Samhain Slow Living Tips

On embracing Autumn when darkness arrives, and a recipe for seasonal apple and almond cake 🍁

Here in the Northern hemisphere, the clocks have just gone back and nighttime seemed to arrive surprisingly early today! As the daylight wanes I find myself seeking comfort, embracing cosiness all the more. There is so much more of Autumn to cherish, yet time seems to speed up at this time of year, as pumpkin pictures on Instagram give way to talk of Black Friday sales and Christmas shopping seemingly as soon as November 1st arrives. I want to live in the moment, to embrace and enjoy every minute of this beautiful season we’re in. Inspired by my book, Slow Seasons, which was published earlier this month by Bloomsbury, here are my seasonal slow living tips for doing just that this Samhain.

Fall Back

Today marks the start of daylight saving in the UK. This means more light in the morning – for a while at least – and we are supposedly treated to an extra hour… Yet we tend to feel robbed of the daylight, particularly in the afternoons! This is a time of year where it’s understandable to feel lethargic due to the dwindling daylight and colder, dreicher weather along with the attendant changes to our circadian rhythms. It’s not surprising that we seem to crave hibernation. If you can, embrace slowing down as much as you can: quieter evenings, more time at home, making your surroundings cosy and treating yourself kindly with comfort food and wee treats. Modern conveniences have made contemporary life much easier - and we certainly don’t take those privileges for granted - but our 24/7 society also masks our inner instincts to slow down at this time of year. So be kind to yourself: remember that our ancestors used to hibernate (perhaps not shocking) and go slow where you can.

Nesting Season

At this cold, dark time of year I have an almost instinctive drive to start nesting, preparing the house for the colder Winter months to come. It has rained almost constantly for the last couple of weeks here in Edinburgh, and I’ve needed to make home a cosy nest more than ever! Air knitwear and blankets ready for the season ahead and make sure your candle stash is fully supplied (there are step by step instructions for how to make your own hand poured candle in my book). It feels like time to switch up your bedding for cosier fabrics (like flannel and brushed cotton) and a weightier duvet (I have two lighter summer ones I pin together for winter - extra cosy!) and I’m rarely seen at home without my hot water bottle and fluffy slippers (though I’m often tempted to don them outside home too). Bring out those fairy lights a little earlier - I think you need as much sparkle as you can get at this time of year! Enjoy the process of preparing for the colder months: a slow, mindful Autumn ritual that makes you cherish the seasonal shift.

Decorating and Feasting for Samhain

Give thanks for Autumn’s bounty by hosting a celebration feast at home to see in Samhain – the official end of the harvest seasons and start of Winter in the Celtic Wheel of the Year. It’s the ideal excuse to set the table, get out your best linens and light the candles while you gather with loved ones. I love to embrace seasonal produce, especially pumpkins in both savoury and sweet treats. There is a whole section on pumpkin celebrations and the history of Samhain in my book, which I thoroughly enjoyed writing and I really hope you enjoy reading. After visiting local Kilduff Farm pumpkin patch as part of my book tour yesterday I’ve been inspired to try their pumpkin dauphinois (!) and apple and pumpkin butter cake - yum.

Embrace Autumn Crafts

There’s something about the cosiness of home at this time of year, and a crafty activity paired with a pot of tea that’s unbeatable. I’ve got a few home decorating craft projects on my list for the next couple of months: a window seat pad and cover for our new window seat in the bedroom (see this post for bedroom decorating plans), some envelope cushions for the bedroom and living room (the method is in my book) and maybe even trying my hand at curtains if I’m feeling ambitious…! Foraging for foliage, dried flowers and seed heads also keeps my hands busy and the mind focussed – such small, mindful nature moments can make all the difference to your perspective. There’s an Autumn wreath project in my book which I previewed in my subscriber community and I’ve been enjoying making at workshops as part of my book tour.

Baking with Apples

Apple season is in full swing. I absolutely love orchard fruits - and wrote a whole post that was an ode to apples recently - so an apple recipe certainly had to feature in Slow Seasons. My apple and star anise recipe from the book has proven a hit online already, with lots of lovely people making and sharing pictures of it, as well as in person on my book tour where it’s gone down a treat. I’m so glad, as it’s genuinely one of my favourite recipes in my book. I shared a preview of the recipe in my subscriber community (in the same ode to apples post), but here’s another favourite apple recipe: apple and almond cake. It has a rich, almondy sponge with chunks of apple and marzipan running through it, topped with more apple and flaked almonds that turn golden as the cake bakes. To make the cake, you will need:

120g butter
120g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp milk
70g self-raising flour
2 eggs
80g marzipan, chopped into chunks
80g apple, chopped into chunks – about half an apple depending on the size!
For the topping:
30g marzipan, grated
Half an apple, thinly sliced
Two tbsps flaked almonds.

Preheat the oven to Fan 160C. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the almond extract, milk and the eggs, one at a time, alternating with the flour. Fold in the ground almonds, fruit and marzipan.

Pour the mixture into a greased, lined 20cm tin. Top the cake with the thinly sliced apple, grated marzipan and flaked almonds. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes until cooked through. Allow to cool a little before removing from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack. Delicious with a cuppa for afternoon tea, or served warm with custard.

A huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered or who has bought Slow Seasons, now a number one best-seller on Amazon as well as one of their top new releases! Slow Seasons is filled with seasonal crafts, recipes, nature notes and celebrations inspired by my Scottish heritage. It follows the progress of the year through each mini season, from Imbolc at the start of the year to Yule at the end and is beautifully illustrated by Holly Ovenden throughout. You can read more about it in this post and you can order ‘Slow Seasons’ here.

I’m also sharing monthly snippets behind the scenes of Slow Seasons over in my paid subscriber community! Speaking of which, here’s what I’ve been posting about there this month:

Sow, Grow, Harvest, Rest Reading Group: October

Slow Renovating: Bedroom Decorating Plans

How to Make an Autumn Wreath

An Ode to Apples

Sow, Grow, Harvest, Rest Reading Group: September

Thank you so much for your support xxx