Keep celebrating the season with pasta dinner with pumpkin, sage and sausage

This season puts me in panic mode: Sunlight dwindles and, therefore, so does the herb garden. Farmers markets close up shop. What to cook now?

In the Midwest, we feel blessed if the garden's basil, cilantro, mint and dill remain bright and green until October. Late in the month, fresh sage, thyme, parsley and perhaps chives are all my garden offers to enhance my cooking and cravings for flavor. Fortunately, these decidedly fall herbs pair well with other fall offerings such as pumpkin, winter squash and hearty greens.

Now is the time to stock up on sugar pumpkins, aka pie pumpkins, and other gorgeous varieties. Decorate with them, yes, but be sure to cook them into soup and stews throughout the season. Indeed, the pale, blueish-green flat pumpkins, the bright orange lakotas, the oddly shaped