Food in October

The clocks have fallen back, the heating is on and we're just a few weeks away from Christmas. Sorry to say the 'C' word already, but its time to get festive. Starting with pumpkins and cinnamon, rolling onto to some toffee apples, toasted marshmallows and then head first into mulled wine and pigs in blankets.

I don't think I've ever had such a seasonal month in terms of recipes on the blog. How about a spiced pumpkin bundt or a Hogwarts Halloween feast with Harry's treacle tarts, butterbeer cupcakes and pumpkin pasties.

Its been a relatively quiet month, plenty of time to catch up on sleep and read through a few piles of recipe books.

At the start of the month I popped over to the Cake and Bake Show at the Excel. I'd never been on the Emirates Air Line before so was a nice way of travelling over the river and seeing the sights. The Cake show was packed full of some truly impressive bakes for their annual competition. This year's theme was children's stories. This Hogwarts cake was hands down my favourite, can I have it for my birthday please? And I'm just going to slip in here I'm so excited to have gotten my mitts on some Cursed Child tickets for next year!

Sunday mornings are perfect spent mooching around Colombia Road Flower Market finding some seasonal blooms and sipping coffee in the sunshine. I couldn't resist coming home with some new succulents and some hydrangea's that are still going strong 3 weeks on. 

I was sent these Nothing But snacks to try. I'd seen them before in Whole Foods so was curious to try them. Fruit and veggies are chopped up and freeze dried and nothing else is added to these handy packs. They're an acquired taste I feel, but some of the flavours are absolutely great. I loved the strawberry & banana ones and the pineapple & grape too. I wasn't so keen on the veggie ones as I've got a terrible sweet tooth but will definitely try some baking ones with the fruit ones.

Surprise surprise, some more buns. This time I went to On the Bab with Mike and Persephone and loved their fried chicken buns and kimchi. They had their very own beer dispenser and I had a Sojito, a mojito made with Korean Soju. With restaurants in Marylebone, Shoreditch and Covent Garden their buns are all over town. 

Another month has passed and another burger under my belt. Frankie took me and Flick to Counter in Vauxhall and we loved their Parisienne burger. Caramelised onion, bacon and a huge wedge of brie, incredible! Check out Frankie's review for scallops and raw onion.

I've taken to making a lot of granola of late, I love making bigger clusters to snack on at my desk. Breakfast all day long anyone? I melt 80g of honey with 1tbsp of coconut in a pan. Stir in a pinch of salt, 1tsp vanilla extract, 360g rolled oats and 1 beaten egg white. Spread out clumps onto a tray, scatter over some chopped nuts, sultanas and desiccated coconut and bake at 150 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden. But go wild and add whatever you fancy.

And now, onto creating some bonfire night recipes!

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