If you've ever experienced a summer in New York City — where AC units dribble water on you as you walk down the street and you could  actually fry an egg on the sidewalks — you can understand why FoodNetwork.com staffers have been itching for the first sign of fall. And it's finally here; the calendar and the temperatures prove it. And now it's time we started cooking like it. In the spirit of this cooler, crisper season, we're sharing  the dishes that FoodNetwork.com staffers simply can't wait to make, ranging from comforting pasta dishes to in-season sweets.

"No matter the time or day, chances are good that I’m craving pasta. Spaghetti, rigatoni, casarecce or campanelle; carbonara, Bolognese, amatriciana or pesto — I’m into them all. While my go-to recipe for linguine pomodoro delivers on busy weeknights when I’m turning hangry and need to eat, like, right now, I tend to reserve the 'special' sauces for weekend cooking and one in particular for the first chilly weekend of fall. This Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese from Giada De Laurentiis stars tender sweet onions and butternut squash, which is in season in autumn (though you can likely find it at the grocery store year-round). The beauty of this pasta is that there’s no true, proper sauce here. Instead, Giada simply roasts the veggies, then tosses them with the pasta and tangy goat cheese, which turns into a creamy, silky coating for the penne after it meets the hot noodles."

"This crumble is, dare I say, even better than pumpkin pie. A hearty scoop is packed with tons of the pumpkin-y flavor you crave, but the extra-creamy texture combined with the crunchy topping makes this dish super comforting. It’s probably my favorite new fall recipe from Food Network Kitchen this year."

"In the fall, when the weather cools down and my apartment is no longer the Seventh Circle of Dante’s Inferno, I like to invite my most-gluttonous friends over for dinner. Most of them are vegetarian — and more importantly, their stomachs are insatiable landfills — so I always stir up a bosky vat of risotto with mushrooms and butternut squash [from Food Network Magazine]. Rice, especially Arborio rice, is inherently food that swells, and so it really feeds — perfect for dinner parties. And mushrooms, when cooked properly — that is, in butter — take on such meatiness that no one misses the meat at all, omnivores and herbivores alike. Everyone’s happy — especially the cook. There’s great comfort, after all, in the quiet monotony of stirring risotto, and sending your friends off slightly more tranquilized than when they arrived."

"This will be our first fall in our new home, and I am really looking forward to seeing how the trees and flowers will change in this new-to-us neighborhood. I have visions of sitting on our front porch with a mug of Sandra Lee’s Toasted Cider warming my hands while the kids throw leaves around the yard. This cider recipe is great because I can make one big pumpkin-spiced, kid-friendly batch with a fall favorite of mine: fresh apple cider. I also love that it goes well with spiced rum, which you can add to the adults’ glasses just before serving. It’s so easy to make Sandra’s quick cider that I won’t mind whipping it up even after a long day at the pumpkin patch with three 3-year-olds!"

"It might be because the office is kept nice and frosty over the summer months, but my hankering for a dose of warming comfort remained even when it was blistering-hot over the summer. But, then, it just didn't seem right to be taking a spoon to steamy stew. Now that the temperatures (finally) seem to be taking a dip here in New York, I have every excuse to dig my slow cooker out of my apartment's minimal storage and break it in with a super-hearty  Slow-Cooker Beef Stew. The gravy is rich, the beef is fall-apart good, and the vegetables are nice and tender — and it all comes together when I'm typing away at the ice-cold office."

"Thanks to modern farming, you can have carrots in just about any season, but nothing says 'fall' more than a plate piled high with roasted and charred carrots. Save the tops and use them to make this Carrot-Top Pesto. The sweetness from the carrots contrasts nicely with the pesto's sharp, salty Parmesan and its richness from the cashews. The carrot-top leaves and parsley keep the whole dish in harmony. Out of all the videos I've shot for Food Network, this dish was the biggest struggle to keep the crew from eating before we were done shooting. OK and yes, I might have been the biggest offender."

"I’ve never cooked with a whole pumpkin before, but this fall I’m determined to give it a shot, thanks to Anne Burrell’s Orecchiette with Pancetta, Pumpkin and Broccoli Rabe [from Food Network Magazine]. Pasta is one of my favorite comfort foods, and who can resist a bowl when it’s made with salty pancetta and plenty of parmigiana? Plus, this recipe will give me a reason to pick up two pumpkins (one for eating and one for decorating, of course) during my annual apple picking trip."

"Living in upstate New York in the fall means gorgeous foliage, flannels and crates of locally grown apples. Sure, I’ll bake with them and eat them out of hand, but it’s not really fall until they get served with a hearty roast pork loin. It’s a match made in Hudson Valley heaven."

"I am excited to bake a Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread, because I love the flavors of fall in a bread I can snack on any time of the day. I haven’t yet mastered the tricky technique of gluten-free baking yet, and this seems like a fun, easy recipe to practice with."

"What’s more fall than soup in a pumpkin? Nothing. When I first started cooking, making things inside other things intimidated me. But whenever fall came around, I longed to eat savory soup out of a roasted pumpkin. This recipe for Squash Soup in Pumpkin Bowls from Food Network Magazine is warm, creamy and comforting. This is the season where I’ll finally make my fall Pinterest-goddess dream come true. Now I just need to get an immersion blender."

Get even more ways to cook like it's fall right here.