It’s officially cozy season. You should start looking at soup recipes, sipping on warm food & drink and thinking of all the new desserts you’re gonna bake as the days get colder.
With fruit, it’s a beautiful season. Pomegranates are back. Apples are perfect. And you might just enjoy the best persimmon of your life. Citrus will slowly return from this month as well, this means the best freshly pressed juice!! Sweater weather is on its way.
Same format as always: Late (grab them now), Peak (they taste their BEST), and Early (just arriving). Here are some fruits that you might want to try this October:
Late Season (Get Them Now)
Figs
How to choose? If you’ve been craving anything fig, get them now! They won’t taste as good until next summer. Look for ones that are soft and fragrant, with maybe a little split near the bottom (that means it’s perfectly ripe).
How to use? They make the best snacks!! Figs with burrata, honey, and flaky salt. Or roast them and serve over yogurt. Divine.
Grapes
How to choose? Late season grapes are winding down but still breathtaking. Look for firm, plump grapes with flexible green stems. If the stems are brown and brittle their best days are behind them.
How to use? By the dozen, raw. Also lovely roasted and served with ricotta.
Raspberries
How to choose? The best raspberries are about to leave us! When you get them make sure they’re bright, plump & dry (!!). There shouldn’t be any ‘leakage’ or red juice in the box.
How to use? Fresh by the handful. Fold into yogurt with raw honey. Or freeze the last of them for smoothies and compote that will tide you through winter (and go with desserts you bake like a basque cheesecake, for example).
Pawpaw
How to choose? The last days of pawpaw! Its season is so short and it’s basically over by the end of October. Look for fruit that gives like a ripe avocado and smells slightly sweet and tropical. If you see them at a farmers market, it’s your sign to get them especially if you’ve never tried them before.
How to use? Scoop the custardy flesh and enjoy raw with a cute dessert spoon (watch for the big seeds). That banana-mango-vanilla esque flavor is unlike anything else!
Plums
How to choose? Most plums are gone, but Italian prune plums (the small, oval, deep-purple ones) are available in early to mid October. Look for a dusty bloom with a slight give.
How to use? Prune plums are made for baking! Bake them into a plum torte or tart (the famous one), roast them with cinnamon and honey, or make compote.
Dragon Fruit
How to choose? Look for bright skin with minimal browning and a slight give when pressed.
How to use? Cut in half and scoop with a cute dessert spoon! Incredibly aesthetic and it tastes better enjoyed outside (while the weather is still decent). Also great in smoothie bowls or cubed into a fruit salad.
Peak Season (Tastes the Best)
Apples
How to choose? THE fruit of October. This is apple season at its absolute peak! Full harvest, best prices of the year. Look for firm, heavy apples with tight, unblemished skin. If you can get to a good farmers market or even a local orchard, count yourself incredibly lucky.
How to use? Eat them fresh! You can also bake them into pie, crisp, or galette. Make applesauce or apple butter. Press them into cider. Slice them with sharp cheddar. This is the month to go all in. If you only cook seasonally once this fall, make it an apple something.
If you want more information on what type of apples are best and what you should choose, read this:
Pears
How to choose? Winter pears (Bosc, Anjou, Comice) are at their best now. Pears ripen off the tree, so they’re usually sold firm. Let them ripen on the counter until they give slightly near the neck (that’s when they taste best!).
How to use? Snack raw, pair with sharp blue cheese & raw honey or even bake into a tart! Bosc pears are ones that hold their shape beautifully when cooked. One of the most elegant fruits this fall!
Persimmons
How to choose? There are two types of persimmons - Fuyu (tomato shaped, eaten firm and crisp like an apple) and Hachiya (acorn shaped, must be eaten completely soft).
How to use? Slice firm Fuyus into salads with pomegranate and goat cheese (absoluteee peak autumn on a plate). Use the jammy pulp of ripe Hachiyas in persimmon bread, puddings, or just scooped with a spoon!
Pomegranate
How to choose? Pomegranates are so back!! Look for pomegranate that feels heavy for its size with firm, slightly leathery skin. The heaviest ones have the most juice! A few scratches on the outside are fine.
