DON’T we all need and love a little romance in our lives, so Valentine’s Day creates a welcome little flutter of excitement for everyone from nine to 90. 

If you would like to learn how to make butter, yoghurt, labne, paneer and lots of simple cheeses, check out the Ballymaloe Cookery School website www.cookingisfun.ie for the next dates.

FRESHLY SQUEEZED orange juice — my eye! One of the most abused terms in the English language — the reality of “freshly squeezed” orange juice stretches from a tetra pack to a litre plastic container of juice that was squeezed days and sometimes weeks earlier, writes Darina Allen. 

SPRING, Skye Gyngell’s restaurant was one of the most anticipated restaurant openings in London for several years.

WHAT’S NOT to love about Cape Town — it’s just one long sleep away, a mere two hours time change so virtually no jet lag and a guaranteed instant hit of winter sunshine.

SANTA is coming and the excitement has reached fever pitch in this neck of the woods. 

With only one-and-a-half weeks to go to Christmas, this week I am devoting my column to edible gifts, there are a zillion delicious suggestions I could make and you too can have fun in the kitchen, so why not decide to have a cooking party with a couple of pals.

CAN YOU believe it’s 25 years since my A Simply Delicious Christmas was first published, I had brown hair and red glasses and had just done my first Simply Delicious series on television. 

Remember mutton? Now in reality an almost forgotten flavour. So what exactly is the definition of mutton? 

AVE we Irish got a taste for spices or what! Thirty years ago, when I first started the Ballymaloe Cookery School, garlic was still considered by many to be daring and exotic.