compilation 1: autumn.

Frost gathering on the edge of iron framed window panes. An oily pink sunset smeared behind a dark skyline. Double layerings of socks and still my toes are growing uncomfortably numb. The clock on the wall reads six p.m. and I’ve decided it’s officially not summer any more. London is currently awash with an inter-seasonal glow that causes everything to blush with cozy anticipation. It’s an elixir we readily swallow in order to forget the inconvenient reality of the impending deep freeze. Ahh autumn, the season where appetites become enormous, cheeks retain a perpetual hue of wind-lashed rosacea, and most of us are plagued by an immediate desire to mull everything.

So let’s celebrate this delusionally giddy pre-winter époque with a few fall flavoured treats.

1. Sister Arrow.

Herbal

Zoo Flask

Terrarium

Sister Arrow is a London based artist who cites influences including nature, metaphysics, sci-fi and caves. Maybe I'm just clinging onto spring but these prints are heavenly; candyfloss paradise in a bottle. And there's even enough melancholy in these photos (taken at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens) to satisfy any cravings for the bare trees and gloomy weather afoot. What a versatile gal. 

[You can buy her work through comics//zines//prints publisher Landfill Editions.]

. . .

2. Sensational Knitwear by Sandra Backlund.

Just when I had made up my mind that there was absolutely no way a knitted dress was ever going to look cool, I discovered Ms Backlund. Now the thing about most mainstream knit dresses is that they are often little more than thick-woolen, skin-tight pullovers that just happen to grant you the favour of covering your bum. No wonder wearing one feels about as flattering as wrapping a towel around your waist. It's an unfortunate truth that the noble endeavor of designing a garment which fulfills our dueling desires for something "sleek" and "substantial" often leads to unsatisfactory conclusions.

But that's exactly the ethos that Buckland rejects, and this subversion is the key to her brilliance. To embrace the sweater in all its glory is to embrace the chunk. Think bulky, layered, intricate, choatic, towering and gorgeous. I want in.

 

. . .

3. Autumnal Food.

  

Marcus Nilsson

Autumn can often feel like a season devoted entirely to eating and drinking. There's the traditional America culinary orgy of Thanksgiving hulking around in the middle of November, Germany's beer-themed Oktoberfest holding a rightfully hedonistic slot and Britain's bonfire night, once an occasion of patriotic commemoration, now seems more readily assigned to the practice of cider drinking and sausage eating. All accross the Northern Hemisphere we've countless dark evenings to fill full of long meals supplemented with experimental recipes and unnecessary extravagances. Venison and red wine? Butternut squash and crème fraiche? Yes yes yes!

Like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter, in autumn all paths lead to the pantry. Even fashion can’t keep its mind off the dinner table with continual references to trendy beverage-themed hues and an affinity for animal products (fur and leather) giving way to fetishism. Buts that’s all right, because now is the perfect moment to fuse glamour and gluttony. Why, just the other day at work a beautiful girl rode in on her beautiful bicycle with a fresh, lush sprig of figs woven into the frame of her rear carrier-rack. The combination of the elemental elegance of the cycle and the organic opulence of the fruit was fully inspiring and mouth-watering all at once... Oh now we're just rambling. Lets get on with the eating. 

This time round we'll keep it simple, focusing on roasting: autumn’s favorite cooking method. Here are some tips from the ones who know best:

Roast Figs with Honey and Ricotta

 by Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall

A great hasty pud. Roasting the figs with honey emphasises their perfumed sweetness. Serves six.

6 figs
6 tbsp honey
150g ricotta
50g thick Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract or the seeds scraped from half a vanilla pod

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Cut an X into the top of each fig and squeeze gently to open it up. Trickle a little honey into each fig – reserve about half of it for serving – place in a tin and roast for 10-15 minutes, until hot and bubbling.

Beat the ricotta with the yoghurt, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spoon some of the mixture into the top of each fig and trickle on some more honey just before serving.

Roast Saddle of Hare

by Susan Campbell and Caroline Conran (Poor Cook)

1 saddle of hare, preferably marinated for two days as this makes it more tender and tasty and improves the flavour of the gravy

Flour

4 rashers of bacon

Butter, beef dripping or pork fat

Water

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 pint single cream or top of the milk

Take the hare out of the marinade and wipe it dry. Remove the silvery membrane over the back with a sharp knife. Preheat the oven to Reg 7/425. Melt about half an once of butter in a frying pan. Dust the saddle with flour, brown it on all sides in the butter, take it out and wrap in bacon rashers. Roast in butter for 20-30 minutes, basting often. Add half a glass of water five minutes before it is cooked. Take off the bacon and put the hare with the rashers on a hot serving dish to keep warm.

Pour off some of the butter from the roasting tin, or scoop it off with a metal spoon. Add a minute sprinkling of flour to the juices in the tin; let it bubble a moment and stir in the cream. Heat gently, taste for seasoning, and pour the small amount of thickish sauce over the saddles. 

Carve lengthwise strips parallel to the backbone and serve with pureed potatoes or celeriac or hot beetroot.

 Roast Pumpkin

by Fergus Henderson

What is vital here is the pumpkin. It must be an organic blue pumpkin, which can be obtained at health-food shops. Once you have tried one, the large, orange, woolly variety will become a thing of the past in your life. 

As to the roasting, simply cut in half, scoop out the seeds, then cut into moon crescents. Place the pieces in a baking tray, skin down, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in a hot oven, basting occasionally. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Check with a knife to see when it's soft. 

Be careful not to overcook your pumpkin as it will dry out.