We already had the cream in the fridge. The meringue and fruit were bought from Asda on our way home from work.

While we were in Kenilworth last night, we decided to pop into Waitrose. It was half an hour before closing and there were a lot of good food bargains to be had. Nearly everything we bought had been greatly reduced. Only one item was full price (Blackcurrant High Juice squash), two items were on special offer (cider and a half-price chicken). We normally buy the M&S chicken which is raised to the RSPCA 'freedom food' standard. The Waitrose chicken didn't say it was to that standard but claimed to use high welfare standards. Since you tend to expect Waitrose to be better than normal supermarkets, the chicken should be ok.

Other food bargains included bread rolls reduced to 5p each, cottage cheese, cooked salmon, Duchy Original milk. The milk was semi-skimmed but not homogenised and there was a lump of cream stuck to the lid. It tasted so much better than the skimmed milk we normally buy.

Oxford Isis mead-washed cheese. Very smelly. We had to put the tub in a sealed bag in the fridge to stop it stinking out the kitchen.

Strawberry Syrup. At over 80% sugar, I'm surprised it was pourable.

The total cost was just over £11 but would have been well over £25 at full price. Of course we wouldn't have bought most of the items at full price but it's always nice to find a bargain.

This afternoon we were near Leicester meeting someone to pick up some mice to replace some of ours which had died recently. The new mice have been named Phantom and Bandit. We don't have any photos yet.

After collecting our mice we drove into Leicester and had a wander around the High Cross shopping centre. I think we mainly went because Emma wanted to go to John Lewis. That was ok by me because I'd never been to one so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I guess if you lived near one it'd be worth shopping there occasionally. We did buy some incredibly tasty dessert sauce though (Luxe Chocolate Noir with Tart Cherries).

We were on our way Up North to visit visit family when we needed to nip into Boots to buy a few things. We stopped at Central 6 and struggled to find a parking space. I was lucky enough to find a space at the far end of the car park.

I noticed a huge queue of people on the pavement outside one of the shops. When I got closer it turned out to be people waiting to be allowed into Next. There were bouncers on the door only letting people in when somebody left. I found it rather pathetic that people were so desperate for a 'bargain'. We went to the shops because we needed to buy something, rather than because we felt the need to satisfy some shopaholic craving.

I really don't like shopping at Asda. It's rarely a pleasant experience. I went there this morning with a very short shopping list, including bread and a newspaper. The shop really really didn't want people to buy newspapers. They had erected a set of display boards by the entrance, blocking off the newspapers. To get a news paper, you would have to:

• Sneak out past the checkout, pick up a newspaper and sneak back into the shop
• Do all your shopping, pay, pick up a newspaper and queue up again at the kiosk to pay.
• Sneak in through the exit, pick up a newspaper, and sneak into the shop.

I decided not to bother, and thought I'd get a paper from the petrol station. Asda had other ideas. The pump I pulled up at was a 'pay at pump' one, which didn't seem to offer the option of paying 'in person'. If I wanted to buy a newspaper then I would have to queue up yet again and pay separately.

The easiest option seemed to be to buy the newspaper from our local newsagents on the way home. If Asda seem to want to make it difficult for me to buy something, I'd rather give someone else my £1.50.

We regularly buy the '2 eat in for £10' deals, whenever Marks and Spencers have them. This time we had garlic mussels and french fries (along with a bottle of wine and cheesecake for dessert).

We decided to be properly Belgian and had the Moules et Frites with mayonnaise. The mussels were packaged with garlic butter so just before serving I took the cooking liquor and thickened it to use as a dipping sauce.

I'm not a big fan of mussels because they can often be a bit rubbery but these were very tender. I wouldn't normally buy them but I think I've been converted and I'd certainly have them again if I can be sure that they've been cooked properly and not been overcooked.

Earlier in the year, I tried to take some photos using an old telephoto lens which wouldn't focus on my Nikon D40 camera. The experience taught me that a modern autofocus camera really needs an autofocus lens. Older manual focus cameras had viewfinders designed to make it easy to focus accurately. Most modern cameras (at least in the 'amateur' price range) aren't as easy to focus.

I ordered the Nikon 55-200 VR lens on Sunday and it arrived this morning, which was impressively quick. I have only had time to do a quick test of the vibration reduction and I must say, I'm impressed.

