Our Favourite Jewellery and Accessory Designers

When I was given the task of putting together the ultimate Domestic Sluttery list of jewellery and accessories, I knew it wouldn't be easy. Everything from creepy claws to pastel clutches have graced our pages over the last five years, and it's safe to say as a team our tastes vary wildly. From Sara's love of all things big and quirky to that time Sian decided to freak us all out with a dead frog necklace, we've seen it all. As far as I'm concerned, this list just scratches the surface, but for posterity's sake, here are my favourites from the last five years.

It goes without saying that Tatty Devine does quirky better than anyone, and (though I haven't counted) I'd hazard a guess that they're one of the most frequently-featured brands within our stories. They do things with acrylic that I never thought were possible. And remember the Rob Ryan collab? We also fell head over sparkly heels for Sugar & Vice (Shark klaxon!) who are very much in the same vein.

Also worth a look for cheap treats is Chelsea Doll, purveyors of dog necklaces and cat glasses. While we're talking quirky, how could we possibly list our favourite accessories designers without a shoutout for the excellent Karen Mabon, the only woman capable of making a twentysomething consider a silk scarf?

Moving on to the animal kingdom, one of my fondest DS memories is a trip to Paris with some of the original team members, when Sian and I stumbled across Origami Jewellery years before everyone and their auntie was flogging paper crane necklaces. I still love their delicate metal creations. Elsewhere in the natural world, Alex Monroe does a lot more than his trademark bees. We love his London boutique, which is a treasure trove of tiny animals and nature-inspired jewels.

Another perennial Sluttery fave, Me & Zena, did a whole shoot where their jewellery was modelled by cats. Even if the jewellery was crap, that would have been enough. But it was fabulous. Who wouldn't want a ring that looks like a little pencil?

If you like your jewellery with less neon, Naomi Greaves does wonderful things with laser cuts. Butterflies feel a whole lot more sophisticated in black and white. Ridley and Dowse favour brushed, etched metal, from delicate flowers to slightly less delicate ice lollies. One of my personal faves, Hoolala's whimsical charms have always been a favourite too, especially the 5-year-old Mr Darcy necklace I still wear frequently.

And then we have the bags. Jump From Paper wins hands down for the most surprising find. If you've ever wanted to be a living cartoon, you need one of these babies. Brit Stitch is probably the only handbag company to have been inspired by a milkman. Miss Ella makes bags that look like woodland creatures, while avid readers are catered to by Disaster Designs and their gorgeous book clutches.

We've also covered novelty bags (another shark klaxon!) ... and all manner of cool coloured leather bags from favourites like Flights of Nancy and White Feather. We showed our love for bowling bags, M&S bags and bags that mention gin. Believe it or not, we even mentioned the odd hugely practical bag.

Needless to say, DS is and will remain a treasure trove of jewels, treats and beautiful bags, so if your favourite is not here, rest assured it's probably somewhere on our pages! And if you want more fashion, beauty and bikini talk from me, I can be found here, here and here.

Shelf Esteem's Must-Read Books

 

Extremely suitably, I have ended up in the most lady writerly scene possible for writing my last Shelf Esteem column. I'm at home at Twee Flat, sitting in the armchair my mum reupholstered for me in red cord when I moved in.

Candles are lit (including, obviously, my eternally beloved Melt STILL) and Cat Brown is purring away on my lap. Outside, the sun is setting in vivid pink candystripes, and my elderly neighbour is having a minor argument with her other half about where she last saw the green spade.

It is WITCHING O'CLOCK.

*A pause to push Cat Brown off the keyboard*

Shelf Esteem's Greatest Hits

My favourite books from the top-rated reviews: these are the ones I would press on you at a party, while looking slightly wild-eyed and upsetting. The Goldfinch not included because you've most likely already read it, despite its inordinate size.

Click on each link for the full review, and to buy it.

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler (4/5)
A beautiful story of friendship and life in the American country - which means Big Country, not just "Ooh I got the train to Guildford and wandered around for a bit." It starts off small, but before you know it it's unravelled some stunning writing and slapped you round the face.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (5/5)
Oh God was I sniffy before starting this. Eat Pray Love woman? Weird aged aunt-looking cover? Thank heavens I even opened the damn thing because this is just a treasure of terrific story, beautiful language and frantic, cupboard love of the most literal kind.

Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood (4/5)
Ernest Hemingway was a ghastly, ghastly man, but his wives and mistresses were incredible. Wood does a brilliant job of linking them all together without making the reader want to jump out of the window at the sheer heartbreak of it all, and in return you get a fantastic and evocative read that sizzles with poetry and summer tension.

Campari For Breakfast by Sara Crowe (4/5)
A ridiculously charming tale that ticked all my favourite coming of age boxes: eccentric relatives, a yearning for romance, the threat of eviction, and all nicely roasted in wit, lovely plotting and a healthy measure of gin.

Tinder by Sally Gardner (5/5)
I adore fairy tales and anything magical, not because I am five but because the imagery you get is so stunning. Sally Gardner's poetic, almost violent narrative takes a Hans Christian Andersen classic and together with David Roberts' staggering artwork makes for a book that whisks you firmly into another, colder world until you've finished.

Shelf Esteem's Summer Picks

I spent last week on holiday greedily ingesting all the books I'd been saving up for such an occasion - the good thing about being a borderline albino redhead: nobody looks at you askance when you hide indoors. These are my favourite new titles - 5/5 each one - while the Sluttery team picks their favourites to read on holiday.

 The Vacationers by Emma Straub
If you read enough really good books you get fooled into thinking it's easy to come up with believable characters, plot and location. It only took two nearly-there books for me to fall upon Straub's with grateful relish: in this story of a restless American family holidaying in Mallorca (very funny on that choice she is too) with friends, she nails all three. I really hoped this would be amazing, and it really is.

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R.Carey
Melanie is a young girl like any other, she thinks. It is a bit odd that she has to be strapped into a wheelchair under military supervision in order to attend her school lessons, but the beneficent light of her favourite teacher Miss Justineau is distraction enough for the moment. That's all you get from me, but this was my favourite book of the holiday. Carey is a comics writer, and puts that medium's tight, active writing into an always engaging story that keeps your attention laser-focused, even during action bits when if you're anything like me, you start checking your watch and going "Oh is this still going is it?"

The Wrong Knickers: A Decade of Chaos by Bryony Gordon
Dreadful cover, and an "Oh, Bridget!" title do this thoughtful, emotional and hilarious memoir a disservice. Less wacky than Gordon's columns can tend to be, this is an unflinchingly unselfpitying look at your 20s, when you don't know enough not to believe everything you're told, and are too poor or pissed to do anything about it. I cried at the end, laughed all the way through, and thanked God my 20s are done with.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
I put off reading this for ages because I got so fed up at the publicity department shrieking details about the plot on Twitter. Do not do this! Pick it up now, because this is one of the most enjoyable, captivating books I've read in ages, and the lead character, Rose, one of the most intriguing. The sort of book that reminds you why you love to read.

Laura H: I'm currently reading The Whispering Muse by Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón, and am tremendously excited about it! Set in 1949 aboard a ship bound for the Black Sea, it is filled with witty humour and sudden bursts of raw myth; the second mate is in fact a hero from Greek epic poetry who once sailed with Jason and the Argonauts. If that doesn't get you excited then I don't know what will.

Other than that, I've just finished Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. Overtly it's a nostalgic contemplation of life as a 12 year-old boy in late 1920s small-town America; but it's much more than that. Beneath the surface is a contemplation of the nature of time, youth, memory, written in truly wonderful prose. Aptly, the whole book feels somehow seeped in golden light and summer darkness. Great for a late night read on a balcony somewhere.

Next up will be David Mitchell's new novel The Bone Clocks - I'm a huge Mitchell fan so I can't wait!

Laura B: I've reread Françoise Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse more often than I can remember. It's scandalous and amoral - both excellent ingredients for a summer read - and set on the scorching-hot French Riviera. While reading, it's worth remembering three things: firstly, that Sagan was 18 when she wrote this. Secondly, that it earned her a papal denunciation. And thirdly, that it was far too daring for the UK in 1954, and the juicy bits were squeezed out of early editions. Don't worry - this recent translation cuts NOTHING.

Katie: Earlier this year I went to see the theatrical interpretation of Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales at Shoreditch Town Hall. It was really wonderful, and made me go home and pick up Pullman's book, which is a great read, and particularly good at reminding you quite how grim the original stories were!

Another vote for Tinder by Sally Gardner: although based on a fairytale, this one is definitely not for kids. Gardner was apparently heartbroken that being a grown-up meant reading books without pictures, so this one is accompanied by appropriately haunting illustrations.

