The Breslow Partners crew is ready to pull on our boots and sweaters and frolic through piles of colorful leaves in Rittenhouse Square. To appease our pumpkin latte-fueled fall frenzy, we decided to throw an autumn themed lunch party. Each person brought one of their favorite fall dishes, including  caramel apples and cinnamon donuts and –you guessed it- pumpkin.

This loaf included a girl’s two favorite things: pumpkin and chocolate.

With the Jack-O-Lantern’s prominent role in Halloween shenanigans, pumpkin picking and carving is always a popular fall activity, but this year, things are just out of hand. Despite the notoriously bad crop due to excessive rain, pumpkin is popping up everywhere – from pumpkin candles to pumpkin muffins to pumpkin body scrubs. People are just crazy about pumpkins this year, and we here at Breslow Partners have also caught the pumpkin bug.

At our autumn party, Brittney provided our pumpkin fix with a freshly baked pumpkin loaf from one of our favorite places,  Metropolitan Bakery. They lived up to their stellar reputation with a pumpkin loaf that was moist, spicy, and filled with chocolate chunks.

Emily and Rachel enjoying Emily’s butternut squash soup.

With the pumpkin shortage, pureed pumpkin has been difficult to find, but Mother Nature was kind enough to provide pumpkin-bent cooks with an equally delicious alternative – butternut squash. We had three butternut squash dishes at our party- soup, salad, and orzo.

We started off our meal with a cinnamon sweet butternut squash soup, a unique remake of the traditionally rich and buttery dish. The next course was a savory-sweet salad of spinach, cranberry, and butternut squash that was so delicious it was difficult to move on to the dish after that.

Our final butternut squash dish was orzo seasoned with a generous amount of parsley. While we would recommend the recipe, found at SeriousEats.com again, we recommend using dried, rather than fresh parsley, and much less of it.

This spinach, cranberry and butternut squash salad from Dibruno Brothers is the perfect blend of sweet and savory.

Rachel switched out the pumpkin in the recipe for a home-pureed butternut squash, a delicious, yet time-consuming substitution.

Being an office full of women, our party had plenty of desserts to carry us through the rest of the week. Our resident college student, Madi, brought an assortment of fall donuts.

Finally, no childhood or – office party -is complete without a mouthful of sticky teeth, the caramel apple’s unavoidable parting gift.

Our dentists were not happy with us.

Jen provided the quintessential autumn treat of caramel apples that left us dreaming of long lost days at the county fair and crisp evenings bobbing for apples.

The party was a huge success in welcoming in our favorite season. If you are still mourning the loss of lazy summer days, we encourage you to grab a scarf and run to your local bakery for some apple or pumpkin goodies. Trust us, they’ll pull you so far out of your post-summer funk, you’ll be planning your own autumn extravaganza in no time.

Pork. Beer. Fun with friends. That’s what HOGtober is all about.  On Thursday, October 20, 2011, Courtney Rozsas’s Lotus Farm to Table restaurant in Media, PA is celebrating the pig from snout to tail with a multi- course pig-centered feast and beer sharing.

Bring along a six-pack of your favorite brew, and don’t even think about hogging it. Celebrate the season’s best brews by swapping a few bottles with fellow diners. The cost is $45. Book your dinner reservations ahead of time—your taste buds will thank you.

Lotus Farm to Table is located at 112 West State Street in Media, PA 19063. For reservations, call 610.565.5554 or visit their website at www.lotusfarmtotable.com.

PCDC in partnership with The Food Trust, will be holding the Chinatown Night Market on Thursday, October 6th from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Night Markets give artists and chefs the opportunity to present their goods to a large population of customers. Night Markets also provide consumers with a defined area where they can discover, learn about, and purchase a diverse collection of unique goods and delicious delicacies.

This pro-gram will provide information and technical assistance to those who are interested in starting a street food vending business! In addition, our program will promote Chinatown and its businesses, and provide name recognition for all participating vendors.

For more information or if you’re interested in participating in the Night Market as a vendor, please contact PCDC, Rachel Mak at 215-922-2156 or rmak@chinatown-pcdc.org.

Get the children together, and tell them to hop on board to see the witch on the famous Hayride to the Witches House. But tell them not to worry; she is the friendliest witch in town, telling stories and jokes and even giving a treat to all those who visit. Starting September 30^th at 5:30 p.m., the hayride will be open every weekend until October 14^th, then it will run everyday until October 30^th at Linvilla Orchards.

