Last year, I added something new to my Life List - completing a puzzle book. It came about after I worked through a crossword with my mum and dad, and realised just how pathetic my general knowledge skills are. I thought a few puzzles couldn't hurt, and seeing a Puzzler or two lying around reminds me very much of living at home. I picked up one of the monthly editions …

Off-the-beaten-track at CES 2013 Don't let's tell Mr C about the sports cameras!

When I finally started a bit more human after a festive holiday full of cold, I decided to bake something nice and comforting. What better than apple pie? I used a recipe from the Photo Cookbook - Baking edition, and had great fun chopping up all the apples and mixing in sugar and cinnamon. I didn't have a round dish, so I improvised. They are meant to be leaves on …

We were doing some testing of our internets, browsing random things on YouTube, when Mr C asked if I had seen this version of I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift. As much as he has convinced me of some of her music, I'm not a fan of this song at all. However, when it's done like this, by Walk Off the Earth, then I'm on board! These people …

The past month in Archers-land passed terribly quickly, I can't quite believe it is 2013 already. To recap on the festive antics of our Ambridge-based friends, we must begin with Lilian and Matt. What is going on in that woman's head? I don't understand why she doesn't just leave Matt if she is so unhappy with him? Why sneak off into the kitchen to take clandestine phone calls? They aren't …

New Year usually means quite a lot of reviews of the previous twelve months, and things are no different round these parts. At the end of each year, Mr C gets a chance to have his say on both music and films, and today it's time to recap his top five songs from 2012. We've previously listed his songs from 2010 and from 2011, but this time it's all about …

Turbo This is one of the latest efforts from DreamWorks Animation, and features a snail who feels the need for speed. The blurb is bizarre (but then I suppose these things always are): A freak accident might just help an everyday garden snail achieve his biggest dream: winning the Indy 500. Interesting idea, can't really tell too much from the trailer, except, you know, Ryan Reynolds.

Instead of making New Year's Resolutions each January, I have a long-running Life List that does the same job, only is a constant reminder of the things I want to, and am trying to, achieve. It's time to have a quick recap of what has been happening on my Life List over the last twelve months. The Amazing A-Z Adventure I've only managed two more visits this year, and now …

The final few weeks of the year haven't really gone as I had planned. I didn't manage to complete a 10k in December, which is disappointing but not surprising. The weather has been terrible, either freezing cold or torrential rain. I'm not a completely fair-weather runner, but it's hard to get the motivation when it is both dark AND raining. I had planned to make the most of my holiday …

I've always been a bit put off by the whole puff pastry situation. Everyone says that you may as well just buy ready made pastry - even Mary Berry says so - and that it's nothing to be ashamed of. Making puff pastry from scratch is tricky and time-consuming, so it makes perfect sense just to roll out the ready made stuff. It's not that I'm snobbish about it, but …

My dad often sends me links and things that he discovers on his travels around the internet, and sometimes I think I need to share that with others - but never quite get round to writing a post about it. Instead, here's a compilation of five recent links and bits that I found quite interesting. A List of Books. I'm working through my own select list of reading material, but …

I was a little wary ahead of this year's Christmas Special. The festive episodes have not always been the best, and when they are charged with ingratiating a new character into our lives as well, the pressure is really on. Thankfully, all my fears were unfounded as what we had here was a fantastic episode in its own right, plus a continuing mystery regarding the new companion as well. The …

These are so good. So delicious. I really need to work on my dusting technique though. It's not very even, and far too much in some places.

The Thanksgiving Black Friday sale business doesn't really reach the UK, although the internet's ability to shrink the globe means we do get to see some deals. I spotted one such deal on the Amazon site, where they had reduced the Kindle Fire to just £99. Now, we don't really need another device in our lives, but I was interested to see what it was like, and we could always …

It turns out that Mr C is a bit of a fan of cherry cake, so I added it to my baking list and this week that was the recipe that popped up. It's a good ol' Delia Smith recipe, but I must admit to being a little concerned at the idea of putting a cake in an oven for an hour and a half. It's a reasonably low heat, …

Mr C reckons this trailer reminds him of Prometheus which is very worrying to me. I can see what he means, but also... it looks brilliant! And there appears to be distinctly less lens flare than the previous outing. Phew! Star Trek Into Darkness

I'm a bit late on writing this for November, we're almost halfway through December already, but there's plenty to catch up on before the festive season begins (and we have to endure Lynda's latest creative endeavour). Of course, the main story over the past few weeks has been Ed, Emma and their lack of funding. George dropped them in it a bit by demanding the more expensive cereal whilst shopping …

Naturally, as we are heading rapidly towards the festive season, where mince pies and yule logs and turkeys are the order of the day, I decided to bake some Hot Cross Buns. It had been in the back of my mind a while ago, and then when I made the chocolate chip cookies, I remembered I had dried mixed fruit that needed using up. So, I waited until the end …

Gangster Squad Where do I begin with this? Oh yes, Ryan Gosling. Mmm. And Emma Stone with her proper red hair. And the guy who was incredible and freaky in Men in Black 3. And Ryan Gosling! Oh, and the film looks okay too.

Spotted this on Kottke and had to share. As Kottke says: "When the hand reached in to turn the Rubik's Cube, my brain melted and spilled out of my ear and into a puddle on the floor."

I wrote some initial impressions about the Kindle Paperwhite when it first arrived, and looking back, I think I was very generous. It was a disappointment but I tried to temper the frustrations with the knowledge that there were benefits for me (3G and touchscreen), and it was supposedly a cutting edge product - they knew it wasn't perfect. Unfortunately, after a month using the device most lunchtimes, I have …

I wasn't actually planning on baking this week - lots to do and not too much time to spend in the kitchen. However, as I am officially addicted, I looked for a quick and simple recipe that I could do without too much thought. There was also a request from other members of the household for some brownies. Lo and behold. I love chocolate, I really do, but I wasn't …