Housebites is a service that allows people to enjoy a brand new dining experience and meet new people in a home-cooked dinner-party environment. Customers can search housebites for locations, food types, budgets and even the kind of people they would like to dine with. It’s perfect for anyone that enjoys eating out and socialising.

How often do you go to a restaurant and chat to the people on the other tables?

At Housebites that’s exactly what happens! Whatsmore there’s no waiter rushing you to finish and there’s no extortionate bill at the end.

Anyone can attend a Housebite and any keen cook can host one.

Housebites was created by a team of food enthusiasts, who all cook regularly. Encouraged by the current underground dining scene they wanted to create a service that took the best bits from dining-in and eating-out and turn them into a unique unprecedented dining experience. It’s also the same team that brought you Bebo, SpeedDater and Birthday Alarm

Seen this amazingly good advert for Cadbury Spots V Stripes? All part of the marketing push for a new bar of chocolate. You may scoff but it’s a fun idea!

The advert is great; so is the chocolate incidentally!

We think games are great. They get people playing, they bring people together and sometimes they even reveal an undiscovered talent. That’s why, with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games around the corner, we’re launching Spots v Stripes.

We’re asking the nation to choose sides and split into Spots or Stripes in order to play, what’s quite possibly, the biggest, longest game ever.

Footy, cricket, bike races, online games, games you’ve made up like full-contact tiddlywinks or even a simple game of ‘tag’. You can play pretty much any game you can imagine.

So how do you take part? First, pick the side you want to play for – Spots or Stripes. Then whenever you play a game against someone from the opposing side, the winner scores a point for his/her side. All the points will be logged right here and updated live on our Score’o’tron. Score enough points and you could even become one of your side’s all-star heroes.

Plus we’ll be laying down weird and wonderful challenges to the nation with big prizes up for grabs. We’ll be stopping the traffic with big city takeovers and we’re bringing Spots v Stripes to local events everywhere.

The Spots v Stripes website allows you to record the scores, there is a running update on the two teams, and plenty of ideas to boot.

Author and River Cottage foraging guru John Wright explores the culinary delights of the British hedgerows, moors, meadows and woods in the latest River Cottage Handbook, Hedgerow.

In John’s hugely informative Hedgerow – his third after Mushrooms and Edible Seashore – he reveals how to spot the free and delicious ingredients to be found in the British countryside, and then how to prepare and cook them.

The hedgerow is perhaps the most accessible and least daunting type of wild food environment. Few of us are very far from some kind of woodland, field edge, heath land, allotment, or, indeed, garden, and these habitats are all included in John’s Hedgerow bracket.

John’s book will tell you all you need to know to turn any little walk or ramble into a foraging expedition, and it will inspire and entertain you at the same time.

Amazon.co.uk is listing Hedgerow (River Cottage Handbook) at £8.99.

This month Phil is making Iced Berry and Lemon Meringue Layer, a real no-fuss dinner party centre piece. You won’t believe how easy it is to make – and it’s the perfect way to celebrate fruit of the season.

Summer’s well and truly underway and British strawberries in the sunshine always spring to mind as the perfect way to enjoy it. If you’re looking for inspirational yummy desserts, this month celebrity chef and Carnation ambassador Phil Vickery shows you how to make a more sophisticated summer treat – an Iced Strawberry and Lemon Meringue Layer.

Bake alongside Phil with this simple step-by-step ‘pudcast’ and say with pride “I Made It”, just like Phil.

Phil’s Tip: Once made, the meringue needs to set for four hours before serving – why not make up a batch the day before your event and leave overnight to set instead!

Martha Stewart Living magazine is to launch in the UK from September.

The businesswoman, cook and TV personality’s other titles including Everyday Food and Martha Stewart Weddings will also see versions launched across Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria in September.

These international editions will offer a mix US generated content and editorial created specifically for each country’s audience.

Martha Stewart Living offers a mix of homekeeping, decorating, style and food related content.

The UK edition of Martha Stewart Living will cost £3.75.