Off on a mini-break in Padstow, because my parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and my husband his 40th birthday. I, like Rizzo the Rat in The Muppets Christmas Carol, am here for the food.

Just baked a batch of brownies for my husband to share with his new colleagues and oh god this is probably the most tradwife endeavour of my life to date.

American recipes: one can of pumpkin puree! British bakers: *gentle weeping*

Happy Autumn Equinox, AKA the first day of soup season! 🥣🎃🍂

I got duped into buying a packet of strawberry-flavoured 'cat puddings'. Turns out that cats can't even taste sweetness.

Call me a basic bitch all you want, but I genuinely believe that Starbucks have created the perfect autumnal coffee in the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Spent a solid 90 seconds pacing the kitchen trying to locate the source of the smoke smell. I was half-convinced I was having a stroke (or the house was about to burn down) but it turned out that @tomsenior.bsky.social had just brewed a pot of lapsang souchong.

I am also back on my sourdough bullshit. My new starter is called Doughlene.

Update: I have produced my own ugly-yet-delicious terbikes.

Possibly the most glorious revelation from this trip to Copenhagen is the existence of terbikes, a poppy seed-encrusted, marzipan-stuffed pastry that I have – alas! – never seen in the UK.

I just described my idea for a macaron experiment to @tomsenior.bsky.social and he said it left him feeling 'unsettled in my soul'. No peanut butter and bacon jam macarons for him, then.

Landed in Porto and within 90 minutes was perched in the most glorious, buzzy food court with a pastel de nata and the best Porto tonico of my life. I am nothing if not highly efficient.

The cold from hell has absolutely decimated my sense of smell and taste. I. Am. MISERABLE.

Currently being prevented from walking to the local shop to pick up a bottle of wine by a cat that won't stop following me, effectively barring me from leaving our close.

"I know the meaning of a little treat," I mutter to myself as I fill my Stanley cup with Diet Coke.

Post-norovirus and craving salty snacks, I made a batch of marshmallow and crushed ready-salted crisp treats I saw on TikTok. My husband is horrified at the very concept, but my only regret is that I didn't make more of them.

I didn't make the rules, but the addition of peanut butter transforms a KitKat Chunky from a good snack to elite tier.

If you want to be humbled, just scroll through the 'title' field on the Fortnum & Mason checkout screen.

The most ringing endorsement I can give to Gloucester Services is that if I lived in the area, I would regularly go there for breakfast as if it were a normal cafe.

If you're not making pie with your turkey leftovers, you're doing it all wrong. If you don't have turkey leftovers, you may also be doing it wrong.

Finished work for the year; out of office on; deleted Outlook from my phone. Two glasses of champagne and a big toasted marshmallow at the Stourhead Christmas lights trail.

Making banana bread for this week's breakfasts and calling it meal prep. (Claire Saffitz's almond butter and coconut oil version is my go-to recipe and worth every second of extra faff.)

Need a festive canapé? - Spread cranberry sauce on a sheet of puff pastry - Copiously scatter with chunks of Brie and crispy bacon shards - Roll the long edges up to the middle; cut into ~1cm slices - Lay out on a baking tray and egg wash - Bake at 180 for ~20 mins - Be showered in joy and praise