Ed Goode

I work for an NGO, and we have a delegation from our Belgian counterpart coming to visit next month. We have a dinner for them that is being catered, but there will also be an informal afternoon tea for them in the office. What should we serve?

It's too hot at the moment for me to want to turn the oven on. Can you recommend any recipes that won't heat my kitchen up?

I'm going back to work next week and seeing all my coworkers for the first time this year. Is it too late to wish them a happy new year in the middle of January?

I was thinking about hiding under the duvet and pretending that Christmas wasn't happening this year, but now I have family coming to visit and I feel a bit bad about doing that. Can you give me a cheap and easy recipe for a Christmas cake or a

We always have Christmas crackers at our Christmas lunch, but nobody actually wants any of the useless plastic shit that comes in them, and I don't feel good about throwing it all away. I was thinking this year I might make my own Christmas crackers instead. Have you got any tips?

I love Christmas, but what I don't love is all of the drama around my work Christmas party. What's the best way to deal with this? Can I just not go? Or should I be the one that drinks too much this year so that at least I don't remember any of it?

I get terrible hayfever at this time of the year, even though I am maxing out my antihistamine dose. Is there anything else I can do for it?

With Thanksgiving and then the Christmas party season coming up, I quite often find myself eating too much and then sitting up all night afterwards with a sore stomach regretting it. Can you recommend anything for indigestion so I can overeat without fear?

I had a virus a few weeks ago, and I'm over the sickness, but the cough is still hanging around. I don't really like the kinds of cough syrups you get from the chemist, but I'd like to have something to settle the cough. Can you recommend anything?