I also recently finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane which was utterly transporting. My only complaint was that it was too short. Reading on a Kindle I often forget to check how far through I am, and with this one I was expecting to only be about half way through when it came to an end! Gutted.

Frances: I have a habit of taking the gloomiest books on holiday with me and creating my own little salty tears pool next to the sun lounger. If you like that sort of thing too, I really recommend some Suri Hustvedt - the worlds she creates are incredible, although perhaps not that compatible with Pina coladas and the Macarena.

For complete escapism, I'm totally with Kat and Miss Pettigrew. Other books along that delightful line are Mrs Harris goes to Paris, a London char lady saves up her pennies to buy the Dior dress of her dreams in Paris and all sorts of wonders unfold, and the gorgeous The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, a book for "those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine". If this book doesn't make you want to skip off to Italy and get lost amidst fig and olive trees, well frankly you probably deserve a wet weekend in Skeggy for your holidays. And always, always, I Capture The Castle.

Sian: Alongside The Signature of all Things (which Kat will no doubt mention as she reviewed it and loved it) I can't think of a better summer read than American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield. It's a book to get totally lost in while sipping a ridiculous drink on a beach. If you're after a shorter read, try The Other Typist, which certainly isn't your average romp through 20s New York. It's perfect reading material for a long train journey. And obviously I can't ignore my all time favourite book The Poisonwood Bible. I'm so excited to read that again this summer.

Kat's last word, because she is getting totes emosh

And there we have it. I can't believe it's the last Shelf Esteem! On the one hand, I am full of regret over the books we won't get to discuss. On the other, thrilled because there are so many wonderful books still to come, and ones to re-read. Speaking of which...

Kat's favourite books

I can read these endlessly and always be comforted, inspired and find something new.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
Rivals by Jilly Cooper
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Selected Stories by Katherine Mansfield
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Love and Rockets by Jaime Hernandez
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
A Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
The Kingdom Under The Sea by Joan Aiken and Jan Pienkowski
She by H Rider Haggard


I would love it if you would share your own favourites in the comments, or by tweeting me @katbrown82. Thank you for reading, and I wish you many more happy book times yet to come.

Our Top Cake Recipes

Cake. Chocolate cake, fruity cake, boozy cake, fancy cake. We love cake. All cake. Trying to round up our all-time favourite cakes from over five years of DS cake-appreciation is a little like trying to pick your favourite child or choosing between gin, unicorns or cats. Just for you, though, we've done it. So, grab your mixing bowls and prepare yourself for a marathon baking session!

Whether you need a quick and simple chocolate cake or something more on the triple chocolate fudge lines, we've got you covered. You don't even need a well stocked cupboard or much baking equipment to bake a brilliant celebration cake.

As well as the tried and tested pairings of chilli and chocolate and chocolate with orange, we've added cinnamon, mulled wine and passion fruit to our choccy cakes.

Chocolate and nuts are best of friends, and chocolate chestnut cake is a great place to start. Our pecan brownie pie is a seriously wonderful invention, while this Daim Bar truffle cake is rich and indulgent - you simply have to try it. Oh, and all three of these cakes are gluten free!

Take chocolate, add booze: everyone's happy. Tiramisu cake takes both those things and adds coffee and cream. Prefer white chocolate? Try our limoncello loaf cake.

If you've ever had that, "is it a cake, or is it really a biscuit?" conversation, this giant jaffa cake will settle the argument. Definitely a cake. A boozy, wobbly, delicious cake.

Yes, we'll put booze in all kinds of cake. Brandy goes well in toffee apple cake, but rum suits carrot cake better.

In spite of Nick's best efforts, we seem to gravitate towards big fruity cocktails, preferably ones with paper umbrellas and sparkly bits on the straws. Piña colada is one of our favourite cocktails, the cake is pretty awesome, too. And then there's the fabulous Mojito cake! It's one of the most popular recipes we've ever featured, for damn good reason.

Pimm's is the most summery of all the fruity cocktails, and we love our Pimm's cake just as much. Ever tried a Love on the Run? Our cake version is just gorgeous

Hello, raspberry liqueur, you sexy thing. Our raspberry Revenge cake is a brilliant way to use your Chambord. If you're on the wagon, get your raspberry fix from this pink lemonade cake instead.

