Novel and Nosh

Cozy Fall, Found Family, and Simple Gatherings

• Courtney • Season 1 • Episode 4

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We lean into fall as a season of gathering—stories that comfort, meals that bring us together, gentle health that grounds us, and home rituals that create warmth without overspending. From three cozy book picks to a 15-minute chicken gnocchi, we share simple ways to savor the shift indoors and out.

• why gathering is the frame for fall
• three autumn book picks and why they resonate
• starting a low-commitment, cozy book chat
• a fast chicken and gnocchi skillet with spinach
• roasted vegetables as a versatile base
• warming herbs and spices for depth and comfort
• grounding health habits without optimization pressure
• unhurried walks, sunlight, and seasonal produce
• creating cozy nooks with what you already have
• low-cost decor from nature and well-loved books
• small rituals that make home feel intentional

Feel free to join us in our Novel and Nosh community. The link will be in the description box

Join my community over on Skool: Novel and Nosh Community

or head to my website www.novelandnosh.com

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to Novel Unknown. I am so glad you are here today because all is on its way and it happens to be my favorite season. With it comes that shift we all feel when the mornings are a little crisper, the evenings arrive sooner, and the air smells of leaves and something warm in the kitchen. Unfortunately for me, it doesn't really smell of leaves, but I do try to find that essence within the kitchen. Um, because I live in a tropical area. Unfortunately, don't live in Star is Hollow. So I'm stuck having to create fall within my head and my experiences. And that's kind of what I want Novel and Nosh to be for you is an opportunity to come together and experience things to bring back that cozy seasonal living, give you ideas on sparking more joy in your everyday life. So hopefully that's what this will bring for you. Fall for me has always felt like a season of gathering, gathering people around a table, gathering stories and books to curl up with. I tend to read my best in the fall, um, gathering our energy as we transition from the long, busy days of summer into a season that invites us inward. So in today's episode, we're going to talk about what it means to gather this fall: gathering stories, gathering food, gathering our health, and gathering cozy little moments at home. I want you to think of this as a gentle invitation to slow down and savor what really matters this season. And then feel free to join us in our Novel and Nosh community. The link will be in the description box. And let's share our experiences with one another. So it is definitely a favorite time for me to read books. I love to read cozy books that um talk a lot about food. I also enjoy the romanticy type books and fantasy, dark academia, as long as it's not too dark. Those are kind of the books that I like to read in the fall. So I wanted to share three books with you today. These are probably like the most popular books, and maybe I'm sure you've probably heard of them, but just to kind of get you in that idea of books for fall. And then I will do another episode specifically on different books that I would recommend to read this season. So the first one is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Clun. And this is definitely a found family story. So it is that community, family, friendship type of book. And this is where Linus is a caseworker, and he has been asked to go on this highly classified assignment where he has to go to an island to care for these six magical children. And these children are considered to be like dangerous and troubled, and they just want him to handle the situation. So he goes, and it is a beautiful story of uh found family, the connections that they have with one another, and then also um this other gentleman who is kind of like the groundskeeper, um, his relationship with them, and it's a love story. It is just it's so heartwarming that it is definitely what I think is a cozy read this fall. The second book is Legends and Lattes by Trav Travis Baldry. And this one is if you aren't into fantasy, you're gonna look at this cover and think, no, I don't want to read it. But if you've ever thought about opening or dreaming of opening a coffee shop or a bakery, then you must read this. This is about Viv, and she is an orc, and she is tired of battling. So she decides that it's time to set down her sword and move to a small town. And when she moves to this small town, she decides she wants to open a coffee shop. The problem is nobody's ever heard of coffee before. So she has to go through the community and talk to people and um share what coffee is and let them taste it. And she opens this cute little coffee shop and starts to befriend the community. And it's just one of those books that is so cozy and heartwarming. And if you, you know, think about the smells of coffee and the smells of freshly baked goods, you're going to love this. There is some turmoil that they deal with, but overall, this is nothing but cozy. And then the third one is um a discovery of witches by Deborah Harkness. Like I said, these are three books. These are not any new reading material. Um, you probably have read them all, but they are what I think of when I think of fall. And this is about um Diana. She is a scholar who happens to be a witch as well, but she does not want to lean into her witchiness at all. And she is working in Oxford and she goes to the library and she needs to pull a manuscript. Well, this manuscript has been lost, but for whatever reason, she is able to pull it. And when she pulls it, the demons, the vampires, and other witches tend to surround her because they want to know, you know, one, they're they're trying to get this manuscript. And she has like put it back, sent it back, and doesn't even know what she has started. It's great. It is a longer book. It is one, like, if you like a love story, you'll love it. It's definitely one of those uh romanticy type books, and it just is it's that dark academia, but not too dark, but gives you that feeling of autumnal type vibes. And I I just loved it. It's such a good one. Oh, I will say that after I read the first one, I had to pick up the second one, which I believe is called A Shadow in Darkness. I did not love that one, that was much slower paced. So you may feel the urge to read the second one, but it isn't necessary, I don't think. I would love to know because as I'm thinking about