October has to be one of my favourite months – the wistful feeling you get with summer’s passing has been replaced with full blown Autumnal love. The leaves are vivid, the nights are drawing in and, in the orchard, the harvest is bountiful.
Autumn Foliage
To preserve the best of the season’s stunning foliage gather short branches of laurel, lime, hornbeam, eucalyptus, beech and maple and stand them in a bucket of warm water for a few hours (if any curl and wither, then simply discard them). Make a mix of glycerine (1 part) and water (2 parts), boil it up and, once cool, stand your short branches in it, ensuring it's at least 6 cm deep in the bottom of your container. After a few weeks the branches and leaves will have soaked up enough glycerine to be preserved and you can use them in wreaths and floral displays.
Pears
They go from rocks to mush so quickly, that I find preserving them is the best way to enjoy them. This year I've poached them in syrup with star anise and cinnamon, which makes for an excellent instant dessert to serve unexpected guests and I've also made pear and ginger preserve, a little looser set than jam.
For the poached pears, simply combine a bottle of white wine with 400g of granulated sugar, star anise and cinnamon, heat until the sugar has dissolved and then put in the pears and poach for 30 mins, before bottling up in large sterilised jars.
Apples
A simple open apple tart is so easy and quick - take sweet shortcrust pastry, line your tart tin, prick the base and line with parchment paper and baking beans. Bake blind for ten mins at 180 degrees, then cook for a further five to brown the base.
Thinly slice your apples and lay in concentric circles, before making a simple caramel with 50g of sugar and 50g of butter, which you then brush over the slices. Cook in a moderate over for 30 mins and serve with a warm custard or a slick of single cream.
Halloween
There's so much more to say on this that I'll be writing a dedicated page to it soon, but in the meantime, here's a few ideas to whet your appetite...
In our village we have a tradition that only houses with a lit pumpkin at the door are open for trick or treating – it means that the elderly aren’t plagued by kids knocking at all hours and that when you’ve run out of treats, you can signal that you’re no longer open for business.
Decorating
Start saving up the cardboard centre of toilet roll holders, then get yourself some chunky glowsticks and cut a variety of spooky eye shaped holes in the cardboard rolls, pop the glowsticks in and place in a variety of dark corners, to create the illusion of glowing eyes peering through the gloaming…
For smaller children who don’t have the strength and dexterity to carve a pumpkin, simply take a bowl of small oranges and a black sharpie and draw spooky faces on – they’ll make a sweet table display for a special Halloween meal. In my family, jacket potatoes are always on the menu and colcannon is a traditional treat.
Games
Apple bobbing is a classic Halloween tradition for kids, but have you followed it up with a round of Marshmallow bobbing? In a bowl of flour, place marshmallows and, immediately after bobbing for an apple, move along to the floury bowl and bob for a marshmallow chaser. Have plenty of flannels standing by!
More traditional is a game of Apple On The Mound. Take a bowl of flour and invert it on to a tray, so you have a large pile of flour. Place a small apple on top with a small sharp knife and play music, while the children dance round the bowl. When the music stops, the child nearest must cut a slice from the flour – if any dislodge the apple then they must dive in and bob for it, replacing it back on the top of the pile.
Cheery bye! x