Berry Pavlova cake. Need I say more?

Cheesecake counts as cake, right? It's baked and it has the word 'cake' right in there in the title after all. We've got hot cross, white chocolate and gluten free Crunchie baked cheesecakes, all for you.

Cheesecake brownies combine two of our favourite things, so do Snickers brownies and after dinner mint brownies for that matter. Go dairy free with our chocolate cherry brownies, gluten free with s'mores brownies, or eschew chocolate altogether with lavender and caramel brownies.

Lavender is a beautifully delicate addition to a cake, it pairs rather well with lemon. For more floral flavour, try orange blossom cake.

By now, you'll need a break from the oven. Never fear! Malteser chocolate tiffin and no-bake birthday cake will sort out your cake cravings without raising the temperature of your kitchen. If your kitchen is already too hot, out Twister ice cream cake will cool you down.

If you need cake in a hurry, you need emergency cake. Our coconut and raspberry microwave cake is ready in minutes. So's our emergency mug cake and it has a surprise orangey centre.

We love a surprise centre in our cakes. Salted caramel inside chocolate cakes, custard inside vanilla and brandy cakes are just how we roll. If cupcakes are too small fry, go big with our sweet filled piñata cake. 

We'll even hide exciting layers and shapes inside our cakes. From shade of pink in our fetch Mean Girls cake to a unicorn in a humble loaf cake, we've enjoyed surprising you.

Phew! Let's finish with something big, boozy and unashamedly naked.

How To Make 3D Gingerbread Unicorns

The Jedward of the unicorn world

I couldn't make anything but fantastical gingerbread for my final Domestic Sluttery recipe, could I? From that first foray into tiny mug houses, I've known that a life of 3D gingerbread was for me. I'm still inordinately proud of baking a gingerbread TARDIS in celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary (a feat which got me a write-up in the national press, don't you know) - so much so, I couldn't actually bring myself to eat it. It sat on my coffee table for ages - weeks, I think - until its roof caved in. No such qualms with these gingerbread unicorns, whose heads and tails were bitten off shortly after these photos were taken. I expect they'll grow back.

You may have noticed that unicorns are very important to Team Sluttery. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of us are actually part-unicorn. To celebrate our love, I wanted to combine gingerbread and unicorns, and I was inspired by the 3D dinosaur and safari cookie cutters that we've already featured on the site. Since no-one's made a unicorn version yet, I figured it fell to me to draw up a template.

I've made you this magical template!

After you've downloaded your template, remember to go into your printing preferences and select 'actual size' before you print, otherwise you're going to get a giant unicorn. Not necessarily a bad thing, I know, but not one we're properly prepared for. If you'd like a sturdier shape to cut around, stick your paper print-out onto a clean bit of thick card (remember it's going to be touching the dough, so not the bottom of that manky box that's been sitting on the floor all week), and cut out all the bits.

And now for the sappy bit*. One of the best things about coming up with recipes for DS has been you lot. Every photo of a gingerbread creation, every tweet about a new favourite meal, every comment telling me how you've adapted and adopted one of my recipes - they've all made me beam. I hope you'll have fun exploring the archives when we've gone, and that you continue to tweet me your experimental gingerbread photos. Starting with these little rascals:

3D Gingerbread Unicorns (makes a blessing**)
Preparation time: About 40 minutes
Fridge time: 1 hour
Cooking time: Less than 15 minutes per batch (30 minutes in total)
You will need:

• 150g unsalted butter
• 110g golden syrup
• 65g golden caster sugar
• 65g dark muscovado sugar
• 360g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• A tiny pinch of salt
• A selection of glitter icing pens (Dr Oetker's Neon Glitter Writing Icing is a wondrous 4-pack of unicorn-approved shades)

Show-off

Make it!

