Of course it is possible when renting a holiday cottage to do a ‘Tesco drop’ and arrange for your shopping to arrive once you have settled in. But why not stop off briefly en route at a local farm shop and suss out what Suffolk producers can offer you? It could be fun and you’ll probably discover things you’ll want to go back for another time.

Holiday brunches - by Susie Anderson

Part of the anticipation of a holiday or lazy away-from-it-all weekend is the bliss of being able to enjoy leisurely time at the table with good company and fine food. What could be better than brunch?

Brunch - the perfect meal - whether it is a romantic late breakfast for two, a family gathering or a larger group as part of a weekend away to celebrate a special birthday or anniversary. It is a wonderful way of including all the family as the food can be adapted to every taste and age.

Food writer Susie Anderson reviews 'Something for the Weekend' by Ruth Watson

Suffolk hotelier Ruth Watson of the Crown and Castle Hotel and Trinity Bistro, Orford, is an award winning food writer and presenter of The Hotel Inspector on Five. Her recent venture into the pub world (she and her husband, David Watson, are now running The King’s Head pub at Orford, where the new bar meals are extremely appetising and scrumptious) has not dampened her ardour for writing.

If you’ve always fancied mushroom hunting but haven’t a clue how or where to start, a new book by Southwold-based mushroom expert Peter Jordan is definitely one to get your hands on…

Popping down to the supermarket to buy a punnet of commercially-farmed, pre-cleaned button mushrooms in no way compares to foraging for wild varieties in a beautiful Suffolk forest, but you’d be unwise to think that mushroom hunting is the sort of hobby you can partake in without doing a fair amount of reading up on the subject beforehand.

Laura Scamponi recalls a memorable day spent learning the art of Italian cooking at The Cooking Experience Ltd in Hadleigh

What nicer way to spend a rainy October day than on a cooking course led by a chef whose congeniality and creativity in the kitchen has made him one of East Anglia’s best loved tutors, demonstrators and food writers.

The man in question can only be Mark David - a strapping fellow with a big, vivacious personality to match and perhaps more passion for food than Jamie, Gordon and Rick combined.