Christmas Catalogue for Good Life Gifts
The Wiggly Team!
Wiggly Wigglers is a feel good story. Heather and Phillip Gorringe live and work at Lower Blakemere Farm in Herefordshire and while Phillip runs the farm Heather runs Wiggly Wigglers, the company that started off selling worms to compost food waste. They do live the good life, with cattle, pigs and hens, and they grow their own fruit and veg.
We bought one of the first Wiggly Wigglers composters years ago when Heather was at one of the RHS shows. We have three Wiggly Wiggler composters now, all different styles and they all work well.
Oak sapling infused with truffle spores
Our favourite Christmas catalogue is the Wiggly Wigglers Christmas catalogue. It’s full of stuff we really want! From truffle spores infused in sapling oak trees – harvest your truffles in 5-7 years’ time, to spore infused logs to harvest your own exotic mushrooms.
Then there is the apple peeler and corer – named on the recent Channel 4 programme Stephen Fry’s 100 Greatest Gadgets as one of the top gadgets of all time. We really must have one! Processing the apples is such a messy, sticky job, but this gadget promises to make it more fun next year. Click here to see it in action.
Apple corer and peeler
There’s loads of other stuff, bird food, bird feeders, shelters – the catalogue is available by post – phone 01981 500391. However if you are cutting it a bit fine go to their website where everything is available. Remember though that date for last orders is Wednesday 21 December.
Happy Christmas!
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Our Top Ten SIMPLY SUPER Christmas Gifts
In the space of a year we see a fair number of items we rather like. Here are our top ten we think would make fabulous, interesting and thoughtful gifts for Christmas 2011. They are of course equally appropriate at other times of the year.
Jean Christophe Novelli - Connoisseur Knives
1. Novelli Cooking Knives
These knives will last a lifetime, in fact they are designed to last for more than one generation. Beautifully balanced, made from the best of materials they are a joy to work with. We love using them. More …
Wolsztyn Steam Train Centre © Trevor Jones
2. A Footplate Holiday in Poland – The Steam Engine Enthusiast’s Dream More …
3. However this beautiful book Great Railway Maps of the World may be a less generous gift than a trip to Poland but just as acceptable we’re sure. More …
4. Forever Rumpole
The loveable legal rough diamond Horace Rumpole who refers to his wife as She who must be obeyed, conjures up an appropriate bon mot whatever the occasion. Forever Rumpole is a fine choice for bedtime reading. More …
5. A History of the World in 100 Objects
Oh yes, this is bedtime reading for at least a year! This is a great dip into book, with 100 historical objects to read about, from the earliest surviving object made by human hands to the 100th object – a solar powered lamp and charger. It would fascinate anyone interested in man’s history. Wonderful book. More …
6. Garden tools Investing in garden tools can be a hit and miss affair but here are three we have tried and liked for their utility. We loved the Fiskar trowel, patio broom and axes – our choice for 2012. More …
Fiskar Trowel
7. Growing plants from seeds is one of our passions. We usually go for Thompson & Morgan seeds but sometimes when we can’t find what we are looking for, we look at the Sow Seeds website. A small independent seed business based in Cheshire offering the home gardener, allotment holder and commercial growers the finest quality seeds at great prices it is worthy of support. They provide Gift Vouchers and Seed Boxes,
ideal gifts for beginner gardeners and old timers alike.
A
nd for those you know who suffered in the drought this year we highly recommend having some Supa Drippas to hand just in case it happens again next year. More …
8. Our kitchen waste is now being collected in the kitchen itself, saves us going down the garden in all weathers. This is achieved because we are now using a Bokashi composter – the micro organic process with no smell. Believe us when we say it is so good we keep telling everyone about it! And it is our favourite gift to our gardening friends. More …
9. For every harassed Mum or Dad – the answer to replacing damaged playthings! Saves a fortune – a lifeline especially to anyone not handy with broken stuff. A great stocking filler/tree gift. More …
Getting ready to taste eight different wines to match with Festive food
10. Our final suggestion is a course at the Wine Academy in Queen Anne St, Marylebone, for anyone you know interested in knowing much more about wine. We recently attended a wine and food matching course, absolutely excellent, led by Suzy Atkins, wine writer for The Times. We can’t rate this highly enough. Fantastic gift. We will be writing about our experience in the near future.
