IT'S funny, isn't it, how children's names go in and out of fashion? There was a time when everyone was called Linda, Mary, John or Susan or something straightforward and simple like that. Or names would be shortened or otherwise modified and the original never used - Timothy was always Tim (or sometimes "Timmy", as my poor editor, now the other side of 40, is still called by those who have known him since childhood) and Richard, Dick (also not that common these days) and so on and so forth . Then as the boy approached manhood he would usually scramble to reclaim the more macho, manly original name (not always easily done as Editor Timmy - er, Timothy - will tell you).

You can almost date someone by his or her name. Violet, Maude, Alfred and Cyril would probably be people born near the first part of the past century; I wouldn't imagine that there are many Joyce's or Janice's under the age of 50 whereas Tasheeka and Shiwanee are more than likely not much over 25.

All of this brings us to the girl's name Gaye. I don't think that it is very likely that there is a Gaye under the age of 35 and please forgive me if there are one or two of you out there to disprove my theory. I started thinking about the name Gaye when my friend Fiona had a friend by that name staying with her over New Years. This particular Gaye (age 54) was a very sweet girl and her name reminded me of an incident which happened several years ago when I was working as a caterer in London.

At the time I had just done a large cocktail party for a pharmaceutical company that, according to the host, had been a huge success. Not long after that an American woman resident in London by the name of Gaye called me to say that she'd been at this particular party and would be having one herself the following month and would I be available to do the catering. We managed to do all the arrangements over the telephone so by the day of the party I still hadn't actually met her.

She gave me the address of where the party was to be held but said that it was quite difficult to find. The reason for this was because she lived on a road which was all mansion blocks (houses that all look identical). The numbers on the doors were not clearly visible from the road and as it was quite a fast-moving road, I might have a problem finding her. We decided that the way to solve that one was that I would arrive at 5.30 and she would wait outside the flat wearing a red skirt so I could easily indetify her.

I arrived at her street right on time, if not maybe a few minutes early. I cruised on down very slowly, looking in all the doorways trying to spot the numbers, but as she had said, this was not easy. I finally saw a woman standing on the steps outside one of the flats. Although she wasn't in a red skirt it was a very dark pink one and I thought that this must definitely be my client.

I speeded up to her and rolled down my window and said with a big smile "Hi. Are you Gaye?"

She took one look at me and in a very haughty upper crust English voice said" "No, I most certainly am not!" and with that retreated at top speed back into the block of flats slamming the door very loudly behind her.

I tried to say "No, no I didn't mean that....." but it was too late and she was gone.

The real Gaye appeared moments later in a bright red skirt and by then I had an equally bright red face to match it. I suppose I must have looked a little as though I had been kerb crawling as I had done my drive by, but afterwards we did have a huge laugh over it as did my gay London friends when I recounted the story to them. I always dreaded the fact that I would possibly bump into this woman at a cocktail party somewhere and I could just envisage her pointing at me and sniggering behind her hand to anyone who would listen. Luckily that has yet to happen.

I am currently writing to you from a hotel room at Boston airport as I wait for some friends to join me before heading onto New Orleans. As some of you may remember I did this same trip in January last year but this time apparently is going to be an even bigger oyster orgy than it was before.

Last week I did mention that I was going to give you some recipes to help you on your way to an extremely sleek new you, and I intend to do so. Just sitting here writing I have managed to consume everything that I can possibly find in the mini-bar (food items only. I might add) which has covered everything from a large tin of smoked almonds, a packet of lemon ginger shortbread cookies to a jar of jelly babies. A package of cheese straws are winking at me from the now empty basket and I suppose that before long they will have to join their friends in this ever increasing melting pot of a girth of mine.

It's the cold weather I say, knowing full well that it is really that large pig which lives inside me and who I fear is with me for life. For many months he has been kept under control but of late has escaped from his sty and is really running wild, chomping on everything he can get his trotters into. Having lost 26 pounds over the last ten months I am determined that the cheese straws really are the last straw and it will be mountains of oysters (which are I have been told about 90 percent water) for me for the foreseeable future.

There were two things that really helped in my weight loss and these were gallons and gallons of homemade soups and (please don't wince!) Lean Cuisines. Having vilified them for most of my life, I am now in a manner of speaking literally eating my words. I have grown to absolutely adore them and spend hours in front of the frozen food compartment choosing which ones I am going to buy. I must admit that there are only certain ones that I do really, really love but if they run out at the Supermart and I know that White's have a supply in stock nothing will stop me driving the eight or so miles to make my purchase.

Served with lots of steamed or roasted veggies they are perfect and if you are like me and find portion control rather hard to manage then here is your solution. I alternate between these and the soups and, in between, the very odd bacon cheeseburger at Rudy's. Presidents Choice also have a good range of frozen dinners which contain the same (or less calories) than Lean Cuisine as does Healthy Choice. Everyone says that you should stop drinking when on a diet. Well, I don't know whether I am the exception to the rule but I have certainly found that a couple of glasses of wine in the evening hasn't stopped me losing the weight.

God, I mean it's January, the nights are still long with not a huge amount going on, how boring it would be to be sipping a cup of herbal tea at 6.30 p.m. - not this girl! Give it a go, you can do it! I hate to use that old clich? that if I can do it, so can you but I REALLY mean it! Of course you can't be in couch potato mode sitting around all day waiting for it to drop off. You have got to be active even if it's just a walk for an hour a day. That's what I've been doing and if nothing else it is certainly therapeutic and I feel very guilty if I don't do it. Start you day with a Smoothie made from one banana, a handful of blueberries, a small glass of orange juice (fresh) and 1/2-1-cup plain low fat yoghurt and all whirred up in your food processor with a few ice cubes if you like.

1 pound ground chicken, 1 cup onions coarsely chopped, 1 red pepper seeded and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, 2 large cloves garlic, minced, 2 jalapeno peppers minced, 1 tablespoon chilli powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons each of cumin powder, ground coriander, oregano, marjoram and 1/4 teaspoon each of red pepper flakes and cinnamon, 1 X 16 ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped, 1 X 16 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 4 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese In a large saucepan combine chicken, onion, red pepper, garlic, jalapeno, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, marjoram, oregano, red pepper flakes and cinnamon. Cook mixture over a medium-high heat, stirring until the chicken is no longer pink. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil, reduce and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and the cilantro and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes. Serve topped with the cheese.

6 cups chicken broth, 4 cups water, 8 ounces small shell pasta or other pasta shape, uncooked, 4 medium carrots peeled and diced, 1 onion, peeled and diced, 2 celery sticks, diced, 1/2 cup croutons, 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Combine chicken broth, water, carrots, celery and onions in a 5-quart heavy pot. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to a simmer and cover pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir pasta into chicken broth mixture and increase heat to boiling. Cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly, stir in parsley, pepper and salt to taste. Continue to cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. Ladle soup into individual bowls sprinkling cheese and croutons over each serving.

3 X 16-ounce can chicken broth, 1 X 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, 1 X 15 1/2 ounce can Great northern Beans, undrained, 8 ounces Italian sausage, 1 cup uncooked rice, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, salt and fresh cracked black pepper Brown the sausage in a heavy saucepan over a medium-high heat for about 6 minutes and then drain off the fat. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, salt and pepper and the oregano. Bring to a boil and then add the rice and the beans. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.