My latest favourite Summer drink – the Hugo!
The beautiful Hawthorne on my jungle-style back garden!
The Starfish sculpture on the beach at Newcastle, Co Down
What a glorious Summer we had in Ireland this year! Day after day of unremitting sunshine and high temperatures.. it was great, wasn’t it? We’ve all forgotten about the minor vexations of a hot, dry Summer – the hose-pipe ban, the difficulty of trying to sleep in that heat, the Farmer’s concerns for their crops in this agricultural country of ours.. need I go on?
Silent Valley reservoir, with low levels of water, July 2018
The old road became visible again at Spelga as the water levels dropped – July 2018
However, that’s all behind us now – as the end of September approaches, Mr Saturday Night and I are discussing:
a) Putting the winter-weight duvet back on the bed
b) Turning the heat on in the mornings (we’ve been sticking it on in the evenings for a while now)
c) Wondering how soon we can light the fire/have Irish Stew for tea/start stockpiling logs for the inevitable freeze..(3 bags for a tenner, anyone?)
Mount Stewart in Autumn
Minnowburn Beeches, Belfast in Autumn
Rowallane Gardens, Saintfield in Autumn
This past week or so, I’ve been drifting, almost unconsciously, towards comfort food.
We’ve had a few new one-pot recipes,( https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/chicken-tartiflette/
and One Pot Enchilada https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/one-pot-beef-and-rice-enchilada/
They’re well on their way to becoming firm favourites this year..
We’ve picked blackberries, and bought straight-off-the-tree apples and plums from the ‘Lady from Armagh’ at St George’s Market.
Upside-down Plum cake https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/up-side-down-plum-cake/ ;
Apple – or any other fruit you care to mention – Crumble https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/apple-and-raspberry-crumble/ ;
Plum jam (two kinds!) https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/plum-jam/ ;
Blackberry Liqueur https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/blackberry-liqueur/– they’ve all been enjoyed by us this past few weeks.
Apple and Plum Crumble, ready for the oven!
That perennial favourite, upside down Plum cake :)
Mmmm… Blackberry Liqueur.. careful now! It’s strong, even if it does taste like lemonade.
Some of us are ready for the days getting shorter, for temperatures dropping, for the first frost.
A frosty carpet of leaves at Mount Stewart, near Newtownards
Others are being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the new season.
Personally, I love the change of seasons. I love the change to the food we eat; I love the abundance of local produce that’s available at this time of year..
But most of all, I love the fact that my local Garden Centre has opened their Christmas Shop 
Go Hillmount!!
There! I said the ‘C’ word! But first, Halloween..
Handmade pottery at Rowallane..
Squash at St George’s market
Enjoy this wonderful season!
I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx