It's Fall! Go Away!

 RHYS BOWEN:  I know it's Hallie's week, but I'm hijacking the post today as Hallie is up in Utah. And I'm mindful of what today is. September 20. Tonight is the fall equinox, when day and night are of equal length. It also marks the end of summer, beginning of fall. 

And I am not happy.

I do not like fall. I admit the colors are lovely. I spent a wonderful hiking trip once in New Hampshire with the fall foliage at its best. But apart from that I am not pleased when the days get shorter and colder., the leaves turn brown and fall from the trees, the birds fly south.  Fall says to me that winter is coming. Dark, cold days, rain beating on windows.

 It means that we can't do our favorite walks, (the one pictured here is by the Bay) or we have to take our evening walk before five, which messes up the whole afternoon. I suppose it also symbolizes that relentless path to the end of life, which gets closer and closer every day.

I like spring with its flowers and scents and hope of longer, brighter days. I am a big fan of summer, unless it's too hot. For me summer means beaches, picnics, sitting on my balcony on long balmy evenings with a glass of wine, watching the lights come on, one by one, in the valley below and listening to the sounds of night--crickets, frogs, and occasional owl. 

Another thing I do not like about fall is this obsession with all things pumpkin. I am not a fan of pumpkin spice anything, from candles to lattes. No no no. Today in Trader Joe's I saw the ultimate insult. My favorite little ice creams and look what they've done to them! Pumpkin ginger flavor!  No!!!

I'm sure I'm going to get lots of comments saying that you all love fall and look forward to the coziness of winter.  And I do enjoy the thought of an evening by the fire with a good book and a hot cocoa. But I'm essentially an outdoor sort of person. i like windows open in the house. I always take my lunch out onto the balcony to enjoy the view. And, I have to confess, that I do escape from winter by spending most of it in Arizona where the sky is blue and the temperatures are perfect. 

So do I have any other fall-haters out there or am I the only one?

Forcing Fall

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: This weekend was the autumnal equinox, but for a lot of the country, it doesn’t exactly feel like fall, does it? Which is a problem, because if you’re a four-season kind of person, by now summer has worn out its welcome. The magazines are full of fall fashion, school’s been in for the better part of a month - even the publishing industry people are back at their desks! We’re ready for a change, but sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate.

So what do you do to force fall? (I’m using the gardening metaphor, in case anyone has visions of me assaulting autumn Rambo-style.) The easiest switch up is clothing. This works for me because by summer wardrobe is a rainbow of brights. I’m still wearing my cropped pants and light tops, but now I’m matching the pink pedal pushers with a brown T-shirt, or pairing the aqua sleeveless shirt with full-length black pants.

I also start to change my house’s wardrobe, as it were. Summer’s white sofa pillows get dark covers, and I exchange my kitchen settee’s white slipcover for a beige and blue floral pattern. (I tried keeping the white on one winter because it looks so good with the rest of the room, but the first time a slush-pawed Shih Tzu jumped up there I knew it was a losing cause.)

How about you, Reds? Do you start cooking heartier autumnal dinners, or bring in the beautiful flowers of fall? What are your tricks for bringing the season in, even when it won’t cooperate?

HALLIE EPHRON: Our summer was so hot and humid that this dryer, sunnier weather is a version of “fall” that needs no forcing. Trees are just starting to turn –  burnt orange and red leaves against lime green ones. I’ve taken the fans out of the windows because it cools off at night to sleep with windows open. I’m still eating summer salads for dinner but I did make an apple pie with local apples–a sure sign of fall.

JENN McKINLAY: We finally dropped below 100 degrees here in AZ after 112 straight days of the daily temps being over 100. I am presently wearing a beanie and a scarf! Okay, not really, but it was a blissful 69 when I walked the dogs this morning and I debated wearing a light hoodie. I’m giddy, I tell ya! As far as I’m concerned, autumn is HERE. Pass me a pumpkin spice latte and a caramel apple, please. 

