Top 10 Edible Reasons to Love Fall
(I am very amiss in posting this! Which is very pathetic because I wrote it on Sunday! Sorry!!)
Autumn is almost here, and while cool weather tends to arrive a little late here in Florida, the other day I saw a fresh batch of apples in the store and was comforted that soon I would be throwing open my window and playing Medieval music. (Okay, I'm weird, but for some reason when it gets cold each year I want to listen to Medieval music.) Summer, much as I love your fresh cherries, these are the top 10 reasons that fall is my favorite season:
1. Apples
If I had to pick one food to be my favorite all time I believe I would pick the humble apple. Yes, even over chocolate. When I was a wee thing my mom ran a food co-op and each year when the first box of Red Delicious came off the truck I would live on almost nothing but for days. Your usual grocery store Red Delicious apple is a tragedy encased in shiny waxed skin, but a fresh crispy organic one is a beautiful thing. That is to say nothing of more reliable varieties like the tart and bright Pink Lady or the sweet, crispy Fuji. Apples don't grow in Florida, but the best apples are the ones closest to home, and I've had some amazing ones straight off a Georgia farm, large enough to practically fill you up. Shall we talk about apple-based desserts? Let me just say that apples, butter, and cinnamon were made to get together.
2. Baked Potatoes
Baking potatoes and sweet potatoes are at their peak in the fall, and they suit a cold day so well. Once my sister and I tried a carbalicious comfort food recipe of fat russet potatoes piled with warmed cream corn into which we stirred shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a little poultry seasoning. Amazing. And if you can get your hands on the pale fleshed oriental yam, they taste just like a chestnut without the work or the expense!
3. Big German Dinner
Fresh bratwurst. Red cabbage simmered for hours with red wine, vinegar, apples and onions. Creamy mashed potatoes. Put it all together and my genetic makeup faints with delight.
4. Delicata Squash
They tend to be available for a short time around October and November, sitting in big piles in the store mixed with the Hubbard and Sweet Dumpling, but the Delicata is truly the gem of the squash world. Sweet, rich, and even the skin is edible. You can just scoop out the seeds and chop the squash into slices and roast. I like a little rosemary, paprika and garlic powder sprinkled on them. Then be sure to roast the seeds because they are tasty as popcorn.
5. Hot Cocoa
Sometimes I get cold in summer sitting in air conditioning, but you just can't enjoy hot cocoa under those conditions. It's downright silly. Hot cocoa is for the day when you've just come in from crisp weather, and it's especially good with a little liqueur mixed in, such as the hazelnut-flavored Frangelico.
6. Lamb Stew
Lamb is an underappreciated meat in America, but I found that those who do eat lamb have quite a passion for it, which I understand because I don't think any other meat lends such flavor to a stew as lamb. I am quite a fan of many types of stew, but the humble lamb stew with chunks of potato, rutabaga, carrots and cabbage, seasoned simply with plenty of salt and a little thyme, and of course some onions, is one of winter's great delights.
7. Mozartkugeln
As Christmas approaches, World Market once again begins to stock this expensive and amazing confection, made from hazelnut nougat and pistachio and almond marzipan... or something like that. It's surprisingly hard to find online what exactly is in the darn things, but it's some kind of nuts and sugar draped in milk and dark chocolate and as I have been researching them for this top 10, I've realized many different companies make them and I am dangerously close to spending hundreds of dollars so I can try them all. Somebody stop me!
8. Pomegranates
The first time I had a pomegranate I was not sure what to do with it. How do you cut it? How do you eat it? I still have not found a truly efficient way to do it, which is part of the fun. There is something pleasant about committing yourself to a time-consuming piece of produce, just like shelling fresh peas. As you free each little tart, juicy jewel from its house, you can think deep thoughts about the Bible and Persephone.
9. Tangerines
The smell of a tangerine is, to me, the smell of Christmas just as much as a Frasier fir. I do love oranges, but I confess a special affection for the small, concentrated flavor of a tangerine, and the way its skin comes off in one's hand, often in one scarcely mangled piece.
10. Tea
Oh, tea. I miss you when the weather is hot. I can make iced tea, but my true love is hot herbal tea, perhaps with a smidge of good local honey. There is a tea for every mood -- peppermint for stomach aches, chamomile for when I'm stressed or sad, Chai with a little cream and maple syrup for dessert, tea with cinnamon for a real holiday flavor, and my favorite, Tulsi tea. I discovered Tulsi tea when I worked at Chamberlin's Natural Foods; I don't know what makes it so delicious, but I know I can drink a cup every day when the weather is cool.