1. In a large saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter, syrup, and both sugars. 
2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, and cinnamon into a large bowl, and add the salt. Take the melted butter and sweet stuff mixture off the heat, and add to the dry ingredients.
3. Stir everything until you have a firm dough, then leave to cool in the bowl for a few minutes before rolling out to 2-3cm thick on a floured surface. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for about an hour.
4. Before the chilling time is over, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Line two baking trays with parchment. Print your template if you haven't already, and cut out the shapes.
5. Take the dough out of the fridge, and roll out half of it - on a floured surface, using a floury pin - to 4mm thick. 
6. Use a sharp knife to cut out your unicorns, remembering to do enough legs for the bodies. Transfer the pieces to the baking trays and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden. Err on the side of slightly overcooked if you're not sure - an extra couple of minutes will make your biscuits a wee bit sturdier.
7. Remove from the oven, and while the biscuits are still warm, use your knife to reopen the leg slots if they've closed up a bit. Pretend it's unicorn surgery. Place the biscuits on a wire rack to cool. 
8. Re-line your baking trays, and repeat steps 5-7 for the remaining dough (if you have a massive oven, you can do everything at once - two trays at a time is my limit!).
9. Once the biscuits have cooled, DECORATE. You can go WILD, but glitter and lots of colours are obligatory. Unicorn rules, I'm afraid. Don't forget the hooves. 
10. Assemble your unicorns by slotting the legs onto the bodies, and then decorate the other side of each biscuit (if you want - depends on how you'll be presenting them to your adoring public). 
11. Toss your multi-coloured mane, stamp your sparkly hoof, rear up in a cloud of glitter: you've made 3D gingerbread unicorns, and you are fabulous. 

"That was neigh bother at all!" - Scotland's last remaining unicorn

* I'm back for Sales Spy on Friday. This is just my foodie goodbye.

** About 10.

Savour The Moment: Our Favourite Savoury Recipes

Since we announced that the site is closing, loads of you have been asking where you're going to get exciting recipes from. Luckily, we've got whole archives of them. There are literally thousands. Rather than leave you high and dry, we've rounded up our finest recipes so you have loads of ideas for what to have for your tea.

We've actually done a lot of the hard work for you - our weekly top ten recipe posts are the best way to search for whatever you want cook. Whether it's chorizo or leftovers or you just fancy something quick for your lunch, we've got you covered. This weekend might involve some of our favourite takeaway recipes, and definitely some telly-watching treats.

You have to make a shooter's sandwich at least once in your life. And our chicken chicharon. Deep fried chicken skins are part of a very happy life. And high cholesterol.

You might think our finest achievement in pasta experimentation is our mac 'n' cheese picnic slice, but you'd be wrong. It's obviously our drunken spaghetti. What's better than cooking pasta in a bottle of red wine? Nothing. Nothing at all. Although our Italian wedding soup might give it a run for its money.

You might have noticed that we're pork fans. It's hard to imagine a summer without our sticky ribs, or without pork scratchings or beer and bacon nuts accompanying our beers. We've even cooked pork in a bottle of red wine.

Oh hey, remember when we made bacon roses?

We bloody love bacon. We love it in all sorts of glorious ways but it's a pretty essential part of a Sluttery breakfast: whether as breakfast cups, in a bacon chapati, or as part of a full English loaf.

We love chicken too (we're really quite greedy), especially when it comes in the form of buttermilk fried chicken. Which you're making tasty things with chicken, have a gander at our coconut baked chicken and Breton chicken recipes. We've even made gin 'n' tonic chicken kebabs.

Chicken makes for a pretty mean curry too: try our spring chicken curry or our mini tikka pasties. With our brains in curry mode, let's not forget our slow-cooked beef, and creamy seafood curries. And one of our all-time favourites has to be this coconut and chickpea curry, you've probably got everything in the cupboard to make it already.

The same goes for Mujaddara: it's a more recent recipe but one that's gone straight to the top of the cheap but oh-so-tasty list. While we're obviously hanging around the lentils part of our kitchen cupboards, we've dug out the ingredients to make our squash and chickpea roast, the Buddha bowl, or the GREATEST HOUMOUS EVER.

Our vegetarian recipes are so popular, some of our favourites include these sweetcorn and halloumi fritters. These beetroot and feta fritters are also marvellous (not least because the fritters in the picture look like the cookie monster). Roasted vegetable couscous is a quick and easy tea, while we swear this veggie Laska has health giving properties. We've got veggie sides covered too, from onion rings to cauliflower poppers to sweet potato fries.

The potato gets a lot of love around these parts too. Especially when coupled with cheese as in these croque monsieur potatoes or tartiflette. We've made them into dauphinoise, tortilla, latkes and aloo masala. No spud has been left unearthed in our hunt for the best potato recipes.

Pastry - go on, buy the readymade stuff, we won't tell - is a great way to bring great things together: Pear, dolcelatte & walnut? Check. Salmon and broccoli? Yep. Roasted fennel and feta. Aha.  But a really simple pleasure is this red onion tart.