RHYS BOWEN: Count me as one who will not be forcing fall. I dread the thought of dark evenings and short days. I like to wake early to the sun on the hillside opposite and sit out on my balcony after dinner watching lights come on in the valley. This week it was chilly in the morning and I had to find (gulp) a long sleeved T-shirt. Pumpkin spice will never pass my lips but I would agree to a caramel apple. And Julia, I am in awe of someone who changes their decor with the seasons… different pillow covers? The most I can do is put up decorations at Christmas and maybe a summery table cloth.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, nope, fall comes as it wants to, but yes, I change, (eventually), the white canvas slip covers on the couch for loden suede, and I change the throw pillow covers, too.  I love to change the dinner plates, too, from the white ones bordered by yellow and orange fruits and flowers to the white ones bordered by apples and plums. 

But…NOT YET!

I did switch to hot lattes from iced, I have to say. And agreed, Rhys, pumpkin spice will never pass these lips, either. And no apple anything yet! I am still on watermelon.

 

LUCY BURDETTE: This September weather has been so glorious that I am all in! But the only thing I’ll change in the house is the bedspread, from a bright yellow etc quilt to a blue flannel with fish. But, like Hank, not yet! I am cooking more soup and fall-ish foods though. And I did roast a turkey for our supper club Saturday. Do you know how hard it is to find a turkey or turkey breast in September??

 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We had “false fall” here a couple of weeks ago, but then it went back to “ugh.” So no wardrobe changes for me, and still summer pillow covers in the living room and tropical flowers on the bedroom duvet cover. Soon, though, our autumn asters will be blooming, then the first of October the pumpkins go on the front porch and the fall pillow covers go on the sofa. I like to change the plates on our big dining room dresser, too, if I get around to it! 

But the shorter days make me want to cook fall things like soups and casseroles, so last week I made a huge pot of minestrone. Yum!

 

JULIA: How about you, dear readers? How are you forcing (or faking) fall?

Feelings About Fall

 LUCY BURDETTE: Are you the kind of person who loves to see fall coming? (I know some of you have been suffering through incredible heat this summer and can’t wait for the change.)  I do love the cooler temperatures, and the open windows at night, and fall colors. Last week, I noticed this sign in a nearby neighborhood. Every day during the summer, these neighbors put this board out with high and low tides marked on it, as well as the temperature of the Long Island Sound. Now that summer has officially ended, the board is taking a rest for the winter as well. I got a chuckle out of it, while at the same time it left me feeling a little sad. Time is passing! the board said. Seize your moments now. I will certainly try. I’m hoping to see lots of family and friends, read good books, eat good food, and write good pages this fall and winter, too.

There is also the matter of the silly things that fall brings, like pumpkin spice Cheerios. Really? Does this appeal to you? How do you feel about fall?

HALLIE EPHRON: Having grown up in southern California where there are no seasons (unless wind and fire count), I do appreciate the seasons. I remember the first time I was in Vermont during peak fall foliage and I could not believe how gorgeous it was.

Here, it means time to rake, time to clean the gutters, time to close up the house and make sure the furnace is working. All done. Now I get to just sit back and watch the show. (Photos by Jerry Touger.)

RHYS BOWEN: I’m not a big fan of fall. It reminds me that winter is coming and I hate short dark days. I like to wake up to blue sky and sunshine. I don’t like cold and wet. I don’t like trading my flip flops for boots and socks. And I really don’t like pumpkin spice latte! This is why we fly south with the swallows to Arizona about this time of year.  Sorry if I sound like a grouch!

JENN McKINLAY: Autumn is my favorite season! Probably because I spent my childhood in a small town in the Appalachians in NW Connecticut. Colorful leaves, apple picking, a fire in the fireplace, and the entire town joining in on Halloween with trick or treating. Those are truly some of my happiest memories. And, yes, I love pumpkin spice - coffee and cake and pie - but nothing else, please. Now we have to drive up to Prescott or Sedona to enjoy the aspens changing color but it’s always a wonderful getaway. 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I love fall! It’s gorgeous, it has sweaters and boots and coziness. It smells good, right? and it’s so lovely to walk outside and breathe the gorgeous fresh cool air. 

