Last week, retro sweet fans breathed a sigh of relief when the company that owns Refreshers, saved the humble Wham bar from extinction. When confectionary company McCowans ran into financial trouble, the future of Wham bars was looking a little bleak. But thankfully, sweet makers Tangerine Confectionary stepped in and took them under their wing.

We're a nation of self-confessed food lovers: as ready to indulge in strawberry cheesecake, as we are to reach for those triple-cooked chips. But are we really such keen cooks? Scores of cook books are released every month, before we pick them up, flick through the pages, and promptly plant them on the bookshelf to catch some dust. As for TV cookery shows, we're spoiled for choice if we fancy drooling over someone else rustling up a meal on screen. Oddly though, amidst all this food-filled voyeurism, we're not doing so much cooking ourselves.

A flurry of spatulas, aprons and frosting have been whipping up a storm throughout National Baking Week! There seem to be two camps when it comes to baking. The first camp are a wary bunch. They've toyed with the notion of baking a few times, but the half-risen cakes, burnt edges and sinking centres have left them with a sense of mild resentment towards this culinary art form. The second camp love to bake, and have somehow nailed the art of turning out even sponges that are so light, you can't help questioning whether angel breath got mixed in somewhere along the lines.

This week is one of the most exciting weeks in the food world, because Chocolate Week is upon us! Chocolate addicts all over the UK get that little bit more chocolate-obsessed from the 10th - 16th October, as tastings, talks, cookery demonstrations and chocolate-themed menus pop up everywhere. I can't pass up chocolate at the best of times, but Chocolate Week offers up a serious level of temptation. Here are my highlights!

I've been a web editor for the last decade, covering lifestyle and music. About five years ago, I looked at my bank statement and realised that I spent most of my money on food. Pretty much every spare penny in fact. I got to thinking that I should really be writing about food, and started up my own website iLoveMyGrub.com. Since then I've been eating, tasting and writing about edible delights for the likes of The Times, the Guardian, MSN, AOL, easyJet and Ryanair. It's probably the best job in the world. Here's what you can expect from me and this blog.