4 Things Making Colder Weather Better

Much as I like vintage fur, hearty comfort food and mulled wine my love and dedication for Summer will always win (particularly freckles, the beach, ice-y beers, BBQ’s and not wearing a coat!)

These are the things I’m doing to make cold weather  more bearable, even a little bit enjoyable.

I like making soup mainly as I can make vast quantities of it and freeze it plus it’s a sneaky way to consume lots of vegetables. This is a favourite as it’s got a really luxurious texture but involves very minimal cooking. You can see a mini video of me making it here.

Ingredients

2 Butternut squash (or pumpkin)

Chicken stock cube

Fresh Chilli to taste

Sage leaves

2-3 cloves of Garlic

Olive oil

Sweet Chilli Sauce

Tub of Creme Fraiche

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 180/160 fan

2. Peel and cut up butternut squash into 2 inch chunks, squash garlic cloves in skin and chop chilli to taste and tear some sage leaves.

3. Roast all of the above (with salt and pepper) in olive oil for 30-40mins until the squash is soft with golden corners

4. Add all of the above (squeeze the roasted garlic out of it’s skin) into a large saucepan

5. Make 1/2 pint of chicken stock with the stock cube

6. Add stock, 3/4 of the creme fraiche some more of the sage leaves and a glug of sweet chilli sauce into the sauce pan and blitz with a hand blender

7. Taste and add any seasoning as needed.

8. Serve with a swirl of creme fraiche and sweet chilli sauce

I didn’t have a huge belief that thisworks Sleep Plus natural remedy pillow spray would work but I do like a comforting bed time routine so picked this up when I was last in Space NK. I’ve used it four times now and each time I’ve slept very deeply. Like crazy deeply! I found that it did take me the same amount of time to fall asleep but the following day I’ve felt very well rested and awake. Which is a novelty! And nice!

Ingredients include lavender (it’s main scent) as well as Patchouli, Ho wood and Vetivert oils.

Available at Space NK, at larger Boots and on-line for £25

Sometimes you need to treat yourself to a luxurious frivolous item and candles definitely fall into this category. Diptyque has always been my fave luxury candle brand and cold nights calls for my utter fave Feu De Bois. The sales assistant described this scent as like Marmite (i.e it polarises people). It has a deep smokey faintly spicy smell. It reminds me of dark nights and bonfires and I love it

Available at Space NK from £20

I love Weleda and everything they stand for particularly after our visit to their awesome bio-dynamic farm. I also love baths when the weather gets cold so of course I was going to be huge fan of their Lavender Bath Milk. My big tip is to pour it into the bath with the tap running once you’re in it so you get a full hit of the scent.

Available for £12.95 online or selected health food shops