Warm pie, gravy, veg and pots....

Oh I do love a pie.  Home made obviously the best…. but pies are amazing.  So I shall dedicate a little space to the pie people I am currently putting on my ‘must eat’ list, although the first guys have been well sampled already – I love these pies!

Who –   http://www.pieminister.co.uk/

How do I buy –  Online and in store, they also send stock to various deli’s and pubs.  The pie shop in Oxford covered market is well worth a visit if you can get there, always a happy customer.

Delivery charges and rules  – Free delivery, such a bonus in my view, and extra brownie points

Recommend? – Love these pies, love the company attitude

Who –   http://www.simplesimonspies.co.uk/

How do I buy –  Online

Delivery charges and rules  – £9.95 for general orders under £30, £30 plus is £7.95 unless you order £50 in which case its free               

Recommend? – Not tried yet, plan to but I do like to test a pie first and am hesitating at the delivery charge.  Watch this space

Who –   http://www.paulspies.co.uk/about.html

How do I buy –  Online and at Farmers Markets – I plan to get some from Notting Hill

Delivery charges and rules  – £10             

Recommend? – Not tried yet, due to the delivery charge I’ll probably wait till the end of April when I’m up at Notting Hill Farmers Market.  The other thing to add about Paul though is that he is one of the few people I contacted who told me how the chickens he used were kept and harvested - its important to me.  I ask all the time, and rarely receive a reply so its most appreciated when I do.

I'll be back to update these when pies have been bought and consumed.......

One of my strongest memories as a child is making and eating a jam plate pie, complete with twisted pastry to line the top, all to use up any left over pastry, this was served with thick home made custard.  A delight!

Wordly

Words can be very powerful and contain an entire story within themselves.  I’ll start by going way off track and repeating a story I heard on the radio.  It’s a discussion between two men, arguing how long a story has to be to be able to convey a sound message.  One states that a story must be long in order to give the author time to expand on an idea.  The other says a good thought can be put in very few words.  In the end the second man states that he can tell an entire story in six words.  The other fellow disagrees and challenges him to do just that.  The man takes a napkin and on it writes

‘For Sale.  Baby Shoes.  Never Worn’

And so onto other words……..where once the word ‘organic’ created interest now the buzz word in food excitement is ‘artisan’, a word I was first introduced to at a Good Food show (BBC), we went along to a Slow Food event and ate artisan bread, artisan cheese and drank artisan beer, all with a detailed account of slow, original, non chemical production.  The food (and drink) was amazing…… I’ve loved anything with the word artisan stuck on it ever since.

Obsession – never a word to be put in a good light!  But I think I am bordering on a most pleasant obsession with this good eating, healthy eating, no supermarket lark.  I have done two things that indicate to me that our lives are changing in a more permanent way i.e., this ‘experiment’ is becoming the norm.  First I am compiling a detailed list of all the weird and wonderful places I can get food from…….. and second we are planning our annual holiday based around foraging.  We are going to spend two weeks travelling to places, farm shops, deli’s, food festivals, café’s and the suchlike, and we are going to be tasting, testing, meeting, questioning and generally having a great food fun time.  I will report back.  And I am excited.  Oh sad, sad little life!

Delivery.  Here is a word that has become the bane of my life.  I truly understand that a producer needs to cover postage and packaging costs, but the woe brought to bear when I find a most excellent sounding outlet, chickens that are happy, veg cared for night and day without a chemical in sight, amazing chicken sausages, wonderful scotch eggs, bread so fresh and made so lovingly the page almost wafts baking from the page……. Only to find that the minimum order is £60, or that the delivery is £12.50.  What if I want to test a product out?  For example, generally I do not eat red meat, but I love sausages, so I am thrilled when I find anyone selling chicken sausages.  Found a great site, lots of choices, lots of flavours…….. but the delivery was the £12.50 stated above.  But what if I want only one or two packs?  Why is not my custom worth a little adjustment?  Sadly I left the site.  So it means that I have to shop in a place where not only can I get chicken sausages but also enough other products to make up the minimum order and also to justify the delivery costs.  This does little to help me as a consumer, it does not endear me to the producer, and it smacks of online supermarket.  If I am forced to buy lots of goods all in one place am I not just back in Tes** but now paying a little more per product?

Sigh.

The long walk to town

When I was young I walked into town with my Nan, we visited the butchers for the meat (sawdust on the floor), the fishmonger for our fish, the market for the ribbons and buttons….and the vegetables.  We had a cup of tea and a cream doughnut in a small café with plastic coated tables.  Then we walked home.  OK so it was not exactly an adventure of epic scales, but it was an activity that raises great comfort and peace when I think back to it now.  

