• Foodies cry foul

  Have we really reached the stage where we're too busy to chop our own onions, peel our own potatoes or even brown our own mince? Delia Smith certainly seems to think so, and has just published a book - to be accompanied by a BBC series later this month - suggesting people take a series of unlikely shortcuts en route to very fast food. p
  

• Addressing post office problems

  SOUNDING OFF:  A reader from Dublin was shocked by the rudeness of An Post staff in a Dublin post office recently. She called in shortly after 8am with a view to filling in a form in order withdraw some money from a savings account she had. She joined a short queue at the appropriate desk and when she got to the top asked the woman behind the counter for the form which, she says, was given to her in a very brusque and offhand fashion. p
  

• VALUE FOR MONEY: BROWNIES

  Gü Brownies €5.99 for 360g, €16.64 per kg: Highs: When it comes to mas-produced, widely available, supermarket-bought brownies, these are very hard to fault. They are absolutely fine cold - if just a little stodgy - but really come into their own after being warmed for no more than 20 seconds in a microwave. p
  

• Laying it on a bit thick

  Thumbs down: A recent commercial for Nutella broke advertising rules by overplaying the nutritional value of the high-fat, high-sugar spread, the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled. p
  

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