Autumn Fun with Pumpkins and Meringues

Happy half term! How are you all doing? We are well and truly in the autumn spirit and doing all the seasonal things. It was off to the pumpkin patch for our yearly visit to pick pumpkins to carve and decorate the front of the house. I love that we will have pictures from each year with the kids that will document them as they get older. I wonder will they still do this with us when they are teenagers?! We go to a lovely ‘pick your own farm’ called the Cat and Fiddle and they have really stepped up this year and have added an amazing rustic cabin for pizza, hot chocolates and milkshakes. Word has definitely got around though as it was busier than I’ve ever seen it. The girls love the wheelbarrow and being trundled around the fields and then it’s a very serious business of picking the best pumpkins!

This was actually the first time I had been out for a while as I ended up with a pretty bad cold last week, first one in a year and half. I made it into work for one day when I thought it wasn’t that bad but then it hit my chest and it was game over!! Thankfully I didn’t feel too bad but the cough has been a real nuisance, I did test too and thankfully it wasn’t anything worse. In any case it was nice to get back out in the fresh air.

Today’s Special Value – Kitchen Aid 7-speed hand mixer

I tested out the Kitchen Aid hand mixer this weekend and for the very first time had a go at making meringues! I’m not sure why I have never done it, I think I thought it was more complicated than it is. My granny was a meringue genius and made iconic pavlovas so it’s silly that I hadn’t given it a go. On a recent Le Creuset show Alison made some meringue ghosts and she gave me her recipe so I gave it a go but with a little twist. I made little ‘mummy monsters’! Yes, they also resemble a well-loved emoji but let’s stick to mummy monsters, haha! You can watch a video of how I made them on my Instagram by clicking here.

Recipe

5 egg whites whisked until peaking.

350g caster sugar which you add really really slowly and keep whisking until glossy and getting stiff. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto baking paper on a baking tray. Into the oven for 45mins at 160. I actually brought mine out a bit earlier as they were browning too much.

The googley eyes I managed to get at the supermarket baking section and they are stuck on with icing sugar. Cute right?

The Kitchen Aid Today’s Special Value offer is a choice of the Onyx Black, Contour Silver, Empire Red and Almond Cream. It comes with stainless steel turbo beaters and a whisk which is what I used for the meringues. (The metal bowl in the picture is from my Kitchen Aid stand mixer). This is a great alternative to the stand mixer by the way if your budget won’t stretch to that. It’s also really quick and easy for smaller jobs when you don’t want to get a big mixer out and it also takes up a lot less space! It’s got seven settings which gives amazing control and a very smooth rotation. It goes live on air at 9pm on Tuesday 26th. Get in early to secure the colour you want!

Fashion 

I have a few new items in my wardrobe so I thought I would share a few of my favourites. Firstly, this Monsoon Floral Print Hanky Jersey Shirt Dress, you may have seen me wearing it on air. It’s punchy in the black and red colourway and it also looks quite like animal print which I love. It’s a very easy throw on and go dress that you can put on over your head.

It works well with chunky boots and would also be more elegant with a court shoe. I wore the Clarks Roseleigh Sky Hiking Boot in black and I was thrilled that the size 8 fit me as they don’t do a 9, I would say the 8 is a true 42. I had to open them right up and loosen the laces to get into them and at first I didn’t think they would fit but once I was in, they were perfect!

Centigrade Big Deal

This has been very popular, unsurprisingly! A fab faux fur coat is a must have but there are so many to choose from so you can be spoilt for choice. I like the length of this one and the shawl colour adds a bit of glamour to it, meaning that you can wear it out for a party or smart occasion but you can also sling it on with jeans to go to the supermarket and stay warm in the yoghurt isle! We have it in Black, Forest Green, Navy, Plum and Slate. I have the plum here which looks amazing against the autumn leaves, don’t you think?

Christmas

Well October didn’t slow down, did it?! My goodness this year is flying. I am already making our plans for Christmas and I’m sure many of you are too. I’ve ordered my Altham’s Meat hamper, which you can still get by the way, and my Santa’s Best Christmas tree (still a few sizes left!) and I have also been treating myself to a few new Christmas decorations. I ordered the Home Reflections Pre lit set of 2 oversized glitter stars to add some sparkle and fun to the house. I love twinkling lights so much and these are beautifully lit. I ended up putting them out for Tilda’s Birthday a few weeks ago and I’ve not put them away! So, it looks like that’s them out until after Christmas!

Yankee Candle

One more thing before I go, you may want to know that the Christmas Yankee Candle Today’s Special Value is going on pre sell this coming Thursday. It’s a six-piece collection including 2 x Large, 2 Medium and 2 x Small Jars.

The fragrance choices will be:

Single fragrance options – All is Bright, Spiced Orange, Cherry Blossom and Midnight Jasmin

Or

Variety Collections – Festive Favourites, Glad Tidings, Super Fruits or Dreamy Florals

These are always a great way to tick off a number of different gifts for your loved ones so set the reminders!

What have you all been up to? Let me know if you have anything lovely planned over the coming months.

Lots of Love

Katy xx