Fall

Years ago I made an oatmeal cake that was moist, dense and delicious with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting slathered over the top. When we had out-of-town friends staying with us last week, I thought of that cake that I haven’t made in years when I served baked oatmeal for breakfast one morning.

I flipped through my recipe file and found the cake recipe that I’d clipped from a newspaper many years ago. I added a seasonal touch to the cake with the addition of chopped, locally grown apples. Since I had a ripe banana in the freezer, I stirred that into the batter, too. A bit of cinnamon added to the cream cheese frosting turned the cake into an autumn treat.

Oatmeal, tart apples, cinnamon and banana paired with cream cheese — can’t get much better — unless you add some toasted chopped pecans. I shared the cake with others and discovered that a short length of cinnamon stick poked into each piece of cake worked well as a support for plastic wrap, preventing the plastic from sticking to the frosting and ruining its attractiveness. Once you taste this cake, you may choose not to share.

At first glance — and even, quite frankly, after extended contemplation — there is little to hint that the quince is one of the most delicious of fall's fruits. It is rough-hewn and blocky in appearance, like someone's first woodworking project gone horribly wrong. And should you make the mistake of taking a bite of it raw, that's kind of how it tastes too.

The slight chill in the air, longer nights, and gray skies are all telltale signs that fall is finally here. As soon as the season turns, I put on my sweater and slippers, and gather my recipes for comfort food. Dishes that warm me up and make me feel right at home are on the menu now. One of my favorites around this time of year is a bowl of fluffy meatballs. Seared first and simmered in sauce, then served atop spaghetti, it's the classic Italian-American comfort dish. But there's always room for a twist on tradition.

This is my modern—but no less comforting—take on spaghetti and meatballs. My recipe removes almost all the carbohydrates by replacing the pasta with spaghetti squash. Simply roasting the winter squash results in tender flesh that can easily be removed with the help of a fork to form thin pasta-like strands. The slightly sweet flavor and tender bite of the squash "pasta" makes it a wonderful base for this chicken meatballs recipe. Plus you can have dinner ready in 45 minutes, the time it takes to roast the squash, make the meatballs, and the quick marinara sauce.

Apple pie, apple crisp, apple turnovers, apple tart, apple sauce, apple cider—it's the season for apples. I can't think of a better way of enjoying it other than by baking with apples. Who doesn't love a classic apple pie this time of year?

They're worth making from scratch—the dough, the subtly spiced apple filling, warm out of the oven. But when you want to quickly put together an apple dessert, a pie just takes too much attention. That's when this simple tart comes in to play.

Based on a French apple tart, which is made with a pastry dough bottom, this recipe uses store-bought puff pastry instead. It's a shortcut that's worth making. The crisp puff pastry, soft apples, and sweet almond filling all come together to make one amazing dessert that's impressive enough to fool anyone into thinking it took all of your time.

Typically the classic recipe would use applesauce as a base under the apple slices, but that would make this puff pastry tart incredibly soggy. So, instead this recipe uses almonds, sort of like a frangipane tart.