There is nothing my kids love more than a fire-roasted potato, wrapped in foil and eaten with lashings of butter and salt when huddled next to the tent on one of our camping trips.

But what about when there's a Total Fire Ban and you can't have a fire?

Or what about when you get back to the city and you're still craving that Camp Life?

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Yumi is a bit triggered by positive talk about alcohol and a bit triggered by the "dirty" in "dirty martini" - but there's no booze in Simon's recipe for a dip that you can put together in less time than it take for a friend to text and say, "I'm coming over!"

DIRTY MARTINI DIP:

Take a jar of good quality stuffed green olives and decant them into a powerful blender

splash in a bit of the brine

Add a tablespoon of cream cheese or Greek yoghurt

Squeeze of lemon

Pinch of garlic powder

Pulse to a tapenade texture

SERVE from a Martini glass with an olive on a cocktail stick for decoration

WARM CHEESE STRAWS:

Take a sheet of thawed puff pastry

brush with beaten egg

scatter with your favourite leftover cheese, something sharp

season with salt and pepper

(Simon doesn't say this but I would also add sesame seeds)

FOLD IN HALF

Slice into strips

Give the strips a little twist and spread them on a tray

Bake in a pre-heated 200C oven and cook for 12 minutes. Serve warm.

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WARNING:

Yumi loses it trying not to laugh when Simon uses the word "jazzy".

Christmas season means LEFTOVERS.

And honestly, it can get a bit grim.

The fridge is overflowing with food from Christmas and you're absolutely sick of it ...but also, it needs to be eaten!

BEFORE Christmas even arrives, let's pre-empt the leftovers with some thought starters and a recipe.

FESTIVE FRITTATA

Ingredients:

Veg leftovers

200-250g of leftover turkey or ham

6 eggs whisked with 1tbs milk

salt and pepper

some cheeses

In an oven-proof, heavy-based frypan, warm up the veg, get them crisp and heated and reactivated for yumminess.

Add in the finely chopped leftover meat

When ready, season the eggs with salt and pepper and pour the egg mixture over the leftovers in the pan.

Dot cheese around the pan or add a big grating of it over the top. Leftover fancy Christmas cheese is perfect for this.

Put the lid on the pan and leave it for 4 minutes, or until the edges are looking set but the top is wobbly. Set the whole pan under the pre-heated grill for 5 minutes.

Allow it to rest.

Serve wedges of frittata with a squeeze of lemon and some fresh herbs.

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