I might be pushing the seasons along, but this morning when I stepped into the garden I could smell fall in the air. I glanced down at the pumpkin plants, tendrils winding among the lavender and noticed several squash flow- ers opened in bright shades of yellow.

Pumpkin flowers are a sure sign you'll have squash in fall, truly my favorite winter vegetable in soup, stew, casserole, chutney and pie.

Later in the day, I drove out along Mill Creek Road to a friend's potato farm and helped dig-up the last of this year's yellow fin potato harvest. After two hours waddling in the dirt, the job was done and I drove down the road with a five- pound sack of fins on the seat next to me.

On my way out of town, I stopped at Abeja winery to say "hi," and pick up a bottle of winemaker John Abbott's 2010 Chardonnay, a perfect pairing for yellow fin potatoes.

Can you tell where I am going with this? Before reaching home, I pulled into Tucannon Meats in Dayton and bought a real country treat: a pound of house-cured, no-nitrate bacon. I had a pound of Dutch Gouda and the chard in the garden needed trimming.

Can you tell where I am going with this? How about a layered just-picked chard, yellow fin, bacon, Dutch Gouda cheese casserole of "scummy" proportions paired with a 20-minute chilled bottle of the 2010 Abeja Chardonnay!

The 2010 Chardonnay is a white burgundy fashioned in old-world style. A 100% chardonnay, this vintage captures all the tradition of whole-cluster pressing, barrel fermentation, aging sur lees in French oak barrels for seven months. The entire vat is incomparable in taste, low in acidity, dripping in baked pears and star anise, sliced kiwi and vanilla bean. Tast- ing room: 2014 Mill Creek Road 509-526-7400.

Cozy Cabin Casserole

Serves 4

54cups sliced yellow fin potato

1-sweet onion sliced thin

2-cloves smashed garlic

1-cup rendered bacon chopped into bites

1-teaspoon marjoram

1-teaspoon salt and pepper

2-cups chopped fresh chard leaves only

2-cups grated Gouda cheese

1 1/2-cups cream

4-tablespoons flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 3-quart glass baking bowl. Add ¼-cup cream, 1-cup potatoes, 1-cup chard, ½-cup cheese, salt, pepper garlic, and onion dusted in flour.

Repeat layering until all products are used with last of cheese on top. Oil one side of foil; place over casserole; crimp edges. Place casserole on sheet pan to collect drips.

Place in oven for 40-minutes; remove foil, turn off oven and leave casserole in oven for five minutes more. Serve Cozy Cabin Casserole with Green Salad drizzled in apple cider vinaigrette paired with a chilled bottle of 2010 Abeja Chardonnay.

Readers, until next week, "Eat Art, Drink Imagination!"

For more recipes, color photos and catering ideas see: www.chefjudfithhenderson.com