Autumn officially began last week on our calendars, but crunchy apples, colorful squash, and beautiful, shiny pumpkins have been tempting us at local farmers' markets and food stores for a while...what to do with all of that delicious fall bounty?

We have a great collection of books at Darien Library that give us plenty of recipe ideas for local produce and home-grown fruits and vegetables. Soups, crisp fruit pies and tarts, sandwiches, and piping-hot casseroles -- this is the time of year for comfort foods that bring us together and warm us up. Our list of recommended titles is just the start of what you'll see on our 2nd floor Harvest Cooking display table!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user NatalieMaynor.