I am on a bit of a pate and nut loaf kick these days. It is definitely a result of the slight (and it is the slightest) change and drop in temperature. Read below for some great inspiration. I love the ones focusing on the use of sunflower seeds as a great budget friendly way to get some protein in.

This is the paté that got me on my journey of paté making recently. It was from me looking to recreate the recipe that tasted like the paté I used to eat years ago. It's a riff on one found on Food.com.

If you haven't checked out "It doesn't taste like Chicken" before, it's worth it! She has some great recipes, this vegan walnut pate is next on my list, because it has walnuts, and mushrooms, which together seem like a match made in heaven.

I think we all know 101 Cookbooks blog by now, this is a recipe for a vegan raw sunflower seed paté that is worth checking out. 

This vegan sunflower seed paté has the addition of tahini in it, so we know I"ll be trying it out in the next while

Also from 101 Cookbooks is this recipe for a roasted beet and walnut "caviar". I think the earthiness of the beets will pair well with walnuts.

If you are looking for something to slather these goodies onto, it may be a bit redundant to do it, but this nut-seed loaf that we posted a couple of years back is a goodie.

These vegan, gluten free seed crackers are also a great way to serve the paté.

From the dessert front these days, with all of the fruit we have around, I have been making skillet's worth of tarts and custards and cakes. 

This recipe for a pear custard tart pictured here, is on repeat in our house as it is so fast and simple and yet tastes great. And please don't judge, but our kid will often eat this for breakfast. It is a wonderful way to use up the bounty of pears and apples that so many of us have at this time of year, and surprisingly there are no nuts in the recipe, but we toss in our sprouted pecans and it's delicious! We also (of course) back off on the sugar, using 1/4 cup instead of the 1/3 cup of the recipe Obviously ensure that all eggs and dairy are coming from great sources! We get ours from farm friends in the Fraser Valley.

This recipe for "Mostly Apple Cake", from King Arthur Baking for Apple Cake has been made a few times - with either apples of pears and it is so fruity and good. It has all purpose flour as well as almond flour, and an optional almond crust. I simply used my processor's slicing blade (somewhat unsuccessfully) to slice/chop the almonds and it worked out well enough. The beauty of it is that it is so "fruit forward", it's like eating cooked apples with just the slightest bit of "cake" holding it all together. 

Last but not least, I've been searching out news to inspire me recently. Something to make me go YEAH! We are learning and growing and there are good things happening. This article on the "rewilding" of a river in Holland does just that. I hope you enjoy it.