We've had a good spell of food, starting with a happy accidental caramelised apple sauce. To replicate that particular mistake, simply over-brown the apples in sugar and butter in the pan, then add a little water and cook until soft. We had its delightful sweet flavour with honey roast pork and veg (and tasty oxo boiled cabbage). And used left over pork pieces and a re-run apple sauce to make a tasty salad to serve with left over sweet potato pie.

I found some highly desirable recipes online and as soon as we'd picked up a serious chunk of fresh ginger go busy boiling up some crystallised ginger and a bottle of home made chocolate syrup. Both of which proved fairly straight forward to make, but the end results weren't exactly what we were expecting (very tasty though).

Having waited a while to get our hands on some fresh mint, we squealed with delight when we saw it in ASDA (and promptly bought 3 plants worth). Why were we so keen? We were itching to recreate the mint tea we had drunk in Marrakesh. So we went to town and also knocked up some Beghrir (Moroccan semolina pancakes), served them with the home made chocolate syrup and saved some for Jack.

Then we had a 3 night run of evening meals with guests.

Monday: Curry with Ben ( a homemade prawn dish, turkey bhuna, onion bhajis, rice and home made naan breads, served with mango pickle and Pilsner) followed up with Malc's jam sponge.

Tuesday: Italian with the In-laws (spaghetti Bolognese and cheese and herb grilled garlic bread served with nibbles of olives, bread sticks and peanuts and plenty of lemon ice water), with apple crumble with custard for pudding and some perfectionist coffees.

Wednesday: Soup Swap! We had a few guests pop by to exchange and sample each others soup. It was a lovely relaxed time, with a spiced italian vegetable soup, a take on this roast veg soup (with a variety of roast vegetables added), some potato and parsnip and this gorgeous spicy parsnip soup all on offer. We made some fresh bread rolls and herby croutons, and Jeffers brought some beer.

We also had an experiment in minestrone, which we haven't put to the test yet. I'm hoping it will work out as an instant, home made, fresh version of a cup-a-soup. I made some intense cooked, herbed and seasoned veg, and froze it in individual portions (in a rubber cupcake tray) with individual portions of spaghetti. The plan is to put one portion of each into a mug or bowl and pour on boiled water... I have no idea if it will work.