september at the market
inspiration for what to eat, what's in season + a playlist for cooking
Welcome to mama eats, a weekly newsletter inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post, September at the market, is free to all readers. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love and I am a busy mother of three. If you have the means and find value in what I share, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
September has come, and with it, the first stirrings of autumn. Crisp edges to mornings and evenings, apples and spice, chrysanthemums and cider. September is one of my favorite months, full of promise and newness and change: “There is a turn in things / That makes the heart catch” Marge Piercy remarks.1 It is also a month of last chances for the pleasures of summer, before the season turns- the last swim in the river, the last tomatoes till next June, the finale of dinners outside in the waning sunlight, the last bare legs and shoulders warming in the sunshine- Barbara Crooker writes of this in her poem, And Now It’s September:
Nights grow chilly, but the days
are still warm; I wear the sun like a shawl on my neck
and arms.
The produce available, and our meals made with it continue to change, too- losing the rawness and sharpness of summer veg, but adding in the sweet richness of apples, winter squash, sweet potatoes- things that invite slower cooking. Roasting, braising, baking, simmering. One last fling with the summer vegetables before we say goodbye, until next year anyways. The farmer’s market tables are heaping and the crowd bustling, the harvest season well underway. It is a pleasant ritual now to go early, in the cool morning and shop, then sit quietly and enjoy a warm drink while people watching.
This is the month I start making soups, chilis, stews, and other cozy meals in earnest again. One must for September for us is chili and cornbread, always a crowd pleaser and nice to have bubbling away on the stove. Baked beans, new potatoes, and cabbage slaw are another easy and delicious one. There’s also this “Peruvian” style quinoa and red pepper stew that I make a few times before the peppers go out of season again. It’s