Fall in New Orleans is a wonderfully confusing time of year.

Ooo it’s so fa… wait, no, that is so not a totally traditional Fall Food kind of situation.

Once September hits, we get a taste of relief from the 90 degree, 80% humidity and we can experience a day (that’s right one day) of a high of 85 with 15% humidity and it is GLORIOUS.

We get that one day and everyone pulls out the boots, scarves, and hats that were shoved in storage (or whatever spare space you could cram them). The coffee shops begin promoting pumpkin spice lattes and then there is pumpkin spice everything everywhere. Then, you wake up the next day and it’s 95 degrees and your feet are sweating when you walk out your house at 8:30 am because you thought it was a good idea to wear jeans with boots and the cute, fluffy, decorated socks you can’t wear during the summer (because, well, your feet will sweat).

Well, I succumbed to wanting to get into Fall. I was able to wait until October, but lo and behold, butternut squash with nutmeg and cinnamon is still delicious when it’s hot outside in this beautiful city. Also, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and well, everything, is talking about this kind of food and I wanted it.

The Sister and I were discussing potential dinner plans while taking a delightful stroll along Bayou St. John with my hairy four-legged child and butternut squash came up.

Long story short, all the fixin’s for Butternut Squash “Ravioli*” ended up in the kitchen and we are microwaving** a far too large butternut squash for our meal that night.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

So, the ravioli ended up delicious and we enjoyed the hell out of the dinner. We had the AC blasting and I was wearing sweatpants. It was such a marvelous Fall Food kind of meal. But, we still had about a cup of mashed butternut squash with delicious nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, and all the fall deliciousness we are all wanting during this time of year and it was just placed in the fridge until I could find something to do with it.

Fast Forward and it’s the weekend and I want brunch.

You know that mode when you don’t want to put on pants but you want to eat like a spoiled fat kid? Familiar to you or not, that was the mode I was in. So, I raided the fridge and I have an assortment of ingredients that work! Top of the list: Butternut Squash Pancakes!

Mmmmm Butternut Squash Pancakes

So, it’s a beautiful day and I have the perfect fall brunch foods so obviously we should eat on our lovely balcony overlooking the Canal Street Car line. Here’s the catch. It’s New Orleans and it is not exactly the ideal Fall weather.

It’s not that it was August weather. It was actually a rather nice day; but the kind of nice day that goes well with a delicious, chilled Blanco Sangria with satsuma, apples, and blueberries and NOT Butternut Squash Pancakes.

But, I love this city and I love the weather and I love wine with breakfast, so I’m going to have a Fall brunch with a delicious summery brunch cocktail on my balcony.

And so, I began prepping for some delicious squash pancakes (added some extra brown sugar) and began trying to figure out how to incorporate eggs*** into our meal. So, I have 2 eggs left (after pancaking), leftover kale, lemon, and black truffle paste.

Truffled soft boiled eggs on a bed of kale with a lemon vinaigrette? HELL YEA! 
Now we’re healthy!

And so, I cooked (didn’t clean) and was ready to get my Fall Food Brunching on a hot New Orleans October day. The pancakes may have been better to some if it was more like 50 degrees, but you know what, I had a helluva brunch at home satisfying my Fall cravings, and then some.

Thank goodness for chilled Blanco Sangria.

The Hot Fall Brunch with Blanco Sangria, Butternut Squash Pancakes and Truffled Soft Boiled Eggs

* By “Ravioli” I mean wonton. Yes, I know how to make fresh pasta, but it is very time consuming and I have a small kitchen, which on this particular night was not conducive to our dinner. Buying wonton wrappers (available at most normal grocery stores) is the perfect solution for the average home cook. I will agree that in a perfect world, fresh pasta is the way to go. But I’m not perfect, and neither is the average person, so I’m sticking to the wonton theory.

**YES! You can microwave your butternut squash and it comes out exactly the same in a much shorter time! I also microwave my baked potatoes. Watcha gonna do about it, huh?

*** It’s brunch. We need eggs. If not it’s just pancakes with lunch. Eggs actually turn it into real brunch…. right?