How to use? Truly goes on everything this time of year. Take the opportunity to sprinkle a few arils over anything you’re eating - salads, yogurt, roasted vegetables, even grilled chicken! You can also make freshly pressed pomegranate juice which is not just divine but so healthy for you.
Asian Pear
How to choose? Peak season for Asian pears, those round, crisp, apple-shaped pears. Unlike European pears, these DO ripen on the tree and are ready to eat when you buy them. Look for firm fruit with fragrant, unblemished skin.
How to use? Eat them cold and fresh, they’re incredibly crisp, juicy, and refreshing, almost like a cross between a pear and an apple!
Early Season (Just Arriving)
Satsuma Mandarins
How to choose? The first citrus of the season is here, and satsumas lead the way! This is the clearest sign that cozy season has arrived :) Look for fruit heavy for its size. Satsumas often have slightly loose, puffy skin, which is totally normal and actually makes them easy to peel.
How to use? Peel and enjoy. Bring them along as a portable snack or segment them over salads.
Navel Oranges
How to choose? The earliest navel oranges are just starting to arrive at the very end of the month. Look for firm, heavy fruit with bright skin!
How to use? Enjoy raw or my favorite, juice them fresh! Even better if you combine it with some freshly pressed pomegranate juice. It’s magical.
A quick note for international friends
As always, this list follows the North American calendar (mostly California, Washington, the Pacific Northwest, and the first citrus from the South and West).
If you’re in Australia or New Zealand, October is mid-spring for you! This means the first strawberries, early stone fruit, and the last of your beautiful winter citrus.
If you’re in the tropics, you’re in your usual year round abundance hehe. Papaya, bananas, and pineapple as always, with regional fruits coming and going!
If you’re in the UK or Europe, your calendar runs about 2-3 weeks behind North America. This is peak apple and pear season for you too, plus late plums, the first quince and medlars, cobnuts, and blackberries and sloes in the hedgerows. One of the best foraging and orchard months of the year.
What are you most excited to try this October? Apple everything, or are you a pomegranate person?
Italian coffee culture
I love Italian coffee culture. There's something beautiful about the espresso bar. No laptops out. It's just a pit stop. You get a shot pulled and you sip it right there. Maybe you have a conversation or two. And then you say ciao. You leave with that familiar buzz and you're so back. It's the best "afternoon pick me up". The world would be a better place with more espresso bars.
There are places you haven’t been where you already belong
There are places you haven’t been where you already belong
❋ I Turned a $21 Roast Into Dinner for Six by andrew gruel
“Back to our regular series of what I found on sale at the grocery store.
This time, it was eye of round.
You’ve probably walked past it while looking for ribeye, strip steak, or another cut you already know how to cook. I get it. There isn’t much marbling, and if you’ve had a dry, chewy eye of round before, you’re probably not rushing to try it again.
But this cut deserves another look.
The roast I bought was about three pounds at $7 a pound. That’s $21 for the beef. Add some sauce, bread, and a few accompaniments, and I estimated the meal at around $25 to $26. Split that between six people, and you’re under $5 a person.
The trick is knowing what you’re working with.” — andrew gruel
❋ On the Proper Education of the Child Under Five by Megha Lillywhite
“The child needs as much time as possible outdoors and in nature to get the oxygen necessary to invigorate the rapidly growing cells and to nourish the millions of neural connections that are forming. The child’s lungs need to expand and this is done best by being outdoors where shouting, singing and yelling, as is in the little child’s nature, is not irksome to indoor couch potato adults. The child in early childhood wishes to build up his muscles by running, jumping, frolicking and dancing and where best to do this but outside in a meadow where the soft grass will catch any tumble with the kindness of a mother’s arms. Many parents run themselves ragged baby proofing indoor spaces, attempting to mimic what nature offers for free in the form of a grassy meadow or a sandy beach. Even if you live in a city, taking the time a few times a week to drive out to a big park or the country-side is better than nothing.” — Megha Lillywhite
❋ Chai Spiced Banana Muffins With Crumble
“When your bananas have turned super ripe and brown, it’s the perfect time to make some delicious Chai Spiced Banana Muffins With Crumble! These muffins are loaded with warming spices and have a bakery-style texture that’s perfectly moist, thanks to the sweet bananas. The buttery crumble on top adds a delightful crunch to this easy-to-bake treat.”
