A very fall day

Fall is definitely Dish Gal's favorite season. I love the crisp air, the smell of wood-burning stoves, clutching warm apple cider for warmth, and anything related to pumpkins and/or butternut squash. Julia even teased me the other day that I liked this woman's orange coat because it reminded me of pumpkin ;)

So last weekend, Z and I headed to the "country" (i.e. South Natick) to have a "Fall Day"-- check out some foliage, breathe some fresh air, and pick up some autumnal vegetables from the Lookout Farm!

While it wasn't the sunniest day, the colors were stunning; you truly don't get this effect when you're in the city:

At Lookout Farm, I had to hold myself back from buying out the place. I got so caught up in all the fresh fruits and vegetables and yummy jams and spreads. In the end, we settled on buying some freshly picked apples, a jar of pumpkin butter (mmm! so delicious!), blackberry jam, maple granola, and what we came specifically for-- butternut squash.

When we got back to the city, we decided to make a recipe I had found on epicurious.com-- Butternut Squash Lasagna with Hazelnuts. Here's the beautiful squash:

And here's the finished product:


This recipe was perfect for a Sunday--it took a pretty long time, but the end result was comfort food at its best. The soft squash, crunchy hazelnuts, and oozy blend of parmesan-reggiano and mozzarella (from nearby Monica's in the North End) combined for one heck of a fall dish.

You can check out the recipe here.

Happy fall! =)