I wouldn’t say I’m an especially brilliant cook, but I do like to dabble. I’m less of a culinary wizard and more of a competent recipe-follower. And I like my recipes to be simple, tasty and unpretentious too. Think Jamie and Delia, rather than Nigella and Gordon.

I do most of the cooking in my house and over the years I’ve honed a few signature dishes. My lasagne is pretty sweet and my kedgeree always goes down well. I can do a mean chilli and I never have any complaints when I make a roast. I’ve learnt how to cook almost all of these dishes by reading books and following instructions.

But what I’d really like to be able to do is cook on instinct. You know how they do on Masterchef or Ready, Steady Cook, when the contestants get given a bag of random veggies, some meat or fish and a maybe a tin of this and that – then gets told to make something from it? That’s what I want to be able to do.

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There’s a strange smell at Red C… and no it’s not even coming from Julian’s gallons of Paul Smith aftershave or Nick’s fish dinners. This week has been a busy one, to say the least but it’s funny how much you learn about your colleagues when you are sat in the studio until late.

Jennie and I passed the hours last night playing the marry or push off a cliff game (ok, I played that game whilst Jennie worked hard being all creative). Tonight whilst searching for appropriate imagery for a very important email, we have discovered that even Wayne falls for Julian’s junk food bribe when push comes to shove. He was found last night indulging in a spicy chicken wing in the Red C canteen.

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