It is really early for 40 and 50 degree weather but fall has hit suddenly. This throws me into wanting to stoke up the stove for the longer cooking soups and stews and meats. The whole experience is sensual. The coup de gras being that marvelous aroma. For the past week or so I've been making baked acorn squash with cinnamon and sugar, cream of butternut squash soup, and bragiole (an Italian rolled stuffed round steak into which a fresh pesto and bread crumb farce is pressed), and homemade applesauce.
A fragrant pot of vegetable soup simmering currently. I'm burning apple and pumpkin spice scented candles too.

Such comforting smells, so cozy.

What is your favorite fall menu or food?

Wow, can we all come to your house for dinner? That sounds so wonderful.

It's not quite cold enough here yet for serious cooking, but I've been craving pumpkin soup, and I think I'll make some this week. I love all things pumpkin in the fall. And late turnip greens, when they've really got lots of flavor, are great with pot roast or baked chicken on a brisk fall day. Oh, and the new crop of pecans--love to just get a big bag of those and sit around eating them out of the shell. My dogs line up for them, too.

Wow, can I come & eat at your house? I loved your descriptions of the smells and sights of cooking at this time of the year. We are having a beautiful early Fall here in the heart of the country--Kansas City. Which brands of the cinnamon/pumpkin candles do you prefer?

Apple pie, with nutmeg and cinnamon, baking.

Y'all c'mon 'a my house. Sounds like we all love fall!

Girlpunky I found a bunch of "Old Williamsburg" jar candles at a Walgreens drug store that was going out of business. The cinnamon spice and the green apple plus a vanilla cream were the flavors I chose. At $2.00 per candle (and these are the big ones) I could not resist. I love the scents of the more expensive ones, but cannot get my head around $20.00 and up for a candle. Many cheapos are just lovely. I shop Big Lots for candles too.

Stew. My family loves beef stew which I do up in the crock pot. While this iis cooking I'll bake a loaf of fennel soda bread and maybe do up a pumpkin pie or some rice pudding. The house smells warm and cozy all day long.

Instead of those horrible room sprays and plug in deodorizers, just boil a pot of cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Heavenly! Cinnabar for your home!

Three words: hot mulled cider. The smell is heavenly.

BTW--I need directions to your house. ;-)

My kitchen is currently being deconstructed, disinfected, and rebuilt after a plumbing disaster (believe me, ain't no pretty smells comin' from here at the moment!), so cooking's not an option for a few weeks. I'm living a vicarious culinary-olfactory autumn through this thread.

Like Sandra, my favorites of the season are all those wonderful baking smells.

Happy Fall. :)

I love curried fruit. Here's an actual recipe, but I usually just wing it with whatever fruit I have around.

Curried Fruit

Increase/decrease fruit amts. per preference

1 lg can cling peach halves
1 lg can pineapple slices
1 lg can pear halves
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2-4 tsp. curry powder not sure I use this much

1. Drain fruit and dry on paper towels. Absorb as much moisture as possible. not sure I bother with this step, I love the sauce created
2. Arrange fruit in casserole dish.
3. Melt butter, then add brown sugar and curry. spoon over the fruit.
4. Bake 1 hour in 325-350 degree oven.

Serves 4-6--- of course you can double/ triple the recipe!

My mom used to get into a bread-baking mood in fall. Bread in the oven still makes me think of mellow November days (in California).

Rococo your curried fruit sounds heavenly! The ladies of Buffalo Valley in central PA used to make a different version of this recipe using standard "sweet" spices. I l-o-v-e the curry idea.

Hot mulled cider is exactly what I've currently got simmering on the stove. I'm considering an apple pie today, but do -not- need those calories.

I made yeast bread yesterday with some leftover 12 grain cereal and this morning it will become french toast with lots of cinnamon. Oh yes, Magdalene, the baking yeast bread drew my perpetually silent meter reader to proclaim "mam, whatever that is... it sure smells good".

Oh, apple pie, two of the most beautiful words in the English language ... I had a recipe with cheddar cheese in the crust, and port wine in the filling. That was sublime.

I bake a lot more (freshly ground flour) bread.

I love to roast chicken too.

At my house it's beef stew in the crockpot that signals the start of cooler weather. Man and beast alike start salivating.

I love to bake gingerbread and serve it warm with a dollop of real whipped cream, or a scoop of Hagen Daaz vanilla.

I made a carrot cake last week for my Mother's and sister's birthday. The spicy smell it gave off while cooking was gorgeous!

Carrot cake is my favorite baking aroma!