This week has been full of cooking prepared in advance: some very unsuccessful braised beef that was supposed to be Sunday dinner, and ended up being eaten on Monday; following Sassy Radish to combine previously frozen lentils, previously washed and shredded kale with a couple of sausages to make a super-quick dinner; parsnip risotto from this month’s Delicious, prepared halfway (in the Thermomix) and in the fridge, ready for dinner tonight (with more sausages); and a batch of April Bloomfield’s porridge, also made in the Thermomix last night, and reheated for dinner this morning. Oh, and brownies with marmalade, and, inspired by a friend who is baking crazy amounts of bread, I’m attempting to revive my frozen sourdough starter. Fingers crossed…

• It turns out that milk might not be that important for a healthy diet – the dairy industry just wants you to think it is
• The invention of sliced bread is a pretty interesting story of invention and persistence
• The flood of Thanksgiving recipes from US blogs is producing some goodies for us too, like pretzel Parker house rolls,
• I really need an excuse to make this malted chocolate birthday cake 
• Emma at Poires au Chocolat has sensibly suspended her blog while she completes a Cambridge Medical degree (!!), but her blog remains an amazing source of thoroughly tested, creative baking recipes. I’m planning to make these mincemeat squares soon.