29 October - lunch in Bath, slow-baked sausages & new plates

It was another Saturday lunch out, this week in Bath. We went to check out the recently reopened Holbourne Museum - a funky bit of architecture, but not wildly excited inside. It's got a nice-looking cafe, but it was a bit full of kids, so we decided to head back to town for lunch. Just as we left though, it decided to tip with rain, so we just dived into the nearest place we could think of; the Riverside Cafe, a tiny little place tucked away under Pulteney Bridge that always does good, simple cafe food. I was still feeling a bit coldy and didn't have much appetite, so I went for some plain fried calamari and fries, just what I needed, and Tris had some really nice falafels with salad.

When we got home after a hard afternoon's shopping, I tried out a Nigel Slater recipe from an old OFM magazine for slow-baked sausages, with lots of onions and a sauce including dark beer. Came out quite nice served with some mash and cabbage. The evening's real culinary excitment though was all in the crockery, with beautiful new plates from Toast. It's not the most photogenic of dishes or the best light to show them off, but I'm sure they'll feature again soon ...

28 October - pasta and fish @ the Kensington

To eat up the last bit of smoked salmon, I made up a quick pasta lunch with a sauce made of leek, the smoked salmon and mascarpone.

I was feeling a bit woolly-headed and achy all day as if I was coming down with a cold, so I didn't feel much like going out, but Tris had booked a table at the Kensington Arms for dinner (another website not working!). I didn't really have much of an appetite, so we shared a starter - a fantastically smooth chicken liver parfait with toast and onion jam - then I chose fish as a lighter main. I had pan-fried sea bream with crushed potatoes and carrots - simple but delicious and well worth the effort of going out.

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.

26 October - more bruschetta and pasta with pesto

It was another HFW-inspired bruschetta recipe again for lunch today, this time broad beans boiled, podded then swooshed around with some melted butter and garlic before being blended to a paste. I spread the paste on toast, crumbled over a bit more goats cheese and this time a sprinkling of fresh mint. Another great combination and a great colour!

I was going to do just simple pasta with fresh pesto this evening, but decided to add some gently fried red pepper and courgette to make something a bit more substantial. It seemed to work and the pesto was spot-on - leaving that fabulous rounded taste in your mouth long after you've cleared your plate ... mmmm!

25 October - squash bruschetta and chicken with cider

Inspired by Hugh and his veg the other night, lunch today is butternut squash and goats cheese bruschetta. While I was cooking up the veg last night, I popped the rest of the squash and half a red pepper in the oven to roast. Today I warmed both through in a pan with a bit of melted butter, tipped them onto a couple of slices of nice toasted bread (from Hart's), added some crumbled goats cheese, a few chopped walnuts and popped it all under the grill to melt the cheese a bit. Well, worth a bit of forward planning!

There were still some mushrooms from Friday's vegbox in the fridge that needed eating, so I made up some chicken cooked in cider with mushrooms, potatoes and cream - based on a Nigel Slater recipe that's a regular favourite. Served with some plain boiled cabbage, the sauce is both creamy and tangy.

24 October - five vegetable couscous

I used up the rest of the vegbox spinach for lunch with some pasta, plus some bacon and a generous splodge of cream - great combo.

After Hugh F-W on TV again last night with his River Cottage Veg, I decided to go for something veggie for dinner. I made a variation on a recipe from For Every Season for seven vegetable couscous - although mine only included five!

• Fry a sliced red onion in a little oil to soften, then add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and about the same amount of chopped fresh ginger.
• Toast and then crush 1/2tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp coriander seeds and add to the onions with a pinch of saffron and a few chilli flakes.
• Add the following vegetables to the pan, all chopped into roughly similar sized chunks: a red pepper, a courgette, a carrot and a bit of butternut squash.
• Stir around to coat the veg in the spices, then cover with about 400ml veg stock and leave to simmer gently until tender - about 20 mins.
• Serve on pile of couscous with some of the broth spooned over the top and a sprinking of chopped coriander.

A tasty way to get lots of veg that gets yummier as you get towards the bottom and all the nice garlicy-gingery bits!

23 October - Sunday lunch and a ramble

Anticipating more nice weather, we'd booked a table for Sunday lunch at the Bear & Swan pub in Chew Magna (no link as their website doesn't seem to be working) - it's just over half an hour's drive south of Bristol. I'd been there before a couple of years ago and remembered it as being good. And it didn't disappoint - I had overnight roast belly of pork with apricot stuffing. The meat was meltingly tender and there was a nice chunk of crispy crackling and there were nice crunchy roast potatoes, a dollop of apple sauce, rich gravy and a dish of fresh veg. A yummy modern version of a classic Sunday lunch. We didn't have any space to go for pudding, but coffee came with a couple of elegant chocolate truffles. Now that's my idea of how to end a good meal!

To walk our lunch off, we went for a walk through the fields down to Chew Valley Lake. It wasn't quite as a sunny as the day before, but the sun did break through occasionally and it was nice just to be out in the fresh air. At the lake, we managed a mid-afternoon tea stop - not quite as sophisticated, but a good cup of tea and a great view across the lake.

After such a meaty lunch, I made some vegetable noodles for supper; mushrooms, spring onions, garlic, red chilli, sweetcorn, cabbage, chicken stock, lemongrass, a splash of soy sauce and some noodles. It could've done with a bit more chilli , but it was fresh and cleansing to end the weekend.