Woolworths clearly weren't satisfied with selling imported "artisan" bread all the way from the other side of the Pacific, but also have a diverse range of pastries from Europe. They've been selling them for at least a few months, but I've been slow to write about it.

Everyone who knows me well enough to welcome me into their home on my travels knows that I eat one thing for breakfast. It verges on religion. If I stray from the one true breakfast, I am punished with bad moods and heavy stomach (or growling hunger). What's more, perhaps unusually for something so mundane, I'm quite faithful to one brand…

Book prices have received a lot of attention in the media in recent weeks as the Productivity Commission returned its recommendations on parallel importation rules, alleged to cause high book prices in Australia. Regardless of your feelings about the issue, it's worth noting that those high book prices are being exacerbated by the very chains that claim all restrictions should be removed.

I'm sitting in the Qantas Business Lounge at Melbourne Airport. The food is designed to prepare you for the inflight experience. Actually, I think the food on my flight might end up being better.

For the bakers among you, I have news of fresh yeast. Coles supermarkets are stocking fresh yeast again after a hiatus of three or four years.

Continuing my occasional quest for examples of disappointments in supermarkets, I have found a new example of the import-cheap-product-at-all-costs approach to retailing. What do you think I found?

On Good Friday my mother usually makes her fantabulous hot cross buns. Unsurpassed in the history of Australia. Or something like that. Usually there are just four of us devouring the buns. Read on for a tale of the most unexpected events…

A few years ago, an American friend of mine in Denver told me of a chain restaurant (he worked there) which had served a slice of cake containing something like 2300 calories. Despite my sweet tooth, that just seemed foully excessive. Not long ago I found a magazine article that confirmed he wasn't lying and that there are a lot of people consuming unimaginable calories in the USA… Another post in my quest to find disgusting food the world over, here's a beautiful illustration of just how many calories can be packed into one pointless meal.

The last week of the year was delicious. I hope the same goes for all my readers and correspondents! Here are the highlights of the Christmas week and some reminders of many fun articles from 2008, with a few pretty photos thrown in. If you're a reader but not usually a commenter, why not say hi?

I used to like it when Spring arrived. But this year I've had enough. The milk tastes foul at the moment.