this, I'm like, oh, I wonder how it all ends. So I know there's a third one as well. If anybody's read all three of them, let me know because I don't know. Maybe I need to pick that one up. Ah, I don't know. So those are three books that I'd recommend. They're great for gathering ideas and emotions. And if you're interested in coming together to talk about any of these books, I'd love for you to join me in the Novel and Nosh community. Um, maybe we could start a book club, which would be a huge way of gathering this season. But I would encourage you as a listener to choose one cozy book this fall and savor it slowly. And even if you don't start a book club, if you can join a book club or get some friends together to discuss one book, it doesn't have to be, you know, a monthly book club. You can just say, hey, you know, I want to, I want to read a book this fall and I'd love to have three or four friends to talk it over with. Uh, you know, that would be a fun experience that maybe is not as involved as committing to something long-term, but just something fun you can do seasonally. Now, gathering around food is obviously a big one for me and a big one for fall because, you know, you're thinking Thanksgiving, that's a huge one where we gather together and are thankful for each other. And um the food is kind of like the main thing at the table. It is food is one of the oldest forms of gathering. And unfortunately, because of our fast-paced society, many of us don't sit down to enjoy our food together. And that is one thing that I would highly encourage you to do if you do not do. This is one thing that my family and I, we do. I did it as a child. It is the memories for me as a child are so much surrounding the food and the family time. And then I'm hoping that for my children it is as well. A lot of times after we eat dinner, we'll play games. So I'm hoping that that leaves a mark for my children of great memories that they had around the dinner table. And of course, fall flavors are apples, pumpkin, squash, and warming spices. And I wanted to share a recipe. I actually made it just the other day and it was delicious. And it is definitely one of those cozy, comforting meals that's really simple to make. So I got this from the most recent Real Simple magazine, but I'm going to share it with you. If I can find a link to the recipe, I will post it in the description box. But this is basically what it is. First, it's a chicken and gnocchi dish, but you can cook the chicken on the stovetop by like sauteing it. I chose to, because sometimes I get a little lazy with this, I chose to put it in the oven and bake it. And then I use the chicken, you know, once I made the dish. The dish came together very quickly. So if you need something very quick, you could even go grab like a rotisserie chicken, pull the chicken off and shred it over top. I'll explain exactly what I'm doing with the chicken. But even just throwing it, like if you've got things you need to do at home and you don't have time to watch your chicken, just throw the chicken breath in the um oven, let it cook for 20 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. So 20 to 30 minutes, and then come back and shred it or cut it into slices. So, what you're going to do is you are going to grab a pan, a saute pan, and you're going to have sun-dried tomatoes in the oil. You're going to use some of that oil in the bottom of the pan. Oh, and on the chicken when you bake it, use some of that oil. Use Italian seasoning and salt with the saute pan. You're going to put the oil in the bottom of the pan, and you're going to chop up about a third a cup of sun-dried tomatoes and then three garlic cloves. Mince those three garlic cloves. Put them in the saute pan and let them come like till they're fragrant. So 30 seconds to a minute. Then you're going to add a cup of chicken broth and three-quarters of a cup of uh heavy cream. Let that come to a simmer. Once it comes to a simmer, add your gnocchi. I just bought the packaged gnocchi. Add your gnocchi and you're going to let that cook for about two minutes. You're going to see the sauce starting to thicken. And that's when you're going to add some spinach. You're going to add about a bag of spinach, but slowly. So you're going to add like two handfuls, let that wilt, then add a couple more handfuls, let that wilt until you know you've gone through almost the whole bag. I think I had a six-ounce bag. I think it asked for five ounces of spinach. So I left a little handful or two in the bag. Let that all wilt down, chop up your chicken, put it on top, take it off the heat, add some parmesan, you have your meal. I added a salad to that, and that was it was delicious. Everybody ate it up. You could even have some crusty sourdough bread if you'd like, but it was a delicious meal and very, very simple. Like it came together within 15 minutes minus the chicken. The other thing that I like to do, like when we think of cozy, comforting flavors in the fall, is roasted vegetables. I just take whatever I have. A lot of times it's broccoli, Brussels sprouts, your potatoes, sweet potatoes, baby potatoes. I just add olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then sometimes some garlic powder, and I throw them in an oven at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes. Um, if you've got like potatoes, you're probably gonna have to cook them 25 minutes. It just kind of depends. Watch it. But with like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, you want them a little burnt. That just adds so much delicious flavor to it. And I will cook this, and you can use this for everything. You can use it as a side dish. I will sometimes make grain bowls. So instead of having a summer raw salad, I like to have cooked veggies to make this wilted salad with a little bit of quinoa. But all of that stuff is really good and healthy and definitely fall cozy vibes. And from like a health aspect, those foods are very grounding foods and they help regulate your energy. The fiber in them also supports blood sugar, so you don't deal with spikes as much. And the spices like cinnamon tend to warm the body. The other thing that I like to do is make sure that I'm adding different spices. So I said you add salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but then you can also add these warming spices. So if you're thinking like rosemary, thyme, sage, all of these, add depth of flavor that is really delicious when you are just trying to change things up a little bit. And that's one thing that I would recommend you do to experience your food this fall