A couple of weeks ago I noticed tinges of yellow on some of the willow bushes around our house, and it seemed within just a few days the fireweed had started to turn red. My daughter and son-in-law were here a couple of weekends ago and just from the time we left Willow on Monday morning, to the time we returned home Tuesday evening, the leaves had yellowed quite a bit more noticeably.

I love the cool, crispness of the fall air, especially in the morning and evenings. I love the changing colors of the leaves, and the variety we get here in Alaska. Not quite like the east coast, but we do get lots of yellows on the trees, lots of reds on the underbrush, and some oranges scattered between the trees and underbrush.

I am always grateful for the return to a routine. I enjoy my “summer’s off” although we work hard, it’s just a different schedule than the other 8 or so months of the year when I am much more scheduled in my time. The past couple of weeks have brought more time and more productivity both, because I am back to using my weekly schedule.

One of my favorite parts about fall is baking more. I love baking all the time, but all summer I kind of avoid the kitchen except to make the necessary food for survival, at least that’s how my kids feel. But when fall rolls around, I start to crave a different kind of food. Hearty food, comfort food. Food that is good on a cool, crisp day. I love soups and stews, homemade breads in many varieties (in the summer I just make the quickest bread possible).

I also love pumpkin. Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pies. I love spiced things, like spiced apple cider, spiced jams and jellies. Fall is a return to the kitchen for me. It’s also a time for canning and preserving the veggies we have grown all summer in the garden, to prepare for winter.

Picking berries signals the end of the summer as well. I had the opportunity to go with friends picking blueberries on a couple of occasions and got quite a few. I was able to freeze a lot and make blueberry jam, which is a family favorite.

One of my daughters loves a jelly I make that I call Spiced High Bush Cranberry Apple Jelly. How’s that for a name! I haven’t had time to make it the last couple of years, so this year she went out and picked all the high bush cranberries for me so that I would feel obligated to make it this year! I did, and it turned out great. She is happy.

I still need to get out and pick Low Bush Cranberries which resemble what we traditionally think of when we think cranberries. These are a lot smaller than the commercial variety but taste very similar. I freeze some for muffins and desserts as well as make cranberry sauce out of some for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I love every season, and I love the changing from one season to the next. I think it’s because I love variety. This fall has been beautiful so far, and I hope that it’ll continue for at least another 3 or 4 weeks (maybe longer!).