<preform>Food & Drink notes</preform>

Squeezy does it; take the biscuit; fry babies; pestles at dawn

Squeezy does it

Squeezy does it

Into the category of genuinely original gadgets pops Rosendahl's nifty little lemon squeezer for £14.95. Twist it into the fruit and squeeze for fresh lemon juice in a jiffy. No pips and it's not messy really. The lemon skin stays intact for zesting or slicing the peel later. Small and easy to store, the only snag is that it'll get tangled up with the corkscrews and skewers in your drawer more than a normal lemon squeezer. Call 0113 201 8888 for stockists.

Take the biscuit

McVitie's Digestives now come in a lovely milk chocolate and orange flavour. Wait until Nicey hears about it. Nicey who? Mug up on biscuit expertise by logging on to www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com where Nicey, assisted by Wifey, ruminates endlessly on the merits of Rich Tea, Garibaldi, Jaffa Cakes and Wagon Wheels, and other pressing matters. In book form 'Nicey & Wifey's Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down' is published by Little, Brown, priced £9.99. These biscuits cost £1.05 for a 300g pack.

Fry babies

Cash burning a hole in your pocket? As it's time to hunker down and gather round the cooking pot, perhaps you could justify buying a Japanese table-top cooking set for £89.95 (plus £6.95 delivery). Yakibox is for cooking okonomiyaki, a cross between an omelette and a pancake. The set includes a table-top gas cooking stove, hotplate, batter-mixing pack, toppings, sauces, mixing bowl and spatulas. The yakiniku set, for grilling meat on a stone hot plate, is £79.95. Both from www.yakibox.com or 01242 577750.

Pestles at dawn

Divertimenti, the dazzling shops of covetable kitchen kit, famous for introducing names like Mauviel copper, Pillivuyt French porcelain, Bourgeat pans and Global knives into our homes, start their sale next Saturday (5 February). But just so you first-in-the-queue types don't go unrolling your sleeping bags the night before in the wrong spot, be warned that the Fulham Road store has moved round the corner to bigger premises at 227-229 Brompton Road, London SW3 (020-7581 8065). There will be reductions of up to 30 per cent in the new store, and like the W1 branch in Marylebone High Street (where the sale will also be on), SW3's Divertimenti has a café and a demo kitchen where visiting chefs and cookbook authors will be passing on their skills and secrets.