Now I have a bit of a confession to make. I went a little bit crazy at the weekend when the new stock came into Get The Label. I thought to myself: “The weather is getting very cold, I’ve not got enough jackets/hats/gloves to help me survive, so I must must must buy MORE!” This thought was swiftly followed by me logging onto the site and getting very ‘click happy’.

But after my little spree, I am satisfactorily kitted out in everything to help me brave the cold British weather, just in time for Bonfire night! There is nothing worse than standing there, holding a sparkle, while shivering like a scared rabbit, so this year I am prepared!

In addition to my outfit (the most important thing of course) I had to think about the food for the evening. Treacle toffee, treacle apples and hot pot are my three favourite things to munch on throughout the evening and all are fairly easy to make at home, especially the treacle apples. I love tucking into a tray of hot pot, warming up my hands at the same time! Sorry everyone around the UK, but this traditional Lancashire version is the best!

Traditional Lancashire Hot Pot….

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I love lamb but I’m guilty of being very un-original when preparing it (lamb chops, mint sauce and potatoes every time). I decided to have a look for some yummy lamb recipes and found this little Gem by Nigella Lawson. Sounds delicious so I thought I’d give it a go.

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I decided this week to have a look in my cupboards and see what was available for Recipe of the Week, rather than buying all ingredients new. In my house there is always (for no particular reason) chopped tomates, tomato puree, garlic and onions. On this search I also found kidney beans and mince. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what I made! Forget the pack mixes - homemade chilli is the best and most of the time you’ll find most of the ingredients hiding away in the kitchen. Don’t forget that if you have to buy the spices for the first time and it seems a bit expensive - you won’t have to buy them every time!

My usual chilli recipe is a bit ‘play it by ear’ so I got this one from BBC Good Food. Enjoy!

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We’ve already featured a cottage pie recipe, but I absolutely love shepherd’s pie too. It’s great comfort food, especially as we wander into the colder months, and I like being able to add any random vegetables that I have lying around. Mmmm just writing this is making me want to go home and cook one right now! This recipe is actually to make use of leftover Christmas turkey, but you can use chicken or just plain old lamb. Either way it’s delicious. The great website I found this recipe on is American and so the measurements are in cups, sorry!

Turkey and leek shepherd’s pie

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Cruising Femail on the Daily Mail’s site, as I often to, I came across a great recipe for homemade ice cream which both intrigued and excited me. And made me a little hungry. I’ve never tried to make homemade ice cream before or anything in ‘that family’ so it was a little daunted but it looked so nice! So off I went and had a little go.

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