"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

My favorite season is here. Granted, it is still quite warm and sunny, but I can smell it. The winds are different too. And the lake, she's going crazy, because she knows what to expect - she knows she'll have to be still for a very long time and now she's dancing like a ferocious dakini. I feel like dancing too!

"If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before." (from Northern Exposure)

"O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; there thou mayest rest And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe, And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers." - William Blake

Today I've been making jam and baking cakes. There are a lot of apples growing in my garden, you see.

I made this carrot apple cake, because some friends are coming over tomorrow and one of them just had his birthday. I'm not a big fan of cakes (with the exception of the "squidy chocolate mousse cake" you used to get at "Jimmy's Italian Kitchen" in Dharamsala), but sometimes I just like to bake. The samosas I made, because I was missing India a little bit (although I don't know if you can call them "samosas" when they're not deep-fried, can you?).

I also made this spicy vegan apple cake in which I used some of last year's apple jam as well as freshly squeezed apple juice, and loads of ginger, because ginger goes well with apples (goes well with most things, if you ask me). I'm kind of used to baking/cooking vegan alternatives, because not long ago I still had many strict vegans around me. Lately many of them have begun using dairy (why? I don't know really... some of them have families now and I guess it's easier to keep your kids on a standard vegetarian diet than on a vegan one), but I continue to cook most of my food without dairy and eggs.

I don't want to brag, but I've got four types of berries growing in my garden too. In the past couple of weeks, I've had berry smoothie for breakfast every single morning. I make it from oatmilk, banana and fresh berries (no added sugar!) and it is yummy.