Wake up and smell the coffee

In the days before lifestyle gurus set themselves up as experts on selling your house, the basic received wisdom was that you should have the lights and heating on, and a pot of coffee, because people like the smell.

But I see this as a risk, because some people (e.g. some pregnant women) are made nauseous by the smell of coffee.

Actually the smell of freshly baked bread is a bigger turn-on, especially to those cranks who restrict themselves to the caveman diet (it's like offering a bacon sandwich to a vegetarian). But baking bread, if you are me, involves covering every surface in the house with flour, which is not quite so attractive.

Speaking for myself, there is nothing I like better than to arrive home to the smell of baking potatoes. Oh to have been the first caveman to discover that throwing a poisonous Maris Piper into the camp fire (run out of logs, presumably) resulted in a delicious, homely, aroma. And then to have to quickly invent butter and grated cheese. I put the whole responsibility for the Neolothic diet of carbohydrates and dairy products down to this irresponsible person.

What was that story about the invention of roast pork? Something about how during an early Chinese Fireman's strike, John Prescott was trapped in a burning building?

Anyway, that attractive fellow Nigel Slater has "waxed" eloquently in the Observer to this effect:

"To get a really fluffy baked potato you need 'floury', the sort that have white rather than yellow flesh and crumble when you cook them. Varieties such as King Edward, Maris Piper, Wilja, Ailsa and Golden Wonder are what you want."

I did some the other day with some Desiree, and the results were horrible. Not to mention that Benecol and half fat Edam doesn't have quite the allure of butter and East German Cheddar.

I'm only joking about the Cheddar. Everyone knows the best Cheddar comes from Canada.