Sometimes about lunchtime, the appetising smell of somebody's reheated leftovers wafts around the editorial offices, reminding the rest of us it's time to eat.
Some dash down to the nearest café or across the road to the supermarket for a pie or sandwich, while others retreat to the staffroom or behind their computers to eat their packed lunches.
A packed lunch doesn't have to be sandwiches - leftover pasta, stew, curry risotto, or a pottle of soup is good, especially if you have access to a microwave to reheat it and perhaps a toaster to toast bread to go with soup.
Otherwise, a wide-neck vacuum flask will keep soup and some other types of food hot.
Some leftovers are equally good cold - roasted vegetables, cooked potatoes (or cook one freshly in the office microwave and top with a dollop of hummus), salads of various sorts with perhaps some dressing in a separate little pottle, a slice of quiche or tortilla with chutney - remember to take a spoon or fork with this type of lunch.
The secret is to make extra when you are cooking in the evening or at the weekend so you have some for lunches.
However, sandwiches are most versatile: You can eat them anywhere and quickly if you need to, spilling crumbs on the keyboard while you continue to work with one hand, or when you have a couple of minutes to spare between meetings.
Much better, though, to take advantage of the winter sun if there is any and find a sheltered spot to eat them outside, or prop up a book and read and eat at the same time, or just chat to colleagues or friends who have also brought their own lunch.
Sandwich fillings key
Making sandwiches for a packed lunch is a bit like having breakfast - you tend to have the same things every (working) day because you are in a hurry and you don't want to think too hard that early in the morning.
And you are probably also trying to read the paper and get off to work in time.
Some people advocate making sandwiches the night before or making them ahead and freezing them, but sandwiches are best made freshly.
Some people like just one filling - my boss likes Marmite sandwiches made with good bread - but for me the secret of a good lunch sandwich is a combination of flavours.
Stack your lunchtime sammies with layers of fillings.
If you do, you don't need butter or margarine because there are so many other flavours.
My husband, who makes our lunches in the morning, has become an expert sandwich-maker.
He has a stash of things in the fridge for fillings - usually a couple of pestos such as the flavoursome sun-dried tomato pesto from Bisztro, and a basil pesto; grainy or Dijon mustard; tinned sardines or salmon (think of all that good omega 3 as well as the satisfying flavour); liverwurst, or salami; spreads such as Marmite, or something moister like mayonnaise or aioli; and some thicker spreads such as tahini, hummus, tapenade or cottage cheese; other types of cheese (use a cheese slice for the hard cheeses); a salad vegetable or two such as lettuce or mesclun, watercress, cucumber, tomatoes in season, or gherkins and pickles.
Other suggestions for sandwich fillings are avocado, smoked salmon, tins of flavoured tuna, tinned asparagus, bean sprouts, babaganoush (roasted eggplant spread) and flavoured hummus, and of course, slices of cold meat, ham or chicken and egg, either hard-boiled and sliced or soft-boiled and forked up to a sort of spreadable consistency in a cup.
Some people add mayonnaise or mustard, but if you have several other fillings in your sandwich there's no need.
My husband usually layers a judicious selection of about three or four different things (pesto and a spread or two, then fish, salami or cheese, then lettuce, cucumber or other vegetables) on fresh bread - my favourite is the bread he makes overnight in the breadmaker, but I also enjoy a good grainy bread or sourdough.
You can, of course, make your sandwiches at work, as a colleague does - she pops across to the supermarket, buys fresh rolls, an avocado, a couple of tomatoes, and a little ham or chicken.
