I promise soon to be good but....

Back in the city today and New York summer is in full, sultry effect. God it's hot - didn't realize how lucky we were upstate with the shady trees and cool breezes. Here the concrete and tarmac hold onto the heat and everywhere you got there are air conditioners blasting hot air in your face. You can barely catch your breath.

I didn't realize how bad it was until I left work. I got that my-feet-are-about-to-explode feeling as soon as I stepped out of the office. And no respite in Brooklyn either - I thought it would be cooler than Manahattan but I almost feel like it's worse - with no skyscrapers there's even less shade.

So my guilty admission is that we have the AC on. Not on high, but on. Not quite sure how we'd manage without, not now we've got Dot. She had a sweaty top lip in the car this morning as it was. Wonder if having no AC upstate and doing the lights out thing cancels out the carbon emissions from the journey there and back?

Anyway, at least we had lots of lovely fresh fruit and veg to remind us of the weekend. For those of you interested in my farmer's market exploits, find of the weekend was a punnet of tiny, juicy tart little gooseberries, closely followed by some gorgeous redcurrants. But then Alice's special mix of eight basils (including my favourite thai basil) was pretty amazing, as were her English peas and the first sweet little yellow tomatoes. Oh, and as I was checking out of River Brook Farm on Sunday, Neil came into the barn with a surprise for Alice - a colander full of little red potatoes, fresh out of the ground - the first of the year. I bought a big bagful and we had them with a smudge of mayonnaise on Sunday, the freshest potatoes I've ever eaten. Yum.

Right, time to go because I'm starting to sound like a wannabe Nigel Slater but before I do, one more thing. I spoke at a panel a couple of weeks back. If you want to see some hideous pictures of me (and get a flavour for what i do as my day job), go to

http://adage.com/article?article_id=119058

and click on 'watch video'. That harsh lighting is not kind...