31 December - minestrone and new year's supper

I made up a big pot of chunky minestrone for lunch -red onion, leek and carrot sweated in oil, plus some bacon, courgette, garlic, diced potato and about 500ml chicken stock simmered for 20 mins with a handful of orzo added for the last 10 mins. More of a veg stew really than a soup, but really tasty with the leftover pesto stirred in.

We went round to a friend's for a New Year's Eve supper. I made the starter, a bit of a copy of yesterday's bruschetta, but this time as tartlets with sweet onion, squash, goats cheese and toasted walnuts. They ended up being put together in a bit of a rush and could have done with a bit more filling, but they still went down okay.

Followed by some good, warming shepherds pie and plenty of bubbly, we saw in the start of 2012.

20 July - minestrone and leftovers stew

Last night, I made up a pan of the minestrone we made on the Bordeaux Quay course last week, or at least from the recipe sheet I brought back, which was a bit different. I made it early so Tris could take some for his lunch, but when I took the lid off the pan at lunchtime, it looked a bit grey and unappetising. Thankfully, it tasted much better than it looked, especially with a good dollop of homemade pesto!

For the minestrone soup:

• Gently sweat some finely chopped onion, leek and carrot in olive oil.
• Add some sliced garlic, pancetta and finely diced potato.
• Add a good pile of fresh broad beans and some sliced tomatoes.
• Add enough chicken stock to easily cover the vegetables and some broken up pasta (I used linguine snapped into short lengths).
• Simmer for 20 mins or so.

Note: I really should have blanched the broad beans first and slipped them out of their skins - a bit of a faff, I know, but it really would've been worth it.

For the pesto; chop up a big handful of fresh basil, a handful of toasted hazelnuts, some crushed garlic and a grating of parmesan. Add a good slosh of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

We were meant to be going out to a comedy event this evening, so I hadn't got anything in for dinner. By the time Tris got home though, it was absolutely tipping it down with rain and I really couldn't face an evening sitting in a cold, damp tent, so I bailed out and he took his brother instead. That left me at home with an almost empty fridge. After a bit of rummaging through the cupboard, I made up a stew with chorizo, lentils, tinned tomatoes, a leek and a bit of carrot. The result was another rather unpromising-looking bowl of splodge, but it was actually really tasty and warming on a chilly evening.

14 July - italian cookery course at bordeaux quay

For my birthday, my friend Ange passed on a spare voucher for the cookery school at Bordeaux Quay, so this evening I went along for an Italian Provincial Cookery workshop. I went to another workshop there, on Spanish tapas, last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Like then, this evening was really more interesting for the little hints and tips picked up from seeing a professional chef at close quarters than the actual recipes. Last time, I completely changed my chopping technique and this time, I think it was a better technique for crushing garlic that I think'll stay with me.

The evening started off with a demonstration - linguine with crab and chilli - looked quite good, but perhaps a bit too crabby for my taste!?! Then we moved onto some fresh pesto - made with basil and hazelnuts (as pine nuts are super-expensive and difficult to get at the moment). I've made my own pesto before, but it was really good to learn a bit more about balancing the flavours and the result I mixed up together with my partner was great. We then made a chunky minestrone soup which was served with a good dollop of the pesto on the top - really tasty and one to remember for summer lunches.

Next came more herb chopping, with a salsa verde to go with some lamb. It was a bit ironic that I'd made a salsa verde just back at the beginning of the week, but again interesting to see the balance of ingredients suggested for this one.

After polishing off our efforts with a glass of wine, the evening finished off with some delicious lemon polenta cake. Unfortunately, we'd run out of time for a proper demo, but there was "one he'd made earlier" to taste and the recipe to take home and try.

All round, a really enjoyable evening and a few culinary nuggets of inspiration brought home with me. Thanks, Ange!