1 August - goats cheese on toast and pasta with spinach

Another cheesy lunch today, this time goats cheese on toast with a pile of salad. And a quick supper of orecchiette with spinach, pancetta and a slurp of cream to make a simple sauce.

21 July - scallops with minty peas and apricots with pistachios

I've just realised that I'm a whole week behind with this blog, so I thought I'd better sit down and have a catch-up! So, a week ago today ... Tris was out for the evening, so I bought myself a handful of scallops from the fish man, them pan-fried with a bit of pancetta and ate them on a pile of crushed minty peas ... you can't beat a classic combination!

I'm not generally a big fruit fan, but I'd seen some apricots the other day and I was drawn to pop them in my basket more by the lovely colour than anything else. This evening, I got round to cooking them up for pudding. I cut them in half and baked them, covered in foil, with a spoonful of sugar and a splash of orange blossom water. Then I had them with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a few chopped pistachios scattered over the top. It was an idea borrowed from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries and proved really delicious.

18 June - scallops with peas, broad beans and asparagus

Right now, we're in that brief but wonderful window where asparagus, broad beans and fresh peas all in season at the same time. They make such a fantastic combination that I couldn't resist cooking a big pile up altogether, draining them and tipping them back into the pan with a good knob of butter and some chopped mint, just to mix. I served them with some pan-fried scallops, slices of crispy pancetta and a dollop of plain risotto on the side. Hard to beat!

14 June - chickpeas with tomatoes and harissa

It was a lovely sunny day today, so both lunch and dinner were al fresco - hooray! It was a quick lunchtime favourite; peas and pancetta with linguine. Unfortunately, I wasn't really concentrating and undercooked the pasta.

This evening's dinner was from Sunday's Observer magazine; Nigel Slater's chickpeas with tomatoes and harissa. I roasted 8 medium tomatoes cut into 6 pieces each with a red pepper chopped into large chunks mixed with some olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar and a pinch of cumin seeds at about 200C. I left them to cook while I was on the phone and when I went back to check after nearly an hour, they were a bit charred around the edges - oops! I picked out some of the very blackened bits of skin and tipped the lot into a pan, added a splash more olive oil, a teaspoon of harissa paste and the chopped rind of preserved lemon and let it heat through. Meanwhile I cooked up some giant couscous that I came across in the supermarket the other day. Finally, I stirred some whole basil leaves into the chickpea mix. The stew was really tasty - the lemon and harissa really gave it a tang. I was a bit less convinced about the giant couscous; rather back to that frogspawn feel again!

1 May - Portobello mushrooms & simple pasta

Lunch today was a variation on a Jamie Oliver recipe for Portobello mushrooms. I mushed up a clove of garlic, some thyme leaves and a bit of chopped red chilli together with some olive oil and lemon juice. Then brushed this all over a couple of big Portobello mushrooms, dotted a tiny bit of butter on the top and put them in a hot oven (2ooC) for about 10 minutes. I then added a couple of thick slices of goat's cheese on top and popped them back in for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese. The result, as always, was absolutely delicious with a handful of new potatoes to soak up the juices - a real favourite!

Dinner was a simple bowl of pasta - linguine with shallots, pancetta, asparagus, a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of parmesan - I think my first 'repeat' dish so far.

18 April - figs & goats cheese and pasta again

On a beautiful sunny day here in Brighton, I had another lunchtime favourite; fresh figs and goats cheese, served with some walnut bread - mmm!

Then this evening, I had the challenge of trying to use up the ingredients I've accumulated this week, without just repeating the same combinations. It was pasta again, but this time with a tomato-y sauce. The last shallot fried slowly and gently in olive oil with a sliced red pepper, some garlic and a bit of that chunk of pancetta. Then I added a small tin of tomatoes and some fresh basil and let it bubble down. Still a few things in the fridge to use up tomorrow - my last day here.

14 April - pasta with asparagus

It's been difficult to resist the lure of all Brighton's lovely cafes and restaurants, but the idea of staying self-catering this week was partly to avoid spending a fortune on eating out. So I went out in search of supplies instead, the challenge being to get together enough ingredients to make meals but without having anything left over at the end of the week. I'm afraid despite my intentions to be economical, I couldn't resist getting into the Brighton vibe with some independent food shopping in funky little shops and I came back with the ingredients for some pasta with asparagus - yes, again, I know, but it's in season and irresistable! Mixed up with some shallot, garlic and pancetta, it made a pretty good lunch.

Cooking in the little apartment kitchen was fun. Although it's a nice, generally well-equipped kitchen, there do seem to be a few key essentials missing - especially any kind of wooden spoon or spatula. There are metal serving spoons and a fish slice, but nothing to stir with. I may just end up buying one before the week's out. I also ended up frying up my single shallot and few chunks of pancetta in an enormous frying pan!

In the evening, I drove up to Hawkhurst (a village just over an hour away) to meet up with an old friend and some traditional pub food; ham, egg and chips!