❋ Tips For How To Be Pretty Okay at French by Shelby Chambers
“Immersion: Unfortunately, the key to learning French isn’t time in the classroom; it’s how much space the language takes up in your mind. That’s when apps and online programs came in handy. Yes, I’m talking about Duolingo, and yes, it actually helped me in the early stages of learning French. No, Duo alone can get you to fluency, but it’s a useful tool to keep you immersed, think in the language, force you to apply all those annoying and complicated rules when you’re not in class. Anyone who says different is either a cynic or a snob. If you don’t want to be seen using Duolingo, I also found Babble useful for a stint.
The best way to truly immerse yourself is to spend ten weeks at your French in-laws’ house during the first wave of the pandemic. I recall the breakfast when all of a sudden I could tell what people were talking about. My pronunciation improved as I listened to them make French sounds all day long. You don’t have to go full pandemic to make this happen; I’ve met waiters who made huge progress in just a few months, working full time in French. I’ve noticed big vocab and comprehension gains when I listen to France Inter at least 30 minutes a day. Figure out an immersion that works for you and just grin and bear it.” — Shelby Chambers
❋ Tiramisu Granita Cups by Jillian
“These tiramisu granita cups are a light and very fun way to round off a dinner party. Icy coffee granita shards, fluffy mascarpone whip and coffee jelly cubes make this dessert a total textural delight.” — Jillian
❋ Gâteau au chocolat de Nancy by Jamie Schler
“The origin of the word “gâteau” - cake - has long been difficult to pin down, but that didn’t stop some our favorite gastronomic erudites from having their say.
Prosper Montagné wrote in the Larousse Gastronomique of 1938, the year and edition of the birth of this culinary landmark : “Some authors say that the word “gâteau” comes from the word “gasteau,” which itself comes from the term “gastel,” which in Old French meant a delicate food that spoils quickly.”
Émile Littré comes to somewhat the same conclusion not quite a century earlier. Writing in his Dictionnaire de la Langue Française in 1863, Littré connected the word “gâteau” to the Provençal gastel (or gastal), making the jump to Middle High German wastel, both meaning cake. He then wondered whether the German wastel be connected with wastijan, “to spoil, to waste”. “Could wastel” he wonders aloud, “have been called “wasted flour” because of the expense it caused?”
So both explanations lead back to “spoil,” but by entirely different routes. For Montagné, it is the gâteau itself, something delicate and perishable, a food that spoils quickly. For Littré, it is the flour and other costly ingredients “wasted” in the making of a cake. In one etymology, the cake spoils because it cannot be kept long, the other because making it costs too much to be worth the flour.” — Jamie Schler
❋ Poached Pear and Vanilla Bean Custard Tart
“This striking dessert is tailor-made for celebrations. As the pears poach in the warmly spiced red wine, they bring a wonderful aroma into your kitchen that evokes the nostalgia of the winter holidays. Use firm pears like Bosc or d’Anjou, which will hold their shape as they simmer, and select a wine you love because the flavors will come through in the pears. Although the recipe is a long one, you can prepare some of the components ahead of time. The tart shell can be baked up to 3 days in advance; wrap the cooled shell in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. The pears can be poached and refrigerated overnight until you’re ready to slice them and finish the tart.”
Rebuild your IG Algorithm (more fun links):
❋ Sticky toffee madeleines with vanilla bean bourbon ice cream
❋ Things too good to save for a special occasion
❋ 10/10 Principles To Live By (Gentlemen’s Edition)
❋ Six things to avoid in a small room
Enjoy your Sunday!
— Rocky
❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:
❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)
❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.
❋ Join WARKITCHEN book club here.
❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.
Thank you so much for linking to my post! And for this excellent seasonal post, always so important, and it helps me decide what to make for my substack! And now I also have new substacks to discover!