a few of our favourite things...

Becs: Something I have been enjoying lately (on the odd day that Christchurch has had hot weather...) has been a Fruju Fruit Whip. They come in two flavours, tropical and berry, and are a little like a smoothie on a stick, not too sweet and very refreshing. I am not one to endorse calorie counting but they are also pretty healthy as far as frozen treats go. Not so cheap at $3.20 a pop but then the days of 25c popsicles are well and truly gone!

Libby: One of my favourite baking ingredients is Equagold premium dutch cocoa. Once you start using it in your afghans, peanut brownies and chocolate cakes you'll never be able to use anything else. I used to buy it in 400g jars for about $12 but I recently discovered it in 1kg bags at Moore Wilson for the bargain price of $15.

Miriam: Last week I was a bit too enthusiastic at the gym and ended up hurting my back (diagnosis: herniated disc in my lumbar spine). Gripped with fear that I would be an invalid for several weeks, I went to the Dr, who gave me drugs and promptly sent me off to see a physio. And there I was fitted with this corset like back brace. It's tighter than anything you could ever hope to buy at an underwear shop and generally restricts most movement. The back brace was my saviour over the following few days and now I'm almost healed. So the back brace can be retired - or at least only worn on occasions where I need to create a nipped in waist!