Of all the fish and seafood recipes we've done, our gluten free fish fingers are our favourite. Obviously. The Spanish seafood stew is also a staple around these parts. For a speedy supper, these smoky mussels are damn impressive, while our kedgeree doubles up as supper/hangover breakfast. (We won't tell anyone about our dirty anchovy pasta secret if you don't.)

It's not just our fish fingers that our suitable for a gluten free diet. Caleigh's magic has created gluten free gnocchi, ravioli and this delicious bibimbap too, to name just a tiny fraction of our g.f. repertoire.

There are thousands of recipes in our archives: go and explore them. You'll never need to resort to beans on toast for tea again. But if you decide you do, we've got that covered too.

The Definitive Domestic Sluttery Cocktail Roundup

Over the years, the Domestic Sluttery writers have collected enough bottles of booze to open a medium-sized bar. We've also had the very best cocktail barman to mix our drinks for us. Cocktail Nick has been mixing, infusing, muddling and shaking for The Boy and His Poison for three years. He's created a cut out and keep cocktail guide and he's written the only guide to glassware you'll ever need. He's the only chap in a team of very noisy women and for that he deserves a martini medal. Here's our definitive Domestic Sluttery cocktail guide.

Of course, our favourite of Nick's concoctions is the brilliant Hendrick's gin sorbet. No need to go searching for our top gin recipes, we've compiled them all for you (honestly, he's all about the gin martini). And we've rounded up our top summer cocktails.

Sloe gin jelly with a scoop of lemon sorbet on the top is your new favourite 'friends coming over for tea' pudding. We've even got a sloe gin recipe for you. If you got any left after all of your jelly making, pop it in a Wibble.

We're going a bit crazy for Negronis at the moment (Frances is celebrating her birthday in Franks tonight). Join us for a negroni gin float. Or a Ms Negroni. Or even a slice of negroni pie (yep, still baking with our booze). Try The Professional if you fancy a twist on the classic.

Damn we love a peach cocktail. This peach and mint julep is one of our favourites. Or you could make a peach and bourbon smash. And do pop some gin and processo in our peach and mint iced tea.

The Greyhound is a truly excellent cocktail but we mainly love it because the piece of lime looks like a dolphin.

It's very, very likely that team DS is going to be drinking applejacks at some point this week. Make sure you also try our apple pie flip.

Remember when we made gin glow in the dark to celebrate Doctor Who? The Sonic Screwdriver is a wonderful thing. So's our Batman-inspired Dark Knight cocktail. Don't get Nick talking about Anne Hathaway.

Damn the Scofflaw is a gorgeous colour, isn't it? To make the most of those martini glasses, an archangel, a London sour, martinez or a Nicola 6 will keep you tipsy until Thursday. And the Eastside? That's the perfect summer drink.

Let's just take a second to admire the Three Kings Cobbler. And then let's make some.

We like infusing things. A lot. Give Nick a jar and some booze and a couple of weeks of impatient 'is it ready yet?' whining and he'll whip you up a great cocktail. You must try his bacon bourbon immediately (and then put it in an old fashioned with a slice of candied bacon on the side). Veggie? Try our apply pie bourbon. If vodka is more your thing, infuse some with strawberries and basil. While you're spending weeks making booze, check out our collection of booze gifts. There's limoncello and rhubarb and custard vodka.

You don't just have to put whisky in your old fashioned. This tequila old fashioned is a thing of beauty. If you've still got a tequila craving, try our chilli and lemongrass margarita or watermelon cooler.

We aren't really shot drinkers (seriously, sambucca really needs to crawl in a hole and die), but there's one exception: the crack baby. We aren't responsible for your falling over. This week we'll also be making one too many Sluttery pitchers, which we thought was a brilliant drink to serve at our book launch. Someone had to go out and get more vodka, someone's mother spent a large part of the evening loudly insisting it was just fruit juice.

We are a huge fan of the hangover-busting breakfast cocktail. If you need to clear away the cobwebs, try a Corpse Reviver #2 or a breakfast martini (comes with toast!) A bloody mary martini will have you back to your old self in no time. The mid-morning reviver was written in celebration of our first appearance on BBC Woman's Hour. We did not partake before we went on air.

And of course, someone has to have The Last Word.