october....and being cosy.

October is here again.
A beautiful month when Nature is resplendent in her autumn colours.
Lately, there have been lots of country walks with Tiny Girlie when conkers, acorns and leaves have been gathered; treasures to be taken home and laid out on the table in her playroom on our return.

I know a lot of people mourn the passing of summer ... and what a summer it has been ... but there is also something so cosy about the darker evenings.

A time for warm socks, woolly jumpers, candles.. and in the kitchen, the welcome return of soups, casseroles and comforting puddings.

And maybe some leaf shaped biscuits too! *

In recent years everyone has been talking about the Danish concept of 'Hygge' roughly meaning cosy.
But the latest buzz word it seems is the Swedish term 'fika'. Meaning to share coffee and cake or biscuits with friends and colleagues, it is also much more than that; a moment to relax in a busy day, to pause and appreciate the good things in life, to chat.
And that sounds like a tradition worth cultivating!



Here's to some 'fika' in the coming days!

Speak soon

Annie
x


* I used the following recipe for my biscuits:
150g butter
150g caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract, then work in the flour. Leave to rest for 30 minutes before rolling out and cutting into cookies.
Bake at 180c for about 12 minutes.

Autumn Leaf cookie cutters from John Lewis.