1 November - mackerel and bacon salad

Lunch on the run today was a rather dull M&S prawn sandwich. For dinner, we had a big bowl each of mackerel and bacon salad; new potatoes, smoked mackerel, bacon, spinach and French beans - still a nice combo.

With the dark evenings, it's getting more and more difficult to get good food shots, without lots of faff (and cold dinner!) to find the right light. Will have to try and figure something out over the winter.

Salad for dinner justified pudding - Nigel Slater's plum crunch with cream.

7 October - mackerel and bacon salad

The other day I was watching Nigel Slater's Simple Cooking and was quite taken with his mackerel and bacon salad, so I made up my own version for lunch. I mixed together some boiled new potatoes, with a smoked mackerel fillet, some crispy bacon, roasted red onions leftover from last night and a small handful of green beans from the garden. I turned it all over in a simple dressing of white wine vinegar, mustard and olive oil and sprinkled over some chopped chives. It was a really good combination and I think could become a bit of a lunchtime favourite.

I got a butternut squash in today's vegbox, so dinner was pasta with squash, sage and goats cheese. Unfortunately, the pasta took a bit longer than expected to cook, so the squash got a bit dry and overcooked, and I didn't really have enough goats cheese either, so not my most successful supper!