"You add what!" asked my stepsister, Mary Anne. She looked up from the steaming wok on the kitchen stove.

"Arrowroot," I answered. "And keep stirring."

"Arrowroot?" Mary Anne said. "That sounds sickening."

"It's for thickening," I replied. Then I realized what I'd said. So I added, "Underthtand?"

We both started giggling. It was one of those days.

I don't know about you, but I go crazy in the early fall. Especially when the air is so cool and clear you can almost drink it. I just want to run around in the falling leaves and scream and sing. So what was I doing? Slaving in the kitchen with Mary Anne Spier, trying to make "Tofu Garden Delight."

Bet you're dying to know what that is. Well,

I wasn't too sure myself. But it's the name of this excellent stir-fry dish at a restaurant called The Source inAnaheim,California (that's close to where I'm from). Since Mary Anne and I had agreed to make dinner that night, I was determined to figure out the recipe. Even if it meant being cooped up on an incredible day.

You know what Mary Anne thinks? She's convinced I like the fall because inCalifornia the weather is the same all year round and there is no fall. Well, I love Mary Anne — she is my best friend in the world and I mean the world — but here's the news for all you East Coast dudes: WRO-ONG. There are seasons inCalifornia , and leaves do fall from trees. Okay, it's not as vivid as here, or as cold, but it has its own good points.

Here, by the way, isStoneybrook,Connecticut . And I, by the way, am Dawn Schafer. My mom and I moved here fromCalifornia when I was in seventh grade (I'm in eighth now). See, Mom grew up here and her parents still live here, so she figured she'd move back here after she and my dad divorced.

Yes, it's true. My parents live on opposite sides of the country, like bookends. Sometimes I tell people I have a "bicoastal family" because it sounds pretty cool. But let me tell you, it feels pretty awful.