Hello,
October is the month when the year seems to change gear for good.
The evenings draw in noticeably, the kitchen starts smelling of spice again, and suddenly staying home with something baking in the oven feels every bit as appealing as going out. Pumpkins are appearing everywhere, Halloween plans are beginning to take shape, and there is the first very definite sense that winter is waiting just around the corner.
I rather like this stage of the year. Not because I’m ready to skip ahead — there is far too much October to enjoy first — but because it brings its own little rituals. Pumpkin spice goes back into regular rotation. Chocolate cake is allowed to become gloriously ghoulish. And, in Ireland, barmbrack carries with it a much older Halloween tradition of fortunes hidden inside the loaf.
October is also a good excuse to get outside while autumn is still putting on a show. A pumpkin patch, a walk somewhere leafy, perhaps a day spent picking the least ridiculous-looking pumpkin you can find — all before the darker afternoons make the sofa increasingly persuasive.
And then there is that first real bit of winter dreaming.
This is usually when my thoughts start turning towards snow, mountain food and places such as Les Arcs, as well as all the practical bits that make cold-weather travel considerably easier once you are actually there.
So this month’s Culinary Travels is a mix of autumn rituals and winter anticipation: something spiced, something spooky, a little tradition, somewhere worth getting muddy for, and the first hint of snow.
And because October demands at least one suitably eerie read, I’ve gone back to an old favourite for this month’s book.
For now, though, put the kettle on. Darker evenings have their advantages.
Georgina
The October kitchen
October is when the spice jars seem to migrate permanently towards the front of the cupboard.
My homemade pumpkin spice blend is back in regular rotation this month — cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and all those warm flavours that make even an ordinary coffee or bowl of porridge feel a little more autumnal. I’ve given the recipe a small refresh too, because apparently no recipe is ever completely safe from me revisiting it.
It is useful far beyond pumpkin recipes: stir it into cake batter, sprinkle it over roasted fruit, add a pinch to hot chocolate or use it anywhere you want that familiar warm, gently spiced flavour.
And then, because October should also contain at least one spooky-season bake complete with an unnecessary amount of chocolate, there is my Chocolate Ghoulyard Cake.
Dark, rich and theatrical, it is the sort of bake that earns its place at a Halloween table: chocolate cake underneath, espresso ganache on top, and just enough spooky prop mischief to make decorating it half the fun.
One is the little jar you keep reaching for all month. The other is what happens when you decide subtlety can wait until November.
Make my homemade pumpkin spice
Bake the Chocolate Ghoulyard Cake
A Halloween tradition worth keeping
Long before Halloween became synonymous with buckets of sweets and elaborate decorations, there was barmbrack.
In Ireland, the fruit loaf has long been associated with Halloween, traditionally baked with small tokens hidden inside to tell the finder something about the year ahead. The ring is the one token most people remember, but the fun was always in cutting a slice and wondering what might be waiting inside.
Made with tea-soaked fruit and warm spice, barmbrack is the kind of bake that suits October perfectly: simple, comforting and best served in thick slices with plenty of butter and a pot of tea nearby.
I wrote about barmbrack and the traditions surrounding it in an earlier piece, and it still feels like one of those seasonal rituals worth returning to every year.
Read my barmbrack feature
An October day out
There is something about October that makes an ordinary weekend feel better with a bit of mud involved.
Pumpkin patches are one of those seasonal outings I genuinely think earn their place in the calendar: rows of ridiculous-looking pumpkins, wheelbarrows trundling about, children negotiating for the biggest one they can possibly carry and everyone pretending they came purely for the produce rather than the photographs.
Places such as Tulleys Farm lean wholeheartedly into the spectacle, but you do not need a huge festival to make a day of it. A local farm, orchard or autumn trail can be just as lovely — especially when the trees are turning, the air has that first unmistakable chill and there is something hot waiting at the end.
And even if you come home with a pumpkin far larger than originally intended, at least dinner has practically volunteered itself.
When your thoughts turn to snow
October is often when winter travel starts feeling less theoretical.
The clocks are about to change, the evenings are darker, and suddenly the idea of snow, mountain air and a long alpine lunch becomes considerably more appealing than it did a month ago.
Les Arcs is one of those places I keep coming back to because it offers far more than simply skiing. Its different villages have their own character, there is plenty of choice when it comes to where to stay, and the combination of mountain food, big views and easy access to the slopes makes it a particularly tempting base for a winter break.
If you are thinking about a ski trip this season, now is also a good time to get the practical side in order: accommodation, transfers, insurance, layers, lift passes and all the small bits of planning that make the actual trip feel much easier once you arrive.
So this month’s travel section is part daydream, part useful nudge: start thinking about winter now, and future-you will be very glad you did.
Explore my Les Arcs ski resort guide
Considering Les Arcs for a winter break? You can also browse places to stay in Les Arcs with Booking.com.
One from the archives: spooky season edition
For October’s read, I’ve gone back to one from the archives: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James.
Set across two timelines, it follows Viv in 1982 and her niece Carly in 2017, both drawn into the same rundown motel in Fell, New York — a place where women have disappeared, old murders refuse to stay buried and the ghosts are very definitely real.
The alternating timelines give it a lovely ticking-clock tension, and the motel itself is wonderfully eerie: outdated, seedy and somehow suspended in time. It is less terrifying than I expected it to be, and there are a few plot holes, but the gothic atmosphere, feminist edge and cold-case mystery still make it a very satisfying October read.
If your idea of spooky season is haunted motels, amateur sleuthing and old crimes resurfacing, this one absolutely fits the bill.
Buy The Sun Down Motel via Bookshop.org
Read my full review on Instagram
However October looks where you are, I hope there’s something spiced in the kitchen, somewhere worth wandering with a seasonal treat in hand, and a good book waiting for the darker evenings.
P.S. Are you leaning into autumn now, or are you already making winter plans?
