Microwaved coffee and Milo in his sweater. That's who my week has started. I worked outside yesterday, pulling dead branches off an old fruit tree and took the trash to the curb. I looked for a used truck, I have big plans to live in a farm. My dad called from a gas station outside of Virginia to say he loves me.

The cats outside are shaking, the cats inside are fighting. I babysit them while my parents take a week to visit my brother at their house in North Carolina. They bought three trash bags full of clothes for the flood victims, but most of what they found were swimming trunks. There's irony in there somewhere, but I didn't have the heart to tell my mother. She's always been bad at thinking things through, we ran across the country when I was little, moved to five new states by the time I hit kindergarten, and then when I was 15 she asked if she thinks that affected me at all.

But we're a home now, tucked in Pennsylvania. I drive two hours roundtrip to see my sister and my niece. We watch the football game my brother-in-law went to and we bring over sandwiches so she doesn't have to cook. Next week, she's hosting Thanksgiving at her house for the first time and we'll help how we can. I promised to bring the dessert, a chocolate pumpkin cake spiked with peanut butter and cinnamon. She doesn't need to do everything alone. We're all in this together now.

No more moving, no more leaving anyone behind. There's irony in there somewhere, but I'm not thinking about that now.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

An easy, all-on-one cake recipe that it perfect for a bundt, but can also be baked in any traditional pan, you will just have to adjust the temperature. Coming from Indiana, I always think that a bundt cake during the holidays is just that much more festive; and with NordicWare's bundt cake with the fall leaves pattern, it takes autumn to a whole other level.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon cinnamon + more for sprinkling
¼ cup peanut butter
1 egg
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk
White sugar, for sprinklin

Directions:

Prepare your bundt pan with shortening and flour (I used their harvest leaves bundt pan to add a little festivity to this post)
Preheat oven to 350*F
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, sugar, and cinnamon twice in a large mixing bowl
In a measuring cup, whisk together peanut butter, egg, pumpkin, vanilla, and buttermilk
Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients with a wooden spoon
Gently pour a steady stream of your wet ingredients into the center of the well, stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed—but beware over-mixing
Pour into your prepared bundt pan
Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean
Allow to cool, remove from pan, and sprinkle with white sugar and cinnamon on the leaves, as shown
Enjoy! Can be stored for up to 3 days in an airtight containe

A special thanks to Nordic Ware for sponsoring this post. Nordic Ware has been producing quality kitchenware products in their 70 years and are now one of America's most beloved and iconic brands. Today, Nordic Ware manufactures the vast majority of its products in America, at our Minneapolis headquarters, including cookware, bakeware, grillware, microwave, and kitchen gadgets and accessories.For more information or products, check out their website!