A week of travelling, so I haven’t had much of a hand in weeknight dinners this week. It was strange to get out of the daily commute, the nursery routine. I went to bed very late (for me) a few times, slept for eight hours without waking one night (I think that’s the first time in 2 years!) and found space to be myself. Rewarding, but also tiring when that was my work-self most of the time. Without the forced change of role at nursery pickup time, my work thoughts can keep spiralling around all the way to bedtime.

This weekend has several guests woven through it, so time for some big pieces of meat, some oven time and perhaps some apple puddings, using up the vast tray of apples my mum and dad brought with them. These feel like the last few sane weeks of autumn, before we hit Halloween, then fireworks night, and before you know it we’re on the downhill slope to Christmas. Happy weekend.

Recipes:

• Pulled pork sandwiches – NY Times
• Confit chicken legs (I used thighs) with potatoes and spinach (instead of escarole) – Bon Appetit

Reading:

• An old post this, but Ms. MarmiteLover’s Chocolate supperclub menu with Trish Deseine is inspiring
• What’s not to like about masala chai banana bread?
• The Guardian had a supplement all about roasts last weekend – articles include 10 best roast dinner centrepieces, and how to craft a perfectly balanced roast dinner by Ed Smith of @rocketandsquash
• Serious Eats rounds up ideas for meals to make for new parents
• It’s the season for crumbles, so Ruby Tandoh’s butternut squash and spinach casserole with a feta crumble topping sounds perfect
• Joe pastry sums up what’s so great about cast iron pans. My unenamelled Lodge cast iron frying pan is one of my favourites, and was super-cheap to buy.
• Deborah adapts the apple cake that I so disastrously dropped a few weeks ago, adding a streusel topping. It might be worth another go.