Fall is in the Air

With the weather cooling down in many parts of the country we begin to think of fall and all of the things that go with it. Harvest time is a big deal in our area. Soon there will be apple festivals, with the many different flavors of cider being pressed in old wooden cider presses at local cider mills. Flavors such as raspberry, cherry and good old fashioned apple.  The warm smell of cider doughnuts filling the air, wine tours winding down and wineries snuggling in for the long winter months ahead.  Make sure to pick up some of your favorite local wine or cider to store away to be used in soul warming mulled wine and cider drinks throughout winter.

In New England the foliage is already nearing peak in many areas. And soon we will hear the laughter of small children running through the corn field mazes that will begin to crop up all around the north east and heartland. 

Making good use of what we find at our local farmers market is probably at the top of many of your to do lists. Every week the colors of fall show themselves more and more and with them come the rich ambers, mustards and warm reds and green colors of winter vegetables.

With most area farmers markets soon coming to an end now is the time to prepare an area in your basement, garage or porch for storing those delicious beauties so that you can make them part of your winter meals on a regular basis. But once you’ve stored those beauties away don’t forget about them, it is easy for us to succumb to the old saying “out of site out of mind”.  Make sure you have chosen your storage area wisely preferably one that you walk by or go near on a regular basis and be sure to check your stock regularly making sure to look for soft or moldy pieces that may need to be used first.

One of my family’s favorite winter squashes is acorn. I have several ways to prepare this delicately flavored beauty but the recipe below is my favorite.

Coconut Scented Acorn Squash Puree

2 Acorn Squash cut in half and seeded

1 ½ cups organic coconut sugar

2 TB organic raw virgin coconut oil

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 cup water

Method

Preheat the oven to 350’

Cut the tip off of each half of the squash so that it will sit level. Place all 4 halves in a large casserole dish with a lid and pour the water into the bottom of the dish. Divide the coconut sugar evenly between all four halves place the cover on top place in the oven and bake at 350’ for 1 hour.

When the squash is done carefully  (they will be very hot!) scrape down all of the meat into the center pool of melted sugar, do this for each half.  Now scoop this mixture out and into a bowel. Add the coconut oil and salt, mash up and mix until the oil is melted.  Serve warm.

Servings 4-6