Yesterday was the first day of fall, and as I was leaving my night class, a hint of fireplace scented the nippy air.  Fall is my favorite season and I’m always ready for the transition to fall colors, pumpkin stews, Halloween decorations.

I made this Linzer cookie,  a first-day-of-fall treat for my sweetheart, with the leftover dough from a torte.  I finally own a linzer cookie cutter and I’ve always loved my set of miniature leaf cookie cutters (which are like these).   I used this recipe for the torte, but the dough was harder to work with than I recall, so I’m going to have to ask my parents for their recipe. I don’t know if I’ll ever rival their linzer torte talents, though – they work as a team and always do a perfect job on the lattice!  I think I need some more practice.