How to set a buffet table is a written in stone kind of procedure. Here are a few rules that make it easier for your guests.

The first step is to understand how people walk a table and make sure that what they need is on hand.

Don't  jam a table in front of a wall. Have it int he middle of a room to allow guests to walk around it. Better traffic flow.

Plates go at one end of the table where the food line up starts. Forks, knives and napkins go at the other end so that you are not carrying them around as you pick up your food. Food starts with the main dish and accompanying sauce if there is one. It then goes on to salads or side dishes. Your cutlery and bread is on the end as well as butter if you are using it. If there are condiments for certain dishes make sure they are right beside them.

Use serving spoons or tongs that make it easy for people to pick up the food.

Don't put out large platters of hot food unless you have a way to keep it warm. Use smaller platters and refill

Drinks are always in another place so that you have your food and napkin before you pick up your drink. It is all for easier handling.

If you have extra tables set them up throughout the house for people to sit. Even upstairs is fine if you are cramped for space. Buffets are much more fun when you actually have a place to put your plate.

I bought a couple of 6 foot folding tables plus cheap folding chairs at one of the box stores and these are wonderful for cramming in about 10 people a table.

Clear the table before dessert then place desserts and plates on one end and coffee and tea on the other. I prefer white mugs as they are easier to handle than cups and saucers but that is a personal choice. Offer both milk and cream and a nice touch is to have brown coffee sugar and granulated for tea. Place more napkins here because   everyone has lost their napkins by now – pretty paper is acceptable.

When I was at the Cordon Bleu they always suggested height on a buffet table for the best presentation. If you want to do that then pick your serving dishes first; place books on the table at various heights and throw over the buffet cloth. Play around with the book heights until you get  the look you want making sure that the serving dishes will fit securely on top. It looks spectacular. I think flowers are wasted on a buffet table but if you want them then make them low. I prefer to use votives if I want candles because candlesticks may get knocked over.

With barbecue season on the horizon, here are my top tips to get the best from your grill this summer:

- Season meat with salt and pepper before you grill. It improves the taste. You don't need marinades and rubs when you grill top-quality meat, unless you want to give it an international taste such as Indian or Asian. Lesser quality or tougher meats need something to help break down the fibres and it can be as simple as a salad dressing or an herbal mixture with a base of mustard or a citrus.

- With a gas grill, generally grill with the lid down.

- With larger cuts of meat, turn off the middle or side burner (depending on the type of barbecue you have), and place the meat on the side that has been turned off.

- Chicken needs a medium to medium-low heat to prevent the skin from burning.

- Whenever you use wood, for planked salmon for example, soak it for 30 minutes to prevent the board going up in flames. Soak wooden skewers, too.

- Metal skewers will cook your kebabs or shrimp more quickly as the metal heats up and will also cook from the inside.

- That old faithful beer-can chicken is the best way to do a whole chicken. Otherwise, butterfly the chicken by removing the backbone and lay flat.

- Anything that can fall between the grates should be done in a basket. Fish baskets are generally too small to fit a whole fish, instead, you can oil the fish and place directly on the grill.

- Preheat grill for 10 minutes before cooking. Make sure racks are pristine to prevent food adhering to grill. Oil everything that will be cooked on the racks to stop sticking.

- Use a spray bottle with water to prevent flare-ups.

- Use a spray bottle with oil to oil grill and to spray ingredients before cooking.

- Don't pierce meat with a fork (the juices will run out). Instead, use tongs or a wide spatula.

Every time I see a headline that says 'high tea' I can't help but shake my head. High tea was in fact a lower class meal served to children and workers. The upper classes enjoyed afternoon tea. I grew up in Scotland where afternoon tea in my grandparents house was served everyday on a trolley wheeled into the living room. It consisted of tea, scones, little cakes and little sandwiches, which were served to fill the spaces before dinner at 8pm.

On the other hand high tea was a nursery meal served to children at 5pm. I have fond memories of sausages and eggs or little savoury tarts, even fish and chips on some occasions. Desserts were biscuits, trifle, custard tarts or tinned fruit. Dinner was for adults.

In many parts of Great Britain, high tea replaced dinner for the workers who were famished when they came home from the factories. Traditional high tea is now out of fashion although the lingering nostalgia means that there are a lot of fish and chips and meat pies consumed for dinner.

