Farewell to Summer

So it hasn’t felt much like summer here in Scotland in nearly a month. Today I woke up and there was a thick mist blanketing the city, and I can feel the leaves are just about ready to start turning. But while summer is definitely not my favorite season I’ve been trying to hang on to it, especially in the kitchen. I simply can’t do ‘autumn things’ until the calendar flips to September 1st. But boy am I ready for it to flip! Autumn has always been my favorite season. I’m an October baby for one. I love the crisp, cosy but not quite freezing weather. Fresh produce has not quite stagnated entirely. I love roasts, soups, stews and all manner of cosy cooking. And baking! Once June hits I lose almost all desire to bake, whether or not it is sweltering. Summer is just a lazy time to me. I can’t bring myself to bake much, particularly sweets, very often no matter how much I want to. But soon there will be a nearly endless parade of pumpkin loaf, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. And of course my annual attempts at pumpkin pie.

Now that the sun is starting to set a bit earlier I’m just about ready to say my goodbyes to fresh tomatoes. I’ve begun stocking up on the tiny beeswax candles I like to use on our table in the darker months. I am also semi-frantically making the dishes that I will miss the most and eating all the melon I can handle, all while eyeing the butternut squash and mushrooms at the market. Because in the end, I like salad but I love soup.

While “fall cleaning” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, I find it is equally necessary to prepare for the colder months coming. A good deep cleaning and reset of the house before we enter into our little hibernation. I’ll be going through the pantry, taking stock and reorganising. Getting the balcony in order and putting my little garden there to bed. And general cosifying.

Celebrating tomatoes with a village salad.