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Handmade Bespoke Cakes with a Jamaican Flavour for any Occasion
For us www.crumbsnall.co.uk hits all the right buttons, no hydrogenated fats, no artificial flavourings or colourings, handmade. All natural and Sonia McDonnell who makes these yummy items is taking orders for Christmas cakes now.
The ingredients just sound so enticing! Overproof Jamaican rum and brandy, homemade marzipan and icing. All made with natural ingredients, no animal or hydrogenated fats, artificial flavourings or colourings.
Most of the supermarkets have lots of goodies to choose from at this time of year. But there is always a question mark in our minds as to what they are made of.
However, we are definitely going for one of Sonia McDonnell’s Christmas cakes … at least we are sure of the ingredients. And the taste! So moreish and memorable! Do have a look at her website and if you are interested please mention you read about her in inBalance Magazine!
Thanks
Val Reynolds Brown
Editor
PS Sonia is based near St Albans and delivers within a five mile radius.
SIMPLY SUPER Christmas Gifts: 1 An Heirloom
Our selection of Christmas Gifts is from the many items we have tried throughout the year. Some are very expensive, others more modest and some affordable by most of us.
MOST COSTLY
Knives for Cooking In November a group of us had a Christmas Lunch cooked by the chef named as the World’s Sexiest Chef” by The New York Times. Jean Christophe Novelli. We couldn’t vouch for that of course, but he is very good looking and his French accent added an extra, attractive flavour to the experience.
That apart, the meal was excellent, the turkey succulent, the gravy spot on, the vegs al dente without being chewy. The dessert, apple pie with wonderful vanilla ice cream, was superb. However, the object of the session was not to eat and drink ourselves silly, but to watch Jean in action with his recently launched Ziganof cooking knives.
Top of the range, these knives are for life, even to pass on to the next generation. With the core made from the best surgical steel and covered with 63 layers of Damascus steel, the hardest and sharpest knives have been created. See more detailed information on the Novelli website. You can see the striations in this photograph
Jean showed us how using just the two knives it is not necessary to have any others. The paring knife is a multipurpose knife ideal for peeling all small vegetables and other intricate work such as deveining shrimp, removing seeds of small jalapeno peppers, skinning mushrooms and all the other delicate jobs in the kitchen.
Luscious Chocolate Recipes
Ok, you’ve guessed! We’re total chocoholics and we want to share our love with you! Here are some more of our favourite recipes from Menier, the cooking chocolate we couldn’t be without.
Mexican Pinto Bean, Sweet Pepper & Garlic Soup with an Avocado Salsa – Serves 4-6 Ingredients:
Mexican Pinto Bean, Sweet Pepper & Garlic Soup with Avocado Salsa
Soup 5 tbsp olive oil 1 medium red onion, finely diced 6 garlic cloves, crushed 1 fresh red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped 1 red pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped 1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp smoked paprika 2 tbsp tomato purée 1 tin pinto beans, drained 2 tins chopped tomatoes 400ml vegetable stock 35ml red wine vinegar 1 tbsp white sugar 30g Menier dark chocolate 1 tsp salt Large pinch ground black pepper Avocado Salsa 1 ripe avocado ½ red onion, finely diced ½ red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped Juice of 1 lime 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Large pinch salt To make the soup: Heat the olive oil in a medium/large saucepan. Once hot, add the onions, garlic and red and yellow peppers, stir and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the onion and peppers start to colour and soften. Add the fresh red chilli and all the ground spices – cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander and smoked paprika – then gently cook for approximately 15 – 20 minutes. If it starts to catch on the bottom, add a little water. Add the red wine vinegar, sugar and tomato purée, stir and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the pinto beans, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then lower the heat, cover and gently simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, to make the avocado salsa, peel, stone and finely dice the avocado. Place in a bowl and combine with the red onion, chilli, coriander, extra virgin olive oil and lime juice. Season with the salt, and set to one side. To serve: Ladle the soup into 4 pre-heated bowls and top with a good spoonful of the avocado salsa, a dollop of sour cream, and a drizzle extra virgin olive oil. The soup should be served piping hot.
