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I love cooler weather, so I am finding myself perusing my cookbooks for autumnish recipes.  It is still hot here, but I am fortunate enough to live in "the Garden State" so our farmers' markets are stocked to the gills now.  I was just wondering if anyone else gets excited for the change of seasons or is looking forward to cooking Autumn things? 

The first cool day,  I will be making Nigella's Beef, Thyme and Anchovy Stew.  It is a family favorite.

I do love the seasonal change in recipes, but our spring and early summer were much cooler than usual so that the home gardens are just coming into peak production ... it will likely be another month before I start thinking fall - and pumpkin soups.

It's been such a hot, dry summer ... it's actually been too hot to barbecue comfortably. So we're definitely looking forward to cooler weather and autumn food. We also love that beef stew!

I love the fall!!  Summer can get crazy hot, humid and thunderstorm laden where I live so the change to crisp air while still seeing blue skies and sun is lovely...and we are also very thankful as cooler nights also set in!  Of course, it also helps that the leaves here  put on a spectacular show. 

This was the first year of a really major vegetable garden effort and in addition to eating our own veg every night,  I have spent the last 3 weeks preserving my garden like mad (canning, freezing, pickling).  And now is when I begin to look forward to making pot pies, soups, stews, curries and chilis again where I can use all my efforts.  I love this kind of cooking right up until around April when we've pretty much had enough of cold, snow & freezing rain and can't wait for the hot, sticky weather to start all over again :) 

Personally I am sorry the berry season is over here in NYC,  just as I have started getting into making preserves.

This is my single favorite time of year for fresh produce.

I went to the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City on Wednesday the week before last, resolving to buy tomatoes and peaches at every farmstand that carried them. I had to go back on that resolution because of the abundance. (I suppose I could have done it if I'd bought exactly one tomato and one peach at every stand, but who wants to do that?)

This is one of the consolations of the end of summer.

Asparagus is gone and apples are just coming in, but no season has everything.

I love autumn and always get excited about cooking Fall dishes. 

Summer here in Northern California is just something to be borne, not enjoyed.  Labor Day is forecast to be 108. I haven't turned on my oven once since May, and it's too hot to stand over a BBQ.  Lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn in the garden however.  And cooler temps mean the plants will remember to flower and set fruit again after a hiatus.  At least we have not had any major wildfires threatening home...yet.

Absolutely! Fall is cooking season. I've just spent the weekend cleaning & reorganizing the kitchen and pantry storage areas to get ready. Summer food doesn't interest me much, but I love the deeply flavored, long cooking, fall and winter dishes. 

Thanks for the tip on Nigella's beef stew. 

My favorite month starts in March with artichokes followed by all the fruits, corn and vegetables.  Surprisingly my tomato season is waning already having to pick green tomatoes.  Although I like fall with abundance of mushrooms, apples, persimmons, and pear apples and winter with Dungeness crab season and various citrus, I still enjoy summer time cooking the best for the best produce. 

I think my cooking is more influenced by what is available in season more than temperature outside.   

I am doing just the opposite, and trying to catch the summer produce while I still can ... lol... Summer this year was a almost constant heatwave here in Europe (compared to normal), and farmers were struggling with the production because of the drought. I am assuming it is better now given we had a couple of rain episodes, but I can only hope so 

Anyway for the moment, I am resolving to get these tomatoes, courgettes, melons, peaches, before they disappear. Some late summer or fall produce has started to pop in too such as gorgeous plums!

I love this time of year, nights are starting to draw in and we can look forward to warming soups, stews and casseroles after a surfeit of glorious summer produce, barbecues and picnics. Getting out all my autumn and winter cookbooks now, marking out the recipes I'm planning to make. ❤

I'm in NYC, but like Agaillard, I'm trying to catch summer while I can. Glad that Labor Day is a mere human construct.