Seasonal Pleasures, Cakes and Soup

October ending; November beginning. Autumn truly underway. Leaves are falling like coloured rain and swirling around in the chilly wind. Drifted piles lie in scented heaps where hedgehogs sleep and insects hide away until Spring warms the earth again.

In the garden I’m finding changes day by day. Leaves of such beauty are either clinging on or fluttering on the ground. Here is a selection I caught with my camera.

The late roses and a few lovely flowers are defying the chill wind and making the most of the fading sun.

Bright berries and the buff colours of seedheads are pleasing too. The Euonymus europaea has vibrant pink pods with orange seeds. The seedheads of Liatris stand tall and stiff in the border.

The trees and shrubs are changing every day and give a mellow tint to the garden. The Acers are not yet in full glory but their transition is beautiful. Hawthorn leaves shine out in golden yellow.

The vegetable garden supplies food all year in the polytunnels. Parsley grows abundantly under cover and doesn’t suffer from mud splash as it would out in the rain. I’ve given away some because I’ve already frozen portions and it will go to seed if it’s not picked. Lovely to have some fresh in the winter though if I want a sprig or two so I want to keep it growing.

It’s a little late for tomatoes. The greenhouse plants have been removed and any remaining tomatoes brought in. I gave away a basketful of green ones but I still have more to keep and hopefully ripen. There are two plants still in the tunnel which I’m hoping will be ok for a few more days.

Apples have been so generous this year and some at the top of the big tree are still clinging on. A long pole with a basket at the top to capture them helped to rescue a few. I don’t know the names of our varieties but they make the most delicious stewed apple or a pie. Sometimes I make my Apple and Cinnamon Squares instead. My recipe for these is in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook which can be found with this link.

https://geni.us/eANQu

I made two banana and cranberry loaves to freeze for later and orange and banana squares to use up some ripe fruit. My recipe for the loaves is in my cookbook. They’re very satisfying served in buttered slices. All my cake recipes freeze well.

I will be making my Christmas puddings this week. More about those next time but if you have my cookbook the recipe is included with full instructions. It’s a good recipe if you don’t like a steamy kitchen. These are steamed under foil in the oven in individual pudding bowls. Not difficult to make but too detailed to be explained on my blog unfortunately.

Soups are wonderful in the winter or just for a warming and satisfying meal. I tried a little experiment. I wanted to include some protein but hadn’t any suitable meat so I tried using white fish. It might sound unappealing but it was really good and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I made a basic soup with onion, potato, carrots, parsnips and good vegetable stock cubes, then I added frozen peas and a fillet of frozen white fish. I added the whole intact fillet to the hot liquid because I knew it would flake as it cooked. When the soup was ready I blended it. It tasted basically like pea soup but with fish added. It was surprisingly good and easy to do. I think this is probably what a fish “chowder” is. I will certainly make it again.

I’m about to paint another picture but I have only done the drawing so far. Meanwhile, as it’s time for winter pansies here’s one I did some time ago. Drawn, as usual, from my own photograph, drawn, then painted with gouache.

I hope you’re enjoying the glorious Autumn colours in the countryside and in your gardens. With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.