What does fall cooking mean?

Autumn is here! Who says autumn, says hot drinks, wool sweaters, big socks, freshness, warm colors, but also… COOKING! I love cooking during fall. It's always this time of year that I get the most inspiration for creating new recipes.

In this article, I'll show you the essentials to cook during fall so that you can be sure your meal is authentic fall cooking!

What foods to cook?

First, the squash!

But how do you navigate through all the varieties of squash on the market? The ones we find most in our kitchens are Spaghetti Squash, Stripetti, Butternut (Musk), Pepper and Sweet Dumpling. Spaghetti squash and Stripetti have a similar texture and come from the same family. They taste sweet and smooth, and they are an excellent substitute for pasta (hence the name "spaghetti"). The Butternut, Pepper and Sweet Dumpling can be cooked in several ways. Cut into cubes and steamed in the oven or the pan. They can be eaten simply grilled as a side or even cooled in salads. The best-known way to prepare them is to put them in a delicious soup!

Little advice… Save the seeds of the squash for a delicious snack. Simply rinse them with water, season them (salt, pepper, soy sauce, garlic powder, etc.), put them on a baking sheet and toast at 350 °F in the oven for 20 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Then the apples!

Like squash, there is an impressive variety of apples. The most famous apples are Melba, Lobo, McIntosh, Spartan, Cortland and Empire. All of these varieties are delicious for cooking. However, they can't all be prepared the same way...

Here are some ways to consume apples according to their variety:

• Melba: chewable, in applesauce and juice.
• Lobo: chewable, in crumble and pie.
• McIntosh: chewable, in applesauce, crumble, jelly, butter and juice.
• Spartan: chewable, used for cooking and juice.
• Cortland: chewable, in fruit salads, juice, butter, crumble and pie.
• Empire: chewable and juiced.

Little tip… Store apples in the fruit drawer of the refrigerator. By far the best place to keep them from sagging.

At last, here are 5 recipe ideas to cook this fall:

• Apple & Caramel Crumble
• Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal
• Pumpkin Energy Balls
• Pumpkin & Pecan Muffins
• Pumpkin Spice Smoothie