Summer-Autumn Update (2025) + Happy Samhain/Hallowe'en!

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but didn't manage to get this post finished yesterday, so it's on a Tuesday instead. :) 

 

We're now in October, so it's time for my summer-autumn update! :) You can see my previous updates for 2025 below: 

Winter-Spring Update (2025):  https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/04/winter-spring-update-2025-easter-baking.html

Spring-Summer Update (2025): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/07/spring-summer-update-2025.html

Plus, Samhain/Hallowe'en is coming up), so I've included a section with inspiration for celebrating (scroll down to the bottom of the post).

In mid-July, I went to Yallabina, a belly dance event that I also went to last year. It was at a different venue this time (still in Brighton). Afterwards I got a mocha frappe from Hellenic Bakery, which I really liked. 

In late July, I met up with my belly dance friends to celebrate a birthday. We went to a pub in Woodingdean (Brighton). It was nice to see them all after a while. 

Then at the beginning of August, I celebrated Lammas. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/08/lammas-2025.html

I also met up with family members that month, who were visiting the UK. It was the first time I'd ever met them, so it was good. We had lunch in Harry Ramsden's (fish and chips restaurant in Brighton), then went on the pier. I've had takeaway from Harry Ramsden's but hadn't eaten in the restaurant before and I also hadn't been on the pier in years, so it made a change!

I shared a couple of pictures from that day in my Late Summer Photos + Happy Madron/Autumn! post, which you can see here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/09/late-summer-photos-happy-madronautumn.html

Here's a pic of my meal at Harry Ramsden's:

 

Madron 2025

Two weeks ago (Monday 22nd September) it was Madron, also known as Mabon/the Autumn Equinox. I normally bake for this sabbat as my main celebration. For the past few years I've made some form of ginger cake (although in 2022 I baked pumpkin spice bars) but this year I decided to go for something differrent, a buttermilk spice cake. The recipe is from Mix and Match Mama: https://mixandmatchmama.com/2018/09/buttermilk-spice-cake/

I thought it fit the theme because it has spices in (also any type of baked goods are suitable for Madron because it's a harvest festival). I didn't use nutmeg because I didn't have any and don't use it much, but I used some mixed spice instead. 

The cake was quite nice. I liked the cream cheese frosting too. (I like it in general but don't normally put maple syrup in it). You can bake it as a sheet cake or a layer cake and I chose to do a sheet cake. Here's a pic: