Seems so odd that I was sunning in Aegean just weeks ago. Now returning home, it's fall! Global warming perhaps, or just the sad fact the vacation is over and I am behind the stove again.

So last week I spent a couple days at my mom's house in Stamford, Connecticut. With it's haphazard looking skyline, it's downtown with no feeling of unity, it's not my favorite town. But I come here to see my dear mother and we usually end up eating a lot, with me usually at the helm, or stove! Then to digest, we go to the nearby beach, walking out on the jetty looking over the Long Island Sound or just along the beach. Below are some shots of the waning summer season.

I took a bike ride around the surrounding towns, through the hilly neighborhoods, some working class places I knew well from my years in high school. I passed road signs reminding me of the years I spent here till I shoved off for the Army and finally into various kitchens to learn my trade.

When I arrived refreshed from my ride, we ate my old time favorite, Aioli; not the sauce only but the fixins, steamed vegetables and fish accompanied by the aioli.

My mom hasn't made it for a while, and I think she missed a step but we
corrected it. She churned garlic and egg yolks in her mortar and
whisked in oil. "More garlic mom," I said! She concurred. The chef knows!

The next day was Labor Day. The air was cooler as I stepped out to inspect my mom's garden, the basil making its final push to be turned into pesto for later in the fall and winter.

Her neighbor Randy, the hunter, BBQ man from the Carolina's was already lighting his barbecue. "Hey, how you doin chef," he asked in his familiar Carolinian drawl! He was getting some ribs and chicken ready to smoke. We always exchange notes on gas grill versus charcoal.  I much prefer his charcoal to my mom's gas grill, but you make do!

Now I am back to my own stoves at work, stoking the fires, dealing with menus, orders, parties, summer will be missed, but if seasons come and go I know it will be back again…hopefully soon!