31 March - a day out in Bath

We had a day out in Bath today. It being a busy Saturday, I didn't expect to get into the petite Cafe Shoon, so was pleasantly surprised when we got a table. I had a delicious serano ham, fig and mozzarella salad - three of my favourite ingredients on one dish!

After a hard afternoon's shopping, I wasn't feeling like doing much cooking, so we picked up some lamb with mint and balsamic crust from Waitrose - you can't go wrong with some garlicky spring greens and rosemary roast new potatoes.

11 January - easy lamb

I'd intended to cook fish pie, but as I was in Waitrose looking at the fish, nothing really took my fancy and I didn't feel like all that fish pie faff. So when I spotted their lamb in mint and balsamic crust in the same chiller cabinet, I decided to opt for the easy pre-prepared option instead! We had the lamb with kale and mixed mash (potato, parsnip and jerusalem artichoke) and it was as good as usual.

4 July - chicken and spinach pie

Last night I stripped the rest of the chicken off the bones and this morning I pile the carcass into a big pan with an onion, a couple of carrots and some parsley to make stock. It bubbles away for an hour or so, the smell wafting up through the house. I wouldn't normally have the same thing two nights running, but I decide to use up the leftover chicken straightaway in a pie. It's another hot day and a traditional pie doesn't feel quite right, but I find a recipe for an interesting Moroccan inspired chicken and spinach pie using filo pastry on the Waitrose website which I can adapt. I've never cooked with filo pastry before, so I decide to give it a try.

• Line a spring-form tin with the filo pastry, brushing a sheet at a time with melted butter, then draping it into the tin, leaving the edges hanging over the sides. The pastry I've got is in long sheets which you cut in half to make squares. I put in a few sheets as squares, then a couple of full length pieces that I can use to wrap over the top and make a lid.
• Wilt a whole bag of spinach in a large frying pan, add a knob of butter and some of the cold chicken. Stir in a small teaspoon of ground cinnamon, some grated nutmeg and a handful each of raisins and pine nuts, to give it that Moroccan flavour.
• Put the filling into the pastry and fold over the pastry to cover, bunching it up in the middle into folds. Then bake at 180C for about 20-25 mins.

It looks fantastic when it comes out the oven and I leave it, as instructed, for about ten minues before I attempt to take it out of the tin. Served with some broad bean and tomato salad and a few potatoes, it makes a really nice, summery dinner. I was a bit worried that it'd be dry with any sauce, but the spinach and raisins keep it moist.