Michelle, my flatmate, is always brimming with energy and neat ideas of how to enjoy this wonderful city of ours.

“Hey! Do you want to come to a food swap with me?” Michelle asked as she scampered into my room after her evening run.

“A what now?”

“A food swap. We bring in some of our homemade goodies, and we can swap them for other things people bring in. It’ll be fun!”

So, we defrosted some frozen cookie dough Michelle made about a week ago, prettied it up with some dark chocolate and coarse sea salt, and off we went.

And I have to say, it was oodles of fun. It was more of a kitchen swap than a food swap, but all the same, I thought the event was a terrific way to get some great deals without shelling out cash!

With Michelle’s week-old cookies, we snagged a wire bowl, a milk frother, four stemmed glasses, a 6-cup muffin tin, a baby ceramic plate, a jar of molasses, a jar of red wine poached pears, a jar of Herbs de Provence, and a jar of fruit jam!

I know I say this all the time, but I really do mean it.

I love this city.