Autumn at last ... Where have you been?

Autumn has finally arrived! We've gone from balmy Halloween, celebrated in T-shirts and flip-flops, to Jack Frost nipping at our noses in less than a week. Congratulations to our barmy British climate. It's all a bit bonkers, really.

I'm so glad that I managed to squeeze in some time last weekend to walk in the woods with Emi and Maxi, and admire the wonderful colours of the leaves against the most perfect blue sky.

There were lots of other people out, taking the air as well. Several parents came up and asked if their little ones could stroke Maxi. He's everyone's friend, and he especially loves children, although his exuberance can sometimes startle them.

We collected leaves. I'm a compulsive leaf collector at this time of the year, and it's rubbing off. Emi also returns clutching a bunch of foliage as though it were a bouquet of fine flowers.

Aren't those maple leaves exquisite? I was so inspired by their brilliant colours that I dusted off my old flower press and we spent a happy hour placing some of our better-looking trophies between pages of blotting paper and card for pressing. We went out in our garden to see what else we could find.

There were some heroic geraniums and nasturtiums still going strong, so we harvested a few of those to go in the press as well. I'm not sure what we'll do with them all when they're done, but they seemed to give the most perfect spectrum of my favourite fire colours. I hope they don't fade too much as they dry.

We've had a busy time of it recently. Emi has finally got his project on the Romans done and dusted. We had a lovely day at the Roman Baths just before his half-term holidays finished, which gave him loads of material to write about.

And I've been busy baking  Boozy Bejeweled Christmas Cakes, which have left my kitchen smelling like a cosy little corner of heaven.

My favourite Turkish grocer has started to stock the new season's clementines, which are positively divine: juicy and sweet and aromatic. Yesterday a bunch of them called out to me and positively begged me to make them into some marmalade. How could a girl resist? I mean just look how inviting they were:

I used my tried-and-tested method and had a lot of fun playing around with the flavours. I chose to enhance the zesty, almost floral flavour of the fruit with some green cardamons and a decent glug of Cointreau to max out the orangeness. I had a hunch that the flavours would marry well, and they did - with bells on!  If you're interested in my recipe I'll try and write it up soon before I forget. I still like to play with my food and a lot of my cooking is done on the hoof, improvising as I go along, which is fine, but sometimes makes it difficult to get the same result twice. 

Anyway I hope you're enjoying the autumn too, and all the best for a splendid weekend,

Bonny x

As shared on Friday Finds, image-in-ing and Our World Tuesday

PS I've just written up my recipe and you can find it here: Clementine and cardamon marmalade