two things, including a recipe for Kari

First off, issue 26 of This Joy+Ride is beautifully autumnal and features both a Chicagoan and photos of NYC.

Second, here is a recipe for last night's dinner:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Peel and chop a few pounds of winter squash into 1" pieces. (Caveat: I used acorn squash, which is a pain to peel. Butternut would be much easier. The jury is out on eating acorn squash skin, but if you were into that you could just leave it on.) Peel and chop one yellow onion (or red or white) into 1" pieces. Toss all this on a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of oil, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder (I was out of real garlic -- a few chopped cloves would be even better), and 2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary (fresh would obviously be fabulous). Bake for half an hour or so, tossing with a spatula after 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook 8 ounces of pasta (rigatoni is good, or anything bite-sized). Chop 6 ounces of feta cheese into little bits (or crumble). After draining the pasta, add the cooked vegetables and cheese--mix well.

Serve with a green salad. This makes about 4 servings. The squash takes on this buttery texture so that it's almost a sauce, and the ratio of vegetables to pasta is calculated to make a pretty healthy but hearty dish. I think it would also be lovely followed by a salad of chopped apples in a bit of plain yogurt with a dash of cinnamon and a handful of walnut pieces.

Oh, food.