At this time of the year, when the leaves turn shades of ochre and there is a bite in the air, I crave comfort food. Perhaps it is something about wearing cosy, woollen jumpers, snuggled up on the couch that creates these cravings. I particularly enjoy cooking with Squash in any way I can. Squash is the hero vegetable of Autumn. A simple squash roast in the oven will suffice on some days like I did here. But for those days when I feel like something sweet for a slow brunch on the weekends, only pancakes will do. These roasted squash pancakes drizzled with rosemary infused maple syrup are not only delicious, healthy but a great way to get a vegetable intake in the mornings, particularly for kids.

How did it get to November so quickly? We have been completely embraced by Autumn weather in the last couple of weeks and you can feel the chill in the air. We even had fog in the last couple of days, which we don’t get often and appropriately apt for Halloween. I have enjoyed layering up and wearing comforting scarves again.

My weekends have recently been cut short. My Saturdays are now occupied with house hunting, as we search for a place we can buy and call our own. It’s been testing times, both mentally and physically. Being nearly 5 months pregnant, it’s been physically demanding, as I traipse around South-East London viewing properties in the hope of finding one remotely suitable to buy.

Brunch is my favourite meal of the day yet I recently realised that I have not added one single post about this meal on my blog. It’s the one meal which I can completely enjoy and indulge in on the weekends. Breakfast during the week is rushed and involves me multi-tasking whilst eating breakfast. More often than not, I’m standing up doing something else, whilst gulping down my breakfast so I can head out the door in time for work. So come the weekend, I’ll make an effort. I like that it’s ok to have either a sweet or savoury dish (or both) for this meal.

Baking is quite new to me and when I say new, I mean about one year new. My enjoyment for baking started out of greed and to satisfy me and Mark’s love for sweet things. Besides a love for chocolate, we love a bit of cake. It would be safe to say we both have a massive sweet tooth.

I don't come from a family with bakers and so I didn’t grow up eating home-made baked cakes but my sweet tooth was appeased through other sweets like these.  I suppose it’s because baking isn’t a part of Vietnamese cuisine. The oven in my parent’s house is still as good as new, and has been used once when Mark cooked them a Christmas roast dinner when we still lived in Sydney. This may explain why baking didn’t come naturally to me. But I have grown fond of it and I find the process therapeutic. It still amazes me that you can mix together a few ingredients, place it in the oven and after a short time a cake is born.