The hayride ends at a crackling campfire to keep you warm as you indulge in sweet apple cider and gooey roasted marshmallows. This is a great late night adventure for children up to 10 or 11 years old, but don’t let that discourage you if you’re older. Parents are encouraged to join in on the fun! The hayride is $8.00 a person, but that smile on your child’s face is priceless.

Linvilla Orchards is a 300-acre family farm dedicated to agriculture, education and entertainment. To learn more, visit www.linvilla.com or call 610-876-7116.

The folks at London Grill know that not everyone can master making a Rosh Hashanah dinner as delicious as their elders and some don’t even have the time to try! That’s why, once again, London Grill is making itself your home-away-from-home for members of Philadelphia’s Jewish Community. Chef Michael McNally promises to make dinner as good as your Bubby’s. Chef McNally’s menu features dishes steeped in tradition, while remaining innovatively enticing for Jewish and non-Jewish guests.

The celebration is taking place on Wednesday, September 28th and Thursday, September 29th for $35/per person and $20/ per child. Reservations are required for the fixed price menu. Visit London Grill’s website at www.londongrill.com for a sample menu of offerings. Call  215.978.4545 to make your reservations!

The high holidays are quickly approaching – a time dedicated to remembering long-held traditions and recipes passed down through the generations. To celebrate the holidays, Night Kitchen Bakery is featuring a special Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur menu Tuesday, September 27 through Friday, October 7.

Traditionally, the Rosh Hashanah meal includes two loaves of challah to represent heaven’s manna sent to the Israelites wandering the desert after the exodus from Egypt. They are baked in a round shape, symbolizing the cycle of the year. Night Kitchen’s challah is satisfying one and a half pound loaf, made with whole-wheat flour and no dairy – perfect for a holiday meat meal.

Chef Amy Edelman and her top-notch team of pastry chef will be backing the intricately braided bread all day Tuesday and Wednesday, September 27 and 28, fresh for your holiday meal. The rest of the year, challah is available every Thursday afternoon.

Night Kitchen Bakery is located in Chestnut Hill at 7725 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118. They are open 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday and 8 am to 3 pm on Sunday.

Popped! Music Festival & Food Bazaar is a celebration of the culture of Philadelphia and it’s happening this weekend, September 23rd & 24th at FDR Park. It’s a unique opportunity to show the world what makes you pop! and enjoy a killer line up of bands and various gourmet Philadelphia food. The two-day festival includes music by The Shins, Cage the Elephant,  Pretty Lights, Foster the People, and Girl Talk. While jamming out to your favorite bands, or in between sets, you can enjoy the tastiest food from Philadelphia’s restaurants, gourmet food trucks, and markets. The food bazaar will highlight an eclectic range of Philadelphia’s premium food destinations including; Farm Fresh Lunch Truck, Sweetbox, Cantina Dos Segundos, ?uestlove, and La Colombe.

Popped! Music Festival & Bazaar will take place at FDR Park on Friday September 23rd starting at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday September 24th 10:00 a.m. Tickets are on sale at the Popped! website.

Linvilla Orchards is having their annual Arts and Music Festival this weekend! If two days full of toe tapping tunes and crafts galore sounds like music to your ears then Linvilla is the place for you this weekend. Watch potters, woodworkers, and other artisans ply their trade and choose from a variety of beautifully handcrafted items. For the music lovers, enjoy live music starting at 10:30 a.m. each day. Six different bands will grace the stage over the course of two days including; Antique Pony, Raven Hill, Adam Monaco, The Fair Trade, The Plants, and Brady and the Bear.

In addition to the Arts & Music Fest, Pumpkinland is in fullswing! After enjoying the arts, crafts and music venture over to the Jack-O-Lantern exhibit or check out the towering scarecrow. Linvilla’s talented face painters will be on hand for the kids, so don’t forget your camera for priceless photo ops!

Linvilla Orchards is a 300-acre family farm dedicated to agriculture, education and entertainment. To learn more about the Arts and Music Festival or the activities during the Pumpkinland Festival, visit www.linvilla.com, www.Facebook.com/LinvillaOrchards or call 610-876-7116.

The Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show fall edition is this weekend, September 16-18.

For a virtual preview, you can check out a full lineup of exhibiting artists here.

For a special bonus, this fall’s event coincides with another Rittenhouse Square Blockbuster Saturday, featuring a giant outdoor cafe on 18th street and an expanded farmers’ market to complement the art show.

The weather is going to be beautiful on Saturday in Rittenhouse Square.

Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show
Where: 18th & Walnut Streets
When: September 16-18; Friday, 11 a.m.- 7 p.m., Saturday, 11 am.- 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Cost: Free.  More info: www.rittenhousesquareart.com