Autumn

Caring homemakers stock up with a plan: some ingredients are used within a week or two, while others might last a month or even a month and a half.

Take bell peppers and eggplants, for example; frozen in the freezer, they can be prepared for the next holiday. If you’ve dried eggplants the way they do in the Caucasus—sliced thin like mushrooms—you can use them gradually from fall through spring.

Eggplants, zucchini, and peppers, dressed up and wrapped in paper and then plastic, can be stored in the fridge or on the balcony until New Year’s.

Overall, autumn is the season for potatoes, cabbage, and pumpkins (not everyone loves them, but they’re nutritious!), as well as tomatoes and pickled cucumbers, and the late-harvest apples. These ingredients can be enjoyed in fall salads.