In praise of thankfulness (and the virtues of ugly food)

It's Thanksgiving in the USA today, and although I don't get to celebrate with my brother and sister in law as they tuck into a big plate of turkey in Houston, I always think it's a lovely idea for a holiday. There is a lot to be said for setting aside a day that makes you spend time thinking about what you have to be thankful for in life whilst counting your blessings with your friends and family. When the days are short, cold, wet and dark this isn't always an easy task, so if I can't have pumpkin pie, I appreciate the reminder from across the water to refocus on what's really important in life.

This week has been a hard slog, with illness, work and bad weather so I've been trying hard to find some time for some small pleasures to keep the thanksgiving spirit alive. Yesterday I dragged my poorly son out of the house for lunch at Three Sister's Bake in the beautiful Quarrier's Village in Renfrewshire. I've never been before but heard about it after James from this year's British Bake Off launched their children's cake baking competition and decided I needed to make some time for a visit. The food was yummy and the shelves were stacked with lovely gifts and treats, but the best thing about it was the amazing location. The houses on the estate are all former orphanages which were built by the philanthropist William Quarrier in the best Victorian tradition of improving the consitution and mind by moving the disadvantaged into beautiful retreats in lovely surroundings. The Quarrier's charity, which provides support to disadvantaged families, is still based here, but the houses and church have all been turned into private residences sprinkled with galleries and cafes. The best way to describe it is to imagine if Barrett Homes based their estates on Hogwarts. I loved it.

That night I decided to balance the cakes with a healthy supper of lentil and butternut squash stew. It's a Nigel Slater recipe and like all the best winter food, it ain't pretty but it tastes amazing. Tonight's dinner was also based on this principle when I raided the remnants of the fridge before the Friday shop and roasted up some peppers, onions and potatoes tossed in garlic and paprika with some chilli Halloumi. We raised a thankful glass to distant family and ugly food that warms the body and soul and for a few minutes the worries and stresses of life disappeared.

Baking experiments and social media

This weekend started off with a treat when my husband and I took Friday afternoon off and went on a rare trip to the cinema to see the new Bond film before having a slap up seafood dinner at one of my favourite Glasgow restaurants, Gamba. The food was great and due to the magical world of Twitter, fishy chef extraordinaire, Derek knew we were coming and made sure we were well looked after. My favourite was the fish soup with crab and ginger which I could happily have eaten all day long.

Twitter has also got me my first baking commission with @whwlatest on the look out for some gluten free bread. I've had some flour in stock for a couple of weeks so decided to give it a bash today. It actually turned out quite tasty, more like a crumpety milk loaf then a crusty bloomer, but would make a decent bit of substitute toast to satisfy an emergency bread craving. Looking forward to re-baking it for public consumption and seeing how it goes down with those who need it.

Whilst I was waiting for that to bake, I also dug out the bag of spelt flour that had been waiting to be tried for a while and adapted a Richard Bertinet recipe for honey and lavender bread. All was going well until the final transfer to the oven when it deflated somewhat leaving me with a strange looking but heavenly smelling loaf. The lavender was subtle and the nuttiness of the spelt balanced with the sweetness of the honey to give a great tasting, unusual bread.

Twitter is a very strange and wonderful thing. It draws you in, introduces you to like minded people, and provides an amazing platform for marketing, motivation and distraction. I've shared today's experiments with the inspiring @thoughtfulbread who are busy baking on a much grander scale at the other end of the country for some foodie feedback and will let Nigel Slater know that his Brownie recipe is indeed a winner later. It's all very strange, but it keeps me working towards the dream. Just don't tell my mentor @PosiOut about my lack of business planning progress!

Time to get festive

This has to be one of my favourite times of year. We've dressed up as skeletons, super heroes, scooby doo characters and dug out our winter woollies. We've had the full range of autumn weather, autumn colours, Halloween treats, bonfires and fireworks and I've loved it all.

It's also been a week of full on cooking and baking, using up all the seasonal treats in our fruit and veg box from Pestle & Mortar and raiding the garden for the last of the home grown goodies and festive treats. We've had Halloween cookies, pumpkin and blue cheese risotto, Aubergine parmigiana, filled the store cupboard with apple jelly with chilli and rosemary & mint, feasted on banana cake, roast beef & yorkshire puddings and apple sponge. The cupboard is now full of mincemeat and the Christmas cake is in the tin. In short the house smells delicious and our tummies are full to bursting.

This weekend's baking experimentation was, however, the best bit of all. Bagels, bagels, bagels. I've loved them forever but I've never made them before and I really don't know why because they are amazing. Chewy, soft, squishy and fun. They are the best reason I've found so far to get out of bed early on a Sunday morning and get baking. Here's some pics of the bagelicious feast in action.