go through my recipe books and note down things I'd like to try cooking

Last one (I think)! And now this is done, definitely time to think about a ‘schedule’ for trying new things :)

• Vanilla apple sponge oh dear, am I in THAT kind of a mood?!
• Oven-baked red pepper risotto
• Better-than-baked beans with spicy wedges
• One-pot chicken pilaf
• Five-a-day tagine
• Yellow pepper rice
• Creamy cheese and tomato macaroni
• Tomato and crispy crumb chicken
• Garlic and shallot spinach

... which definitely goes to show (1) I prefer hearty autumn/winter cooking, and (2) I am sooo in a comfort food frame of mind today!

Features: ‘Make more of eggs’; making your own bread; which oil?; cooking with grapes

In Season: pumpkin and squash, obviously!, brussel sprouts, celeriac, sweetcorn; apples, pears, plums, blackberries.

Perfectly in season!

• Mediterranean slices
• Spicy pizza breads
• Chicken tikka tortillas more lunch ideas!
• Roasted pepper soup
• Pesto kebabs with roast veg pasta

Features: storing leftovers; fresh from the freezer; cheap eats; secrets of cooking risotto; grow your own rocket; eat to boost your brain power

In season: early potatoes, artichoke, pumpkin and squash, sweetcorn; apples, plums, pears

Almost finished – two to go, I think! And I did actually try to make one of the dishes I picked out a couple of days ago, until discovering it needed 3 hours and 6 peppers…!

• Ginger rice cos interesting sides are a rarity
• Lime and pepper chicken wraps black pepper, not peppers
• Honey mustard chicken pasta racking up lunch ideas!
• Tzatziki occasionally crops up in recipes, but not something I’d want to buy a tub of – with this I could cobble my own version together
• Seared beef with orange and chilli not that I eat much beef, but intriguing ‘sauce’
• Cinnamon chicken pastries like pastry is getting into my diet any time soon!

Features on: pasta; 10 ways to perk up a pizza; secrets of making ice cream; grow your own herbs

In season: raspberries, blueberries, plums, strawberries; artichoke, leek, squash (yay!), new season parsnips and turnips, tomatoes.

Gawd – I can’t believe we’re back into autumn squashes being in season again! It goes so fast! Still, this is my favourite type of cooking, I think – nice, hearty vegetables :)

• Chicken with harissa and tomatoes
• Sticky sausage burgers
• Fast-fix fried rice
• 10 quick dips

Hmm. Would have to say summer foods aren’t really my thing.

• “Go with the grain” – article on bulghar, quinoa, etc

Slightly late (!), but good to finish all these off (yes, I am like that! ;))

• 10 lunchbox fillers – always up for new lunch ideas! Liking: falafel quick-mix, rainbox rice, ham & cheese rolls ups, pea and pesto pasta
• Sausage and spring mash pie
• Chilli chicken one-pot

• “Use it up!” – article on using leftovers
• How to roast a whole chicken (why I’d want to do that, I’m not sure, but it’s got to be a life skill!)
• “Eat your way to fabulous skin”

In season: asparagus, new potatoes, spring greens, cherries, strawberries, rhubarb

I haven’t renewed my subscription – it’s been nice, but I figure I have more than enough magazines and recipe books stacked up, and the thing to do is start actually cooking! :) And my shelf space is definitely getting limited, anyway…!

• Quick sausage bolognaise
• Rice and peas with mango chicken
• Peperonata
• Cherry vodka (okay, so not a food recipe…!)
• Cherry crumble pies
• Spicy couscous (aka ‘john’s couscous)
• Spiced pork fillet with cashew stuffed pepper

Also in this magazine: article on pulses

In season: blackcurrants, corn on the cob, mange tout, sugar snap peas, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, etc.

• Sticky maple pork with apples
• Easy chicken tagine
• Morello cherry and almond crumble
• Leek braised in wine and thyme

This Next (?!) month’s edition comes with all sorts of useful tips, like don’t put knives in the dishwasher (they’ll go blunt) and that Cheshire cat cheese is an alternative to feta.

April’s In Season includes watercress, spring greens, new potatoes, carrots and parsnips, and forced rhubarb.

I’m obviously in a cooking mood – just flicked through this for the second time, and marked twice as many recipes! Think the actually cooking is more a post-exam activity, however!

• Braised chicken and beans
• Spiced rice and lentils with cauliflower broccoli I hate cauliflower!
• Curried parsnip and apple soup
• Superb squash soup
• Sticky lemon pork
• Fastest-ever lemon pudding10 minutes fast! And I have lemon curd needing used!
• Orange and white chocolate sponge most interesting choc and creme fraiche frosting
• Biscuity lime pie

Mmm, yeah – thoughts of “I’m chubbifying and must be ‘good’” are the quickest route to craving sweet things!

I’ve decided not to renew my subscription after this year – I do love flicking through, but I think I have enough recipes marked to keep me going for quite some time, if I just go back and try them! ;)

Anyway, first publication of the year (the Feb edition being released at the start of Jan!) is of course full of healthy food – excellent!

• Sticky pork with spring onions
• Red lentil dhal looks suspiciously easy!
• Lemon-spiced chicken with chickpeas
• Spicy beans
• All-in-one roasted veg
• Yellow rice

• One-pan beef and bean braise
• Chinese chicken
• Cider pork hotpot

Best in Feb: sprouts, cabbage, celeriac, curly kale, pak choi, parsnips; purple sprouting broccoli, shallots; clementines and pears.

• Spiced turkey burgers
• Spicy chicken fried rice
• Squash and chorizo stew
• Chunky cheese pasties
• Tapas-style potatoes mmm, tapas :)
• Squash gnocchi sounds so yummy, but I doubt I’ll ever go to the effort, to be honest
• Sausage, bean and olive casserole
• Celery gratin just… weird enough to intrigue!
• Butter bean and squash crumble
• Duck tagine with clemetines thinking, chicken and a great way to use up an overdose of clementines?
• Zesty orange marzipan didn’t occur to me you could make your own marzipan!
• Chicken tikka with spicy lemon rice

In season: brussel sprouts (yum!), cabbage, squash, celeriac, parsnip, turnip – eee, I love winter veg! And clementines – right when I need encouragement to eat more fruit!

• Apple simnel tart March, but I’ve agreed to make it for my dad sooner :)
• Roast squash with Moroccan spices November