Autumn Desserts

We know it is autumn when apples and figs appear at farmers markets, yellow and red leaves drift across the yard, and vivid orange pumpkins appear on doorsteps. The first frost ends our supply of vine-ripened tomatoes, and we need to pull on sweaters in the afternoon as the shadows shorten. Summer has ended.

But although the days are getting shorter, for me autumn is the beginning of a new year. The period from Labor Day, the symbolic end of summer, to the first calendar day of fall in the middle of September is when I shift gears. After a summer of relaxing and living in the moment, I am energized to take on new projects in the kitchen, happily experimenting, creating, and producing.