Typically you don't fertilize much of anything late in the summer/early fall since you want the plant to go dormant and not start producing any new growth. That being said some plants respond to lesser hours of daylight to trigger dormancy and others rely on a cold snap to make them go dormant. I haven't ever seen or heard anyone give information which camp clematis fall into. If you do use something, why not apply something organic that will take time to break down over the winter like grass clippings or shredded leaves (some trees here are already dropping leaves because of the drought conditions we are experiencing), or even some sort of shredded mulch? These things will start decomposing in the fall, attract earthworms to the area which will supply their own organic additives (worm castings), and you won't have to worry about it causing excessive growth at a time when they should be going dormant. I personally wouldn't use anything other than that at this time of the year.

Never refrigerate baked cakes or breads unless absolutely necessary. The temperature of a refrigerator is the optimum temp for making baked goods go stale as quickly as possible. They actually go stale faster in the fridge than at room temp--that's a scientific fact. Of course, with a cake with custard filling or whipped cream frosting, you have to store in the fridge for safety's sake. Keeping batter: Today's baking powder is formulated to be double acting. That means that it starts to bubble when you add the liquid, then completes the leavening process when exposed to heat. So if your recipe calls for only baking powder, you would get some rise from stored batter, but nowhere near what you would get from fresh batter. If your leavening agent is beaten egg whites or a baking soda/egg white combo, then it will be played out if you keep the batter. But you won't be happy with the results if you make the batter an hold it. Your best bet? Make and bake your cakes now, wrap (without frosting, preferably) and freeze. Then, when you defrost them, leave them wrapped until they're room temp. That way any condensation that forms as they defrost will be on the outside of the wrapping and won't make the cakes soggy. They'll be fine if you do that, and you'll save yourself a lot of work.

Sooz, sounds like you have a new career. Your food looks delicious. I'm with you on not cooking the chicken a day in advance. But I would definitely, bread the chicken a day in advance. I would rub each chicken breast with a little fresh garlic paste (Microplane the garlic).( I like fresh garlic better than garlic powder) Use your processor to make fresh bread crumbs and season the crumbs with fresh grated parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and egg mixed with just a little water and then into the bread crumbs. Chicken can be breaded the day in advance and then quickly fried the next day. I'd pour a little of the sauce in the bottom of the pan, and lay the breaded chicken cutlets over the sauce. Now they are ready to be reheated in the oven. Leaving them in the sauce for an hour or two isn't going to hurt them. Add a little more sauce on top and the cheese just before they go in the oven. Oh and if you have extra chicken, you can breaded it as above and freeze it on cookie sheets and then store in zip lock bags. Don't defrost before frying. Ann

PWM, I'm assuming you'd like the amounts converted to something other than metric? There are many conversion tools on line, one gave me these conversions. Islay, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong: 450g (2 cups) dark brown sugar 175g (3/4 cup) ml evaporated milk 30g ( 2 tbls) butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 55g (1/4 cup) chopped walnuts. Butter a 20 or 30 cm (8 or 9 inch square) tin. In a saucepan, stir together the sugar and milk. Boil until temp. reaches 112 to 116°C. (232-240F, soft ball stage) Or, until a small amount dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter, vanilla and nuts. Continue to beat until the mixture loses its gloss. pour into prepared tin, score with knife and set aside for about 5 minutes. Cut into squares. I hope this helps. Annie