...for adulterated freshness...

tinned fruit.

does this count towards my five-a-day?

according to nutritionists apparently it does

(but only because the fruit is in its own juice, not in syrup).

they're convenient - but in the same way that the flavour of instant coffee has little in common with that of freshly-ground coffee, these are distant cousins of fresh strawberries.

although i understand they can be used as the

 core ingredient for a rather cheeky homemade wine.

how very 1970s.

...for the perfect ride... (part two)

road cycling - 'it can never be too gay, nor too expensive'

for a sport as tough as this, to have an unspoken tenet such

 as that is, well, perhaps not so surprising when you consider

 a group of cyclists is most likely to be a combination of men

 in lycra, with shaved legs, whose primary concern is maintaining their ideal weight. 

it's also a sport that, taken a little too seriously at times

 by its followers, sets itself up for parody.

this has been achieived nowhere better than by team jva here

 with a parody of rapha's excellent-but-far-too-serious

 website which you can visit here.

...for an easy way to lose one or two more pounds...

because 163lbs (74kg) seems to be as low as these scales will go.