This is my favorite time of the year and the main reason is the food. The foods we find in autumn are rich and full-flavored - comfort food at its best.

My culinary tip to you all this week is to run out - don't walk, run - and buy the November issue of Bon Appétit magazine. It is fantastic. I get a lot of food magazines and I read through them, maybe make note of a recipe or two that I never end up trying and toss them in the pile. This issue I devoured. I have a list of recipes that I will definitely try.

Even though it is a Thanksgiving issue, there's no reason to wait until Turkey day to try these recipes. They sound fantastic for anytime.

The follow are the recipes that really caught my eye:

Cranberry Sauce with Port & Dried Figs (pg 216)
Two-Potato Sauté with Bacon & Cream (pg 204)
Chocolate and Coconut Pecan Tart (pg 230)
Salad of Fall Greens with Persimmons and Hazelnuts (pg 184)
Cranberry-Apple Crisp with Oatmeal Streusel Topping (pg 228)

By the way, if you don't feel like plunking down $3.95 for the magazine, most public libraries have current issues of magazines available to read and make copies of pages.

--- © Chef Raven