Shoptalk: The cream of comfort food
When the weather is cold, what could be better than a steaming bowl of rice pudding? But while some brands hit the spot, some are just sickly stodge. Shoptalk investigates

Shoptalk: In search of a super sandwich
READY made sandwiches are one of the boom areas of catering. We buy 1.8 billion sandwiches a year and spend £3.5bn on them. And do you know what? - most of them are rubbish.

Shoptalk: Healthy eating, or just cheating?
So called 'functional foods' claim to boost our health by actively working to help our bodies, but are they really wirth trying? Shoptalk investigates.

Is this the new Jamie Oliver?
His new cookbook could put Sam Stern among the likes of celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein - and he's only 15. Women's Editor Lindsay Jennings meets him.

Autumn the best time for lamb
Each autumn since pagan times, the English have celebrated the bounty of the autumn harvest and given thanks for the abundance of produce grown in our fields and pastures.

Why it's prudent to pay more
With the array of different ranges, from the best to the most basic, Shoptalk samples supermarked foods to find those fit to grace our plates.

Food that isn't fake
It's that time of the year again when all gardeners, horticulturalists, farmers and flower businesses get excited.

Going swimmingly
Strictly not on the same Sabbath, this feature compares one of the region's costliest Sunday lunches with one of the least expensive.

When summer's a wet lettuce
Ready prepared salad should be a source of summer joy, but sadly is often a damp squib. Shoptalk discovers which is worth munching.

Where the pub's the hub
The high road out of Westgate-in-Weardale towards Rookhope is officially one-in-five, sometimes almost Trinitarian, the ascending panorama worth every last gasp.

We'll eat again . . .
With the 60th anniversary of VE Day on Sunday 8th May it's time to look at how the battle of the balanced diet was won 60 years ago and how we can learn a valuable lesson today by eating the well-balanced wartime diet that modern nutritionists dream of.

How supermarkets are taking over the world
This week's announcement of Tesco's bumper profits highlights how powerful supermarkets have become - and should set alarm bells ringing BE afraid. Be very afraid. So afraid, you will totally change the way you shop.

Food that's fit for a prince
Shoppers in the region are among the first in the UK to benefit from their own in-store health advisor.

Turkey Twizzlers are banished forever as the Jamie effect bites
Improvements to school dinners in part of the region are being proposed in the wake of stinging criticism of their content by TV chef Jamie Oliver.

Can a chocolate a day keep the doctor away?
Chocolate may be a dieting sin, but as well as being addictive, it can be good for you. EMMA POMFRET finds some facts to delight chocoholics.

You can't say fairer than that
How about a cup of coffee and a piece of cake? Or a glass of wine and a bar of chocolate? Or even some nice, healthy fruit juice and a banana?

Cheap and cheerful or posh and nice
NETTO and Waitrose represent the two extremes of supermarkets. Until now, Waitrose has been available only in the south - their most northerly outpost was Newark in Nottinghamshire - but with the takeover of some of the old Safeway stores, they have now crept into North Yorkshire with a store in Harrogate.

Shop Talk: Bits and pieces
Little extras mean a lot so make sure the turkey trimmings you buy this year are up to scratch.

Mending the morning after misery
With the party season in full swing, it's a safe bet that many of us will at some stage suffer from a hangover. RACHEL ARMSTRONG and GABRIELLE FAGAN give the lowdown on common cures and find out which ones really works.

Shop Talk: Sugar and spice of Bonfire Night
So you've got the bonfire sorted and the fireworks - but what are you going to eat? Long before barbecued burgers were our outdoor fare, this was the time of year to eat parkin.

Shop Talk: A feast for under a fiver
Nutrition needn't cost the earth, as Shoptalk's research into the price of a balanced meal of beans on toast washed down with orange juice shows

Shop Talk: Is the key to top tea in the bag?
Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Tea Bag... But does it make a cuppa quite as good as good old loose leaf?

Hats of to home produce
There are many good reasons for buying from small, local producers, not least because there's such a good range on our doorstep

Beef that bridges continents
A traditional African snack made with the pure Yorkshire beef - that's what I call food fusion. Gary Quinn is from Yorkshire. Thomo Leteane is from Botswanna. Together they run Bare Earth, a company producing biltong - Africa's favourite snack.

Food to feel good about
While cooking for friends and family can be hard on the chef, a new book provides recipes that can be prepared ahead of time, resulting in dishes that everyone will love. GABRIELLE FAGAN reports

Why pasta's perfect for the summer
Simple, light and packed with energy, pasta is the perfect food for the summer - and there are recipes for every taste.

Shop Talk: Magic of the Market
With people becoming increasingly disillusioned with supermarkets, traditional markets like the one in Darlington could be poised for a revival IT'S one of the town's great treasures

Shop Talk: Always read the label
Manufacturers have a legal duty to tell us exactly what's in our food but labelling is often confusing and difficult to read.

The sinister side of supermarkets
As a Royal Agricultural Society survey reveals that people are becoming more concerned about how their food is produced, Sarah Foster finds out why supermarkets have a lot to answer for.

Having your fill
More than 240 million pre-packed sandwiches are sold in Britain each year but the ready-made filling market is quickly catching up.

'We have to do more to help schoolkids and young people get healthy'
Student Colin Ord, who once weighed 33 stones, tells Health Correspondent BARRY NELSON how he got so large, and how he's tackling the problem with a completely changed attitude to diet and exercise.

Delving into dunking
George W Bush, it is widely but not unanimously reported, didn't pour tomato ketchup onto his chips at the Dun Cow in Sedgefield but 'dunked' one in t'other.

The ewe's Blue
When Judy Bell started making cheese in her kitchen 16 years ago she had no idea how successful her business would be. She talks to Christen Pears about the award-winning Shepherds Purse cheese.

'I'm blind, but it won't stop me cooking
A pioneering cookery course is giving visually impaired people a taste of normality. Ian Lamming reports

How dieting makes you fat
Fourteen million people in Britain are currently trying to lose weight. In the second of a threepart series on women and body image, Women's Editor Christen Pears explores the nation's obsession with dieting.

Have we had our fill of TV chefs?
Delia Smith says rumours of her retirement are greatly exaggerated, but her comments sparked claims that we're boiling over with TV chefs. Women's Editor Christen Pears reports

Are we being poisoned by pesticides?
Despite warnings of the health hazards caused by pesticides, they continue to contaminate our food and water. As a new book examines their effects, NELL RAVEN asks how we can protect ourselves.