SEPTEMBER isn’t all that BAD ! One week ago, I sincerely thought I was going to write up a kicking-and-screaming back to work September article. I changed my mind . . . 

It only seems painful in that way, not because everybody’s getting back to work or school or both and vacationing is over but because the weather changes. No more heat, no more sun, more clouds & grayness. But once a nice summery & sunny day reappears, even shortly & sparsely, it’s all GOOD and bearable.

I used to love September and going back to school. Especially going back to my elementary school that we had to walk to over 1 km every day, because we weren’t far enough to be eligible for the school bus (the minimum distance had to be 1 mile away which equals 1,6 km and our house placement was short by about 400 metres to qualify).

My school was called MAPLE HILL, because there was just one single very old and gigantic maple tree in the schoolyard, which was on a little hill (or more of a slope). No, I’m not painting a “Little House on the Prairie” picture for you … it was in Montreal in the very late 70’s - early 80’s.

I loved going to the stores to get all our new school stuff : notebooks (sometimes with tv or comic book characters on them), pencils, pens, erasers, a pencil case to put all the new stuff in and maybe a new school bag too, a superhero or six million dollar man lunchbox with thermos ?! WOW ! Anyways, you get the picture … I liked school, I liked the change, I liked all the new stuff and the re-organizing of my new kid’s autumn schedule …

And I really liked MAPLE HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. It was so nice inside and the classrooms were nice, the teachers were nice (and it wasn’t a private school or anything fancy, it was very public) but the times were different back then. JUST 100% NICENESS I guess, simpler & saner times … I miss that.

Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums. In France we have many varieties of each. White & yellow peaches & nectarines, the flatter vine peaches,  damson plums, mirabelle plums and greengage plums and probably a few I’m forgetting. All mid and late summer stone fruits, some closer to the end of summer, still available in September and perhaps a nice tribute and a gentle way to wrap up the summer and begin the autumn season, with some calm & acceptance & sanity.

It’s a really easy yet very satisfying slightly macerated fruit dessert topping. Chop the fruit, toss with sugar and lime or lemon juice and some fresh herbs, strain, reserve, make a thickened honey syrup with the reserved flavorful juice (if you feel like it.) Prepare the creamy dairy body of the dessert (that will be under the topping) by slightly sweetening it … Assemble, serve, that’s it, that’s all ! Sweet & simple ...

Just like a MAPLE HILL elementary school happy memory … ;)