Summer

As I sit here in an autumnal jumper and listening to the rain falling outside I have realised that autumn has kind of snuck up on us. Don't get me wrong I was aware that it was coming, but the past couple of days the temperature had noticeably dropped. Autumn is in full swing and I have been reflecting on the summer that has just waved good bye to us.

Summer always brings with it longer days and shorter nights. Warmer temperatures even when its raining. A bright and wonderful colour show brings us something different each day with nature taking centre stage. Going into the garden and picking fruit/vegetables that you have been waiting for a couple of months to be just right. Having a day in the park and a picnic with your cousins. Sometimes summer can trick us into  thinking that it has gone for good but the sneaks back on us in September and squeezing every last bit of what it has. The anticipation and excitement of the arrival of a new family member whilst still enjoying the older ones. Summer, its been great and now it is over to the ever changing autumn. 

Pick Your Own

For the past five or so years in the summer we have had the pleasure of picking fruit from my aunty's garden. The fruits in question are plums, greengages, berries and apples, and about a month ago it was that time of the year again. My aunty has many plum and apple trees so there was plenty to go around our big extended family and its always nice to get the kids (my cousins) involved as well. The day we went the apples weren't ripe yet but we got bags full of plums and greengages, also some blackberries. I would encourage you to finding a 'Pick Your Own' farm or establishment because you know that the fruit is going to be just right and it's not all going to be uniform and generic like you find in the supermarkets. As you will see in the vlog I found what I like to call a 'bum plum' ha ha, and here is the vlog :)

Something Light and Fresh

As stated in the previous post there was a lot of eating done on Eid-ul Fitr and the majority of the food contained some form of lamb or chicken. So after a weekend of eating a lot of carnivorous food, we wanted to cleanse our bodies and have some vegetable goodness. What was even better was that some of these vegetables came directly from our garden. This Spring Summer Minestrone recipe is perfect for having a lot of vegetables in one dish and its really easy to change the vegetables that you use and make it your own. The recipe I used was from the Jamie Oliver series Jamie Does....Venice (you can watch the full episode here). The soup was delicious and fresh and was exactly what was needed after a heavy food weekend.

Home-grown peas (and mums hands) 

Home-grown green beans 

A pot full of vegetables

Soup bubbling away 

The recipe

The book

The finished product

The Instagram picture