Culinary and French teacher Jacqueline Kahler spent fall days growing up pressing fresh apple cider with her family friends who owned an apple press. “[I] just remember us bundled up in our clothes out there pressing,” she said.

     Along with fond memories of the past, Kahler has a collection of cozy meals she likes to make as the weather gets cooler. 

     “For the fall we get into soups and bread…[we] make dinner rolls from scratch and kind of fill the house with that smell of soups and chilies,” she said. “I like loaded baked potato soup, and I do a boeuf bourguignon,” she said.

     Kahler also incorporates seasonal flavors into her culinary classes, assisting her students in making molasses cookies and apple crisp. “[The cookies] are very fall…I can’t really offer them in spring, nobody’s interested once fall and winter are over,” Kahler said.

     To gather ingredients for her autumnal cooking, Kahler says she likes to visit Bose Family Farms here in Albany along with Greens Bridge Gardens in Jefferson, as well as spots with hot and fresh apple cider donuts to be had.

     A copy of Kahler’s recipe is available in a separate post.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Hele

Jaqueline Kahler shared her personal galette aux pommes recipe with our staff, a dessert a bit like a French apple pie. “I do a pie crust from scratch and then you lay it down and cut apples, [and add] a little bit of butter and a little bit of brown sugar,” Kahler said. Whirlwind reporters Bri White and Helen Whiteside went to make Kahler’s recipe in West Albany’s commercial kitchen, entering with curiosity and seasonal spirit, and leaving with warm slices of a sweet appley treat and a bond with the baker.