First day of real fall?

It's the noon hour in St. Paul and the temperature is a crisp 54 degrees.  That's a number for which I would've plunged into very serious credit card debt during any number of 80-degree 5 a.m. runs this summer, and yes, it sure feels nice.  My town will spring back to September 70s soon, and it is still sunny enough for the flora in my backyard.  The other morning, I noticed this sweet little pal peeking into my window.  (The flower, not anything creepy that you're missing.)

As mentioned in an earlier post, I will focus on how lovely the current conditions are instead of the season toward which we are barreling.  

Here are some cosas I love about fall:

1) Fall food.  On Monday night, I made my Moosewood vegetarian chili recipe for the first time since winter (or at least early spring), probably because Josh and I crush this meal with such ferocity during the cold months that we get tired of it by April.  It also would taste strange in the summer because it's so classic fall-and-winter.  I just looked at the link and realize my printed recipe must have cut off the line about bell pepper, so if you don't like bell peppers, no sweat!  My friend Molly made this for a winter party she hosted a few years ago and I have been hooked on it ever since.  Moosewood recipes in general are a slam dunk in our home.

Here is an ugly picture of what the recipe looks like mid-process.  It gets a lot thicker by the time it's ready to serve:

 

Although I recently threw a minor tantrum about the dwindling supply of nice strawberries for my morning cereal, it is fun to explore new fall-appropriate recipes (hi, Crockpot!) with fall-appropriate foods.

Goodbye (or see you later) to staples like this:

But hi to my long-lost friend, the butternut squash!  And sweet potatoes galore!  The Moosewood black bean and sweet potato burrito is another gem that has hiding since spring.

2) Fall skies.  I've got no problem slipping a cloud photo into this post!  Smooth!

3) Back to school and the start of my child's college search.  No, Reader, you didn't miss any important news or updates. I would say I was surprised myself to open a letter last night addressed like this:

Choose your punch line: 

1) It seems presumptuous to schedule my nonexistent and thus not-college-bound child and I for an educational group presentation. 

2) I hope this company did not count us in its projections.

3) My, the college search starts early these days.  

Good heavens!