THIS time last week the sun was so hot we decided to rescue the deckchairs from the dark recesses of the garden shed and crack open the barbecue for a slap-up surf & turf dinner with Heaves Farm rose veal and some tasty wee scallops.

Seven days on and I am contemplating recipes for warming casseroles and various forms of comfort food – bye-bye summer, hello autumn.

Sensing my sorrow, I would like to thank this week’s Checkout contributors for consoling me with their recommendations – each of them a wonderful reminder that autumn actually heralds a feast of benefits.

There is much to commend about a humble ham shank, for example; only £1.95 at Watson & Woollard butchers in Kendal.

Boil and strip the bone of its succulent meat using some of it in a sandwich with lashings of mustard mayo (just mix Colmans and your favourite mayonnaise) and crisp Little Gem lettuce leaves; and with the remainder create a pea and ham soup with the aid of a tin of mushy peas if you can’t be bothered to soak some marrowfats.

I always add diced carrot and swede, some celery and diced potato to make the soup a meal in itself.

For more easy meals, head to Baba Ganoush in Kendal for a slice of quiche to serve warm at home with vegetables, or salad, and a baked potato, for example.

Flavour combinations might include pear, walnut and Stilton; feta, olive and sun-dried tomato; and ham, cheddar and red onion (£2.60 per slice; whole quiches available to order, priced £11, and serving about six to eight people).

You will find a similar type of taste sensation in the ready meal department at Hazelmere Cafe & Bakery at Grange-over-Sands.

The meat and potato slice is basically a hotpot in pastry (£1.15 per slice) with mince, onions, carrots and potatoes; while the ‘dragon pie’, Hazelmere’s veggie option, comprises cannellini beans, brown rice, tomatoes, ginger, soy sauce and a hint of chilli (£1.35 per portion).

Also in Grange, Higginsons butchers has made it oh-so-easy to cook a delicious lambs’ liver and bacon stir-fry by preparing the meat and vegetables in a tomato, oregano and onion marinade (£4.50 per 500g); and if you can’t be bothered to stir-fry, then add a little water and cook as a casserole in the oven.

More new season delights from Witherslack comm-unity shop which has locally-grown eating and cooking apples (£1 per kilo) and tomatoes (£2 per kilo); and from Kendal Fisheries on Stramongate which has new season Cartmel Valley Game now on sale (mallard, pigeon, venison, rabbit, for example), lovely Welsh mussels at £3.25 per kilo, and Morecambe Bay wild sea bass from £8.99 each.

For our Checkout bargain of the week follow the crowds to Greenodd where butcher Peter Hutchinson is offering half a locally-reared pig, cut and bagged for the freezer.

The pig halves weigh approximately 75lbs, so they do represent an ‘investment’ but, at only £1,25 per lb, you will get so much more meat for your money. You could always share with a friend.

Finally, I think I have tracked down what could be my favourite seasonal delight of the lot – Bedrock Gin, which is made in Keswick, is back on sale at Low Sizergh Barn near Kendal (£25 a bottle). Try before you buy at the October 28 tasting day.