Autumn Recipes - fresh Mexican pumpkin dessert - Calabaza En Tacha

[Leorah]

Happy Autumn everyone north of the equator, and Happy Spring to fellow earth dwellers in the southern hemisphere!  Autumn is my favorite season, possibly because it's such an energizing relief if you live in a place like the midwestern U.S. where it's very hot and humid most of the summer.  The air also becomes so fresh when Autumn comes, and if you get out of the city just a ways, you can smell distant smoke of leaves being burnt, bonfires and capmfires, and things all around growing heavy on the vine.   I also have a special fondness for the foods and cooking of Autumn.

If anyone has any autumn recipes, please post!

I got another PUMPKIN in my produce box this week from the local family farm I've gotten my fruits and veggies from this year, and needed another way to cook something with it.  I find pumpkin pie a bit boring, and pumpkin bread is ok, but I still wanted something "pumpkiny."  I've finally found this recipe in the San Francisco Chronicle, which always has great recipes, in a presentation of 20 Autumn recipies, most of which look delish and you may wanna check out.  The recipe for apple butter looks nice if you want to make it smaller; apple butter is basically a condensed apple sauce, no butter contained and a nice seasonal substitute for jam or preserves, though it also tastes good in plain yogurt.

Here's the recipe for this Mexican pumpkin dessert that looks so lovely, though I won't be making it till some day this weekend.  Please, let me know if you make this dish, and if you are able to find the piloncillo in a Mexican market - I'm going to send my Guatamalan friend out to look for some in the Pilson neighborhood of Chicago.

Calabaza En Tacha:
http://www.sfgate.com/food/recipes/detail.html?p=detail&rid=17371&sorig=qs


Shameless promotion for sustainable, non-industrial farming, and eating locally, below .............

P.S.  If you live in the U.S., and are interested in getting involved with local family farms, local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture organizations) locating farmers markets or other local food establishments, or you simply want to buy something directly from a smaller, non-industrial farmer wherever it's available in the U.S. any time of the year, you can check out these sites below::

http://www.localharvest.org  (Mostly U.S. listings with a few Canadian)
http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home  (U.S. and Canadian listings)
http://www.slowfood.com/  (International Slow Food movement - info & inspiration)

So for instance, aside from a guide to my local CSAs and Farmers Markets, I sometimes use the Local Harvest site to help me find and purchase items produced by local farmers and/or vendors with locally grown or raised foods and herbs, such as herbal tinctures I use as medicines or beauty supplies, locally grown dried beans, popcorn, ground wheat, jam, pickles, etc, any time of the year.  Or even with items that aren't local, like last Feb. I needed some bulk almonds and dates to make my almond milk, and wanted it to be hopefully organic and non-GMO, so I found two medium sized organic farms in California on the Local Harvest site that I bought the almonds and dates from, and they were sent inexpensively and fast and are top quality - plus, I'm supporting sustainable farming.   The Eatwell Guide can help do pretty much the same as Local Harvest, and through the Slow Food site, you can find your local chapter of Slow Food anywhere in the world and receive its Newsletter monthly, announcing free and fun events of members in your area, along with being a great guide to local farmers, sustainably grown foods and vendors all over the world.

[sixpack]

I just love this time of year.  the foods are so wonderfully seasonal and delicious.  I also like making all the cold weather foods---chilis, stews, and red beans and rice.

[ameliacake]

I LOVE to cook!
 This recipe looks delicious- i'll probably try it soon.  Autumn is amazing! I love all the seasonal recipes, and pumpkin is one of my very favorite things to bake with.  I'll post some of my favorite fall recipes later on!