HAVE you heard the one about the Christmas latte that contains as much sugar as four supermarket muffins?! You can’t have missed the festive adverts for gingerbread lattes, caramelised hot chocolates and festive frappucinos on billboards and buses.

THIS week’s recipe is a great dish for impressing your friends when they pop over at the weekend.

:: Your death row meal would be.

Eat Street 231 Lisburn Road Belfast BT9 7EN 028 9058 2068 THIS is a negative review.

THE clickbait social media videos of people trampling over each other in a frenzied bout of violent consumerism may not be as prevalent this year, but the last Friday in November still involved savvy shoppers/utter lunatics (*delete as appropriate) hauling themselves out of their warm beds at stupid o’clock in the pitch dark to grab the early bargains.

WHEN hard-hitting BBC One documentary Drowning In Plastic aired last autumn, Liz Bonnin had no idea of the reaction it would cause.

- IKEA'S Christmas tree offer has started.

Havana Bank Square 56-58 Berry St, Belfast BT1 1FJ 028 9031 0809 Havanabanksq.

YOU think you know potatoes, and then you discover what The Quality Chop House does to them.

THINK salads are just for summer? Think again! I am not talking lettuce, tomato and a bit of limp cucumber with a dollop of salad cream on the side, but instead making the very best of what the season has to offer.

CHRISTMAS entertaining is all about being prepared and, in the cookery classes over the next couple of weeks, all our customers go away with ingredients that can be made now and stored for Christmas Day.

IF THERE was ever to be a zombie apocalypse, Christmas would be a great time for it to strike.

Fado, Portugal, Centra stores, £7.

THE Galgorm Spa and Golf Resort has become the first hotel in the north to commission its own-label premier gin.

The Ulster University’s training restaurant has been named Grub Club Restaurant of the Year, joining previous winners such as The Merchant’s Great Room Restaurant, Deane’s, Shanks, James Street South and The Old School House.

:: WHERE do you work? Merchant Hotel, head pastry chef :: Are you calm in the kitchen? I don't going around screaming all day that's for sure! It doesn't create a good working environment and certainly never solves a problem but I will be firm when I need to.

- SPEND £60 or more at Tesco and get a voucher for 10p off each litre of fuel you buy at the supermarket chain's filling stations.

Ocho Tapas Bistro, 92 Main Street, Portrush.

Many know Marcus Wareing best for his measured – often tough – critique on Masterchef: The Professionals, delivered with those unnervingly steely blue eyes and leaving experienced chefs wishing they'd never dared serve the acclaimed restaurateur a panna cotta without the correct amount of wobble.

THIS week’s recipes are the perfect option for chilled weekend nights in with family and friends and, even better, both recipes are great for using up any packets and tins you have lurking at the back of the cupboard.