Autumn - the season of comforting things

Here are some of my comforting things.. a couple of handmade snugglies, a hottie and fluffy bedsocks.

But, with apologies for filching this idea from the ladies at PC, there are various smells that I associate with autumn as well as homemade comforts.

The smell of bonfires that lingers in the air, often in the evening; not an unpleasant smell like smoky chimneys or 'Honey I burnt the toast again' smells, but burning wood and leaves, an almost sweet smell. The smell of pine or apple logs being burnt in the hearth on a chilly autumnal evening is a favourite smell too.

Freshly made toffee apples, that wonderful loud crack as you break through the golden toffee, followed by a mix of crisp, crunchy and sweet toffee mingled with a slightly tart and aromatic apple.

Potatoes wrapped in foil, baking in the garden bonfire, and the smell when you take them out, split them open and fill them with a dollop of whatever you like. They taste so different to oven-baked potatoes and don't even mention microwaved. All right if you're in a hurry and desperate I suppose, otherwise, not to be countenanced in this house.

And then there is the old family recipe for Beef Olives, where you take the thinnest possible slices of the very best braising steak, cut into pieces about four or five inches by three, fill with a stuffing, sage and onion works really well, tie up, then brown in a frying pan. Add to a casserole dish with diced root vegetables, a bouquet garni, good beef stock, cover tightly and cook for at least two hours on a low heat, no more than 325 degrees. Serve with mashed potatoes to soak up all the lovely gravy, and a green vegetable of your choice.

And snugglies.. what could be better than snuggling down with a hand-made, soft snuggly blanket, watching 'Brief Encounter', 'It's a Wonderful Life' or 'Little Women', or reading a favourite book, or just dozing, warm and content, snug as a bug in a rug?

Such are my autumn comforts... the simple things in life please me.