
If you had asked me in December 2024 what my 2025 would look like, I’d have said something along the lines of: exploring the world, professional and personal progression, more stability, getting fit and maybe even a few luxury purchases. I’m pretty sure food and eating would not have made the list (or at least it would’ve ranked pretty low). But as life would have it, 2025 hasn’t gone anywhere close to how I thought it would, and truth be told, while I am disappointed, I’m not wholly bummed because at least I’ve been eating pretty well. From fun meals out and trying new food to getting into my baking bag, it’s fair to say that so far this year has revolved around edible goods. As I was going through my camera roll the other day, I was pulled back to the memories of the last seven months and wanted to relive share the food that’s left a tasty impact on what’s kind of been an emotionally turbulent year.
The Joy of Eating Out
Because there’s really nothing better than having someone else make food for you, am I right?
Bangers and mash, anyone?
Nothing quite kicks off the cold year like the comfort food of all comfort foods: sausages and mashed potatoes. I ate this while out for lunch with friends and it was so warming, so comforting that it actually made me believe that 2025 was “my year”. It’s funny that even seven months later, I can still vividly remember the smooth mash, crispy skin of the sausage, the deeply rich gravy and sweet dried onion. But most importantly, I can remember how this was so surprisingly filling.


This hot dog gets an honourable mention (even though it clearly isn’t bangers and mash and it was eaten six months later) because it was very good.

Guilford food festival, aka a foodies heaven
Sure, you could say a highlight was watching my favourite childhood boy band perform (🫶🏾 you Blue), but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care about the food. There were rows upon rows of stalls, food trucks and bars offering up everything from burgers to nachos, cocktails to Pimms, and candy floss to giant stuffed cookies – god, even typing this out is making me drool.







Brighton is for friends
Every year, my friends and I head down to Brighton, where we spend the day indulging in just about everything. We like to start early with breakfast at none other than the Breakfast Club before heading to the pier for a round of the claw machines and a bag (or two) of candy floss and sweets. We then grab a drink and either wander around the beachside town or get an ice cream. Finally, we end the day with dinner, where we choose a bunch of things to share and wash it all down with another cheeky drink.






A different kind of gunpowder plot
Up until earlier this month, my only association with gunpowder was Guy Fawkes’ plot, but after such an amazing dinner, this is another that will ne’er be forgot… see what I did there? Anyway, Gunpowder is a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant that serves up really tasty grub. Admittedly, I’m not really familiar with Indian cuisine, but I know when something tastes good, and everything I ate was divine. I went with friends and we chose the sharing menu – about six or seven dishes that comes out one at a time and let you sample most of the restaurant’s offerings – which started with a delicious chaat and lamb stuffed donut, continued with a succulent chicken thigh, aromatic saffron rice and the juiciest prawns you’ve ever laid eyes on. Dessert was a bread and butter pudding, which I wasn’t keen on taste-wise, but it did make for a nice photo.







The Joy of Eating In
Because sometimes, making food yourself just feels so good.
Nadiya Hussain, is that you?
My New Year’s resolution in 2023 was to learn how to bake, and fast forward two years, I can say I’ve mastered the basics, and it’s now something I do at least twice a week. This year so far I’ve made more batches of chocolate chunk cookies than I care to count, baked my trademark coconut cake (these have turned out superb, natch), experimented with a lemon cake (this didn’t go so well), have allllmost perfected my brownie and even tried my hand at cheesecakes (I’m a firm believer in an even crust to filling ratio). Next on my list is a sumptuous carrot cake, which I’m very excited to try in August.









Quinoa salad for the win
And when I’ve not been stuffing my face with tasty eats, I’ve been perfecting the ultimate quinoa salad that combines chickpeas, a boiled egg, sweetcorn, kimchi, teriyaki tofu and other small bits to create a gorgeously colourful protein bowl. This has been my dinner for the last seven months, and oh my god, it is so good. It’s also nice because you can mix it up depending on what you have to hand. Sometimes I’ll add sweet potato chunks or spicy mackerel if I want some extra flavour.


And do you want to know the best thing of all? There are still four more months left of the year. But don’t worry, I’ll save you a seat.