fall

This is my favorite time of year. Although every new year starts in January, in my mind fall has always felt like a new beginning. The leaves in New England have not started to fall yet, but the I can feel the transition approaching. It starts with a day here and there that feels fresh and cool, instead of hot and stale. I notice a few crunchy leaves floating around the sidewalks. And, of course, the days start to feel shorter, and the sun streaming into my window in the morning is fainter than before. That is the one part I hate, the shortening of days. In addition to the cooler weather, and the falling leaves, late summer-early fall is the best time of year at the farmer's market. There are still peaches, raspberries, beets, and apples and squash are starting to arrive. Most of all, I love the tomatoes. My favorite stand has prolific tomatoes, in shades of red, orange, yellow and green, all shapes and sizes. The best ones are the zebra striped, red or green, the little orange and yellow cherry tomatoes, the large dark reddish-purple, and orangish-yellow heirloom varieties. I also love to buy big bunches of basil to make pesto. The tomatoes are almost too pretty to eat, but as everyone knows this is the only time of year you can get tomatoes worth eating. So, get them while you can! Once it gets really cool out, I am planning a big pot of squash soup.......