Warm days, golden afternoons, pink mountain dusk, earthy smells mixing with the cool night air. Autumn. The changing of the seasons always fills me with nostalgia and far distant memories. It feels as though I'm tapping into some collective consciousness that is right now and long gone. Fionn Regan's latest album "100 Acres of Sycamore" seems like the right kind of music to listen when I feel the pull of natural cycles. His voice is so gentle and there is something circular about the music and I'm always a sucker for off-beat romantic lyrics.
A friend suggested I mention what I am reading and while I would love to discuss something intellectual, I have fallen victim to George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" series. It is so escapist and captivating. His characters are detailed and real, the story is complex and the social commentary totally relevant in spite of the fantasy setting. When I look around me and see the big egos most people use to approach life, and how unhappy most of them are, I wonder whether they ever think about finding themselves. Not the self based on acquisitions, others' opinions and external elements. The fearless, self-reliant, open-hearted self. Maybe they just don't care and are happy in their unhappiness.
Here is a very unhealthy cool weather pudding recipe! Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding. Pudding: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 eggs beaten, 4 cups granny smith apples peeled and finely chopped, 2 cups stone ground multi-purpose flour, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsps cream of tartar, 1/2 tsp salt. Sauce: 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp flour, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup of cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract. Pudding: Cream butter and sugar for 5 mins with an electric beater in a large bowl. Add eggs and beat on low until mixed. Add apples and mix with a spoon. Mix dry ingredients together and add to apple mixture in 3 batches mixing well. Pour into a greased 20x20cm baking dish/pudding basin (not too shallow). Bake at 170 degrees celsius for 50-60mins (or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean). Sauce: Mix sugar and flour in saucepan. Add rest of ingredients and bring to a slow boil. Boil 2 mins stirring continuously. Pour over hot pudding. Serve with custard/cream/ice-cream. Yum.
