In no order whatsoever...

BAKE-YOUR-OWN-BREAD-KIT FROM ALDI

As you may know, Which? voted Aldi as Best Supermarket 2013, for the second year running. Out of curiosity, I popped into a branch on the way home from a day out.Results from my particular basketful were a mixed bag (rotten aubergine, delicious Rioja). But I also bought a bread-baking kit: an oval foil tin filled with rye and wholemeal flour and mix of at least five seeds, plus yeast and sourdough starter. No funny stuff. All you had to do was remove the cardboard sleeve and the film, add 160ml of lukewarm water, mix, leave to rise for a while, then pop straight into the oven. No kneading, no weighing, no mess, no fuss. Not that I find breadmaking that arduous but can't deny that this was even easier. And it was delicious! Texture open, not too dense. Seeds evenly distributed. Good crisp crust. I've lost the receipt but I think it was around £1.50. Visit the Aldi website here

LAVENDER EARL GREY TEA

I've never been a fan of Earl Grey tea, thinking it was like drinking perfume, but then I got a box of the lavender version in my Christmas stocking (thanks, Ma!). It's a limited edition from Twinings. It tastes of bergamot, as you'd expect, but with an added hit of lavender. Twinings say you can drink it with milk, which doesn't appeal to me, but I'm really enjoying it black. And it works to hinder me from continuing the Christmas/New Year overeating trend: once I've had a cup, my mouth feels so scented and clean that I don't want to sully it with anything else. Click here to buy Lavender Earl Grey Tea online, £2.30 for 20 bags
Love lavender? Find lots more ways to enjoy it

HOMEMADE DHAL

This is yet another Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, and I made a big vat of the stuff. It's very simple (least favourite bit: scooping off the scum as the lentils cooked), filling, comforting food that's ideal for this time of year. Eat it on its own, thin it down a bit to make soup, serve as a side dish with other Indian dishes. And it's good for you! See all of our dhal recipes.

PEA FRITTER

If you're by the sea, it seems only natural to visit a chip shop. While exploring Ramsgate, we stopped off at Peter's Fish Factory on the front in Harbour Street to eat in. My OH had hake with his chips, and I had a pea fritter with mine. The batter was wonderfully crisp and light and managed to contain the just-firm-enough mushy peas. And the chips! Peter's won Choice Chip Award in Chip Week 2012, and I can see why. They're made from Markies potatoes, grown in Sandwich, fried in vegetable oil, and are perfectly crisp. And if you eat in you can educate yourself by looking at the fish and seafood species posters all round the shop.

TASTE #5 UMAMI PASTE

'Umami' has been described as the fifth taste, following sweet, sour, salty and bitter. It's an intense savouriness that we can taste in olives, Parmesan, mushrooms, miso and anchovies, among other foodstuffs. Adding a little squirt of this unguent will lift your dishes to a new world of taste. I've been squeezing it into everything, from last night's tomato and aubergine pasta sauce, to cheese scone dough. You can't pick its flavour out, but it's there, amplifying and intensifying the tastes of whatever you add it to. And there's a non-vegetarian version, which includes anchovy paste, too. Laura Santtini Taste #5 Umami Paste Nobu,  £2.55 for a 70g tube from Waitrose

The five best things I ate last time

What have you enjoyed eating and drinking this week?