I love my birthday, and Thanksgiving, and fleecy things. And it’s time to make beef stew and soup. I love how the weather and our instincts are so connected, we just know when it’s the end of iced coffee time, and when we get to wear tights again.

As for pumpkin spice. Okay. I will weigh in. I really love pumpkin spice… In pumpkin pies. Only. That’s all. End of story. Pumpkin pie, love. Pumpkin everything else, not so much. and in coffee, please. I honestly think it’s disgusting. I am so sorry. It’s just me.

You’re all going to say: what about pumpkin muffins and pumpkin scones and I’m sure those are all delicious, but they were just still not be my choice. If there’s a pumpkin soufflé, okay, that might be good. But I am not making it.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I LOVE fall! It's my favorite season. Crisp days or cloudy (rain, please!), cool nights, hot drinks, soups and stews, but most of all just being able to enjoy being outside again.  When the daytime temps fall below 90 I am in heaven. Add fleecy sweaters, cuddly throws, and maybe a little fire in the fireplace. Then all you need is a good book...

Not so big on the pumpkin stuff, though, although happy to have a piece of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Put me in the "Yay for fall" camp, for all the reasons listed above (except for pumpkin Cheerios ?!?) I also love the sense of accomplishment as I cross fall tasks off my list. Get the chimney sweep in, bring the winter clothing down from the attic, have the furnace cleaned, start stacking the wood in the woodroom. There's a particularly cheerful feeling to knowing you and your house are all set for cold weather - which doesn't mean I'd turn down a stay in Key West or Arizona if offered...

 

Thoughts about fall, red readers?

Soup for the season: Make mine tomato

 HALLIE EPHRON: Yesterday morning when I woke up, it was sixty degrees outside and my heat system had kicked on. The trees are turning and the humidity has dropped, and though fall began a week ago, yesterday was the first truly felt fall-ish overnight and morning.

Scarves and sweatpants and cozy socks have come out of hibernation and extra blankets are piled on my bed. I’m stocking up on candy corn, taking walks in the woods, drinking red wine instead of white, hot tea instead of ice coffee, and craving savory soups.

First up here, a rich, thick, piquant and warming tomato soup. SO easy to put together – just over an hour, from prepping through simmering, to pureeing and serving. Make it today, serve it tomorrow or the day after.

You’ll need:
- 1 large saucepan
- Immersion blender

- Olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 T fresh basil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- Sugar
- 4 c chicken broth (substitute vegetable broth if you prefer)
- 28-ounce can of [I prefer San Marzano] tomatoes, crushed or chopped
- Sour cream (or heavy cream)

PREP:
1. Dice 1 medium onion
2. Dice 2 celery stalks
3. Mince 1 T of fresh basil (or use 1 tsp dried)

COOK:
4. In 2T olive oil over medium heat, saute diced onion and celery, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1 T fresh basil (or 1 tsp of dried), and a pinch or two of cayenne for about 6 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent.
5. Add the can of tomatoes and juices, chicken broth, and sugar.
6. Simmer 40 minutes.
7. Puree with an immersion blender.
When ready to serve, ladle out a portion, swirl in some sour or heavy cream, and garnish with a basil leaf.

Easy peasy. And truly delicious. Goes perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich in front of a roaring fire or sitting outside and watching the sun set.

What are your soups for the season--something to take the bite out of the cold? Mushroom soup? Cabbage and beet? Goulash, anyone?

Get Ready, Get Set, Fall!

 Julia Spencer-Fleming: Last March, I wrote about the things I love as the season slowly began its turn from winter to spring; I thought I should do the same thing for today, as those of us in the Northeast see autumn just over the horizon. I know you folks in Texas and the south are still sweltering, but close your eyes and whisper the magic words to yourself: "Pumpkin Spice."

1. Yeah, pumpkin spice. And apple cider. and, about a month from now when it goes below freezing overnight: warm stews and fresh baked bread. 

  

2. The humidity that felt like we were living in a swamp is gone! My older Shih Tzu Kinglsey can actual make it a full mile on our walk when it's not 86°F and 86% humidity. I don't have to wear my hair clipped up every day (although now it's down I realize I'm way overdue for a haircut.)

