We took a day trip to Newport on a sparkling early fall Saturday, but were home in time for an evening on the deck and an easy/special menu of grilled chicken, salad, and an intoxicating vanilla-scented peach crisp.

Warm Mediterranean spices season these delicious and different grilled beef pockets, served with a cool, tangy yogurt sauce and a medley of grilled late-summer vegetables.

Sweet, creamy-textured, pan-seared sea scallops rest on a medley of fresh corn, red pepper, onion and smoky bacon in a silky, slightly-spicy sauce.

September of My Years is one of the greatest mood albums of all time – tender, melancholy, with themes of loss and the irreversible passage of time – the perfect soundtrack for autumn. In this playlist I’ve chosen my favorite tracks from that album and added more great Sinatra classics.

Peaches and vanilla are a match made in heaven. In this intoxicating Peach-Vanilla Crisp, perfect late summer peaches are spiced with a triple dose: vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, and vanilla ice cream on top.

Like apple crisp, only better: layers of warm, cinnamon-y apples, melt-y vanilla ice cream, and crispy salty graham cracker crumbs…

These pumpkin pancakes are soft, tender and so cake-y, you could almost frost them and serve them for dessert.  But give them the butter and syrup treatment when they’re fresh off the griddle and fragrant with warm autumn spices.

I’ve got all the tips for making a classic Pumpkin Pie that’s rich and creamy, silky smooth, and subtly spicy.

To do justice to a nice bottle of local wine, serve a rich and fabulous pasta dish, a crisp and refreshing Caesar salad, and chewy, chocolate-dipped cookies for dessert.

Once you see how easy it is to make your own tart, rosy-pink, cinnamon-spiced applesauce, you’ll never buy another jar.