Anyone else love fall? There’s something about it that just makes me happy. Spring is delightful, but fall is the season of my heart. I think a lot of this has to do with comfort food, and most of my comfort foods are perfect for the cooler nights and seem to feature fall harvest produce.

Growing up, as far back as I can remember, my Beppe (grandma) has canned for her family. I can never decide whether her green beans are my favourite or her applesauce. They’re both delicious and evoke those warm childhood memories that a bite of comfort food often kindles.

Some of my relatives have taken the initiative to become more self-sufficient in a home-steading type of way and have taken her wisdom and put up jars of produce for their families as well. I think there must be a special kind of satisfaction in that. Alas, other than some small-scale canning I did years ago when the boys were toddlers, I have not been as successful in stockpiling for the winter months. I have been known to freeze my rhubarb, though. It’s a start.

Despite my lack of garden this year, we’ve been blessed with fresh produce. People literally leave portions of their harvest on my desk or outside my office door, and it makes me feel so cared for and appreciated! We’ve enjoyed carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, and more recently garlic, pears, and apples. I’m pretty sure food is one of my love languages.

My pile of pears and apples, while valued, weren’t at their perfect prime. A few were good for snacking, but the rest required peeling and some heavy paring to make them suitable for use.

So what’s a girl to do? Dig deep into her happy food memories and whip up a batch of apple-pear-sauce. Not traditional, but with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and dash of brown sugar, it oozes comfort food charm (not to mention, my house smells amazing!)

While not Beppe’s recipe at all (and one day I’ll ask for her applesauce recipe, among others) it still brought a smile to my face, warmth to my belly, and pleasant memories to mind. It’s a perfect tatste of fall and happiness in a bite. In my books, that’s cooking done right!