A few of our favourite things...

Becs: While I usually like to make my own cereal - porridge in winter, bircher or granola in summer - I like to mix it up a bit sometimes with something from the cereal aisle at the supermarket. I tend to buy a treat cereal (something clustery that feels a bit nutritionally void for an everyday breakfast) and dilute it with a box of something more earnest and healthful, that is, fibre containing. Now Kellog's have done it for me with their new All Bran Apple Crunch product. I am loving this at the moment, there are treaty bits as well as bran flakes and sticks, and it is not too sweet, nice one.

Miriam: I was sitting down to do my favourite thing, when we received an email from our landlord informing us that they're putting our lovely Kingsland bungalow on the market. In 90 days we have to move out. Suddenly the vege garden dug from scratch (with the rhubarb almost coming to fruition), the outdoor furniture rescued from the inorganic collection and the romantic gas fireplace all flashed before my eyes. As a psychologist I know the stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression & acceptance). I think currently I'm caught somewhere between denial and depression and feel unable to do a favourite thing.

Positively, on Saturday I'm off to South America for 5 weeks, (so can embrace the denial stage some more). Hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to do some favourite things from Peru, Bolivia and Argentina!

Libby: I bought some raw milk to have a go at making mozzarella cheese (not that you can't use pasturised silver top) and after trying a glass of it almost didn't want to use it to make cheese. The milk was delicious: rich and creamy, and so, so fresh! It would have been such a waste of beautiful milk had it been a complete disaster. I am a complete amateur when it comes to making cheese so consulted the internet. I used a combination of methods from two trusted sources: Mrs Cake/Rosa and Pease Pudding/Allison. I am not sure I got it entirely right - especially the "cooking the curd" part, but when used on a pizza for dinner on Sunday night it looked and tasted reasonably authentic!