Baby courgette and lime linguine

Serves 2

250g Linguine

Olive oil

4 or 5 Baby courgettes

I Red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 Large garlic clove, crushed

2 Limes

A handful of basil leaves

Parmesan cheese, to serve

Get the linguine into a pan of boiling water. Use a pastry brush to oil a griddle
pan before placing on the heat. Slice the courgettes on a slant and sear on both sides
for about 5 minutes, turning once (the courgette slices should be scorched with
griddle lines). Put to one side on a sheet of kitchen roll. In a seperate pan,
soften the garlic and chilli, before stirring in the drained linguine,
griddled courgettes, a drizzle of olive oil and the juice of one lime.
Season well. Serve with basil leaves, a generous grating of Parmesan and
lime wedges on the side.

Chalkboard pomegranates

Potatoes

Spicy toffee nut pears

220g Granulated sugar

110ml Water

25g Butter

1/2tsp Cider vinegar

1/2tsp Cayenne pepper

1 Star anise

A handful of chopped mixed nuts

It's a good idea to use slightly under ripe pears. Heat the water in a pan, add sugar as it warms to dissolve. Stir in butter, vinegar, pepper and star anise and bring to the boil. You need to heat the toffee to hard-crack stage; this takes about 10 minutes, after which a small drop spooned into cold water will go rock hard and sink to the bottom. Stir in nuts, poke a stick into the top of each pear and coat in nutty toffee. Consume with youthful abandon.

Baby courgettes

Pumpkin pie

2 x 375g packs sweet shortcrust pastry

4lb chopped pumpkin
150g sultanas
400g light muscovado sugar
Zest 1 large orange
300ml orange juice
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp Allspice
1/2tsp Nutmeg
1 bay leaf
A large knob of butter
A good slosh of brandy

Preheat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tip the filling ingredients into a large bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon. Pour into a large dish and cook in the oven for about 45 minutes, stirring regularly. While this is cooking, line a 23cm springform cake tin with shortcrust pastry, making sure that you have enough spare for the lid. Add the pumpkin mixture to the lined tin, cover with pastry lid and pinch round the edge to create a seal. make a couple slits in the top with a knife. Brush with milk, sprinkle with muscovado sugar and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for a bit before removing tin.

Rose hip and blackberry fizz

I love foraging, but dare emerge from the undergrowth clutching a lumpy looking carrier bag as a young family trundle past on their Sunday cycle – parents’ eyes scan you like you're some kind of woodland dwelling deviant. One thinks of exclaiming, "It’s OK, I'm forager!" at volume, but I fear the outburst would only alarm them further, startling Father into a brier. Better take a large, suspicion quelling basket out from now on, or wear a t shirt with 'NOT A SEX PEST' in caps across the front.

For the rose hip syrup
1kg Rosehips
1kg Sugar
3ltrs Water

Chop the rose hips while you bring half of the water to the boil. Add the hips; wait until it rises to the boil again before taking off the heat and leaving to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain through muslin, squeezing as much liquid out as possible. Tip the pulp back into the pan with the rest of the water; bring to the boil and leave to infuse for a further 15 minutes. Strain as before, add sugar to liquid and boil until the syrup is reduced by half. Pour into sterilized bottles.

For the cocktail
Rosehip syrup
Blackberries
Champagne

Drop a blackberry into the bottom of a champagne flute, cover with rose hip syrup and top up with champagne. Slanche!