The new Week-End Book: A Sociable Anthology is coming along nicely. The parlour games are a real feature, with names like How do you like your neighbours? (‘One of the most attractive things about this game is that it enables you to cast out a hated rival who happens to be seated beside the lady of your heart.’); Grunt, Honey, Grunt (‘All the company change places. The man in the centre puts the cushion on this person’s knee, sits on it, and says "Grunt, honey, grunt".’); and William and Mary (‘This is a rather dangerous game; I have known it lead to an engagement to marry.’)

There are also some of the traditional recipes your mother used to make. There has been talk recently about how we're losing these traditional recipes as we take on more and more influences from Europe and the rest of the world, but we're keen to hold on to a few British classics like Jugged Hare, Kidney Soup and Stewed Eels. If you can stomach it. There's a really useful section that tells you when different foods are in season and how to buy foods at the market - increasingly handy now that we should all be trying to buy British products and lower the environmental costs of eating food out of season.

Some pretty lethal cocktails also make an appearance. Devil's Cocktail is a personal favourite (Peppermint, Old Brandy and plenty of broken ice). the instructions helpfully point out that this is not one for beginners. There's a Millionaire Cocktail, but I don't know if you have to be a millionaire to drink it; a Bulldog Cooler, for the true Englishman, and a Sauterne Cup, with no fewer than 6 liqueurs. Not one for the faint hearted I should imagine.

We'll keep you posted with all our news. Let us know your thoughts on what we have so far. Any games you think we should be including? Got any family recipes that can't be left out? Killer cocktails that must be shown to the world? We'd love to hear from you.