is have a gathering. Get a few people together. It can be family, it can be some neighbors, it can be friends, whomever you'd like. But gather some friends together and have a meal together. It doesn't mean you have to cook everything. You can have other people come over and have a potluck where everybody comes together and brings a dish, but gather together around a meal this season, a home-cooked meal, not an out. And don't, I'm not gonna let you count Thanksgiving as this meal. Okay, so you have to do an additional one. Fall is also a great time to focus on your health, not in the way of kind of overdoing things, but through things like I mentioned above, with the types of foods that you are eating, the more that you can eat seasonally, the more you will ground to that season and feel better within your body. God allowed for us to have the foods that we need for the times of years that we need. So leaning into that is a beautiful thing. Fall is a season of transition. It is a time to slow down, pull inward, reflect on what served you and what didn't serve you, and let the things go that don't serve you. So many of us rush through these seasons and don't take time to kind of use this time to transition from one aspect to the next. So this is a time to really sit down and, you know, you don't have to do like a whole one-hour sit down to think about everything, but just take a few minutes each day to kind of ground down and figure out what do, you know, what served me this summer and what didn't. And is there anything I can let go of from my life, whether it be a habit that you're practicing, whether it be um something that's in your home that you need to get rid of, you know, just looking for those little things that you can clean away. Some of the health practices for fall would be walking, doing a lot of walking outside, especially if you live in, you know, crisp air. That is great for your mood and your nervous system. We tend to move so quickly that we are not taking time to look around us. And one of the best things you can do is instead of just walking, because I know, you know, there's a big push about walking and walking quickly and wearing weighted vests and all of this stuff. But like, can we just do things to do things? Does there have to be a reason? Oh, we've got to get out and walk so that we can get our 10,000 steps in and wear our weighted vests so that it helps with our strength and all of these things just add to this constant feeling of doing for a reason, not experiencing it. Getting outside and just walking for the pure joy of walking creates a different experience for your nervous system. Drinking teas, getting out in the sun and eating those seasonal produce are all going to help with your immune support as the weather changes. We tend to be inside more and therefore increase risk of bugs. So having teas to keep hydration, keep you hydrated, getting out in the sun as much as you can as the weather starts to change, and eating the seasonal produce will help with immune support because a lot of the produce that you are eating does have vitamin C in it. And I would encourage you, this is maybe not gathering in the sense that you think of with gathering, but maybe gathering yourself. Taking a few minutes to conserve energy, stay grounded, not scattering your attention in all directions. Take five to 10 minutes to sit down, take some deep breaths, journal, do something that you feel helps you ground down to feel more in line with yourself this season. And then the last thing would be gathering at home. So making your home feel inviting in fall without overconsumption. This does not mean that you need to go out and buy all kinds of new things. I know that sometimes we feel that need to do that. And I trust me, this is that season where I will go to a store and I will see so many amazing things and I want to buy it all. But you don't have to do that. Go look through the house. Maybe you look at things through a different light and say, oh, you know, like you have a few little chotskis that maybe kind of are reminiscent of fall, or maybe you have a few books that are fall type books, or even those of you who have little ones, some children's books, pull those out and allow them to be a decorative piece within your house to kind of give you that feeling of fall. If you have um fall decor, pull that out, bring that out to help kind of create that feeling. If you live in an amazing environment where you do have those fall leaves or acorns and things like that, gather some up as they start to fall from the tree and put them in a bowl on your um dining room table or you know on your coffee table to kind of bring in the experience of fall for decor that doesn't cost anything. Create small, cozy little spaces within your house. Um, I am working on creating a cozy little, so I have a little uh area within my kitchen that is like my reading nook, and my parents have always laughed at me about it. But it is, I like it. But for me, what I'm going to do is create a new little look for that area. So bringing over a cozy blanket, I'm gonna set some tea there and have some little things for like markers and um little sticky notes that I can annotate my books with and a candle, all of these things that you can bring into an area to create little cozy nooks throughout are um a great way to bring in that um cozy feeling in your own house. Home is both a place and a feeling we create intentionally. So taking some time to do little things in your home that make it feel special. You can even, like in the way of small gatherings with your family or maybe a loved one, a friend, just having like a soup night with them or a cozy movie night or just gathering with yourself for tea and a book can create that cozy experience that you're looking for. As we wrap up, I hope this gave you a little inspiration for how to gather this fall. Whether that's through a cozy novel, a simple meal shared with someone you love, a walk outside that helps you gather yourself, or creating a little nest of comfort in your home. The beauty of gathering is that it doesn't have to be big or elaborate. Sometimes it's just pausing long enough to notice the small joys that are already here, waiting for us to see. I'd love to hear from you, to find out what you're gathering this season. Feel free to join me in the Novel and Nosh community. And my goal, like I said, is to help us live more joyously, experience more in life. And I am looking forward to hearing from you. And until next time, here's to gathering joy, comfort, and coziness in the beautiful season of fall.