White Chocolate, Raspberry and Lime Drizzle Cake Serves 8 – 10 Ingredients:
White Chocolate, Raspberry and Lime Drizzle Cake
Lime Syrup: Juice of 5 limes Zest of 1 lime 140g golden caster sugar Cake Mix: 220g golden caster sugar 225g unsalted butter, softened 4 medium-sized eggs Juice of 2 limes Zest of 1 lime 25g ground almonds 210g raspberries 100g Menier white chocolate, chopped 250g self-raising flour For the cake: Pre heat oven to 160°C. Line the base and sides of a 22cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper, then butter the paper and set aside. Cream the sugar and butter together until light in colour and texture, then gradually beat in the eggs. If they start curdling, add a little flour, folding in gently. Add the lime zest, followed by the rest of the flour and the ground almonds. Next, add the lime juice one spoonful at a time, as you don’t want the mixture to be too wet. (It needs to be dropping consistency.) Gently fold in ¾ of the white chocolate and the raspberries, then pour the mixture into the lined cake tin. Give the tin a little shake to ensure that the mixture spreads evenly to the corners. Place the rest of the chocolate and raspberries on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is firm to touch. To make the lime syrup: Put the lime juice and sugar in a small saucepan and place on a moderate heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat and add the lime zest. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick the cake all over with a metal skewer, then pour the syrup all over the top of the cake. Leave for 1 hour so that the cake absorbs all of the syrup. To serve: Remove the cake from the tin, then gently pull away the greaseproof paper. Cut into wedges and dust with icing sugar.
Hot Chocolate Mocha – Makes 2 generous cups Ingredients:
Hot Chocolate Mocha
100g Menier dark chocolate 400ml whole milk 20ml double cream 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 cinnamon stick 50ml strong coffee 2 tbsp orange blossom honey For garnish; 2 cinnamon sticks (optional) Put the chocolate in to a heatproof bowl and set to one side. Place the milk, cream, vanilla, cinnamon stick, honey and the coffee in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, set aside to steep for 30 minutes. When the milk mixture has steeped, place the saucepan back on the heat and bring back to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and let the milk subside. Pour a small amount of the hot milk and cream over the chocolate and stir to a smooth consistency, then gradually pour in the remaining milk, stirring gently until the chocolate is completely melted. Return the chocolate mixture to the saucepan and reheat gently. Don’t let it boil at this stage or it might split. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk to a foam using a balloon whisk or a cappuccino frother. Pour into pre-warmed cups or heat proof glasses and garnish each with a cinnamon stick.
More Cooking with Chocolate features:
Cooking with Chocolate – Gifts for all occasions
Cooking with Chocolate – Sweet and Savoury
Chocolate Cake for Coeliacs
Menier Swiss premium cooking chocolate is available in major supermarkets nationwide with a RRP of £1.19.
Val Reynolds, Editor
Cooking with Chocolate – Gifts for any occasion
We love cooking with chocolate and here are just a few of our favourites to keep handy when friends drop by. Chocolate Truffles, Creamy Vanilla Fudge with Chocolate and Nuts, Chocolate and Cinnamon Swirl Meringues, the list goes on and on! So easy to make too! All in our absolutely favourite book: Gifts from the Kitchen, 100 irresistible homemade presents for every occasion by Annie Rigg, published by Kyle Cathie.
Here is one recipe we make once in a blue moon because it hardly ever is used for what it is intended for … spreading on toast, or as a layer in a sponge cake, or as a topping to cookies. It is so yum it generally gets eaten direct from the jar! Oh well, we have no resistance – do try it!
Chocolate and Hazel Spread Read more 
Cooking with Chocolate – Sweet and Savoury
Home baking is having a revival and cooking with chocolate is always fun – the smell is enough to send everyone to the kitchen to see what’s up!
Using cooking chocolate is the way to go. We recently made some Cake Pops.
The pops themselves were made from crumbed sponge cake mixed with butter cream and then formed into balls.
The first coat was a pink candy melt. Then, as an experiment, a coating of Menier white chocolate. We were really impressed with this chocolate, it melted quickly, had a good dipping consistency, and the taste! Well … let’s say we won’t be using anything else in future!
