Welcome to “Taste Matters” where I dish up some tasty tidbits, a kitchen tip or two, my current cookbook crush, some menu ideas from some of my food blogger friends to get you through your week, a weekend entertaining menu and recipe roundups for even more meal ideas!

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. –Albert Camus (Writer and Nobel laureate.)

This quote pretty much sums up how I feel about fall. There’s always excitement about spring and the earth coming back to life but who doesn’t get excited about fall, too? Except for the shorter days, it’s my favorite season of the year! I’ve got tons of fall food inspiration in store for you, starting with this week’s Taste Matters!

Skillet Turkey Pinto Bean Chili with Pepperjack Biscuit Topping

Sheet Pan Oven-Roasted Vegetables (The Chunky Chef)

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Slow-Cooker Cuban Sofrito Flank Steak Bowls (Delicious Table)

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Easy Chicken Curry with Basmati Rice (Creative Culinary)

Curry Roasted Carrots with Honey Browned Butter

Aperol Spritzes (Platings & Pairings)

Seared Pepper Beef Carpaccio (Sprinkles and Sprouts)

Stuffed Salmon with Spinach and Artichoke Dip (Diethood)

Perfect Roasted Potato Wedges

Roasted Green Beans with Tomato-Caper Relish

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake (A Cookie Named Desire)

Low Carb Jambalaya with Chicken Shrimp and Sausage

Maria said: “OMG, this is SO GOOD!!. Made it last night. It’s definitely going to be on the rotation dinner schedule. One of the best meals I’ve made. Thank you!”

Marvelous Muffin Tin Recipes

40 Pumpkin Soup Recipes That Are Pure Comfort in a Bowl

58 Apple Recipes to Make This Fall

24 Quick-Fix Salad Suppers

The 50 Best Ina Garten Recipes of all Time

I watched Anthony Bourdain’s Film Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, on the plane back from Europe and it really opened my eyes to how much food we waste as a nation. To join in the effort to reduce food waste, I’m mulling over a new feature here that will address creative ways to reuse leftovers and odds and ends.

This recent cookbook from Betty Crocker, The Smart Dinner (affiliate link), has 125 recipes for clever and versatile ways to use what you’ve got on hand. The recipes are super simple so even a novice cook can pull together quick, inexpensive meals by learning to cook more wisely. The recipes have some processed ingredients but a more experienced cook can easily make substitutions.