LCBO Food & Drink Magazine - Autumn 2010

The Autumn edition of LCBO's Food & Drink magazine came out today. I have to admit I was reluctant to go get it because I am not ready for that word "Autumn". I am still craving, 'light' and 'fresh' and 'bursting with flavour'. Descriptors for me that are synonymous with Summer. When I think Autumn, I think 'comfort', 'colourful', 'cornucopia'.

But the Food & Drink magazine never disappoints and I did go to get my copy on release day because everyone else in the city seems to share this observation and I couldn't bare to be without.

As expected, 'comfort', 'colourful' and 'cornucopia' do pop out from the pages as their feature stories are: The Harvest Table by Jennifer MacKenzie, Bound to Please by Marilyn Bentz-Crowley, Ontario Wine Classics by James Chatto, Dinner from the Garden by Lucy Waverman and our own Ottawa-based wine expert, Natalie MacLean, Branching Out With Ontario Wine by Michelle P.E. Hunt and Laura Panter.

By the time I turned the last page, I was thinking that they had hooked me again as my saliva was welling.

The corners of some pages did get folded back. Pear and Gorganzola Tarts (Pg 15), Savoury Apple Tart (Pg 40), Scallop Potatoes with Porcini & Bacon (Pg 63), Zucchini Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes (Pg 88), Three-Onion Soup (Pg 89), Quinoa Risotto and also Jerusalem Artichoke Gratin (Pg 114), Rich Oxtail Soup with Madeira & Mustard-Thyme Cream (Pg 138) to name just a few.

And although we all seem to think "Food" and "Drink" when get this magazine, I just loved their Thanksgiving Playlist on Page 32. Their selection of songs seems like such a gentle way to ease us from Summer to Autumn as we leave one season with some remorse and approach the other with reluctance. This playlist does it in a way that says "It's going to be okay."

Be not afraid. Go into Autumn, embrace it and know that the passage of time means we are surely moving on to new adventures with food and drink.