In the pile by the side of my bed...

...are several books which I got for Christmas, or have acquired by nefarious means. As you might have guessed, they are mostly food-related.

• Delia Smith's Frugal Food. This is something of a first - I've never owned a Delia cookbook until now. It's not bad (the egg and bacon pie is rather spiffing), and it's hilarious to see what we were cooking in the 1970s.
• Nigel Slater's Tender. It's Nige. Say no more - it's brilliant, and I can't wait for volume 2.
• Rachel Allen's Bake. Good pictures, nice recipes - her soda bread one was excellent. I'm desperate to try making pretzeln - I've not had a good pretzel since working in southern Germany in 1995.
• The Great Allotment Cookbook. Duff index, great recipes. It will come into its own during The Great Courgette and Gooseberry Glut.
• The Allotment Gardener's Handbook. Had you forgotten I had an allotment? Never fear - the endless photos of tiny runner beans will reappear later this year.
• Claire Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys. This is completely marvellous - Claire Tomalin is my heroine. She makes what could be dull history fascinating, and most importantly readable. Mr Pepys was something of a lad, which also helps.
• Isabel Allende's Ines of my Soul. Picked it up in my local library, and it's pretty good. It's quite nice to have a novel on the go, as well as all the other lot.

Whether I finish all of these by the end of the decade or not, remains to be seen. Actually, I'll have to - I've got my eye on the next instalment of the Michael Palin diaries that I gave to my dad for Christmas.