3. The glorious show the trees put on every year.  Yes, it's already begun here, with several maples in our area looking like the edge of their still-green leaves have been washed with a pale orange-red water color. It's a display that will grow and glow for the next five or six weeks; one of the best parts of the season.

4. Getting cozy at home. Soon I'll be bringing out the woolly throws and velvety blanket, and we'll wrap up in them to watch movies in front of the roaring woodstove. I'll put red and yellow and gold tablecloths down, and swap out some of the linen sofa pillows for plaid.

5. The outdoor work changes. Believe it or not, I kind of like getting the wood in.  Instead of pushing a lawnmower under a blazing sun, I roll my red wheelbarrow from the woodpile to the wood room, and get nice and warm from the exercise during the time of year when I appreciate it.

6. The local arts scene kicks in. Yes, even this fall, when we're still wearing masks indoors and socially distancing, the theaters, the symphony, and the local music venues are coming back to life. 

7. We see more of our friends! This may be Maine specific, or something people tend to do wherever winter is long and summer is short. When June arrives in Maine, everyone rushes outside to travel, camp, hike, sail, etc., etc. Then, when it cools down and the kids are back in school, we start socializing with each other again. Bonus: half my friends put together fairly sophisticated weather-deflecting area last fall, so we can sit outdoors in comfort well into the season.

8. Related: the tourists go home. We love you, thanks for visiting and spending your money, but as the old song goes, "How can I miss you when you won't go away?"

9. SWEATERS

10. Just... I love the change of seasons. I'm grateful to live in a place with four distinct times of year (and hey, with global warming, we may actually get three months of spring, summer, and fall instead of two!) I love the onset of summer, I love it's special joys, but when September turns the page, I'm ready for something new and different.

How about you, dear readers? What do you love about the fall? 

It's Pumpkin Spice Time, or not!

RHYS BOWEN: It is officially fall. The leaves are turning, there is a nip in the air, Halloween candy has appeared in all the stores AND pumpkin spice has returned to the universe with the punctuality of the swallows coming back to Capistrano.

I have a confession to make that may anger many of you: I do not like pumpkin spice! I can tolerate pumpkin pies, although they are not my favorite. I like pumpkin soup, but not with that cinnamon kind of flavor. But pumpkin spice lattes? Yuck!

It's that season when we are overwhelmed with everything pumpkin spice. The stores are full of pumpkins. Starbucks had a countdown to the day when pumpkin spice latte would become available.
And it seems that pumpkin spice flavor/scent is available in almost everything, from candles (which are actually quite nice) to condoms.

But when I saw this post by my friend Eileen Dreyer on Facebook I felt I had to share. Is it for real? Eileen is an ER nurse so she should know a thing or two.

Should I add a clause to my will stating that in no circumstances am I to be embalmed with pumpkin spice flavored fluid? I will come back to haunt anyone who tries to do this!

So is pumpkin spice a thing that you either love or hate? Who loves it? And who thinks the embalming fluid is going too far?

Ready for the Changing Season?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  If you are seeing this on Sunday, it means I couldn't post Bouchercon photos...but they will come soon!

This is a squirrel in our back yard--clearly baffled that the green tarpaulin cover is on the swimming pool.  Yes, we have closed it, and it means summer is over...but it also means the pool will fill up and soon the ducks will come! So it's a marking of the seasons.

What are you doing to get ready for the fall?

Labor Day Blues

RHYS BOWEN: It has just hit me that it is officially the end of summer today. Every year it's the same. I look back and ask myself where it went. What happened to those picnics I planned beside the ocean or in a leafy glade? What happened to long afternoons sitting in the shade sipping lemonade and reading? I know I can't really complain. I did spent six weeks in England and Greece and France. Then I was on a book tour, all over the country.

