A weekly fall produce guide to what’s in season right now based on the contents of our CSA share, with CSA and farmer’s market recipes and ideas. This week’s mid-October inspiration: Asian pears, sage, Red Russian kale, sweet potatoes, and garlic.
On a clear, glittering fall weekend like this, I’m sure you are outside. I certainly should be.
But in case you’re in the kitchen or plan to be later, in case your adventures this weekend have turned up more Asian pears or sweet potatoes than you know what to do with, I’ve pulled together a few favorite fall recipes. [Read more…]
Real deal fall has arrived. Crisp days haven’t quite descended, but mornings call for jackets. The cicadas have mostly quieted, their frenetic rattles replaced by the steady thrum of crickets. I like to watch the birds this time of year – it’s a good time to spot migrating species making their way through. The end of summer was dry, and I worried that fall color would be unimpressive, but a damp few weeks has given me hope that we might have a good show after all. 
There are a lot of reasons we spend so much time here urging people to eat closer to home. It’s good for local food systems and economies; beyond this, local food, produced at small scales, just tastes better. Much of the food in a typical grocery store is grown for shelf stability rather than flavor. Foods are picked before they’re ripe so they’ll transport better. This winter, I had a Granny Smith (all the way from New Zealand) that was so hard I couldn’t get my teeth into it. 
This deep into the growing season, I’ve found the novelty of slice and eat summer meals has worn off. Now, it’s the cooking that’s exciting. It started with canning, but continued into sauces, stews, and even roasted vegetables. Right now, summer eating is all about tender zucchini, smoky corn, and slow-cooked tomatoes. Along those lines, I’ve rounded up a mix of cooked, roasted, and grilled recipes fitting for a late August feast.