Summer is still just hanging on, even as the conkers tumble down (causing me to lower the pushchair hood, just in case). I’m starting to get better at breaking recipes into stages, so that I can get things done between naps/feeds/shouts.

• Case in point: Diana Henry’s Lentils with tomatoes, eggs and dukkah (above). I made the dukkah and cooked lentils on one day, and put the dish together the next day. I made a double-batch of lentils and froze them using the cling film method here
• This apple and fennel salad from Joy the Baker looks perfect for this in-between warm-but-still autumn period
• I like the Serious Eats approach – scientific without being too technical. This is a great primer on mixing & kneading bread dough
• Rocket and Squash does a run-down of the weekend’s newspaper food pages every Monday – this week’s was good.
• That pastry that no-one on the Great British Bake-off had heard of? Patisserie des Reves in London does a good one, and Bon Appetit has a step-by-step guide and David Lebovitz has a recipe if you fancy making Kouign-Amann.