To be honest, it’s not my favourite time. In fact, I find it really rather depressing.
Autumn
The heating is on again (and it seems to suck down oil at an alarming rate), the days are getting shorter and the garden looks a mess. There are leaves everywhere and all our shrubs are looking decidedly ropey. Plus, the shops are telling us it’s only a few weeks to go until Christmas. Deep joy.
Spicey Carrot Muffins
Still, at least there’s plenty of activity on the food front. Pumpkins are everywhere and the root crops are at their finest. It’s also the time of year when my wife feels the need to get all homey in the kitchen and start cooking again. She’s batch baking like there’s no tomorrow – everything from pumpkin pie to spicy carrot muffins.
Pumpkin Soup
She thinks we live in Antarctica and need to grow a layer of blubber to see us through the icy depths of winter (we live in Kent – the mildest part of the UK). For my part, I’m a bit of a soup buff. Brian (our good friend and gardener extraordinaire) is supplying us with the finest ingredients – carrots, leeks, onions, chillies, cabbage, kale, potatoes etc.
Carrots
So in to the pot it goes and we see what comes out the other end. For the most part it’s pretty good (and not nearly as fattening as the aforementioned baked goods). This week it was spicy pumpkin soup followed by spicy carrot muffins. Maybe autumn’s not so bad after all.
Duncan Callow
www.alexandrapatrick.co.uk
