Martha Stewart Living October 2021

OCTOBER HAS ITS OWN unique brand of excitement. As a kid, I lived for the end of the month, spending the first weeks dreaming up my Halloween costume and anticipating the thrill of trick-or-treating. As an adult, I learned it’s pretty wonderful to enjoy all 31 days rather equally: The hot temps finally give way to perfectly comfortable afternoons and cool, sweater-weather evenings. The change of season is also visually vibrant and glorious, and the farmers’ market still teems with fresh produce and a welcome influx of every kind of apple under the sun. And now as a parent, I feel lucky to experience October both ways—through the eyes of my 7-year-old son, who is already plotting his costume; and through my more seasoned set, which looks forward to getting…

FOLLOW THE LEADER Martha goes all out on Halloween—no costume is too terrifying. For this shocker, she channeled Richard Prince’s Park Avenue Nurse painting with colored contact lenses, red lipstick, and several cc’s of fake blood. Talk about an overnight sensation. @marthastewart48 To see more of Martha’s best getups visit marthastewart.com/marthas-costumes. THINK SMALL Sweet Sites Come Halloween, we like to mix it up—and that includes the candy selection. Hand out unique treats from these independent shops we love. Candy Warehouse Find a macabre motherlode of gummy skulls and candy bones—plus, shop by color in the Halloween section. candywarehouse.com OldTimeCandy.com Peruse favorites by the decade: Caramello, Charleston Chew, or Chick-O-Stick, anyone? oldtimecandy.com Hammond’s Elevate your party setup with a bowl of Australian-style licorice or candy-corn crunch popcorn from this century-old Denver shop. hammondscandies.com FIELD TRIP Flock This Way Every fall, home editor and avid knitter Lorna Aragon counts the…

ON THE ROAD FALL ABOARD The most relaxing way to take in Mother Nature’s stunning third act may be from a train chugging along tree-lined tracks. On weekends in September and October, the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum runs hour-long, 10-mile round trips between Adams and North Adams, Massachusetts, that weave through the mountains in all their autumnal glory. Here, more traffic-free leaf-peeping excursions. DULUTH, MINN. The North Shore Scenic Railroad’s Two Harbors Fall Color Tour, a six-hour journey to and from the historic lakeside city, runs through mid-October; entrance to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum is included. BLUE RIDGE, GA. A 26-mile tour on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway showcases flame-colored foliage along the Toccoa River, with a stop in the charming sister towns of McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee. BOYERTOWN, PA. On the Colebrookdale Railroad’s Fall Foliage…

I FIRST BECAME ENAMORED with Japanese maples when I visited Japan with my then-husband and daughter years ago. On our travels from city to countryside, we saw many types of this graceful tree. It was autumn, and their colors ranged from brilliant reds to bright oranges to yellow-golds, and even the darkest magentas. I was entranced. I vowed that I would plant as many as I could, in as many different sizes, forms, and colors as possible. I soon started having tree envy every time I saw one in a backyard, botanical garden, or fantastical landscape. I made lists of the types that intrigued me, and photographed great specimens whenever I saw them. After I moved to my farm, I visited the maple woodland of my neighbors Judy and Michael Steinhardt.…

ENTERTAINING Burning Desire As if devil’s food cake weren’t already temptation incarnate, we’ve cranked up the heat with a rich, melty mirror-ganache topping and four-alarm-fire crown. All you need to fake the flames is sugar, water, a candy thermometer, and food coloring. Boil the syrup until it reaches the “hard crack” stage (300 to 310° F). Add a drop of yellow food coloring to the molten liquid and transfer it to a measuring cup. Then pour lines of varying lengths and widths onto parchment and drag a knife through each one to give it a pointy flame shape (for the darker flickers, accent at the end with a drop of red in the syrup). Let cool, and sink the hardened pieces in for a dessert that’ll go down in a blaze of…

Blinding Rights These companies also offer couture window coverings. WOVN HOME The two-year-old site boasts high-end details like hidden weighted hems, luxe drapery, and rods. EVERHEM A go-to for all-natural wood, grass, and bamboo—and they do virtual consultations. CALICO Flip through hundreds of fabrics for shades, chairs, headboards, and slipcovers. Chic Shades If anything needs a little special treatment, it’s your window treatments—the right size, style, and opacity are truly in the eye of the homeowner. To get the beauty above made, we logged on to Loom Decor, typed in our dimensions, and chose from more than 400 designer fabrics. (We went with the flat roman shade in Giaconda Black; from $146 for a 36-by-54-inch window, loomdecor.com.) Your creation will arrive in one to six weeks, and if you’re feeling matchy, you can order lumbar pillows and duvet covers,…