5 February - pork and chickpea stew

Recently, we've rather got into the habit of going out for lunch at the weekends as an excuse to get out on otherwise rather grim wintry days. It's quite nice, but it does get a bit pricey and we tend to overeat a bit. So today we went for a slightly cheaper and lighter option with lunch at Lahloo Pantry, a little tea shop in Clifton. We each just had a small slice of goats cheese and chorizo tart rather than a huge plateful of food. It was perfectly enough for a light lunch and incredibly yummy. Followed of course by a good pot of loose leaf tea and a bit of a wander to get there and back.

For supper, I cooked up a warming, wintry favourite; pork, chorizo and chickpea stew. It's simple (and not particularly photogenic!) but always tasty after a good long bubble.

20 December - bristol brew and chicken stew

I stopped off at a new-ish tea shop in Clifton this morning - Lahloo. I'd tried their breakfast tea before, but this time I spotted they had a Bristol Brew blend, which is apparently designed specifically to suit the water in Bristol. It seemed too good an idea not to try so I bought myself a tin. I also picked up a savoury tart for my lunch while I was there.

I had in mind to cook a version of my sausage and kale stew this evening, but using chicken instead of sausages. When I got to Sainsbury's though, they were clean out of kale! Thus I ended up making sausage and kale stew without the sausages or the kale!!

• I fried chicken thigh fillets in some good olive oil to brown, then added some sliced garlic, chopped rosemary and a chopped red onion.
• Once the onion was soft, I added some sliced carrots, chunks of leek and a tin of flagelot beans, along with some chicken stock (c. 400ml).
• I bubbled it away for a good 20-25 mins, then stirred in a dash of cream at the end.

A nice warming bowl with plenty of flavour.

13 May - classic pasta and more tea

Another classic spring/summer pasta lunch today; linguine with fresh peas and bacon, simple but always delicious. Then this afternoon I was in a local deli to top up my stocks of teapig teabags and I got talked in to trying yet another make of tea! Lahloo is another Bristol-based brand and as usual, I went for their loose-leaf breakfast tea. My first pot was a bit weedy, but when I tried again with a bit more tea and a slightly longer brewing time, it wasn't bad. I'll have to see if it becomes a regular in my collection!

Dinner was at a local Italian: Aqua. It usually does some good non-pasta/pizza dishes and I love their liver. But tonight I went for veal, that turned out to be a bit uninspiring and in a rather peppery sauce - just a bad menu choice, I think.