Afternoon tea is an elegant and charming way to entertain. The nibbles are easy and inexpensive to prepare, attractive to look at and versatile enough to serve at lots of different entertaining occasions. It is a lovely way to entertain for bridal showers or for Mother's Day. It can be casual or more formal depending on the occasion. It's also a fabulous excuse to wear a hat or fascinator. Here are a couple of afternoon tea recipes to enjoy including Cucumber and Watercress Sandwiches, Egg Pinwheels and Lemon Sponge Cake.

I attended the Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival in November and came away with memories of sunsets, rum punches and fascinating food. The highlight , for me was meeting Fergus Henderson, the British chef who was the pioneer in nose to tail eating.

I first spotted Henderson sitting quietly behind a stack of copies of his new book, Beyond Nose to Tail. He was all alone. No one had lined up for his signature but he was amused and relaxed, and not at all fussed as he surveyed the crowds washing the hors d'oeuvres down with rum punch. The term 'character' in Britain describes a person who has those certain qualities which make him extraordinary and Henderson certainly fits that bill. He now owns several London restaurants including his flagship St John and will also be the proprietor of the about-to-be-opened The St John Hotel in a slightly seedy part of Chinatown. "A restaurant with rooms", he says "so people can eat and drink well and not have to travel."

He opened his first restaurant St John in London's Smithfield market in 1994 serving parts of the animal people previously dismissed, including his now famous Roast Bone Marrow. It was a huge hit, with long waiting lists, and the catalyst behind the worldwide nose to tail trend. It also put modern British cooking firmly on the food map.

Henderson grew up in Northern England, tutored by a mother who cooked tripe and kidneys and other good honest food and a father who took his children to France to try out the newest restaurants. And so a chef was born who  learned respect for the whole animal not just the choicest parts. His admiration and cooking skills with all these parts means that today beef cheeks are taken for granted as are pigs trotters, head cheese and fried pig's head. It all started in his kitchen.

Meeting Henderson was a personal goal as my respect for him knows no bounds. He has such a positive personality and a life affirming attitude that not only helps him deal with his challenging Parkinson's Disease but also keeps all of us enthralled with his spoken and written words. When given his first (long overdue) Michelin star recently, he said "I'm afraid it's not the first thing on my mind."

Later I met Ming Tsai, host of the award-winning Simply Ming cooking shows on the Food Network. He is an affable warm man with lots of personal style. His food is a combination of East West ingredients techniques and styles. His parents had a Chinese restaurant in Dayton, Ohio where he learned the basics of Chinese cooking before receiving more formal training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. His cuisine is a blend of the two styles and works because he understands the ingredients and techniques from both backgrounds, blending them together to produce his own superb interpretation .His restaurant Blue Ginger in Boston has won many awards. He believes cookbooks are a source for inspiration not a bible and his latest One Pot Meals is a sprint through many different cooking styles while still retaining the essence of Ming. His Ginger Chicken Thighs with Parsnips is a favourite.

In his cooking class in Barbados he talked of his Canadian connection as he is a close friend of Susur Lee's (who shares a similar culinary background) and considers PEI mussels the finest. He has said that he will never become one of those chefs who open many restaurants around the world—he believes in a balance in life as well as food.

Apart from Rihanna, Barbados biggest export is rum. Rum punches are the standard drink across the island and they vary in taste, sweetness and punch depending where you get them. My favourite was in a little rum shop on the island, full of Bajan drinkers washing down the traditional souse (pickled pigs head) with punch.

Sadly native Bajan have found that construction work trumps farming, so there is not much local food available. We did find a local market where they mostly sold sweet potatoes and other roots, fresh herbs and peppers. The vendors told me that native Bajans grow their own fruits and vegetables and only sell what they do not need, the rest is imported.

Much Bajan food is fish based and one of the best ways of tasting is to go to the Friday night Oistens Fish Fry where hundreds of vendors fry or barbecue fish such as wahoo, flyingfish or marlin served with macaroni or sweet potato pie. Sitting at long tables with food from your favourite vendor, knocking back beer and letting the music move you is a superb way to spend an evening. Here are some of my favourite dishes from my trip, including Fried Fish Cutters, Thai Green Curry Shrimp with Fried Basil and a delicious Bread Pudding with Rum Custard Sauce.