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| The latest addition to my kitchen, in this season's pastel shades |
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
In season
Daylight saving (aka Summer Time) started in the weekend and despite a bitingly cold wind, it feels like winter is finally properly behind us. Digging through my wardrobe this morning I remembered a woman I used to work with who was a serious clotheshorse and incredibly dedicated shopper, who would think nothing of spending £100 while nipping out at lunchtime. She was my boss when we first moved to London and I remember her chattering away about how she was going to spend the weekend sorting out her summer wardrobe. This involved two things: one, buying all the latest fashion mags and circling all the things she planned to buy; and two, getting all last years' stuff down from the loft (and putting the winter stuff up there in return). At the time I was living out of a 60-litre backpack and my summer wardrobe consisted of two T-shirts and a dress (my winter wardrobe consisted of the same, but wearing them all at once). I felt like Cinderella, but without the fairy godmother.
Anyway, what I was really wondering, was - how do you approach the new season's food? Do you put all your winter-y cookbooks up in the loft, behind last year's handbags? What do you do when it might feel like summer when you get up in the morning, but winter by dinner time? And have you invested in any new kitchen kit for the coming season?
Here in Georgia,USA we are awaiting fall and next winter.
ReplyDeleteI try to keep things light during the warmer months; as the summers here are scorching hot! We grill lots and hardly ever use the indoor oven.
My Fall/winter..cool weather cooking seems to lean toward warmth and comfort.
Smile Bunches Today!
Not yet. I usually like to but a fall colored silicone spoon or new napkins.
ReplyDeleteha ha! I do the clothes thing, not at £100 in my lunch hour, but putting away and taking out and I have way more winter clothes! I don't think I do anything to change the season in the kitchen, other than starting to make a big pot of soup on a Sunday and a lot of one-pot stews and casseroles. In summer, things get lighter, more marinating, grilling, salads. It's been a beautiful day here today, tomorrow will probably be qutie different.
ReplyDeleteOhhh- what an interesting question! Funnily enough just today I was baking what really is a summer recipe, but changing the main fruit (peaches) for a more Autumnal seasonal version (plums).
ReplyDeleteI was lucky to receive some babushka doll measuring spoons for my birthday! So they're my latest addition. Oh, and my retro kenwood cake mixer. I'm big on salads this time of year, and fresh herbs, but there's no real rhyme or reason or structure to my cookbook collection or mode of cooking! It's all a bit ramshackle (and my wardrobe's the same!) but keeping to seasonal-ish produce at the market helps :)
ReplyDeleteOh, they are pretty. I always look forward to asparagus, that's my marker of winter leaving and spring approaching. And there's usually a facepalm moment of "this winter went on forever and I didn't make one steamed pudding and I forgot to last year too".
ReplyDeleteLove your measuring cups, they're as sweet as the sugar you can scoop up with them.
Yes with the clothes. No with the cookbooks but because we all try and cook 'seasonally' now it makes it easier to step into tune with what's around. It's those funny cross over periods, I call them Sprinter and Wring, that get you flumoxed! It's so weird that you're just coming into summer. We've got this odd Indian summer in the UK right now but you know a harsh winter is on the way. It's hot out but the autumn leaves are everywhere!!
ReplyDeleteI still feel like I'm living out of the 60 litre backpack clothes wise!!! The summer wardrobe lives on through the winter, just with the addition of a jumper and some thick tights lol. Food wise, I try very much to follow the season's and eat what each season brings to us, but my cookbooks are my babies and so they stay where they are year long, but to be honest I've really only got two seasonal cookbooks ... apart from my Christmas ones!
ReplyDeleteit's funny because I tried working through Sophie Dahl's cookery book seasonally because it's written that way but always find myself jumping around it. Probably because as you say the seasons are so mixed up. We're in autumn now but it's been hotter than the end of summer and we have snow forecast for next month!!
ReplyDeleteIt really depends what I fancy and what's available but I always make salads all year round crispy fresh ones in the summer and warm ones in the winter. I definitely find I'm eating more comfort food, risottos and mashed vegetables as we head to winter though.
I love your cup measurements very spring-like and they go with your blog wallpaper. I'm not planning any new equipment at the moment but was coveting some beautiful ethnic looking black cooking pots in John Lewis at the weekend...very expensive but fortunately there's no more room in my little kitchen...
Love your measuring cups, I saw similar ones in Lakeland and are on my 'to buy' list. I get my soup books out and I make soup. Gallons of it. Right round until spring is properly sprung. My stick blender is my essential winter kitchen kit. I made soup today, as planned, because it didn't look as though we were getting an Indian Summer this year, then it arrived, today, with a hot bang. But it's ok. I freeze soup. And I hope I'm not living anywhere near debbie emadian if she is expecting snow. I don't do snow. Must make more soup though, just in case.
ReplyDeleteLove the measuring implements! Where did you get them? xx
ReplyDeleteI've written a foodie to do list for spring. Hopefully it will get me off the hearty, heavy food that I've been cooking over winter and push me to try some new things. I used to have a summer/winter wardrobe as a child but as an adult I no longer differentiate the two. I haven't stopped wearing my coats yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm very jealous of your seasonal change. We're just into autumn and in a few weeks the clocks will go back and that is like the end of everything. Just black doom and eternal dusks. Sigh. (SAD? Moi?) At least I can start making some big hearty stews, which are my favourite, much prefer them to summery salads.
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