I’m not ready to bid farewell to summer just yet, and I have the calendar on my side. But nature seems bent on overruling us both. The mornings are becoming nippier, leaves are already falling to the ground, and I now have to remind myself all over again that rushing to get somewhere in the mid-afternoon is an exercise in futility with the number of yellow buses on the road. (Seeing all the cute kids hop off the bus and run to their mommies more than makes up for it though.)

Don’t get me wrong: fall is my favorite season. It’s just that it barely feels like we even had a proper summer, so in my mind, it’s still May or June and not mid-September with all kinds of holiday merchandise already filling the store shelves.

As much as I’d like summer to linger, I’m also quite excited about what looms in the immediate horizon: pumpkin season. Yes friends, its arrival is imminent. And I know I’m not the only one excited about pumpkin recipes here. What’s not to love? It’s nutritious, much of it is edible (flesh, seeds, leaves, flowers), it freezes well, makes baked good moist, and in a pinch, it can turn into a carriage if you need a ride to the ball. Yes, pumpkins are real versatile like that.

We want to hear all the ways you like to use this wonder fruit, so tell us:

What are your favorite ways to use or serve pumpkin?

Let me start by showing you a few beauties we’ve featured here in the TK Blog.

Pumpkin Cornbread. Cornbread? Good. Add pumpkin? YES.

Nutella Cheesecake Pumpkin Muffins. It has pumpkin. And Nutella. And cheesecake. Sign me up.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake. Light and fluffy and nutty, with a brown sugar glaze.

Pumpkin Enchiladas. Pumpkin goes Tex-Mex!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Scones. Perfect with tea or coffee.

Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Bread. Moist and dense, and I love almost anything topped with streusel.

Pumpkin Pie Bars. Pumpkin pie in bar form with no crust to mess with! The buttery cinnamon topping is to die for.

Perfect Pumpkin Cheesecake. This really is pretty much perfect.

 
Now it’s your turn! Have a favorite pumpkin recipe? Tips on how to select a good pumpkin, or how to cut one up without lopping off a finger? Let us know in the comments below!

 
Have you ever spent the good part of a day trying to find a specific ingredient for a recipe? Maybe you had to spend an hour or two on research alone because you had no idea what it was or where to find it. And perhaps it was something so singular, you had to special order it online and wait 5 to 7 business days before finally being able to tackle that particular recipe.

For the most part, there are always acceptable substitutes. Sometimes, you can simply omit the ingredient and call it a day. But once in a while, a recipe actually hinges on one or two specific items, or perhaps you’re trying to create a particular dish for someone and you know it just won’t be the same without that ingredient.

I know many of us would go the extra mile if it meant creating something truly special in the kitchen, and I thought it might be fun to share our stories of just how far we’ve gone to do just that—our adventures in the search for that elusive ingredient or even tool to make a recipe work. So tell us:

Do you have any stories about your adventures tracking down an item for a recipe?

A few days ago, I was tasked with finding a specific kind of vermouth for a special cocktail. Now, I’m someone you rarely find standing by the bar or holding a drink, so I had no idea what I was agreeing to. I searched online, made phone calls, and even expanded my search to include two neighboring states, just to find this particular ingredient. I asked if there was an acceptable substitute and was told that it absolutely had to be that item. Five hours later, I finally gave up and decided to do the errands I put on hold while trying to go from here to tarnation trying to track down this bottle of vermouth.

It was 9:30 PM when I walked into our local grocery to pick up some coconut milk and chorizo (that’s a whole other story in itself). I noticed they had a new wine section and I decided to check it out. Lo and behold, there on their vermouth shelf sat four bottles of the vermouth I had just spent 5 hours trying to track down.

Moral of the story: Don’t underestimate your local grocery. Larger moral of the story: Don’t volunteer to procure something you know nothing about.

How about you? Have any stories to tell about searching for hard-to-find ingredients? Or maybe you discovered a substitute that you can share, and spare us all from hours of Googling and driving around. Tell us your story below!

Pumpkin seems to be the flavor people most associate with fall, and we talked about that a few weeks ago. But let me tell you a secret: I’m not a pumpkin-means-autumn kind of gal. Oh, I do love pumpkin in all its forms, and I even enjoy the flavor in my coffee, But pumpkin, for me, is mostly served in savory side dishes, cooked with coconut milk, shrimp and bacon and a generous amount of onions and garlic. I love that dish and I could eat it all year round. And I do. Which is why I don’t immediately associate pumpkin with fall.

Now apples are a different matter. Which is strange, because apples are also available all year round. And I do enjoy them all year round too. But somehow, it feels like apple desserts are reserved for autumn, when the leaves turn golden and rustle beneath your feet, and mornings are crisp, inviting you to linger in bed just a little bit longer. Maybe I feel that way because fall means it’s apple picking season around these parts, and with access to bushels upon bushels of local apples, the oven gets a workout churning out all kinds of apple creations.

My favorite apple dessert, by far, is Ree’s Scrupmtious Apple Pie. And I’m not just saying that to earn brownie points. It’s like pecan pie meets apple pie, with caramel, and when I’m feeling extra naughty, I’ll top it with (sometimes spiked, shhh) maple whipped cream.

I’m always on the lookout for apple recipes, so now that apple season is upon us, do tell:

What are some of your favorite apple dishes?

Shout out your favorites below and let’s find some new ways to serve them apples. And as always, if you have a recipe link, share that too!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

They say some parts of the country may be in for another brutal winter, which means we have a lot of cold mornings ahead of us. So today's Kitchen Talk will be all about warm meals to start off your day. Tell us:

What's your favorite thing to make when you need a warm breakfast?