One of the beauties of Northern California being … well … Northern is that at certain times of the year you really do get the best of both worlds. We may not have the dramatic change of colors that is found in New England, or the chill in the air found every morning in the Rockies or the Adirondacks when autumn arrives. But we have a harvest and chimney smoke appears and we most certainly have that most recognized shape of the season: we have pumpkins. Recently an award winning pumpkin, 804 pounds of orange gourd, was grown in Pete Glasier's Napa patch.

Not only pumpkins, but also pumpkin pies and cheesecakes and breads and raviolis. There are wonderful Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays and a Yountville Appellation Gewürztraminer.

You can stop at Dean & Deluca in St. Helena for pumpkin seeds (six ounces for $2.50) and here and there you can buy bags of spiced pumpkin seeds to eat as a snack. You can find Pumpkin Chardonnay Jelly from Napa Valley Wine Jelly at stores everywhere. Sweetie Pies Bakery at the river end of Main Street in Napa offers everything from the traditional pie to Pumpkin Drop Cookies during the season. Restaurants up and down the Valley incorporate pumpkins into daily specials and a number of shops sell small packets of mulling spices to add to your wine that, if they aren't strictly related to the pumpkin in a scientific sense, certainly evoke thoughts of autumn. If nothing else the aroma is well worth the small expenditure of time and effort.

As far as pumpkin patches go, we're sad to say that some of the old favorites have disappeared, replaced now by new homes or vineyards, however there are some still around. Check out notices tacked up at the markets, ask people in tasting rooms and area shopkeepers (hardware stores are always a grand resource for information such as this) or look for hand-lettered signs along the road. Then make the detour and spend some time in one of the more sublime spots to be found in the Valley, the local pumpkin patch.

Born in Great Britain, C.L. Waverly spent over 40 years in the hotel business in Europe and Asia before settling in the Napa Valley. He is currently at work on a novel as well as a collection of previously published stories on farm life in Sri Lanka.

Piatti's Pumpkin Soup with Sage & Pancetta

Small (approx. 5 pound) 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin
6 cups chicken stock
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
Quarter pound pancetta
18 sage leaves
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
6 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut pancetta into quarter-inch wide matchsticks and sauté until crispy/chewy. Fry sage leaves in olive oil until crisp (approx. 20 seconds.) Set aside.

Quarter and seed pumpkin, rub flesh with olive oil and bake on a sheet tray until tender, about 30 minutes.

Melt butter in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Scrape flesh from pumpkin and add to stockpot with onion and garlic. Add chicken stock to the pot and simmer for half an hour. Remove from heat and puree in food processor or blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and ladle into small bowls. Garnish with sage and pancetta and serve.