Fall has arrived in Ann Arbor: today it's cold, rainy, dreary. It's time to clean up the gardens, turn on the furnaces, buy new coats for the kids and the dogs. It's time to transition from summery produce like corn and tomatoes to autumn treats like apples and cider.

If there isn't any warmth outside, have no fear! You can bring some inside with this slightly sweet, slightly spicy pork stew. Throw it together in the crockpot before you leave for your day's adventures, and be welcomed back home with a fabulous aroma and a comforting dinner that only needs to be finished quickly on the stove and served with a salad and some good bread.

Then curl up under a blanket with a good book and your sweetie, and welcome Fall back to Michigan instead of dreading it.

Pork Stew with Apples and Yams

1 large yam, peeled
1 small onion, peeled
4 thick pork chops, cut into 1" cubes
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
4 small Honeycrisp apples
1-1/2 cups cider
1 generous tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce
1/4 cup cornstarch

Cut yam into 1" cubes. Peel and quarter the onion, then separate the pieces. Place the yams and the onion into a medium crockpot.

Season the pork with the salt, pepper, seasoned salt, nutmeg and ginger; place into the crockpot.

Peel and core the apples; cut each into 6 pieces and place into the crockpot.

Combine the cider and the chili-garlic sauce; pour over the pork mixture. Cover the crockpot and cook the stew on "low" for 6 hours.

Pour the stew into a medium saucepan. Stir together 1/2 cup liquid from the saucepan with the cornstarch; stir into the stew, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes until thickened. Serves 6-8.

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured next to the blog's title) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here. Check out her blog -- Food Floozie -- in which she cooks, reviews restaurants, and generally enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Or send an e-mail to yentamary@gmail.com.