october at the market

foods in season, eating notes + a playlist for cooking

Claude Monet, Autumn Effect at Argenteuil, 1873

Welcome to mama eats, a weekly newsletter inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post, October in season, is free to all readers. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love. If you have the means, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

As the weather begins to turn and the days grow shorter and darker, we can shift our eating and practices to adapt to the season. Eating in season keeps us in harmony with the outside world, instead of pushing against it. In autumn, many of the foods that begin to appear in the market and garden particularly lend themselves to longer cooking methods- roasting, stewing, steaming and baking- which is perfect for building warmth within and without. Warmth is so essential to create for ourselves during this time. The days shorten, making it a nice time to set an earlier bedtime for yourself or set better sleep hygiene- eliminating screens at least an hour before bed, perhaps making yourself a cozy cup of tea and settling in with a book instead. You may find you fall asleep much earlier, and that your body needs that.

Now is also a nice time to transition to drinking warm drinks instead of cool ones, and perhaps changing up your breakfast. This time of year is usally when I begin to switch over to porridges of all kinds for breakfast- millet, oats, multigrain, buckwheat- they are easy to prepare a larger batch and then reheat each morning as needed. We love to have some warm stewed fruit to top them, too- apples, pears, prunes- along with some crunchy nuts, milk, and a bit of brown sugar or maple syrup. We stock up on teas and I like to make a golden milk concentrate base and start brewing chai, too, to have around for easy lattes.

Butternut apple soup, epi baguette, large green salad with tomatoes, avocado, and pepitas

As far as dinners, soups and stews and pastas start to become our staples during this