October 2025 in a list 📝 the good, the bad and the seasonal links
How was October?
The longest month ever. Francesca started nursery school and I paused my personal projects to be fully present for her. Because this was a huge shift for the whole family, we pushed through - but there’s no escaping the fact that our normal routines were completely upended, and now we’re just very, very tired. To cope, I cooked and baked a lot. Since Francesca’s birth, I haven’t been spending much time in the kitchen - well, not as much as I’d like anyway. I’m definitely grateful to Pier for all the meals he’s been whipping up, exhausted, after work, while I nurse Francesca. But I guess the time has now come for me to elbow my way back into my most-loved room in the apartment. He can play with Francesca now while I make dinner ;)
What I wrote
I wrote about how difficult it is to get back to writing after a long-ish break - and why it’s always worth it to face the uneasiness and do it anyway.
The recipes I kept coming back to
I've got a new recipe for a soffritto chickpea soup that's been a a hit with both Pier and little Francesca all month - they kept asking for it. It's stupendously golden, rustic and loaded with veggies. I will share it soon on Instagram for my Bean Soup Season series - in the meantime, this pasta & fasioi and cavolo nero & cannellini soup are great alternatives.
Seasonal ingredient of the month
October made me happy with two large organic suca baruca pumpkins (our local variety). I roasted them - cut into big chunks, skin on. When the corners started to catch, I took them out of the oven, scooped out the sweet, caramelized flesh and, once cooled, portioned it into 400 g freezer bags, which I then froze flat. Flat bags take up less space in the freezer, are easier to store neatly, and when you don’t need the whole thing, you can just snap off a piece. On Instagram, I showed you my method and shared a recipe for a simple savoury puff pie to put the roasted puree to good use.
Francesca's milestone
She’s started nursery school! She doesn’t like it one bit! So we decided we'd take it real slow and only do mornings until the end of the month. Today (30 Oct.) I picked her up at 2pm for the first time, instead of 12.30 - teacher said she was amazing and fell asleep on her tiny bed very easily for the post-lunch nap. Kids are the most incredible thing, aren't they.
What I've been wearing
Thick grey gym leggings. I barely get out of them these days. I bought four identical pairs of the same model plus four stripy tops for nursery pick-ups, so I don’t have to think about what to wear. I LOVE BEING A LEGGINGS MOM.
Books
The Wedding People by Alison Espach - as featured in bookshop owner Katie Clapham's brilliant newsletter "Receipt from the Bookshop". Unputdownable.
Cookbooks
What a fantastic month this was, cookbook-wise. I've gotten many titles which I'll write about soon. But those that have stuck with me the most so far are Midweek Recipes and Weekend Recipes by Jessica Elliott Dennison. Jessica's Italian-style cake for coffee and easy fennel seeds shortbread are now in rotation in our household.
What I spent money on: I've made a considerable investment in myself just this week... it's something exciting that will happen next year over the course of 12 months (!). I cannot wait to blog about it as it happen.
Homeware find: A really cute, cheerful and locally made tuttifrutti cakestand in white ceramic. Can't believe it's taken me so long to buy myself a proper cakestand. I got it from my crockery dealer at the weekly Friday market here in Mestre - love that guy!
Instagram follow: I've fallen in love with AESME STUDIO's floral world. They've just launched a new video series, Flower on Film, with interviews, garden tours, and tutorials that I highly recommend.
A beautiful kitchen space: I can’t get over how calm and soothing this Max Rollitt's kitchen looks and feels. The cabinet and wall colours make all the difference here: they transform a rustic space (notice the country-home details on the cabinets, the flagstone floor) into an airy yet homely room. And see how the antique wooden table and the wrought iron lamp above it form the magnetic centre of the kitchen, grounding everything perfectly. Click through for paint colour details.
What made my life easier: A manual pull chopper. I love a simple kitchen gadget that doesn’t rely on electricity. I use it every day to speed up chopping garlic, onions, carrots and celery for soffritto. TIP: For a quick pull-chopper pesto alla siciliana, do this: put a handful of pomodori secchi (dried tomatoes) into the pull chopper, add 3 tbsp of their oil, almonds, Grana Padano or Parmigiano and pull, pull, pull. You’ll get a thick, savoury paste to slather on crostini or stir into pasta.
New Substack I subscribed to: My longing for comfort and coziness has skyrocketed this past month. It must be the sleepless nights and the fact that with nursery school our daily rhythm has gone out the window. Constant readjusting is part of the journey when you have a small child - believe me, I know by now - but gosh, it’s twice as hard when you haven’t slept a wink in months. Miranda Mills's newsletter "Seasons of Story" has been a tonic. Whenever I can, I slide into her beautyful universe of cozy books, art and seasonal inspiration and I feel rested and contented. Miranda's newsletter is 90% paywalled, but if you don't feel like taking out a paid subscription, you could always just follow her on Instagram and YouTube (love her weekly videos and book club!) - or buy her new book which is a treasure trove of seasonal literary inspiration with a few recipes thrown in for good measure.
TV series / movies: The Diplomat on Netflix - third seaoson newly released (in Italy). Strong female protagonist because that's the way I like it.
What sticked with me: Kathy Slack's free newsletter post about quinces (w loads of recipe inspiration and links) and Alice Vincent's reflections on mothering while writing.
Extra nice thing of the month: It was so good to spend time with my super amazing friend, Francesca (my daughter's namesake). Not once but twice: we went for a chatty walk at my favourite spot near the lagoon (you can actually see St. Mark's bell tower from there), and we attended together a cooking demo that was all about pumpkin. We got there late, famished, devoured the sample portions and laughed and laughed like we were still fifteen.
A wish for November? For the penultimate month of the year, I’m inviting in more balance in our everyday life as a family. We’ve been navigating big changes and shifts... hopefully things will start to settle down, at least for a while.
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