I took 6 photos, all at the 200mm end of the lens, at 1/10s exposure. The first 3 had VR switched off, the next 3 had VR switched on. The increase in photo sharpness was remarkable.

You can't really see any difference in the thumbnails but the photo on the left was taken without VR. The 2nd photo used VR. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version.

Click on the thumbnail to view the image

We stopped at Asda on our way home. We spotted this bargain in the fridge - the product is sliced cooked chicken with a chinese style flavouring.

Last week Morrison's had tofu half price so we bought a pack, then wondered what to do with it. The only times I've had it before were in things like stir fries or miso soup where it has been an unpalatable cube of bleugh. We decided that we should cook in a way to give it some texture.

I sliced it thinly and fried it until it went crispy. It still had no flavour but at least it was a bit crunchy and more pleasant to eat. We drizzled some soy sauce on it to give it a bit more flavour and served it alongside some vegetable thai green curry and rice. The curry was very green: onion, leek, courgette, curly kale as well as the curry sauce. It was tasty and healthy - everything the tofu wasn't.

While we were in Sainsburys this morning I spotted a bottle of whisky on the shelf which seemed to be too unbelievably cheap. At less than £10 it was much cheaper than any other malt whisky. I'd never heard of a brand called Glen Martin. It seems to be a blend of malt whiskies rather than a single malt. I've no idea whether it's a 'genuine' brand or something made for the supermarkets but it's good value and definitely worth the money.

When I got to the checkout to pay, I was asked for some proof of age. This is the first time I have ever been asked for ID when I've bought alcohol. When I was younger, underage drinking wasn't such a big worry and few places asked for proof of age. Now I'm quite definitely over 18 and quite definitely look over 21. I suppose I should be flattered that someone thought they needed to ask. And I should ignore the fact that the elderly lady at the checkout wasn't wearing her glasses.

This morning we discovered a stall in Coventry Market which was selling American sweets and snacks. We're not sure how long it's been there because it's been quite a few weeks since we last went to the market. It was a welcome discovery - they sell the same kind of things as Cybercandy in London, but without the hassle of going to London or the expense of paying for postage.

We didn't go mad and buy lots of stuff. We only came away with few cans of Mountain Dew - one of each flavour apart from 'regular'. Let's hope the place does well. It's good to have that sort of thing available locally.

Ikea had sent us some vouchers for a free hot meal from their café. That was enough to tempt us into the shop and get us to do some Christmas shopping there.

Emma had the fish and chips, I had a bit of difficulty deciding what to have but eventually chose the meatballs and chips. I was going to buy a dessert but in the end decided to wait until I'd eaten the main course. That was a wise decision because the meal was fairly large.

We went around the main shop and the food shop. The free food might have been a bit of a gimmick but it worked on us. I think we spend enough for them to get their money back.

I'm not sure whether I can trust Morrison's food labelling any more. Earlier in the year we bought some fennel which was labelled as an avocado. Last night I bought a 'Steak and Stilton Pasty' which I ate for lunch today. While I was eating it I noticed it contained a lot of potato and a few lumps of brown stuff which might have been meat. A few more bites and I realised it was a bit more spicy than I was expecting.

I wasn't really paying close attention while I was eating it so I was halfway through before I realised it was actually curry flavoured. I then found a large lump of chicken in it. So out of the steak and stilton and pasty elements, the only one the shop got right was the pasty bit.

I don't know whether the tomato harvest has been poor this year or whether there has been a shortage, but I have noticed the price of tinned tomatoes has gone up recently. It is most noticeable at the 'bargain/value' end of the market, where the cheaper tins have doubled in price. Strangely the price of tomato puree has stayed the same.

Lidl seemed to have a lot of cheap veg today so we decided to have a roast veg to accompany our tea.

I always underestimate how long roast veg takes to cook but this time I decided to give it over an hour in the oven just to make sure all the veg cooked ok. The carrots and celeriac went in first along with a sprinkle of salt and some chilli pepper. After about a quarter of an hour I added the fennel and then another half hour later added the peppers and onions. I then left it to cook (at gas mark 7) for yet another half an hour.

I'd got the timing almost perfect this time. Some of the bits of celeriac were a bit hard but if I'd chopped them a bit smaller they would have been ok.