Fall

Well, fall actually came early this year to Austin. Normally we can count on September continuing as a part of full-fledged summer with highs in the high 90's and plenty of humidity. In fact, the highest temperatures that I remember in my 20 years in Austin have come in September (112, 110, and 108 degrees) during the last several years.

Growing up in Missouri, I was used to the idea that once you got through August, summer was over and you could look forward to substantially cooler temperatures. Yes, sometimes we had what we referred to as "indian summer" when it would be hot for a handful of days in September or even October, but the cool was always there, waiting to come right back. This has been one of the hardest adjustments for me to make to living in Austin. Summer generally stretches through September and even into the middle of October. You can't generally count on cool weather up until Halloween or so.

Anyway, after Ike moved through the state last weekend and we got no rain, only hot humid air, a cold front pushed in from the north. (I imagine that it was responsible for providing the impetus to push Ike off to the east and out of here so quickly.) So after Sunday's run, which was kind of alternatively hot an humid and then seemingly cooler and drier, we woke up Monday to nice cool fall air. And while this might not be so rare for mid September in general, the fact that it's stayed now for over a week is definitely not normal.

Fall really changes things around here. Maybe it's just in my state of mind, but when I wake up with the windows open and have to think about wearing long pants and shoes with socks, I know that things have changed. All summer, I spend in shorts and sandals, so even having to think about these things in the morning is a change. Also I haven't worn a shirt for a run probably since April or May. Now I begin to think about whether maybe I should? It's even a bit chilly in the morning as I head out the door, though I know that fifteen minutes into the run I'll begin to regret any decision to wear a shirt.

Fall also changes my thinking when it comes to eating. It opens up so many possibilities for other ingredients and for finally turning on the oven without any regrets. I love the flavors of fall, I think of mushrooms: the porcini and cremini flavoring soups or pastas, I think of apples, fresh Jonathans baked up in a pie or apple pancake, I think of moving back from white wine (which gets me through the summer here) and back into reds, Zinfandel and Cotes du Rhone, and most of all, I look forward to that first taste of butternut squash, usually flavored with sage, made up into a cannelloni or lasagne, the layers of flavor of the squash, the cheese and the cream all mixing together in a blessed sweet/savory taste that just screams out "fall" when it hits my tongue.

It's also a time to move from the light beers of summer into the heavier fall and winter beers: like oktoberfest, porter and stout, soon heading into the specialty holiday beers; to move from the cold cereal breakfasts of summer into hot oatmeal, farina and rice pudding breakfasts meant to warm you from the inside out. To work in the kitchen in the evening with the windows open, and note the way that the sound travels so much farther and clearer in the cool air.

Right now I'm thinking about hot baguettes coming out of the oven, dark on the outside, listening to the crust crackle and the loaves cool to room temperature. About maybe getting the rye starter out of the fridge and working to revive it, all so I can have the taste of that super complex whole wheat/rye bread that goes so well with the cool fall mornings and evenings. Or bread pudding, hot out of the oven, dotted with plump raisins.

Ok, now I've made myself hungry. I guess I'll have to stop thinking and go home and do some baking. Too bad smell doesn't translate into 1's and 0's...