Squashes and winter fruit have a very long shelf life – if you can resist the lure of their delicious flesh

There has been a round winter squash sitting in the kitchen for more than a month. Six weeks, actually. The pale blue skin hides the sort of dense, orange flesh that doesn't collapse to a slush like that of the summer squashes. Gaining admission might be easier with an axe than the kitchen knife.

In Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Lord Henry remarks of Lady Brandon that "She tried to found a salon, and only succeeded in opening a restaurant." The brothers Albert and Michel Roux opened a restaurant, and succeeded in founding a dynasty.

It was in 1967 that Albert and Michel put together their savings, borrowed some money, hoped for the best, and opened Le Gavroche, in Mayfair, London. Le Gavroche – "the urchin" – had great ambitions and they were soon fulfilled; the urchin became a gourmand. In 1974, the Roux brothers were awarded their first Michelin star for their cooking at Le Gavroche. In 1977, they were awarded a second, and in 1982 they were awarded their third. Le Gavroche was the first British restaurant to be so honoured. Michelin stars for the brothers' other restaurant, the Waterside Inn at Bray, in Berkshire, soon followed.

… be slightly overweight, don't exercise too much and stop peeling your fruit and veg. Follow these seven simple steps to better health

Have you woken up in 2011 vowing to cut down on your drinking, eat less and exercise more? All good basic principles, but research published in the past year has suggested that living a healthier lifestyle isn't quite so straightforward – and we needn't be quite so abstemious, either. There are plenty of less obvious, even counterintuitive, ways we can extend our lives and improve our health this year.

These hard-won diet tips are simple: sit firmly on guilt and self-doubt, and set your own limits

Dieting is just like marrying Elizabeth Taylor. Both endeavours are doomed to certain failure, yet everybody embarks on them thinking: "With me, it's going to be different. With me, it's going to work." They are invariably wrong. Liz is still single and I bet you're still fat (or rather, and crucially – since fat is more often than not a state of mind – think of yourself as fat). Statistically, if you have ever dieted you are extremely likely not only to regain any weight you lose, but to go on to gain even more. Dieting makes you fat. (That's a "fat fact", by the way.)