The end of the summer can be distressing and sad. There are those of us who go back to school, and others who must say farewell to Summer-Fridays. There'll be fewer berries, nectarines, peaches, and plums. However, while we feel a nostalgia for summer produce, we can look forward to the colorful and delicious autumn harvest.

Below are 8 fruits and vegetables to anticipate this fall:

1. Figs - All year, we can enjoy dried figs. But, from now until early fall, markets sell the fresh tender succulent inverted flowers. The juiciness of these fresh figs tastes remarkable. And, from the perspective of a nutritionist, they have an extra high fiber content.
2. Pomegranate - The fruit alone looks gorgeous as a centerpiece. They can last up to three months if stored in the fridge. Its seeds are deliciously sweet, savory, and tart. And, they can be thrown into a salad or made into a sauce.
   
3. Grapes - We take them for granted the most since we can purchase them year-round. They're harvested in the fall. And so, you'll find a variety of different plump fragrant kinds, such as Thompson seedless, red globe, and Concord during fall.
   
4. Apples - Ah, the variety of apples we're about to see! There's 2,000 types grown in the U.S. My favorite are McIntosh. Besides savoring them plain, you can enjoy them in a pie, sauce, pancake, or cake.
   
5. Pears - Like apples, there are several varieties. Warm and soft poached pears are one of my favorite autumnal treats.
   
6. Squash - Thinking of the fall harvest conjures up images of dark green acorn squash, butternut squash, and of course bright orange pumpkins. I adore the sweetness butternut squash adds to a dish.
   
7. Parsnips - They are scrumptious in any roast vegetable mixture. Parsnips look like a white version of their orange springtime cousin, the carrot. Their flavor is brought out by being roasted, baked, or fried.
   
8. Cauliflower - It's in abundance during fall. Besides cooking it in boiling water and eating it plain with butter, you can transform it into a creamy sweet mashed vegetable dish.
   

What sorts of images of fruits and vegetables does autumn evoke for you?

By August, I usually find myself exhausted by the constant oppressive summer heat. The sweltering heat drains all the energy out of my body and leaves me walking to work sluggishly. To combat this end-of-summer lethargy, I hydrate myself throughout the day by drinking water.

Drinking water is not the only way you can refuel your body during the summer. Many fruits and vegetables can help you meet 20 percent of your daily fluid needs. Also, doctors have proven that a diet rich in H20-loaded foods can prevent dehydration and foster a feeling of fullness without adding too many extra calories. Below are 8 fruits and vegetables that can help recharge your body:

1. Watermelons
2. Cucumbers
3. Bell peppers
4. Pineapple
5. Lettuce
6. Tomatoes
7. Apples
8. Citrus fruits

What are some other fruits and vegetables you eat in the heat to prevent dehydration?

The salad season has begun for me, and I noticed these new Wish-Bone Bountifuls salad dressings at the supermarket the other day. They're flavorful, low fat, low calorie dressings that have real pieces of vegetables and fruits in them.

Sound good? Well, you can go to the store and buy a bottle of the dressing, then log in to their web site and sign up to get a mail-in rebate. The offer is good between May 30 and June 1 only.

While you're at the site, you can also plant a "digital garden." It's part of Wish-Bones campaign to get people to eat more salads and get healthier. The nature sound effects at the site are rather relaxing...

If you had asked me 15 years ago what I thought the healthiest foods were, I probably would have said salad, pasta, bread, rice, and water. If you had asked me 35 years ago, I probably would have said Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Quisp cereal, pretzels, Pepsi, and Sara Lee pound cake.

We all know better now, of course (for example, Sara Lee pound cake should only be eaten 20 or so times a week), but do we really know what the healthiest foods are? We've talked a lot about healthy foods before, but never like what you'll see after the jump...in video form! The video isn't the best quality, and waiting 30 seconds for the next food to be listed is rather annoying, but the info is interesting. Besides, it's like a game. You can take those 30 seconds to place bets with your friends! What will be next in the video...apricots? Avocados? Broccoli? Read on...

Last week's San Francisco Chronicle Food and Dining section had a short piece on the sad state of produce in the Bay area with the weeks upon weeks of rain they had during March and April. I didn't pay much attention for a couple of reasons. It seemed that it only applied to northern California, and additionally, I was so busy with work that I hadn't gone to the market to stock up on ingredients as I wasn't planning on cooking or eating at home.  

However, I became painfully aware of the sparse and poor quality of produce this morning when a selection of fruit that was offered to me for breakfast included the most horrendous looking strawberries I have ever seen. First of all, I was appalled that they even had the, uh, balls, to serve them to the public. But worse yet was the actual state of the berries. Some of them were tiny, some of them dispropotionately enormous, many of them badly mis-shapen. Some of the strawberries were a pathetic pale pink and others were a gross dark brown. The worst of it was that they looked like they were rotting.

No strawberries for Spring, but hopefully we'll have some for summer.

Hungry Girl has a quick and easy to read rundown of the properties of Vitamins A through K, complete with information about what each vitamin is, what it does and where to get it.

For example, Vitamin A is primarily found in brightly colored fruits and vegetables, while Vitamin D is in fish, like salmon and tuna, and can also be gotten from spending time in the sun. Vitamin B mostly comes from animal-based sources, but can also be found in whole grains and green, leafy vegetables. Citrus fruits will provide plenty of Vitamin C, which can help fight colds and other illnesses. Vitamin E boosts your immune system, while K regulates blood clotting. For a full listing of all you need to know about these vitamins, check out Hungry Girl's list.

There's a lot of buzz about comfort food right now - macaroni and cheese, chicken soup, meatloaf, and doughnuts - things that you crave when you need a little bit of TLC whether it's from a bad day, being sick, or just hungover. The buzz has gotten me thinking about things that are the exact opposite of comfort foods. Does that mean uncomfortable foods? Nah, uncomfortable foods are things like still-wiggling octopus tentacles and scorpions. I was thinking more along the lines of the last thing I want to eat when I need some TLC (but that's not to say that live octopus isn't one of those last things).

1. Salad - Salad really is the opposite of every comfort food I know. It's cold. It's light. It's a little too healthy. Even when it has two cups of oily, fatty, sugary dressing on it, a salad still has all those healthy vegetables with vitamins and minerals, which are probably really good to have when sick. I don't care. I don't want vitamins. At least not from a salad. (And not from a vitamin either.)
2. Sushi - It's raw and it's cold. Sushi is not warm and comforting, and I don't want to cuddle up with it. It reminds me of when I wanted a puppy when I was little and my parents bought me a goldfish instead.   
3. Fresh fruit - "I'm depressed," shouldn't be followed with, "Aw, here, honey, have an apple." That's not right. If the apple is drowning in hot sticky caramel and wrapped in a flaky pastry, maybe I'll feel better. But a fresh apple? See #1, salad. 
4. Wine - When I'm hungover, the last thing I want to drink is wine. Some say that the best way to cure a hangover is with more alcohol, which I totally agree with. That's why I say, "bring me a bloody mary!" not wine.
5. Cookies - This is weird, I know. It's probably only me. In fact, I think I really might be the only one who doesn't want to eat a cookie when I'm sick. When I'm sane, happy, and healthy, I love cookies of every kind, even *ahem* store-bought ones. But if I'm hungover or sick, a cookie sounds dry, like it will take too much effort to chew and swallow. I don't mind the fat and sugar though, which is probaby why a piece of tres leches cake sounds great.