Uh oh. We've missed out the September update and are punishingly late with October. This can only mean one thing... Christmas is on the horizon! Planning, planning and yet more planning. In between the early-elfing, we have fit in some great food and been testing out some great new products. We have been...

1) SLICING OUR FINGERS OFF - turns out these mini mandolins are just the thing if a recipe calls for thinly sliced garlic, or if you want to top your dinner with delicate slices of chilli or spring onion. They will be featuring in our "new in" section on the site any day and make pretty much the perfect stocking filler.

2) TOPPING OUR PIZZA - with slightly unusual choices. Yes please to bacon, black pudding and an egg. More is more is more. The blurry photos is very much reflective of the haste to get this in our mouths.

3) SHOPPING FOR KNIVES - we will be re-stocking the selection throughout November. Adding some new shapes and finishes and making sure that we have enough in stock for a busy December. However, they are all hand-forged and quantities are limited so, if you see something you like, snap it up sooner rather than later.

4) ROASTING - Celeriac. Whole. Or more accurately, eating the celeriac that my sister had smothered in olive oil, seasoned and roasted whole. New to us but if the oven is on for a roast, we will definitely be shoving one of these babies in there too. If we lived in the countryside and had an Aga we would have one of these in there on pretty much a daily basis.

5) EDITING -the vintage edit. Trawling through flea markets for taxidermy and rugs (we live in north London where they are pretty much essential items for the discerning hipster homeowner), we came across increasing amounts of carbon steel kitchen utensils. Not just bone handled knives, but really beautiful chef's knives and slicers. They might look a bit blunt, rusty and chipped, but with a bit of TLC, sharpening and a polish they came back to life and looked stunning. We have picked the best of these, put some on the site and rest come along to Druid Street Market. Take a look.

6) SHABU-SHABU-ING: another Japanese dish to tick off our list. Turns out this combination of stock, meat and vegetables is pretty easy to prepare (one you have nailed the ins and outs of dashi stock) and a bit of a crowd pleaser. It makes for a long drawn out (in a good way) Sunday evening meal with the clouds of steam giving you a bonus facial as you fish for your supper.