Sept Still Summer 1042

After a busy first week of September during which the weather was just glorious, warm and sunny, things have quietened down chez Sadler. We continued to gather the fruits and vegetables of our labour; this has been a bumper year for apples. We squished many in our new electric juicer, have had stewed apples, apple pies and as many raw apples as we've wanted, and still have more in the freezer. Our one courgette plant has given a steady supply and the herbs have been satisfyingly abundant. The tomatoes didn't do so well this year, although we managed to avoid the blight this time. The aubergines have been lovely, and the chillies are hot, hot, hot!
Our walnut tree has yielded a good harvest; that'll keep us in nuts for a whole year. We collected up all the sunflower seeds too, for the chickens and wild birds. And there's still beetroot in the ground for winter roasts, although the chooks eat the beetroot leaves as soon as they sprout so the plants look a little hen-pecked...

The weather broke mid-September, giving us a hearty downpour. The girls sheltered on the front doorstep... too heavy even for them.
They still give us an egg a day between them, sometimes two, sometimes a day off. It's a joy to watch them wander all day around the garden, hoovering up bugs, scratching in the flower beds. It's funny how they turn up, chuntering away, whenever we sit down for lunch on the terrace, hopeful of crumbs. If we'd known how much we'd enjoy having chickens, we'd have done it years ago!

After a season of salads, it's a welcome return to autumn food. Inspired by the Bake-Off, I made a batch of cheese muffins from my old favourite New Zealand muffin cook book. Not too bad for you if they count as lunch.

Then there was the memorable cauliflower macaroni cheese with Piedmont peppers supper....

and another evening, vegetable samosas with noodles. Now I have more time to spare, cooking has become a pleasure again.