I really do LOVE NY

I came home to Buffalo in October of 2009, as Autumn was in full swing and it was, for me, the perfect season to return home. Going apple picking with my sister Rachelle, baking pumpkin goodies with my dear friend Cat and other Fall related activities helped me take a break from bawling me eyes out.

Also, in my humble opinion, Fall is when Western New York really shines.  What’s more,  you really have no idea just how beautiful Western New York Autumn can be until you have spent an Autumn in the Southwest.  Fall in the Southwest is a complete waste of a season.  Now, I mean no disrespect to this fine area of our country, but it just ain’t a Buffalo Fall.  Way back in 2006, waaaay before my my great, big heartbreak, I moved to Phoenix, AZ for graduate school and spent nearly two VERY hot years there. I learned a lot of cool stuff,  made some wonderful friends, ate some delicious food and that was about it. It’s a nice enough place, it’s just not for me.  Me and the desert, we didn’t get along so well.   It kept insisting on being 115 degrees.  I kept insisting on talking about Buffalo ALL THE TIME.   

Perhaps I should offer some explanation...as you may have guessed, I wasn’t so jazzed about my move to Phoenix.  Graduate school yes, but the actual place, no.  My love had just moved to  DC, my family and friends were in Buffalo and I wanted to be anywhere but the “stupid desert,” as I had begun to affectionately call it. So yeah, I spent a lot of time talking about home.  I was “that girl.”  You know what though, most of my wonderful friends actually wanted to visit Buffalo by the time I left.  That’s right, I talked up Buffalo into a cultural tourism dreamscape!    Maybe they were just being polite, maybe I had just beat them into submission. Who can tell. But I digress.

Sooo yes, Phoenix is hot.  I mean really hot.  And please, for the love of all things holy, do not tell me “It’s a dry heat.” Do you know what’s a dry heat?  Your oven.  Your oven is a dry heat. Do you want to walk around in your oven?  I thought not.  

Anywhoo, when you have grown up in the crisp, cool, autumnal wonderland that is Buffalo, NY, spending September-November the desert feels like a complete waste.  There is no apple picking, no wearing of favorite woolen sweaters (you would surely die right there on the sidewalk),no leaf peeping.  Let’s face it, it’s the desert, leaves are minimal.  The weather just continues to be blazing hot and sunny, just like it was during July and August.  Where is the fun in that?  


That’s not actually the worst of it though. The worst of it comes when December rolls around and all of the stores start playing Christmas music and you are wearing shorts because it is 85 degrees outside and you almost burst into tears in a grocery store foyer at the sound of Bing Crosby’s voice and a Christmas baking display because it is absolutely  NOT beginning to LOOK A LOT like Christmas.  

This should be a Federal crime.

At this point, you are so shaken by the fact that these people don’t know that Christmas=snow you want to scream like a child.  You don’t know what holiday these Phoenicians think they have been celebrating all of their lives but it definitely isn’t Christmas. (How geographically educated and open minded this whole entry makes me sound!)  And, because you are pretty jolted by the fact that you just about cried in a grocery store, you leave said store and call your mother.  Your mother then, jokingly, makes the following the statement that continues live in infamy, “Janelle, maybe it really does look a lot  like Christmas.  Jesus was born in the desert.”  True story.  


So as we move closer and closer to first day of Autumn, I leave you with this recipe, a Squash and Pear Soup.  Each year that I am back in Buffalo, I stand at the stove, whirring pear into squash, thankful for the bounty of fall, for the chill in the air and that when December rolls around, it will actually look like Christmas.  


Squash and Pear Soup
Adapted from a Wegmans recipe found here :


1TB Olive Oil
1 med onion chopped
20oz winter squash, peeled and diced.  I usually use Butternut but have also used Acorn
2-3 med. pears, cored, peeled, diced
1 carton low sodium chicken broth
pinch dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste


In large stock pot, heat oil over med heat.  When hot, add onions and squash, cook 10, stirring occasionally.  
Add pears and chicken stock, bring to a mild bubble, turn temp to low and let simmer for about 25 minutes or until pears are tender.  
Using a stick blender or conventional blender, puree soup until smooth, Season with salt, pepper and thyme.  Ladle into warmed bowls and enjoy!