21 March - scrambled eggs and garlicky greens

I started today with my first attempt at scrambled eggs in a microwave. Although the apartment does have a small hob, there's only one rather large pan, so I thought I'd try my hand with the microwave instead. The result - actually, not bad scrambled eggs after a good bit of stirring.

Knowing the lack of interesting lunch options at the conference centre, I picked up some couscous salad in Sainsbury's on my way in to see me through another busy day. Then it was out again for the evening, this time for supper with a fellow freelancer and an in-house editor who we've both been working for. Luckily the editor is based in Glasgow so was able to take us somewhere a bit different, in the trendy West End. It actually turned out to be a Zizzi's - a familiar chain, but actually quite a funky location. I went for roast pork belly, which was lovely and tender, and better still was served on a huge pile of garlicky spring greens - who says the Scots don't do veg!!!

22 January - not fish pie

We were out again for lunch today, making the most of a bit of brief sunshine at Mud Dock. I was feeling a bit sicky after painkillers for a really sore back, so I didn't really appreciate my scrambled egg with smoked salmon, but it was a still a nice place to hang out on a Sunday lunchtime.

I'd got the ingredients to cook fish pie for supper, but I was feeling too pained and horrible to be bothered with the faff. Instead I used the prawns I'd got to go in the pie with some mushrooms in a simple creamy sauce with linguine. Easy and tasty and a good base for more painkillers.

27 October - scrambled eggs and dinner at jamie's

There wasn't much in for lunch today and I had a fancy for eggs, so I nipped out and got some smoked salmon to make scrambled eggs into lunch. Lovely on some toast with some garlic chives snipped over the top.

This evening I was meeting up with a friend, but the place we planned to meet was closed for a private do, so we ended up in Jamie's Italian again. I went for chicken liver tortellini, which was quite nice, if a little dry, but my friend had Osso Bucco, which was so fatty and horrible, it actually made her feel physically sick! It's a shame that the food's so hit and miss (especially the meat so it seems), because otherwise it's a really nice place to hang out. With plenty of other good spots in Bristol with much better food though, I don't think I'll bother again.

6 August - creamy chicken with leeks and sweetcorn

Tris is down in London for the weekend, leaving me with a whole vegbox of stuff to get started on alone! After a brunch of scrambled eggs on toast with a few tomatoes from the garden lightly fried, this evening, I cooked up what was originally a soup recipe into a creamy chicken stew with leeks and fresh sweetcorn.

• I gently fry/sweat a small chopped onion, some chopped garlic and red chilli, with a sliced leek and a few bits of bacon.
• Then I add some chopped chicken just to brown, before pouring in a slurp of cider (still leftover from the other day), followed by about 150ml chicken stock.
• I cut the corn off a fresh corn cob, add this and simmer the whole lot for about 20 mins.
• Towards the end, I add a slurp of double cream and some chopped parsley.

It makes rather a generous plateful (I'm too used to cooking for two!), with some new potatoes to mash into the sauce.

16 July - scrambled eggs and lemon and coriander chicken

After a grey, drizzly start to a Saturday morning, a comforting brunch of scrambled eggs with a few chunks of hot-smoked salmon mixed in, piled on a delicious thick slice of toasted sourdough bread was just perfect.

For dinner I fancied a curry, but something light and fresh. I tried out a Madhur Jaffrey recipe for lemon and coriander chicken which fitted the bill just perfectly.

• Brown four boneless chicken thighs in oil and remove.
• Fry 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic and add a good dollop of grated ginger mixed with a tablespoon of water.
• Stir in a large bunch of chopped coriander (about 100g, which is a very large bunch), plus 1/2 a chopped green chilli, a pinch of cayenne pepper, 1tsp ground cumin, 1/2tsp ground coriander, 1/2tsp turmeric and some salt.
• Return the chicken to the pan with about 150ml water and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice (c. 1-2 tbsp).
• Cover the pan, turn low and simmer for 30 minutes+, turning the chicken over halfway.

Served with some spiced rice and peas, it was delicious; tangy, green and with just the right amount of kick.

For pudding, I tried to recreate something like the fabulous 'savoury' dessert I had at Opus last weekend with some mini goats cheese and gooseberry cheesecakes. Sadly, the cheesecake mix came out slightly curdled and the (supermarket) gooseberries just weren't as tart as I'd hoped. All a bit disappointing, maybe one to come back to another time when better gooseberries are available.

10 July - scrambled eggs for breakfast

The trip to Birmingham was for an athletics meeting - the Diamond League meeting at the Alexander Stadium - in the afternoon/evening, so we knew we wouldn't really get a proper evening meal. As we were staying in a hotel (Malmaison), this made the perfect excuse for a big hotel breakfast to start the day. As someone who needs a decent cup of tea before I can think straight in the morning, I often find hotel breakfasts rather frustrating. Today though a pot of tea arrived reasonably promptly, so I was ready for a nice big plate of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. We also turned out to be sitting almost next to Steve Cram, and Tris spent most of breakfast watching various BBC sport folks to-ing and fro-ing, getting ready for the day over their toast and coffee!

Lunch was at Cafe Rouge - not for the food, which was just about passable, but just because it was a nice spot to sit outside in the on-off sunshine and watch the world go by before we headed off for a great evening of athletics.