But it's the winding down I'm whining about... the lazy days by a lake with all the time in the world like you see on the commercials where they catch fireflies. The communing with nature. The drifting in a canoe or sleeping under the stars. They never seem to happen. (Maybe it's because my frightfully British husband hates picnics and hates camping even more. The one time we took the family he complained of being cold all night and went out next morning to buy a sleeping bag rated for the top of Everest. He's never been camping since.)
And now autumn is upon us. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. And approaching winter.  I've never been a fan of winter. I suppose I look upon it in a Robert Frost type of way--the harvest being brought in, conscious that the days really are growing fewer for me and my friends.

So tell me, Reds and Readers: do you look forward to fall? Do you enjoy it? And please answer the age old question that worries me every year. Am I allowed to wear white after Labor Day.

HALLIE EPHRON: I keep thinking it's going to be fall and then we get the weather report - another hazy humid 90+ degree day. Can't wait for the air to turn cool and crisp. The problem with fall is that it's too short. Before you know it it's sleeting and then snowing and if we have another winter like last winter, I'll get a lot of writing done because I'm not leaving the house.

LUCY BURDETTE: I totally get your sadness about passing of time, Rhys. Although, like Hallie, I do love fall. What's made a huge difference for us is that we migrate to Key West when it gets cool--we just don't do winter any more, not in New England anyway. Didn't one of our guests last week talk about how he used to hate going back to school? It was my favorite time of year--new clothes, new teachers, new books--I loved it. I think that nostalgia helps with each approaching Labor Day!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It's all I can do to stop myself from buying huge packs of  lined notebook paper and a new --what did we call them? Binder? With little hole punch reinforcements that you lick, and TABS.  Love tabs. I just cannot get over how quickly the seasons go by, though. Summer simply did not exist this year.  I guess we're all used to that rhythm of back-to-school, and there's a feeling of passages when it arrives, even if we're doing exactly the same thing. With sweaters.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I love all the seasons, passing in turn. As much as I might sigh for a visit to Lucy's Key West in February, I wouldn't want to live anywhere without a full four seasons. Fall is back-to-school, with all the energy and change that that engenders. It's also less yard work, letting the garden die down, and-after a few frosts-not having to worry about ticks when I'm out walking the dogs!

The end of summer always, always feels like it's too soon, and that things have been left undone. I try to treat it like that last half hour before the guests arrive: what hasn't been done, won't be none, so you might as well move on and concentrate on all the fun ahead!

And Rhys, I stand firm on the no white after Labor Day rule, with the exception of tennis shoes, which always got a pass. Sure you COULD wear white shoes or white jeans in September, but what's the point of changing seasons if you can't change how you dress? I love the idea of things in season, temporal pleasures that come and go. So there are no more white shoes...but here comes pumpkin-spiced latte!

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I wish I could feel wistful about the end of summer, but, quite frankly, I'm ready for this one to be done. Missed one family trip because of a sick senior cat. The kiddo got the flu, which turned into pneumonia and we had to cancel another vacation and his camps. Then we were planning on a last hurrah makeup trip — and I went into my second round of pneumonia. I've also been trying to finish THE QUEEN'S CONSPIRATOR due in (yikes!) less than two weeks, and also gear up for the launch of MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE on October 27 — all with a kiddo at home, who'd usually be in camp or outside playing.

You'd better believe we're all going to be toasting the end of the summer of '15 and raising a glass to fall and new beginnings!

P.S. White? What is this color of which you speak? Seriously, New Yorkers don't wear a lot of white, even in summer....

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Rhys, if you would prefer not to lament the passing of summer, please come spend August in Texas. We are always desperate for that first nip in the air, for pumpkins and crisp mornings and a hint of woodsmoke. Of course summer does go too quickly, but as usual it's been too hot to do most of those things I daydreamed about last winter anyway...

As for white, I just got a new fall clothing catalog that featured a model wearing white jeans and shirt with a faux suede jacket. I think we can safely be rebels and throw out the "No white after Labor Day" rule!

RHYS: I'm with you, Debs. White when you feel like it. And Susan, I know, I know. I can't tell you how many times I've been to New York and felt like a peacock in the hen house because everyone else is wearing black and I'm in pastels! But this me in a white leather jacket at an upscale boutique when I was on tour with Cara Black. Luckily it was a tad too tight as the price was $2500 and I would have been sooooo tempted!

