Toasted muesli is great in winter. A kilo of rolled oats, a handful each of sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, shredded coconut, sultanas and chopped dried apricots. Be creative. Mix everything except the fruit.

Melt 4 tablespoons of honey into a cup of hot oil and stir through the dry ingredients then pop into into a moderate oven in a baking dish mixing it all up every 15 minutes or when it is brown on top.

But don't mix the fruit in before you toast it or you will end up with black charcoal-like thingies that don't resemble fruit at all.

When making babaganouj you need to roast an eggplant until it collapses. Please be sure to put at least one hole in the eggplant before you do or it will literally explode in the oven making an awful mess.

Once you have succeeded, scrape out all the flesh and mash it. Then add a couple of tablespoons of tahini, a crushed clove of garlic, the juice of half a lemon and some olive oil. Stir it all up and then use as a dip with lebanese bread.

If the screw-on lid of a jar is too tight to undo, give the edge of the lid a reasonably sharp tap on the edge of a table with a 1/4 turn between each tap.

Unfortunately my father did smoke for about 30 years. Now he has lung cancer. Is that what you want?

If you are cleaning windows, one of the best ways to do it is with a ball of newspaper. If you must, spray some glass cleaner first, but a little soap in some water works too. Then wipe it dry with newspaper.

Would you eat a dog? How about a cat? So why do you eat cows, sheep, chickens and other animals? What's the difference?

Double from strength, not fear.

When you are reversing your car at night, try turning your headlights off, it is much easier to see.

Before you ask for help, do your best to help yourself and show the person you are asking that you have done that.

I hate using plastic bags when shopping but sometimes I forget to take our bag collection. Almost every supermarket has a bin full of bags that people bring in to be recycled. Grab some from there.

When concreting, protect your skin. Lime burns delicate human flesh...badly. I found this out the hard way.

Next time you see a business slogan like "we care for you" or "you matter" or any similar crap, keep in mind that apart from a few exceptional circumstances, all corporations care about is delivering a profit to their shareholders.

Traditional pesto recipes call for pine nuts. Instead finely chop almonds, dry roast them in a frying pan until they smell wonderful and add them to your pesto.

Life is too short to be serious. I have yet to see how seriousness is uplifting. On the other hand humour can do wonders.

How often have you been told that you can't do something because "they" say you can't. So, just who are "they"?

Troubleshooting a problem is the best way to get to the bottom of what is wrong. Consider the flow of actions, start from the problem end and work towards the other. Somewhere the flow will break down.

Don't accept anything on face value. Think about it, particularly if you plan on sharing the information or you may end up looking foolish. This particularly applies to emails with any sort of warning.