Every fall, food columnists and editors all over the country can be seen smacking themselves over the head with butternut squash, trying to come up with a seductive, new angle for this autumn fixture.

            Let’s accept it, the salad days of summer are long gone, and we are faced with a long, starchy winter of roots and gourds.

            We are confronted with headlines such as “Squishy for squash,” or “Posh winter squash.” And how about this gem, “Squash, the quintessential pleasure of fall.” We are further enticed with recipes for, “Caramelized squash pizza,” and “Chocolate butternut cake.” And they really are referring to the squash.

It is an even more painful transition for someone who has been spoiled by the vast array of beautiful, garden fresh fruits and vegetables that have been available here on the island from the time the farmers’ market first opened in spring until it closed in late October.

When I was a big city girl, the change in seasons was reflected more in the geographical source of produce rather than quality. In summer we were able to buy B.C. and Ontario products until they slowly petered out, which was at about the same time the huge displays of squash and pumpkins made their appearance.

 As fall progressed, there was a gap that was filled with the more exotic stuff such as pomegranates, figs, and eggplants, but by January, we were deep into California and New Zealand produce. It was bearable, if you didn’t know any better.

 Well, I’m not a big city girl any longer and I do know better. I am already looking at those packaged salad greens in dismay. I know that it says there are no preservatives in them, but they always seem to have a funny smell. Trying to find a green vegetable for dinner, other than woody broccoli is getting to be a hardship and picking through the bin of green beans, trying to find enough good ones to feed even just two is disheartening. Sometimes you don’t know whether to eat the beans or use them to tie up your shoes.

You can either embrace the inevitable or try to rise above it. Newspaper food pages offer helpful hints on how to turn a can of salmon into a gourmet feast and 101 ways to make dinner from a dozen eggs. Some food columnists even stoop so low as to try and distract us by chatting on about an interesting old cookbook they came across—all right, I know that I have done this myself, but that’s no excuse.

            And to make an already dismal situation even more bleak, squash, potatoes, parsnips, and carrots, the winter vegetables, are loaded with carbohydrates. For anyone on the Atkins diet, it is going to be a long, long winter.

I have a feeling that Jordan and I will be going through cases of frozen peas and green beans over the next few months. Can’t anyone invent a starch-less potato, please?