Food & Drink notes

Get knitted; Kind of blue; Full of beans; Fast show

Get knitted

Help keep the cold out with a bobble-hatted smoothie. Innocent's festive fruit and spices smoothie can even be warmed up for a healthy hot drink. At the same time, Innocent is raising money for Age Concern and ExtraCare housing schemes for the elderly. For every bottle with a hat sold in EAT cafés and Waitrose between now and Christmas, 50p goes to the charities. Go to innocentdrinks. co.uk/supergran for more information.

Kind of blue

You can eat a good Lancashire cheese with fruit cake and apple pie with Cheddar, so why not Stilton ice cream with mince pies? The true blue British cheese is one of the great traditional Christmas foods and Churchfield's Farmhouse in Worcestershire has come up with a recipe for Stilton ice cream. It couldn't be simpler: beat 125g crumbled Stilton with 75g double cream. Whisk 50g cream until stiff and fold into the cheese mixture. Freeze in a plastic container. If that's too much effort, Churchfield's Farmhouse ( www.churchfields-farm.co.uk) in Droitwich and a few neighbouring farmshops sell the ice cream for £4.50 for a 500ml tub.

Full of beans

Both made with the very best beans, coffee and chocolates don't come more couture than these. Union Coffee Roasters is the coolest ethical coffee company and takes the roasting and blending of coffee very seriously. It has created two for this time of year - a spicy Christmas blend, and Arabian Mocha Java, with floral and winey notes. To bring out the flavour further, the coffees come in a gift pack with fresh cream ganaches developed by top chocolatier Gerard Coleman of Artisan du Chocolat to complement them. Order by Tuesday at the latest for delivery by Christmas. £25, unionroasters.com.

Fast show

Maison Blanc Vite is fast food, but French. The baguettes come filled with lobster, foie gras and red-onion confit; there are hot savoury pastries, tasty tarts, and most civilised of all, the plat du jour, a meal in a box with a main course such as lobster salad with a fresh roll, and two little patisseries. Maison Blanc Vite, 193 Piccadilly, London W1 (020-7287 6311) open every day from breakfast until early evening.