In no order whatsoever - I seem to be in a frugal, foraging frame of mind this week...

BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE

I say blackberry... It was mainly blackberry, with a shop-bought eating apple from the fruit bowl. I was fed up of the big box of frozen blackberries picked from local hedgerows last year and it was a chilly day, perfect for a traditional, solid pud, so crumble it was. I used some ground almonds and muscovado sugar in the topping. See all of our crumble recipes

SCRUMPED APPLES

Scrumped, foraged, but definitely not stolen. I picked them from a community orchard where I live, and there are hundreds and hundreds, most of them falling on the ground, feasted on by wasps and left to rot. There are thousands of unharvested apple trees around the country, on waste land, by roads, even in parks. It's such a stupid waste for no one to eat the apples, particularly when families on a tight budget find it hard to buy fresh fruit. There are some schemes around the country to harvest these overlooked apples, but you could just take a bag and take a look. Don't worry about whether they're eaters or cookers - just take them home and cook something! (Mine turned out to be eaters: crisp and tart.) See our apple recipes.

SPICED RED CABBAGE

You can bake it or cook it on the stove, but the slow-simmering, kitchen-scenting mix of sharp vinegar and rich spices (plus two of my scrumped apples) is hard to beat. I also used red wine vinegar, mustard seed, ground ginger, cinnamon, cumin and salt and pepper, but no sultanas this time. Served with sausages and mash, it's great for the onset of autumn.

MARKS & SPENCER GLITTER JUICE DRINK

In a Paddington basement transformed into a winter wonderland, I had a taste of Christmas courtesy of Marks & Spencer. Among the things I sampled - I like to be thorough - were delicious upmarket chocolates, chocolate Brussels sprouts (chocolate balls in sprout foil, £2, 135g), deliciously rich beer-flavoured caramels (Collection Ale and Stout Caramels, £5, 130g), Lebkuchen (Iced Cinnamon Stars, £3, 125g). One of the most innovative ideas was a non-alcoholic drink that has a subtle sparkly swirl through it. It has 10 pomegranates and one apple pressed into it, according to the label, and it costs £1.99. Perfect for teetotallers, kids, designated drivers - or livened up with a shot of vodka! It looks absolutely gorgeous in the bottle and the glassand tastes sophisticatedly sweet and fruity - very festive.

FIGS

The heady aroma of ripe figs still on the tree was everywhere on holiday in Corsica. Tantalisingly, all of the trees I actually walked past were being regularly harvested; none left within reach for a passing fig lover so no foreign foraging for me! I have my eye on a tree near home, where some of the branches overhang the public footpath. Last time I checked the figs weren't ripe so this week I gave in and bought some. Split with my nail and partnered with blue cheese, they were my favourite lunch this week. How to grow your own figs

The five best things I ate last time

What have you enjoyed eating or drinking this week?