Then on with a coat of dark chocolate, again it melted and dipped well, holding the final decoration perfectly.
We loved the creamy taste of both the milk and white chocolate, the dark chocolate was pleasantly rich.
Ever used chocolate in savoury dishes?
Here’s a recipe for Braised Venison with Autumn Roots and Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients:
600g venison (diced leg/shoulder)
2 tbsp seasoned flour
6 tbsp olive oil
150g smoked bacon lardons
3 shallots, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
5 Chantenay carrots, quartered
3 medium turnips, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
3 flat mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 heaped tbsp thyme
1 heaped tbsp rosemary, chopped
2 bay leaves
700ml red wine
300ml beef stock
30g Menier dark chocolate, finely chopped
40g butter
2 heaped tbsp redcurrant jelly
1 tsp salt and a large pinch of pepper
Serves 2 – 4
Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
Pour half of the olive oil into a large ovenproof casserole dish and heat over a medium heat. Add the lardons of bacon and cook for 4-5 minutes or until crisp and slightly browned, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Put the diced venison in to a bowl with the seasoned flour and toss well. Ensure all of the meat is well coated and shake off the excess flour. Put the casserole dish back over a medium heat. Once hot (you may need to add a little more oil at this point), add the venison in batches and cook until the meat is browned on all sides. Remove from the casserole dish and set aside with the lardons of bacon.
Add the rest of the olive oil to the casserole dish and heat over a medium heat, then add the garlic, shallots and celery and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the carrots, turnip, mushrooms and herbs and cook for about 10 minutes on a low-medium heat or until the vegetables and shallots are slightly browned. Stir frequently.
Return the venison and bacon to the casserole dish and stir gently. Add the red wine and bring to the boil, then add the beef stock and season with the salt and pepper. Bring back to the boil, then cover with a tight fitting lid and transfer to the pre-heated oven. Cook for about 1½ – 1¾ hours, or until the meat is tender.
Once the meat is tender, remove from the oven and strain the meat and vegetables though a large sieve, retaining the liquid. Pour the liquid into a saucepan and bring back to the boil. Place the venison and the vegetables back into the casserole dish and cover to keep warm.
Once the liquid is boiling, whisk in the redcurrant jelly and re-heat gently. Lower the heat and whisk in the butter and the chocolate. Add small amounts gradually to ensure the chocolate does not split and go grainy. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly. Pour the sauce over the venison and vegetables and stir well.
Serve with creamed celeriac and steamed greens.
You may like to see another of our features:
Cooking with Chocolate – Gifts for all occasions
Chocolate Cake for Coeliacs
Menier Swiss premium cooking chocolate is available in major supermarkets nationwide with a RRP of £1.19.
Cake Pops created and photographed by Laura MacClelland
Val Reynolds, Editor
Grow Your Own Potatoes for Free!
OFFER OF THE WEEK*Free Potato Collection – Worth £15.00
What you get in the kit: 5 x tubers of Potato ‘Vales Emerald’ – A Maris Peer/Charlotte cross with an RHS Award of Garden Merit that is proving to be very popular. Potato ‘Vales Emerald’ produces generous yields of oval, cream-skinned and pale fleshed tubers. Perfect for your first potatoes of the year, and a simply delicious as a salad potato. Height and spread: 60cm (24″). 1 x potato planter – Holds approximately 40 litres of multipurpose compost (sufficient to plant 3 or 4 tubers). 5 x packets of vegetable seed – Receive 5 packets of quality vegetable seeds. The vegetable seeds will be chosen by Thompson & Morgan and may vary from those illustrated. *Just pay £4.95 postage HOW TO GET YOUR FREE POTATO KIT: GO to www.thompson-morgan.com and enter Offer Code: AF11109 in the box labelled “Enter catalogue or newspaper code:” This will ensure the £15 is crossed out and only the postage is applicable. Terms &Conditions: Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer code and is only valid with orders placed online START DATE: NOW END DATE: Midnight Sunday 27th November 2011 This is a really generous offer – 5 tubers of top quality potatoes, packets of seeds, and a planter bag which you can reuse for subsequent crops, or other vegetables. For instance, we have just planted two lots of asparagus in planters. Such a neat and easy way to grow vegetables, especially plants that need to be kept under control. So if you are interested, don’t delay, apply today! Happy gardening! Val Reynolds, Editor |
Thompson & Morgan are offering a fabulous Potato KIT FREE* for every visitor – worth £15.00!Wines to Die For … A French Vineyard visit
Domaine aux Moines vineya
Roses planted at the top of each row of vines at Domaine aux Moines, monitor the health of the plants. Black spot and mildew attack roses and vines alike so if either are detected on the roses vineyard owners know it is time to spray – of course only chemicals approved by the French equivalent of our Soil Association
I had tasted some wine from a neighbouring vineyard at a restaurant in Angers a day or so earlier and I was startled by its fresh taste and particularly the aroma, or nose. (I hate using the word bouquet, it seems so affected. Anyway it reminds me of Hyacinth Bucket and all that she stood for!) I was very keen to visit the area where the wine came from and jumped at the chance to taste the Domaine aux Moines wines.
