The beauty of living alone is that you can spoil yourself. If I want to spend a Saturday morning making crepes and vegan goat's cheese, I no longer have flatmates to mock me ruthlessly and tell me to add bacon. (On the other hand, I no longer have flatmates to mock me ruthlessly and tell me to add bacon: YOU KEPT ME REAL, GUYS. YOU KEPT ME REAL). Let's face it... we've all seen the artistic photography set-ups of pretty white girls with woolly socks and perfectly rumpled hair, drinking tea from tiny cups with slices of lemon, with blueberries scattered across antique wood. We've all sort of aspired to drink out of mason jars and line the room with fairy lights. It's not really something you can pull off when you live at home, and your dad keeps telling you not to waste lemons, or when you live with friends, and they keep telling you to put some trousers on, or - when you live with anyone, really, and they keep telling you to use a practical sized mug and put your blueberries in a bowl because seriously.

I mean, sure, behind the scenes I'm holding the cat between my knees while I take photos, to stop him from stealing my figs (why does he want my figs? You are a CARNIVORE, Ryoma). And I'm not going to pretend that I'm not playing the High School Musical soundtrack on iTunes. But sometimes it's nice to be romantic and impractical. That's kind of what being 22 is about, I think.

So! These crepes are legit one of the best things I've made recently, and if you pretend to be French and have your life together while you eat them, it's even better (sometimes I pretend to be Amélie, and I've made my peace with that). I sort of improvised the recipe as I went along, so I can't tell you how many it makes - but the batter does keep in the fridge for a day or two (although bear in mind that it will thicken, due to the ground oats, so you'll need to thin it down with more milk when you use it). They're not actually delicate, French-style crepes - more of a British-style pancake; a little sturdier - but the combination of oats and rye flour is simple and earthy enough to contrast with the sharp 'cheese', especially with fresh autumn figs and ludicrously expensive Italian hazelnut honey that you could (and should) just eat with a spoon. Don't eat honey? You know maple syrup would also be awesome. Have at it.

Rye & Oatmeal Crepes with Vegan Goat's Cheese, Figs, & Hazelnut Honey

90g porridge oats
45g rye flour
45g plain flour
1/2 tsp flaky salt
1 Tbsp agave/maple syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
500ml (2c.) soy milk

For goat's cheese: I used this recipe. I suggest leaving out the extra vinegar, as it was a bit too acidic for me.

1. Grind the oats in a food processor to a coarse powder, then tip into a large bowl and mix with the rye and plain flour and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the syrup, oil and milk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet, whisking to combine thoroughly.

2. Heat a little oil/vegan margarine in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Give the batter a quick stir, then pour a ladleful into the pan - if I remember rightly, around a quarter cup was right for me. Tilt and swirl the pan a little to evenly cover the base, and cook for a few minutes. Flip and cook the other side until slightly brown and smelling awesome. Make the rest of the crepes in the same way with the remaining batter.

3. Eat with the vegan goat cheese, sliced figs and honey or syrup!