Nash's Bakery

They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I would hesitate before agreeing whole-heartedly but I do think culinary skills can be helpful when winning a man's affections. It seems to be important to find the right flavours to tickle his fancy affectively. Hence, I am gifting my man with his vice. He's a lover of sticky toffee pudding so when I heard that Nash's Bakery, an Oxford chain, made a sticky toffee sponge cake, it seemed like a must. They aren't cheap - £3.20 a loaf but it seems worth it. A definite hit with the boy and a great treat!

Roasted Onion Squash Pasta

Having selected a very cute looking Onion Squash from my local farmers market, I decided to cook up something rich and hearty. This would work equally well with butternut squash or something similar...

Roasted Onion Squash Pasta

(Not the most appetitising of photo's, sorry!)

Ingredients:
One onion squash or half a large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Two deseeded red peppers, chopped
One (red) onion, finely chopped
Garlic, to taste
Smoked Bacon, cubed
Creme Fraíche
Tagliatelle

- Roast squash and peppers in an oiled tray, preheated oven (190C) for about twenty minutes or until softened and golden. Set aside.
- Put pasta on to boil in lightly salted water
- Heat a medium sized pan with a little oil then gently fry onion and garlic.
- Add bacon and brown all over.
- Add the roasted vegetables and fry enough to warm through
- Drain pasta. Stir about a tablespoon of creme fraiche into mixture to coat everything but not so everything is swimming in liquid. Add more if required.
- Add drained pasta, stir well and serve.

Headington Farmers Market

The sunshine scooped me out of bed this morning in time for the Headington Farmers Market, a meer half an hours walk from where I live in Oxford. It's situated on Kennett Road and takes place on the final Friday of each month between 8.30am and midday. It's only a small market consisting of about ten stalls but the atmosphere was great and the quality of the produce seemed fantastic and not all that expensive. A friend and I treated ourselves to fresh bacon rolls (£2.70) from one of the butchers who was also selling a variety of pork meat and game. There was also a large bakery stall selling bread and cakes from which I bought a small loaf of locally milled wholemeal bread (95p) and a yummy Belgian bun (80p). I bought a pound of home grown tomatoes for just 80p and an onion squash for 70p. There was also a flower stand selling lots of flowers in pretty autumnal shades, one selling organic mushrooms, another butchers stall selling beef and a cider and apple juice stall. Well worth a visit if you're in the Oxfordshire area!