Life’s been flying by…in less than two weeks, a handful of us will be gathering at a perfectly restored & decorated historic manor home in Bluemont, VA for The Alchemy of Hospitality, my second A Daily Gathering retreat + workshop weekend! The home was built in 1799 and is breathtaking. I cannot wait to introduce our students to this gem! Melinda and I are busy bees with our final preparations…finalizing our menus, making shopping lists, wrapping gifts, making a million packing lists, and going shopping for all the food things! We’ve been planning for so many months, and now it’s the most fun time: it’s becoming a reality & we’re about to meet our students! I’m really excited for our retreat menu…Melinda’s been working so hard on putting it together, and we have such a variety of dishes, and they’re all so seasonal & comforting. I think fall is my favorite time for seasonal cooking!

After a brief hiatus, I’m back for producing some content for The Nest! My most recent post is a new fall favorite: I basically just chopped up all the fall vegetables & fruit I had in the house (which included apples, pears, sweet potato, rutabaga, and butternut squash) and made a simple puréed soup. You can find the full recipe on The Nest!

I’ve definitely been bit by the fall bug, and all I want to make are dark, rustic, homey dishes. My next recipe will be a apple yoghurt cake, and let me tell you….what a simple, satisfying cake. I’m also hoping to try out a kale chickpea salad… I eat kale all the time, and chickpeas all the time, so why not combine the two?!

What have you been making so far this fall? I’d love to try your favorite dishes!