Every year there comes a point when my heart decides it’s fall.
Unfortunately, I live in the California desert, where August has absolutely no interest in participating.
The stores have pumpkins. Halloween decorations are appearing. I’m suddenly thinking about cinnamon, apples, warm bread, candles and cozy kitchens. And outside? Approximately 4,000 degrees.
Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.
But only slight.
This is that weird little in-between season when I’m emotionally ready to throw open the windows, bake something with cinnamon and put on a cozy sweater… except opening the windows would be a terrible life choice and the sweater might actually kill me.
Still, something starts to shift this time of year. Maybe it isn’t happening outside yet, but it’s definitely happening inside Copper Sky.
Apparently, Fall Has Entered the Bakehouse
I’ve started thinking about fall flavors. Not necessarily making all of them yet—let’s not get carried away. But they’re bouncing around in my head.
Apple. Cinnamon. Maple. Brown sugar. Pumpkin. Toasted pecans. Warm spices.
I’ve been thinking about what could become a new sourdough flavor, what belongs in a cookie, what should stay simple, and what combination sounds slightly questionable but absolutely needs to be tried anyway.
This is one of my favorite parts of having the Bakehouse.
I get to play.
Some ideas will become keepers. Some will probably never make it out of my kitchen. And I’m sure at least one will have me staring at something I’ve just baked thinking, Well… that wasn’t what I pictured. But that’s how the good stuff happens.
And there are a few familiar fall favorites I’m already looking forward to bringing back.
The candied nuts.
Ohhhh, I’ve missed those.
There’s something about warm spices, toasted nuts and that sweet coating that just feels like fall. They’re one of those things that make the kitchen smell amazing while they’re being made—and somehow require repeated “quality control” while they’re cooling. For business purposes, obviously.
The cookies will be getting some fall attention too, because I have entirely too many ideas involving brown sugar, cinnamon and butter to behave myself.
Basically, my kitchen has accepted that autumn is coming even if Mother Nature hasn’t.
The Mercantile Is Getting the Fall Bug Too
It isn’t only the kitchen. I’ve been working on The Seasonal Shelf, a new little section inside The Mercantile where seasonal goodies can come and go throughout the year.
I really love this idea. Instead of everything having to live in the shop forever, The Seasonal Shelf can change right along with us—spooky things for Halloween, cozy things for Christmas, something fresh for spring and whatever else catches our attention along the way.
And one of the first things arriving on the shelf makes me especially happy. My daughter, Zoe, designed her own Spooky shirt—all by herself. Now her artwork gets to sit right there alongside the things I’m creating for Copper Sky, which is pretty darn cool. There’s something about watching your kid create something of their own and then getting to say, “Yep. Put it in the shop.”
So apparently I’m not the only one around here who has caught the fall bug.
We’ll Just Make Our Own Fall
That’s where things stand around here. Outside, the desert is still doing what the desert does.
The sun is blazing.
My iced coffee isn’t going anywhere.
The air conditioner is still earning its keep.
And nobody is curling up under a blanket with a steaming bowl of soup unless they’re sitting directly beneath an air vent.
But inside? There’s a Spooky shirt on The Seasonal Shelf. I’m thinking about candied nuts again. There are cookie ideas scribbled down. Fall sourdough flavors are starting to sound awfully tempting. And cinnamon is slowly making its way back toward the front of the cabinet.
Maybe that’s the funny thing about seasons. Sometimes you don’t have to wait for the weather to tell you it’s time. Sometimes you just decide.
So if you need me, I’ll be over here pretending it’s fall while it’s still 100° outside. Probably with an iced coffee in one hand and something cinnamon-y in the other.
It may not be fall in the desert yet… but apparently nobody told the Bakehouse.
🍂🤎
Dawn
Copper Sky Bakehouse