Domesticali

Orange to chase away the grey

On those bright crisp days, when you can scuffle along through piles of leaves and smell woodsmoke in the air, I am a big fan of Autumn. But sadly, the real Autumn days of late are soggy and grey ones - not even properly chilly yet. The sort of days that sap energy and dampen spirits. 

And on these days, thank goodness for orange.

And for hunkering down at home.

And for the photographic evidence that the skies are not always grey.

Looking forward to hubby coming home this weekend, and cinnamon buns for breakfast (provided I manage to pull off my enforced half wholemeal flour and slightly past it's prime yeast experiment) and fireworks on Saturday night and a family movie with popcorn this evening. What do you have planned to lift your spirits?

Letting go

Finished some little knitted Kanoko Pants for the newborn son of a friend.

Her story is not mine to tell, but I have watched it unfold for some while now and from time to time I have contemplated how she can do it. How she can be strong enough to let go of the things she cannot change. To make her peace with them. 

Letting go is not one of my strong points. I waste much energy feeling angry and frustrated at situations I can do nothing to alter. So I keep my hands busy and hope that tomorrow, or the next day, I will wake up and find my anger has gone. Sometimes I think if I had less free time, there would be less space for brooding and I would be able to just let things go and move on. It's such a waste.

Comfort Food

The actual substance of comfort food might differ from family to family, but the urge to eat it is, I believe, pretty universal at this time of year. The nights are drawing in, the children at run-up-to-half-term tiredness levels. Folks all around us coughing and sneezing. Who couldn't use a food related hug? For us, tonight, it comes courtesy of a baked apple.

These fine specimens are currently residing in the oven, cored, filled with a few raisins, a squeeze of orange juice over them to moisten the dried fruit and then anointed with a dot of butter and a tiny sprinkle of demerara sugar.

Not really a recipe - the finest comfort food doesn't require one. There is no need to refer to a book or to weigh and measure. Comfort food is never about challenging flavour combinations or cheffy techniques. It should be as simple to make as it is to eat. Dippy egg and soldiers, baked potato with oodles of butter, crumble. They'd all make it onto my list. Yours?

The perfect October-cake

There is a trouser-size defining equation which I have been thinking about recently - if I were a maths whizz, I could probably explain it very elegantly. But as my son will tell you, my forte in mathematics is breaking everything down to 'noddy maths' basics. 

So, in it's most basic form, my theory is that trouser size is defined by the relationship between  personal levels of greed and sweet tooth. My trousers are very pleased that greedy as I am, I am not possessed by a particularly sweet tooth.

But there are moments, often in the carbohydrate-craving phase that Autumn seems to usher in, when I really want to eat some cake. Nothing too sweet, no icing or jam. Nothing fancy. But cake nevertheless. And this weekend, I lucked out with the most perfect solution to my cravings - a sticky gingerbread. 

Perfect sustenance for the Rugby tournament that lasted all day on Sunday. And a good enough keeper to enjoy a slice with morning coffee on this wet Monday.

The recipe came from Waitrose Kitchen (the October issue) and I can't find it online, which is irritating, because it is really very good. So good that I have stuck it in my recipe collection book. If anyone is desperate for it, let me know and I could take a photo of it and send it to you. Much like the maths homework last week for Mark's friend, who had left his textbook at school. How did we cope before technology?

Shortages

There's been some alarming rumblings about a pumpkin shortage this year. Bad weather, mumble mumble, too cold, mutter, they don't like it wet sort of talk. 

But that's not why I got my little ornamental gourds early - they are just so cheerful on the shelves outside the back door, that I like to have them there for as long as possible.

Though when I compare them to the shelves of years gone by, there seem to be fewer mini-pumpkin types. Perhaps the stories are true after all.

 

(the same shelves in 2009)

Actually, the shape of the pumpkins aren't the only thing I notice about these photos. It's the pictures themselves. DSLR verus lazy phone Instagram shot - I feel ashamed of my efforts of late. 

There's no real reason behind not picking up my proper camera. No excuse for failing to make the effort to think about how to make a photograph look more interesting. But somehow it has happened. And when I see the results I feel a little bit sad. 

Clearly, there's a photography mojo shortage round these parts. Must do better.

 

50 things to do before you turn 12

The National Trust came up with a big list to get children off the sofa and out into the big outdoors. Given that Mark turned 12 today, I thought it might be a fun time to see what evidence we could find of the activities we've done. It has taken a very pleasureable age of trawling through the photo archives. Makes me want to be sure to photograph their childhoods at every single turn.

1. Climb a tree

2. Roll down a really big hill

3. Camp out in the wild

4. Build a den

5. Skim a stone

6. Run around in the rain

7. Fly a kite

8. Catch a fish with a net

9. Eat an apple straight from a tree

10. Play conkers

11. Throw some snow

12. Hunt for treasure on the beach

13. Make a mud pie

14. Dam a stream

15. Go sledging

16. Bury someone in the sand

17. Set up a snail race

18. Balance on a fallen tree

19. Swing on a rope swing

20. Make a mud slide

21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild

22. Take a look inside a tree

23. Visit an island

24. Feel like you're flying in the wind

25. Make a grass trumpet

26. Hunt for fossils and bones

27. Watch the sun wake up

28. Climb a huge hill

29. Get behind a waterfall

30. Feed a bird from your hand

31. Hunt for bugs

32. Find some frogspawn

33. Catch a butterfly in a net

34. Track wild animals

35. Discover what's in a pond

36. Call an owl

37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

38. Bring up a butterfly

39. Catch a crab

40. Go on a nature walk at night

41. Plant it, grow it, eat it

42. Go wild swimming

43. Go rafting

44. Light a fire without matches

45. Find your way with a map and compass

46. Try bouldering

47. Cook on a campfire

48. Try abseiling

49. Find a geocache

50. Canoe down a river

And can I add an extra? Eat Nigella's Nutella Cheesecake in lieu of a birthday cake.

Happy Birthday elder son. It's been a lot of fun making childhood memories with you.