I adore the first few weeks of November, there is something uniquely magical captured in the changing of the seasons at this time of year.

Autumn is beginning to give way to winter, the trees are almost bare, the lanes are scattered with copper leaves and by late afternoon the light is already slipping away. There is a bite in the air that wasn't there a few weeks ago, the sort of chill that makes you reach instinctively for a cosy jumper and start thinking about what might be bubbling away on the stove for supper.

Then comes Bonfire Night. Just when the evenings have become properly dark, we head outside and light fires.

There is something wonderfully elemental about it. Standing around a bonfire as sparks disappear into the black sky, hands wrapped around something warm, children waiting impatiently for the awe of fireworks and that unmistakable smell of woodsmoke clinging to coats long after everyone has gone home. It is one of those old seasonal markers that asks us to stop and notice where we are in the year.

The exuberance of summer may be behind us, but November has an abundance all of its own. There are great knobbly roots pulled from cold soil, deeply green brassicas, leeks, onions, potatoes and squash. Orchard apples to bake and stew. Pears to poach. Late autumn fruit preserved in jars and bottles. Food becomes darker, richer and more comforting as the landscape outside does the same.

This is the season for cooking slowly. For onions softened patiently in a pan until sweet and sticky. Potatoes baked until their skins are crisp and their middles cloud-soft. Squash roasted until its edges catch. Big pots of soup and stew that can be left to blip away while everyone is outside.

Of course on Bonfire Night itself, there must be sausages. Preferably eaten piping hot, outside, from a soft bun with a tangle of caramelised onions and a good squirt of mustard. There is nowhere to hide in food this simple, which is precisely why the ingredients matter.

Our sausages are made with exceptional pork, from pigs grown here in Devon, as well as entirely natural ingredients like our gluten free oats, produced on a family farm, a little sea salt and a crush of black pepper. Simply nothing else. Nothing unnecessary, no artificial preservatives or shortcuts, just very good meat, proper seasoning and the skill of making them well.

Cook the sausages in a pan, the oven or on the barbecue until burnished and sizzling, pile them into buns and put the mustards and chutneys on the table. Or make a great sausage casserole, rich with onions, herbs and beans, and let everyone dig in when the cold finally drives them indoors (see my recipe from the farm kitchen).

When we chose the name Pipers & Co, honouring our heritage and the name of our Family Farm ‘Pipers Farm’, the ‘& Co’ was a deliberate addition to our new identity.

Good food has never been about one person, behind it are farmers and growers, butchers and bakers, cheesemakers and cooks. And at the other end of it are the people we gather around the table to feed.

Bonfire Night captures a little of that spirit.

It is a wonderfully communal celebration. Village bonfires and back-garden gatherings, neighbours appearing through the gate, friends arriving clutching bottles and dishes, children bundled into hats and coats. Food passed around rather than plated beautifully. Someone tending the fire, someone else disappearing inside to fetch another tray of sausages. There is a generosity to this time of year that honours our own community and it’s a reminder of the many hands that contribute to the food we get to devour.

Taking Stock

In a world that often seems determined to hurry us on to whatever comes next, these little markers in the calendar remind us to enjoy the season we're actually in. So before the Christmas lights go up and December gathers momentum, there is November. There are dark evenings and muddy boots. There are apples and squash, good sausages and steaming mugs to warm chilly hands. There are fires to light and people worth gathering around them.

Of course, once the final firework has faded,

Christmas suddenly doesn't feel quite so far away. Out on the our farms, preparations have been underway for months. Turkeys and Geese are growing slowly in the fresh air. Producers are preserving, maturing, baking and making. And here at Pipers & Co, we're gathering together the food we want to celebrate.

There will be magnificent centrepieces, beautiful British produce and plenty of delicious things to open, pour, slice and share. You can find our Christmas collection here, with more beautiful food being added each day.

For now though, light the bonfire, invite a few people over. Cook more sausages than you think you'll need, pass around the mustard and pour something warming. Enjoy November while it's here, as before you know it December will be here.