And Susan, you deserve a long fall break! And Hank, I used to love going back to school too, although we wore uniform so there was never the thrill of new clothes.

So who else looks forward to fall? And who else does NOT like pumpkin spice lattes?

Your Sunday Moment of Zen....

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: This Sunday's "Moment of Zen" is a photograph of our neighborhood in Brooklyn, taken by friend Andrea Vaszko of Bellandin Photography.

(c) Andrea Vaszko, Bellandin Photography, included with permission

Anticipating Fall

RHYS BOWEN: This week officially marks the end of summer.  And if you’re like me you’re asking yourself once again “Where did summer go?”  What happened to all those times I planned to take a picnic and a book and sit in the shade beside the water?  And all those al-fresco twilight dinners?  And days at the beach? 

 I did go on a nice long trip with a cruise to Turkey, Egypt and Greece so I can’t really complain, but I’m mad at myself for the wasted little escapes I could have snuck into my days instead of checking Facebook and my Amazon stats one more time.

And this Saturday it is fall. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Some people love it and look forward  to the crispness in the air, the ripe apples on the tree, the change of seasons. Not me. I have always found fall rather depressing—heralding the onset of blustery rain, short dark days and a long winter ahead. And as I get older the symbolism of fall takes on the quality of a Robert Frost poem. I must harvest the apples before it is too late and winter sets in.   More and more people that I know have become incapacitated or even died.  I don’t want to face that reality, so I escape from winter, retreating to my condo in Arizona where there is sunshine all year.

So I’m trying to think about the positive—what do I love about fall? The colors in places like New England are spectacular. Here in California not much changes color. I enjoy fresh local apples. And hearty soups. I look forward to Thanksgiving and the whole holiday season. But apart from that, let it be eternal summer.

What about you? What do you like about fall?   

LUCY BURDETTE: I too am asking where the summer went Rhys! Though I have to say I mind fall much less since we've started spending the winter in Key West. It's fun to see the spring break through the winter--but living through months of snow and ice and cold temps is a killer for me. 

Things to love about fall? Yes the colors in New England are magnificent! And as a kid, I always loved going back to school, so it still has that feeling for me. On the other hand, summer food has it all over winter--I'll take a tomato with basil over a root vegetable any day!

 ROSEMARY: The clothing. I'm a boots gal and after months of pretending I like sandals I'm ready to pull the cowboy boots back on! (I can also stop wondering if my toes are attractive.) Jackets, sweaters....I'm there.
Also love the smells - apples, cinnamon, pumpkin, burning leaves, fireplaces. That crisp feel in the air - it's energizing. I'm ready to go back to school! (metaphorically..)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: OH, me, too, Ro. Turtlenecks and and tweed jackets and TIGHTS, I love tights. I go through the summer with my legs freezing half the time. (Gripe gripe gripe.) To go outside and it's gorgeous, especially here in New England. I saw leaf fall the other day!
 And yes, Rhys, it is a little poignant. If I hear "Try to Remember" I might be a little melancholy.
 But hey! Better to think about apples and new books and Thanksgiving and what I'm going to be for Halloween. (I think I will dress up as an author asleep on the couch.)


HALLIE EPHRON: Like everything else, for me it's about the food. 

We'll have our last caprese salad, prosciutto and melon, lobster and corn on the cob and get back to roasting chicken and making soup and chili. This year I'm looking for really good vegetarian recipes that have rich flavor and bite to them.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I suppose the New Year is the more logical place to think about new beginnings, but for me it's that first hint of autumn.  Ro, yes, it's the whole back-to-school thing. Funny how that never goes away.  I love boots (time to switch to fall nail polish, even if no one will be seeing my toes,) and sweaters and tights.  And FOOD!  Soups and stews and chili. Roasts. I can use my oven with dying from heat exhaustion.  I can't wait! In fact, I just ordered a new soup cookbook, called Sunday Soup.

But my very favorite thing is the first fire in our fireplace, and our first Friday night movie in front of the fire.

(Least favorite thing? Dealing with the mounds of leaves dropped by all our trees...)