

On a related note, this caramel. This caramel is happening on some vanilla ice cream on its way to my belly right now. #breakfastfood (see what I did there?).

This really might be the best caramel ever. Scratch that. It is the best caramel ever. And so easy too! You know what else I think should happen with this caramel? Pretzels. Good. Nilla wafers. So good. Peanut butter pie. Unreal!