What are your favorite fall foods? Or your favorite food season?
Autumn is almost here, and while cool weather tends to arrive a little late here in Florida, the other day I saw a fresh batch of apples in the store and was comforted that soon I would be throwing open my window and playing Medieval music. (Okay, I'm weird, but for some reason when it gets cold each year I want to listen to Medieval music.) Summer, much as I love your fresh cherries, these are the top 10 reasons that fall is my favorite season:
1. Apples
If I had to pick one food to be my favorite all time I believe I would pick the humble apple. Yes, even over chocolate. When I was a wee thing my mom ran a food co-op and each year when the first box of Red Delicious came off the truck I would live on almost nothing but for days. Your usual grocery store Red Delicious apple is a tragedy encased in shiny waxed skin, but a fresh crispy organic one is a beautiful thing. That is to say nothing of more reliable varieties like the tart and bright Pink Lady or the sweet, crispy Fuji. Apples don't grow in Florida, but the best apples are the ones closest to home, and I've had some amazing ones straight off a Georgia farm, large enough to practically fill you up. Shall we talk about apple-based desserts? Let me just say that apples, butter, and cinnamon were made to get together.
2. Baked Potatoes
Baking potatoes and sweet potatoes are at their peak in the fall, and they suit a cold day so well. Once my sister and I tried a carbalicious comfort food recipe of fat russet potatoes piled with warmed cream corn into which we stirred shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a little poultry seasoning. Amazing. And if you can get your hands on the pale fleshed oriental yam, they taste just like a chestnut without the work or the expense!
3. Big German Dinner
Fresh bratwurst. Red cabbage simmered for hours with red wine, vinegar, apples and onions. Creamy mashed potatoes. Put it all together and my genetic makeup faints with delight.
4. Delicata Squash
They tend to be available for a short time around October and November, sitting in big piles in the store mixed with the Hubbard and Sweet Dumpling, but the Delicata is truly the gem of the squash world. Sweet, rich, and even the skin is edible. You can just scoop out the seeds and chop the squash into slices and roast. I like a little rosemary, paprika and garlic powder sprinkled on them. Then be sure to roast the seeds because they are tasty as popcorn.
5. Hot Cocoa
Sometimes I get cold in summer sitting in air conditioning, but you just can't enjoy hot cocoa under those conditions. It's downright silly. Hot cocoa is for the day when you've just come in from crisp weather, and it's especially good with a little liqueur mixed in, such as the hazelnut-flavored Frangelico.
6. Lamb Stew
Lamb is an underappreciated meat in America, but I found that those who do eat lamb have quite a passion for it, which I understand because I don't think any other meat lends such flavor to a stew as lamb. I am quite a fan of many types of stew, but the humble lamb stew with chunks of potato, rutabaga, carrots and cabbage, seasoned simply with plenty of salt and a little thyme, and of course some onions, is one of winter's great delights.
7. Mozartkugeln
As Christmas approaches, World Market once again begins to stock this expensive and amazing confection, made from hazelnut nougat and pistachio and almond marzipan... or something like that. It's surprisingly hard to find online what exactly is in the darn things, but it's some kind of nuts and sugar draped in milk and dark chocolate and as I have been researching them for this top 10, I've realized many different companies make them and I am dangerously close to spending hundreds of dollars so I can try them all. Somebody stop me!
8. Pomegranates
The first time I had a pomegranate I was not sure what to do with it. How do you cut it? How do you eat it? I still have not found a truly efficient way to do it, which is part of the fun. There is something pleasant about committing yourself to a time-consuming piece of produce, just like shelling fresh peas. As you free each little tart, juicy jewel from its house, you can think deep thoughts about the Bible and Persephone.
9. Tangerines
The smell of a tangerine is, to me, the smell of Christmas just as much as a Frasier fir. I do love oranges, but I confess a special affection for the small, concentrated flavor of a tangerine, and the way its skin comes off in one's hand, often in one scarcely mangled piece.
10. Tea
Oh, tea. I miss you when the weather is hot. I can make iced tea, but my true love is hot herbal tea, perhaps with a smidge of good local honey. There is a tea for every mood -- peppermint for stomach aches, chamomile for when I'm stressed or sad, Chai with a little cream and maple syrup for dessert, tea with cinnamon for a real holiday flavor, and my favorite, Tulsi tea. I discovered Tulsi tea when I worked at Chamberlin's Natural Foods; I don't know what makes it so delicious, but I know I can drink a cup every day when the weather is cool.
What are your favorite fall foods? Or your favorite food season?