Here most of the leaves are down, the city picks up curbside leave deposits and I have been shlepping until my ditch was full. Still have a lot, but they might have to wait until heavens know when.
You made me hungry.

Then have some of my fish stew. Ohiomom's recipe. Or I made pork stew. It has the last of summer's zucchini and crushed tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and huge hunks of pork. Kind of inbetween summer and autumn. Last, I made Tuscan white bean soup. I screwed that one up, but fixed it. It's supposed to have kale and Italian seasoning, but it got some bitterness. So I changed it to a sort of Cajun dish with lots of zingy cajun seasoning and 4 pepper hot sausage. Soup season! Yay autumn!

I like Autumn, too; it's really great in the Mid-Atlantic states, b/c there can be a little bit of all the seasons. Some warm, sunny days, some very cold, blustery days, clear, cold nights, even a snow flurry, yesterday morning. Our trees still have lots of leaves, but the strong winds are making them fall-- pun intended! The maples are glorious, yellow, orange, red-- sometimes a tree looks as if it's on fire.

I bought stew beef at the store, today, so it'll be made, tomorrow. There'll be enough to put some in the freezer, too.

So, yes, I definitely like Autumn.

I also like autumn. Some of our trees are ablaze with color while the Naval orange trees have fruit that will be ready in December-January. The lemon tree is putting out a ton of lemons.My herb garden, Chives, Parsley, Oregano and Thyme is doing very well.
There are pumpkins and gourds decorating the front porches.
The weather has been cool in the morning, just right to crawl under my down comforter, and sunny in the afternoon.
It has been a lovely autumn so far, but I am looking for some rain.

Hi roob, could you please post the recipe for Ohiomom's recipe for fish stew.

The leaves are gone and the lichen show themselves, pale green-gray lacy growth on trees, harmless in a symbiotic relationship with the host. Indigenous people have used them as medicine in teas.
The oaks are full of mistletoe, now that the leaves are gone, it shows itself, it's also harmless to the trees.
Acorns are falling, the deer are eating them.
We do need rain, it has not rained since April and October should start the rainy season, but has been dry, so has November so far and it looks as though it shall be dry for some time yet. Pond is a puddle, ducks are hanging out on it.
There is bear-scat and tracks.
Chickens are going into henopause, sometimes there is an egg or two.

Funny how different areas of the country can be. I can picture them all, even without a cool picture of lichen. Lichens are so wondrous! There was one when out on a nature hike last month that looked like stairstep ruffles. And bright orange. It was glorious. Ah herb gardens; I love to pet the herbs and sniff deeply. 'cept I can't think of citrus trees without picturing a friend's house where I was visiting (not where I lived! too cold in Monterey) in Calfornia, covered in something stinging-bigger than ever bees, at least in my mind. Y'all are painting some pretty neat pictures!

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IâÂÂll try it from memory (I may have the measurements wrong, and/or the seasoning).

OhiomomâÂÂs Fish Stew

Ingredients
2 T butter
Onion
2 stalks celery
4 carrots
4 potatoes
1 pound fish (cod, scallops, crab, whatever. Meaty is best as it holds up better)
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
Salt
Pepper
1/4 t cayenne
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t basil

Directions
Chop up onion, celery, and carrots. Soften them in the butter. Chop up potatoes (I used rounds, but she uses cubed) and add it to the vegetables. Cover it with water. Simmer for 30 minutes until itâÂÂs tender. Add fish and seasonings. Cook until fish flakes. Add milk and cream, warm through.

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What I do differently: I add 2 T flour or corn starch to thicken it up. I add it when the veggies are softened. While the veggies are getting soft, I boil the potatoes. I add the potatoes after the flour is incorporated, and then move on from there. Because IâÂÂve already gotten the potatoes fork tender, it just needs to be warmed through. I also use the starchy potato water, dumping the whole thing into the pot, rather than adding water and simmering all of the veggies in it. Also, you could probably just add 2 cups half and half instead of the milk and cream, but I always have milk, so I just buy cream for this and follow what she has

Hubby is finishing up a project in Ft. Dodge, IA and I am up here getting everything packed up so we can get back to the Texas Panhandle. It snowed a little Monday and didn't melt off completely until yesterday. Was really pretty on the grass which is still green - what's with that? The trees up here are so big and pretty. Most of them have shed their leaves, but the few that still have them are brilliant in their red and yellow colors. Just looked out the window and the ducks are bathing and flittering in the Des Moines River right at the edge of the back yard. They are interesting to watch. Sure wish we had a way to get all the leaves here back home to use as mulch or to compost...sigh.

Thanks for the recipe, Rob. Both are similar to the way I fix my fish stew, except I have not used any of the herbs nor spices. I'll give that a try.

gmatx, what would the Texas Panhandle look like in autumn?

oops! Got it wrong. Here's the correct recipe.

Thanks Rob.
I did not know there was such a thing as a white carrot. On the hunt I go.
See the link below. lol

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:197708}}

I can't help but wonder, if you couldn't find them, you could try parsnips. Those are milder "carrot flavor"; at least, I think they're quite similar.