Fall

Mmmmmmmm. I smell cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger going into pumpkin bread batter at Lacroix. Fall is here, and I love it. As the leaves begin to disappear, truffles, apples, pumpkins begin to reappear. The spices we seldom use out of season, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, perfume the kitchen once more. Fall is a beacon of light, shielding me from the impending doom and darkness of winter. The importance of traditions like jumping in piles of leaves, and trick-or-treating wane each year, whereas Thanksgiving and making use of the season's bountiful harvest, only grow on me.

(applesauce)

Perhaps that is why I'm doing my best to make use of the 28 pounds of apples my family picked up at a local orchard. Granny Smith, Macintosh, Golden Delicious; they all serve a purpose. Apple pie tastes so much better now than it ever can in the summer.

Pumpkin is the same. Canned pumpkin is available year round, yet there is nothing like biting into a muffin made from fresh, pureed Japanese Pumpkin. Pumpkin has become my new obsession. Pie, cheesecake, scones, soup, ravioli, cake, bread, the list goes on. The "to try" list in my kitchen notebook has been taken over by these recipes. This will be the first year I thank Linvilla Orchards, as opposed to Safeway, for the success of my pumpkin pie.

(pumpkin scones)