Fall is by far my favorite time of year. I love the weather, the clothes, the sports, you name it. As you can imagine it is also true for the food. I am trying to increasingly eat seasonally (loving avocados makes that hard, but I’m trying) and pumpkin, squash, apples, and dates top the list this month.

So I wanted to share some of my favorite fall treats with you all. Happy baking!

1. Roasted Veggies
Amazing, I literally ate these for every meal last week when I made them. I assure you have never had veggies like this.  The secret is not too salt them until you have completely finished  broiling them (adding salt prior sweats them and makes them mushy). This recipe comes from Chef Najib Chabebe at www.Cookauvin.com cooking school

• 1 large eggplant diced
• 2 yellow squash diced
• 2 zucchini diced
• 2 small carrots diced
• 2 T fresh rosemary
• 2 T fresh thyme
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Salt+ pepper to taste
• Set oven to 500
• Toss veggies, herbs, and olive oil into a roasting pan and roast for 25min.
• Add paprika, melted butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
•  Grated parm on top is optional2. Pumpkin Infused Vodka
  Whether for a Halloween party or a dinner cocktail, I am a big fan of infusing my own Pumpkin vodka and iIt’s simple. This time I used Tito’s vodka, an Austin based good value vodka.

• Tito’s vodka
• A couple slices of fresh cut baking pumpkin
• One or two vanilla beans butterflied
• A whole nutmeg
• A few cinnamon sticks
• A couple cloves

Add all at once and let seat at least a few days before serving straight up or with a little cream

3.       Apple-Cinnamon Wontons a la Mode

I went apple picking last weekend at Kuipers Family Farm and was eager to make these. Using wontons are an unusual and relatively healthy way to highlight fresh picked apples.