As soon as they appear on the fruit stand, I'm straining against the leash to buy some to take home for roasting. Once home, I cut a slit in each one, using the tip of a sharp knife and either spread them over the bottom of a roasting tin, and leave them in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, occasionally giving the tin a shake.

During that 20 minutes, the kitchen is filled with a wonderfully comforting smell and I find myself pacing around the kitchen impatiently waiting for them to be ready. It is well worth the wait.

When ready, it is like handling hot coals, but fun nevertheless, breaking open the toasted shells to reveal the creamy, brain-like kernels. Dipped in a little salt, they have a sublime sweet, earthy flavour, perfect to munch as a suppertime treat.

In fact this season provides us with all sorts of tasty treats. Russet apples, conference and comice pears, poultry with cranberry sauce, hearty casseroles and stodgy puddings with custard. Happy times! As the days grow shorter and colder, the appeal of seasonal foods gets stronger.

This became very apparent to me last week, when I was lucky enough to enjoy a day at Wetherby races. The drive over was hassle-free, the course looked marvelous and there was a good crowd. The wind, however, was bitter. Between races queues formed at the Cornish pasty and roast pig sandwich stands and we duly took our place. It was well worth the waiting.

There is something wonderful about high-calorie, high- fat foods, eaten out-of-doors when temperatures are low. Our bodies are programmed to look for such foods in these conditions, and we enjoyed a happy day munching away, watching the gee-gees.

We are not alone in munching our way into the winter. All warm blooded creatures need to fuel their metabolism, and in garden terms, perhaps most conspicuous are the birds. I love attracting birds into the garden during the cold months by putting out various foods for them. As temperatures fall, their needs grow, and as insects become harder to find and autumn's larder empties, it becomes increasingly easy to tempt them into our gardens.

High fat foods such as fat and suet-based snacks are attractive not only to me, but also to Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Dunnocks, Great Tits, Robins and Starlings. Remember, however, that Robins, Blackbirds and Dunnocks are mainly ground feeders, rarely visiting hanging feeders, and so try to leave some on the patio, or perhaps a low wall where they can tuck in, but away from danger of predation by the feline assassins.

Peanuts are popular with many birds, being an excellent source of fats and carbohydrates. My Robins and Blackbirds are not keen, much preferring to feast on mixed seed or species specific feeds. Once again they don't like hanging feeders, and so try to use one of those ground feeder trays, which keep the food clear of my patio, but also avoids making any mess.

Every garden or even back yard, can find space for a hanging feeder, and you should look out for sunflowers seeds (preferably mess-free sunflower hearts) which have a very high energy rating and are attractive to the various acrobats of the garden bird world. Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Greenfinch and Siskins will sell their little souls for Thistle Seed, but they still enjoy feasting on Sunflower Hearts, squabbling bad-temperdly with the Blue Tits and Great Tits.

If you have any bits of old cheese or bread, break it up and leave out for avian visitors, as they will all be gratefully received on cold winter mornings. If you do not have a tradition of bird-feeding in your garden start off by only part filling your feeder, and keeping it topped up with fresh supplies until the birds build up the habit of visiting your garden. Keeping them fed could mean the difference between life and death.

Having spent the day in the cold at Wetherby, I can confirm the warm-feeling inside high fat foods give you and how much they help us to beat the cold. I wish I could also report that my waistline had not suffered at the expense of all this high calorie eating. Essential to survival in the bird world, and in extremes of course to us, my fondness for this sort of food sadly has resulted in an all too obvious weight gain. In fact, the only pounds I've lost recently are to those trackside bookies.