Honoring the great and humble pumpkin!

While traveling in Italy recently I came upon a little village in the Northern Lake Region celebrating pumpkins! Full scale dioramas of pumpkins and squashes displayed in wooden crates lined the village street with descriptions of each pumpkin type and quality. There were merry -go -rounds with pumpkins as riders, water features and fountains made of pumpkins and squashes. It was a pumpkin fantasy land filled with local cheese and meat vendors crafts people selling their wares, Italian wool sweaters and kitchen linens, some of my favorite things!..Later on there was a band and fireworks, people were meeting at the local pub for drinks and conversation! Pumpkins mark the change of season and bring color and vibrancy to the fall. I give thanks for the Earth's bounty and hearty warm creamy goodness of squashes!

I love eating squashes and pumpkins of all kinds. One of my favorite ways to eat them is to simply cut them in half, scrape out the seeds with a hefty spoon. Cover them with a light coating of olive oil and sea salt and turn them inside down on a lightly greased baking sheet to bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. I eat them without any added flavorings but you could sweeten them up with cinnamon or honey.

One of my favorite soups is just simmering leeks and the Japanese Kabocha or turban squash with a little sea salt until soft..puree in the blender and add golden miso for savory flavor if needed..

I love to add squashes to oatmeal for a savory breakfast.

Every day you build your body from what you eat. Better to build it out of bricks rather than twigs or straw..The old story of the three pigs had it right.To keep away the big bad wolf of disease you have to build your immunity by eating well.

You eat more times a day than you do yoga or meditate or exercise. Eating is foundational to health. There is no health if you do not eat well. Therefor we must respect and venerate of the gifts of the Earth. The real food, the true food comes from the ground, not a factory. So we celebrate the gifts we receive from the Earth that nourish and nurture us. We celebrate not just our connection with nature but our being nature! What we do to Earth we do to ourselves. So, as we celebrate squashes we celebrate ourselves living and loving on Earth. Happy autumn days to you filled with celebrations of squashes, apples, cabbages and colorful leaves!