Lost in time

 OMG - where did October go?!  

And we are already (nearly) halfway though November. 

I have been busy learning to make metal jewelry. Metal is not as forgiving as fiber but not nearly as unforgiving as I had first believed. I am really enjoying the class and I have learned to do many things. The teacher is really fun and I have great classmates.  

I am also knitting a jacket from Elizabeth Zimmermann. It's been a great knit so far. I want to get it done so I can wear it this fall/winter. It's going to be tough though, since I've only just reached the armholes. 

In the things I didn't know column - November 15 is National Bundt Cake Day. Coincidentally I made a orange/honey/poppyseed cake yesterday. It smelled absolutely fantastic while baking and tastes lovely. Its appearance is less than pleasant. I need to make another one to see if I can correct the errors. 

I've since learned that I need to let the cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting it. That will help the cake come out of the pan. I also need to do a better job buttering and flouring the pan, but that isn't news or new. 

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but all the poppyseeds fell to the bottom of the pan instead of staying suspended in the batter. Advice says to mix the poppyseeds in a small amount of the flour and fold them in right before putting the batter in the pan. My recipe said to mix the poppyseeds in with all the flour. 

My bundt pan is also bigger than the recipe.

Now my only real decision is - Make a double batch or acquire a new, smaller, pan. Choices. 

Also - The Great British Bake-off - fantastic (I'm sure most people know that already). I have heard a lot about it, but I had never watched it before. I found it really inspiring. I have all kinds of new things I want to make and try. Vanilla sponge and Italian buttercream. But how many of my fails will be because I did something wrong and how many will be because I used gluten-free flour?