Got a half-finished cup of tea sitting on your desk? Rather than letting it go cold, why not use its milk and sugared heat to power your desk lamp? It's all down to an ingenious device invented by the Scottish clergyman Robert Stirling in 1816. A cup-sized version of his Stirling engine is being sold by gyroscope.com for £45.99.

Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day just got easier. If, like me, you find it difficult to find new and interesting ways with fruit and vegetables each and every day, then Hawkin's Bazaar ready-to-eat punnets of mushrooms and miniature hessian sacks filled with French potatoes may be of interest.

Want to meet Oz Clarke, the star of Oz and James' Big Wine Adventure, or Tim Atkin, The Observer's wine correspondent? Or have the opportunity to sample 1000s of wines from around the world? Then win one of 10 pairs of tickets for The Wine Show 2007 and get along to the UK’s largest event exclusively devoted to wine.

STOP PRESS: THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED - WINNERS ANNOUNCED  

Installing a wine rack in his shed will now be top of Glyn Harrison’s list of jobs to do at his Griffithstown allotment. Winning Best Shed category in the National Allotments Week’s (13th - 19th August) competitions, Glyn accepted bottles of Chilean sponsors Caliterra Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc wine as part of his prize.

It seems we Brits take the contents of the kitchen cupboard with us when we go on holiday. A survey of over 1,000 British holidaymakers found that an extra suitcase was required to pack a jar of Marmite (which could be the traditional glass or new up-side down Squeeze Me jar), cheese, peanut butter, lemons and garlic crushers. Surprisingly, no one reported taking garlic bulbs with them.

The German winemakers Black Tower are using this week’s ‘biggest-ever wine category review by a supermarket’ to launch their new red Dornfelder Pinot Noir. This light red wine will increase the Black Tower range from the current two whites (Rivaner and Pinot Grigio) and a rosé made from Portugieser and Dornfelder grapes. Among the other 369 new wines on Tesco’s shelves is a white wine from South Africa’s Arniston Bay sold in a resealable 1.5-litre plastic pouch.