NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune Microbiologist Charles Gerba shared food-safety pointers during a visit to Maureen Clancy's home.

The kitchen timer has dinged. After more than 25 years of writing for the San Diego Union and the Union-Tribune, of cooking and communing with food-lovers, tasting and testing, chowing down and bellying up, the time has come for me to toss in my oven mitts. It's been a great job. Heck, what's not to like about eating for a living?

The pumpkins that start arriving in the markets before Halloween, though not very good to eat, are the first bright sign that their delicious cousins, winter squashes, are on their way. These squashes all share an orange, creamy, spicy-sweet flesh that lends itself perfectly to winter meats – pork, turkey, duck, venison, game birds – which love to have a little something sweet beside them in the form of purees, sautes or braises.

The Marine Room in La Jolla has dropped its $25 corkage fee for guests wishing to bring their own bottle(s) of wine. The complimentary corkage fee is limited to two bottles per table during dinner hours. Information: (858) 459-7222 or marineroom.com.