lifestyle

Ocelot chocolate is made in Scotland. I’m not sure why I haven’t featured it more than I have. It has it all going on: it’s organic, it works with great cocoa beans and it supports women cocoa farmers. The packaging is also really fabulous, like retro modern (yes, this is a thing) paperback books. I…

My son is holding forth at the kitchen table. He says lasagne is A-tier, but spaghetti and meatballs are B. My wife and I had entered this conversation ambivalently, but things get heated when he declares bangers and mash to be C-tier at best. He’s taken to ranking everything in lists, a practice he’s borrowed…

There is a tiny room in the basement with walls of whitewashed brick and stone shelves as thick as a bible. I have never known its original use, but it is where I keep cake tins and baking sheets, casseroles and bun tins. As you open the creaking door, you are greeted by a teetering…

The Blue Stoops, 127-129 Kensington Church Street, London W8 7LP. Bar snacks £4-£12, starters £6-£15, mains £19-£26, desserts £10-£12, wines from £38 There are many who believe a true pork scratching should be a challenging affair; that you should stumble across the odd one so rich in bristles you don’t know whether to eat it…

The question I’ve been with my partner for more than 25 years and while he’s perfect in pretty much every way, and I love him very much, I have a history – in our relationship – of casual sex and one-night stands. There have been periods of many years when I was monogamous, 10 years…