Wow, it’s almost Fall-I love this time of year.  Soups, stews and crusty breads.  Hearty muffins and winter squashes and fruits.  And brown bettys or cobblers.  All the comfort foods of the season.

I love the aroma of baking apples and cinnamon.  Roasted butternut squash sprinkled with pepper and ginger, then pureed with some honey.  My son loves my spicy pumpkin bread and my husband can hardly wait for the first crockpot of split pea soup served with rosemary and olive oil bread.

Lunches are still primarily salads, but when I’ve got some leftovers of root vegetables done in various fashions, I love to add a vinegarette and chill them for my noontime meal in place of the usual spinach and dried cranberries.

I’ve heard a rumor that in many parts of the US that the autumn “nip” has already begun.  Can’t really tell her on our part of the west coast-we had temps in the upper 80’s and high humidity all week, but I am just thrilled with the prospect of taking out the crockpot and putting up a nice all-in-one meal in the very near future.

Is there anything more wonderful than walking in the door from work and smelling a roast and veggies simmering?  I love that I can set the table, either defrost or bake some whole corn muffins and have a hearty meal (and next days lunches) ready to serve without thinking.

Wednesday, let’s talk about a couple of easy and tasty crockpot meals.