The taste of autumn

Autumn is well and truly here. The clocks will go back an hour, on Sunday, 28 October 2021, marking the end of the summer which stubbornly and very reluctantly departed like a child going to bed on a school night. The end of summer has been marked by the days getting noticeably colder and somewhat shorter.

The price of groceries, staples and everything that we rely on, if and when available, together with the cost of delivery have increased sharply, to numbers that we could not have imagined a year ago. Covid-19 (Corona virus) is still with us, thus complicating our lives and frustrating the return to normality.

So! How do we mark the end of summer? By bringing out the jumpers, trousers, long sleeved shirts and heavy clothing from storage and putting away the summer clothes until next year.

Most children have returned to school, and students have gone back to Universities and Colleges of Higher Education. Many are returning students, but for some, it is the first time away from home. The first-time cooking for themselves and taking full responsibility for every facet of their lives. This may be daunting or intimidating, but at its core is an exciting adventure. The first foray into adult life.

At such times, we tend to reach for the tried and trusted, familiar recipes, remedies and solutions imbibed in us from childhood. So reach for the yam, gari, plantain, peeled beans, goat, pepper, magi cubes, chicken, fish, ginger, leaves (spinach, bitter, water and ugwu), garden eggs, palm oil and onions to cook away the blues.

We at Food From Home, encourage you to shop to your heart's content. Then we'll deliver it. Thus saving you from braving the rain, wind and the cold and having to put on the hated face mask or to avoid the disappointment of empty shelves, so common in many supermarkets.

To paraphrase the em cee (MC), Craig “G”, "When it gets colder, I will get warmer. [cos I can cook fresh fish Tilapia soup like my mama.]"

Today is a cold, windswept and rainy day. I can see the sun but can't feel its warmth. To keep myself warm, I have cooked fresh Tilapia hot pepper soup with eba (gari soaked in hot water.)

My ingredients

• 1 x Fresh whole Tilapia
• 3 x Fresh tomoatoes
• 1 x Tinned Tomatoes
• 2 x Medium white onions
• 3 x Scotch bonnect chilli peppers
• 1 x Bell pepper (large)
• 3 x Magi cube
• 2 x Fish stock
• 4 x Garden eggs (large)
• 1 x Cup of Ijebu Gari
• 1 x Fresh Ginger (medium)
• 3 x large cloves Garlic

With Food From Home, you can send a parcel to your family, a friend or anyone, who is away from home for the first time or has returned to their place of study.

Why not send the student staples or something to steady the nerves and reassure them, that wherever they are, whatever they are doing, you are thinking of them? Use the promotion code, STUDENT1ST, when you place an order of £30 or more to receive 15% discount.