Autumn is such an amazing time for food. I’d even go as far to say food is in it’s zenith. The summer bounty is nothing to scoff at, it’s just the fall is something special. Food becomes important again as the seasons change, important in a way that our bodies are seeking a change in flavors, textures, and amounts to mirror the changes in time, temperature, and sunlight that the fall brings. In the summer, one can nibble a handful of berries here, a slice of bread there, a bite of peach or a salted tomato along with a tall, cool drink and be satisfied. The days are longer and the appetites seem to be less gnawing. When there is more time or sunlight, it is easier to relax into that state of there’s-at-least-three-more-hours-of-sunlight-left and things just don’t seem quite as pressing. At least this happens to me and I get more lax about when I eat, I also tend to eat less. But fall always brings promise of more structure, schedules, and a lot more time indoors aka: the kitchen for me.

I like to prepare my body for the changes in the season by reflecting what is happening outside, on the inside. I do this with specific things in season like squash, apples, and hearty peasant breads. I’m even opening myself up to seasonal meats (per request of Andrew) to be incorporated. It’s not that I don’t eat meat, because I do. It’s just that I am a bit of a wussy when it comes to touching/handling/dealing with raw meat. And he’s helping out in this endeavor by offering to cook the meals with meat in them, when we do eat meat. Yes, please! This made me one happy lady .

Last week, I was invited to lecture for a class about Eating Design and healthy eating. I was excited to talk about the avenues of thought which I use when it comes to food and health and excited to hear what their views were as well. I proposed to them something called the Simple Kitchen Experiment, an optional thing they could try if they were really looking to find a personal and intuitive understanding of their relationship with food. Here’s what we did:
For a week, keep a list of all the foods you really like and don’t like. They can be anything you put in your body from sprinkles, to kale, to gin and tonics. Anything that you like to eat, put it down. In a column next to it, write down all the food you don’t like too. Then write one word to describe why you like/don’t like that particular food. Is it purely flavor? Or maybe it’s the texture? The temperature? Whatever it may be, it’s your own personal like/dislike, so write it down. If you are feeling extra adventurous, have another column for foods you’ve heard about and may be interested in trying. Then the second week, try taking 3-5 of the foods you do like from your list of “likes” and create a new dish from it. I emphasized keeping the main ingredients simple and fewer than five (sans things like olive oil or salt) so that you can taste what you are eating, literally. It is easier to discern this way, and harder (I think) to cook like this (because “more is better” prevails in our eating/cooking habits I’ve found, myself included!). Be creative and think about why pairing these flavors or textures would work well for you. Write about if it worked or didn’t work. Also write down three words that would describe your day prior to cooking. After a week, you might get a good idea about how you eat, why you eat, and what you eat. It is a way to look holistically at you and food without it getting too touchy feely. It is more like record keeping. Plus, you would be surprised with some of the recipes you come up with! There’s always the bomb experiment or two, where it is just not how you thought it would be, but if there are one or even two recipes that are amazing, I’d say it was worth it.

I made this butternut squash galette for the class. We had a potluck after the talk and I was looking to bring something that was seasonal, had simple ingredients, and was beautiful. Thank you Ms. Pleasant for bringing this recipe to my attention via the lovely Debora Madison and her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone! This galette was amazing and bursting with the fall flavor of butternut squash. The sage was a beautiful compliment to the fallish flavor of the squash and onions. It was so good, and relatively simple to make too. Don’t let the yeasted galette dough intimidate you, it is well worth the 45 minutes of rising time to make it. Plus, it is beautiful to look at. Sometimes, it is really nice to bring something to the table that not only tastes wonderful, but looks really lovely too. I hope you get a chance to try it!