I think if bindweed could grow in a gardening blog, this page would be choked with twining green stems. I’ve neglected writing for a few months now, but I have a very good reason:

I moved to Portland, Oregon.

Jon and I opened up Perch Furniture, a cute little shop right in the Pearl District. We are there, every day, making the dream of owning our own business happen. The process has been terrifying, and exciting, and fun and exhausting. It felt like a beginning, and an ending, and limbo all at the same time. Moving, opening the shop, writing my book, and leaving our garden and chickens all at once took almost all of my energy, physical and creative.

But now we have landed. We found a wonderful renter for our house in Seattle. She makes pie, loves to garden, and adopted our chickens. Our shop is open. My book is growing page by page every day. We rented a lovely little house, with just enough space for a vegetable garden and the perfect spot for chickens.

Just the other day I was out in our new yard, poking around, thinking about the space and what I want to grow where. I was reminded that one of the best things about gardening is that you know what will happen. And you don’t.

You know if you sow a bean seed it will crack open underground. A little root will emerge, and soon the emerging bean will nudge aside a lump of soil. The sides of the bean will open up like wings and a tiny plant will unfurl slowly like it just woke up from a very long nap.

But sometimes a bird gobbles up the seed. Or your dog digs up the bed. Or the seed just doesn’t germinate. It’s a mystery. This risk factor is what makes gardening and life so interesting. It is never the same. The expected and the unexpected happen. And that, of course, is the whole point.

This is my favorite time of year to cook because the both summer and fall vegetables share space in the garden. We have tomatoes (finally!), eggplant, and peppers ripening, and delicata and acorn squash, carrots, and beets are ready for harvest. The farmer’s market is full of greens, root vegetables, garlic, broccoli and cauliflower, plus cheese, yogurt and fresh pasta. I thought I’d share a couple of recipes that recently piqued my interest. And I’m curious, what do you like to make this time of year?

Brown Butter Tortelli

(Image via 101 cookbooks)

This recipe comes courtesy of the wonderful blog 101 cookbooks. I love it because it is so simple. Just pasta, butter, cheese and arugula. I often add arugula to pasta because I almost always have it in the garden and it’s spicy, nutty flavor plays well with cheese, butter and olive oil. Be sure to click through and read this recipe’s full post. It is full of beautiful pictures of Rome.

Savory Rugelach

(Image via Dana Treat)

Jon and I don’t have a TV. That doesn’t mean we don’t watch TV, we just use our lack of one as an excuse to visit with friends when we want to watch football or Mad Men. I found this recipe for cheese and olive stuffed rugelach on the wonderful Seattle-based blog Dana Treat. I am definitely using our next TV date as an excuse to make these little appetizers. I just started reading Dana’s blog over the summer and it quickly found its way into my RSS feed. Dana is a vegetarian, just like Jon, so her blog is the perfect resource for anyone looking to cook more vegetables.

Vanilla Apple Baked in Puff Pastry

(Image via Fennel and Fern)

The UK garden blog Fennel and Fern features beautiful garden tours, stunning photography, recipes and variety recommendations, which I always read with interest because the UK has a similar climate to the Pacific Northwest. These baked apples are my favorite kind of dessert—simple and not too rich. I cannot wait to make them!

Roasted Radishes

(Image via Leite’s Culinaria)

I’ve written before about my love for radishes and how I think they are unfairly maligned. So, when I came across this recipe for Roasted Radishes on Leite’s Culinaria a few weeks ago, I cursed our dog, Domino, for digging up the radishes I sowed in late August. Luckily most farmer’s market booths boast colorful radishes at this time of year. Roasting almost always makes any vegetable taste better. Radishes, I’m sure, are no exception.