Fall has Arrived!

If you live in the northern Virginia area,  then you are well aware of the drastic change in weather over the past week or 2.  We had such a hot summer.  Almost everyday temperature reached above 95 degrees.  It was usually above 85 degrees when driving to work at 7:30am.  It left little flexibility to exercise if you wanted to be outside in cooler temperatures.  Soup was always out of the question.  It was just too hot.

 

After a summer of pumping up the AC and never wanting to open my windows in the house, I haven’t closed them for the past 10 or more days.  The daytime temperature is 70-85 degrees.  It is even sometimes pretty chilly in the morning!  It is finally officially fall!

It’s time to say goodbye to fresh, local zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash, asparagus, and sweet onions; no more local peaches, plums, or nectarines. Of course they will still be at the grocery store, but it never as good as fresh from the farmer's market. It’s now time to enjoy all the wonderful fall fruits and vegetables: apples, pears, pomegranates, figs, late-season berries, pumpkin, leeks, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, artichokes, broccoli and cauliflower.

I am ever so excited for fall! I can’t wait to go to a pumpkin patch, to go pick apples, and, of course, cook my favorite fall recipes: green bean casserole, potato leek soup, roasted cauliflower, cream of broccoli soup, apple pie, butternut squash risotto, and basically anything that has pumpkin in it!

If you love fall, but you aren’t sure where to start, Food Network has a monthly checklist of activities, crafts and recipes.  I will also be posting all the wonderful fall recipes I can think of.