Out came the wool sweater today – and the braising pot. I’m happy with the cooler temperatures, the falling leaves (the acorns bouncing off the roof—not so much), and the parking spot I got on Main street in Vineyard Haven this weekend. Most of all, I’m grateful for the excuse to make stews and ragùs and soups again.

This weekend, I noticed that a friend who lives in San Francisco had posted our Cook the Vineyard recipe for Beef Ragù with Bacon, Tomatoes, and Mushrooms on Facebook. She said her daughter was doing a happy dance, knowing there were two more meals left from the batch she made. That’s an endorsement all right. I’m going to make the recipe this weekend, only in my house we will be lucky to have leftovers for one more night.

I’m also happy I can go back to eating cauliflower three times a week now without feeling like I’m betraying warm weather veggies. Yummiest of all: Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Smoky Tomato Rub.

If you don’t have a good coconut curry in your repertoire, bookmark this one: Cauliflower Coconut Curry with Chickpeas, Spinach, and Tomatoes.

Moving around the globe, try Red Lentil Ful with Sumac-Roasted Cauliflower, a streamlined version of an Egyptian classic by Washington Post food and travel editor Joe Yonan.

Or stick right here, where a Cauliflower, Leek and Fontina Gratin is truly a happy dance waiting to happen. Cauliflower may not be the most abundantly grown vegetable on the Island, but we sure know how to do leeks right. Le leek, c’est chic.

I feel like we need some snacky things to go with our soups and stews and gratins. So how about mini-versions of our Caramelized Leek Tart with Blue Cheese, Bacon & Thyme? (Leeks again!) The tartlets are made with frozen puff pastry – easy.

Or maybe one of these Roasted Butternut Squash Toasts with Cranberry Citrus Butter would hit the spot.

Or just grilled bread.

And if we’re going to go that direction, I think we need some brothy, seafoody, season-bridging concoctions like Chilmark Bouillabaisse and Cod, Corn, Bacon, and Leek Chowder.

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Or Thai Coconut Curry Mussels. (That’s two coconut curries in one newsletter — no excuses now!)

And for dinner tonight, a quick and easy Little Kale and Feta Frittata with Chorizo and Mint.

For dessert this weekend and to note for your Thanksgiving planning: a Cranberry Ginger Galette.

By the way, we’ve brought our Thanksgiving recipe collection back. You can find it on our homepage, or you can click here for the entire roster of Thanksgiving recipes.

We’ll see you in the pumpkin patch and on Instagram @cookthevineyard. Be sure to follow us if you haven’t already.