We tasted white wines from Chenin grapes, from several years. Fascinatingly each one differed in flavour and nose. I found them all quite, quite delicious.
To describe wine is difficult for me as I draw back from eulogising in terms of flowers and fruit, nuts etc, but the wine I chose to take away – Cuvee des Nonnes 2007 – did remind me of the scent of Christmas pudding. If you consider the ingredients of that pudding – raisins, nuts, dried fruit, and brandy of course – you may be able to understand my description. It is a mellow wine, reminiscent of a Muscadet, with less sweetness but enough to serve as an aperitif. The Domaine aux Moines website provides food and wine recommendations, very useful indeed.
I realise now I have drunk a lot of indifferent homogenous wines over the years and am really eager to learn more about the differences and the reasons for them. I have to say I think it has a lot to do with the constituents of the soil in which the vines grow. Some years ago now I produced about 100 litres of wine for a family wedding, made from concentrated grape juice of no particular origins other than red grape, and tap water ferried over from Correze. People found it hard to believe I had made it at home in Hertfordshire – it just tasted so ‘French’.
The Domaine aux Moines website gives you a great deal more information about their wines and its production. Much of it is exported to America and Canada, but is available from Les Cave de Pyrene in Guildford UK.
I’m planning another visit to the vineyard in the not so distant future and hope to visit others using the same agriculture biologique methods in the area. We will be encouraging friends and relatives to do the same – we know they will have a great time and be made most welcome.
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
*Located near Savenniére, Domaine aux Moines is about 8 miles west of Angers, France
New Cereals for Coeliacs – In Our Basket
Bread is not an option for coeliacs
It has often been suggested that many people could benefit from a gluten-free diet for many reasons. Gluten is a sticky starch (gliadin) found in wheat and related cereals such as barley and rye but absent in rice and other related cereals. Most doctors agree that bowel problems are mainly genetic. Ancient Greeks gave its name, Coeliac.
The problem arises from an immune reaction to an enzyme in the starch, causing an inflammation in the small bowel, damaging the food absorption process.
Symptoms may range from extreme intolerance – excessive tiredness to extreme bowel problems (IBS) – to a barely noticeable effect.
Interestingly tennis player Novak Djokovitch claims his stamina has improved since switching to a gluten-free diet. Djokovitch has sworn off pasta, pizza, beer, French bread, Corn Flakes, pretzels, empanadas, Mallomars and Twizzlers — anything with gluten, since last year. And with the results he achieved in 2011 who’s to say he is wrong!!!
Choco Crispies made by The Groovy Food Company is one of our favourite gluten free breakfast foods. These really are crispy and yummylicious as they describe on the box! Specially made for coeliacs in a totally and utterly dedicated gluten free environment they are free from wheat, dairy, colourings, dodgy additives and sweetened with Agave Nectar.
Special flakes - a maize and rice mix © Pintail Media
Others in the range include Cornflakes, Frosted Flakes and Special Flakes made from a maize and rice mix.
We have tried them all and have to confess we liked the Choco Crispies best … we blame our chocolate addiction!
The Groovy Food Company cereal collection is available throughout major multiples and health food stores nationwide and online at: http://www.freefromandfinefoods.co.uk. More information on www.groovyfood.co.uk
The Coeliac UK website gives a great deal more valuable information.
In Balance 