When my children were young I took them to the greengrocer, they had pennies to choose and buy their own apple.  I took them to the supermarket, and again they had pennies to choose and buy one or two items.  We always made something fun about it, maybe a plan for a future bake, maybe they had the challenge of finding the item I needed next.  Again, not a bountiful day of excitement and joy, but never-the-less days I loved and look back on with a calm happiness.  I am not saying these were Little House on The Prairie halcyon days…… but what we did have back then was time.  We spent time together, my Nan, my children and me.  And I think Time is one of the things lost in this busy world.  We think to save time by shopping online, by ordering, living, talking, joking, booking online.  And time saved it is……. what do we do with that cache of time?  We spend it online.  

What I loved about those trips to the market, to the greengrocers, to the shabby supermarket is the time spent together; chatting, planning, talking, laughing.…. we people watched, we shared.  Maybe I just rambled on about school, or friends, or what was for tea.  Who knows.  But every parent will tell you the children grow up so quickly……. time taken out of the busy world and spent with them is about the best investment you’re ever going to make.

So, yes, I still shop online.  But now I also go to the market, and buy my fish from a fishmonger and cheese from a cheese stall.  

Today my Nan is gone and the children are no longer children…….they are off on adventures true.  

I am glad we had the time we had.  And will have again.

Leading neatly into this………

Apparently there is some thinking in China about ‘finding a suitable replacement’ for the chopstick.  This has been brought about by the fact that China, reportedly, produces roughly 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks each year, and this is proving to be a huge burden on the young forests. So here we have a debate on keeping traditional ways alive, retaining the unique eating style of Asia and being eco friendly and responsible in attitude to sustainability with trees.  I’m not sure what the answer is but I hope it’s a better solution than abandoning the chopstick, even though personally I struggle to use them and am often the complete embarrassment of fellow diners as I meekly request a fork.

Scones - crumbly, warm from the oven.....

We go to Sheeplands (Hare Hatch) to buy veg, chickens, eggs, bread and other such goodies….. and once upon a time we also ventured into the café, but it was a little grim,  a tad expensive and not always a joy.  But, we have a transformation!  And what a change it is…… we have friendly chatty staff, nice seats, a wide choice and by far the best scones I have had in many a year.  So nice we also bought some to bring home.  I like to know where my food comes from, and this food comes from the hands of Ovidiu Tugui (I hope I spelt that correctly), he is the chef at the new Caffe Amore at Sheeplands.  We sought him out and pinned him down to questions (well, ok he wandered over to see if we were ok, and we chatted).  He is from Romania and he and his team have invested a lot in the new venture, he bakes all the soups, lasagne, pasta and, of course, the scones, from scratch.  You can tell.  It is somewhat of an odd thing to find a good café in a garden centre and one that focuses on good friendly service, but I am glad I have found this one anyway.  

From the farm shop we bought lots of lemons (20p per lemon) and have found the best thing is to juice them and pour the juice into ice cube trays.  When frozen we tip the lemon cubes into a plastic freezer box and hey presto, we always have fresh lemon on hand.  

We tried the lamb – not a usual purchase as we don’t eat red meat but we had guests coming that did.  It cooked well, smelt amazing and was eaten with gusto by all so I’m going to put that down as a recommendation

On Sunday we went to the local Farmers Market (Maidenhead), and braved the blizzard conditions to get some (more) veg, and some biscuits from Just Biscuits - amazing biscuits but I may hesistate to buy these again - the lady who makes them really needs to work on her chatting to the public skills! OK so it was cold, but hey if you want people to pay £2.75 for a pack of biscuits it helps if you are uber friendly and listen.  We also bought some chocolate fudge brownies, sold, as we were informed, completely free of horse dna.  Oh how we laughed.

Oooh ooh look at that........

Places I have looked at and liked, and some I looked at and loved

http://www.laverstokepark.co.uk/
Love this place, they do great food, have ethics that I subscribe to and the ice-cream is amazing.  We have visited and bought from the shop direct. They do deliver and I may well try that option soon.  I recommend the buffalo mozzarella, the cheese, the bacon...... and did I mention the ice cream?

http://www.truefood.coop/
This is the local one to Reading and Earley, there are probably others scattered around the country.  I like the veg, the bread, the shampoo and the selection as a whole.  Its always been quiet when I've been which makes a nice change from the din in Tes**  On my next visit I'll be looking out for chicken as I have been told it comes from http://www.rothervalleyorganics.com, and I like the look of them.  We dont tend to eat red meat so cant ever comment on lamb, beef and pork

http://www.gowercottagebrownies.co.uk/
To be honest these have absolutely nothing to do with a lifestyle or shopping choice........ but they are seriously the best brownies I've ever had

http://www.lochfyne.com/Shop
I love the fish at Loch Fyne, and the salmon fillets are not only nicer and tastier than those I used to get in the supermarket but I have found them to be cheaper.  I have also bought Hake, Pollock and Cod.  The site is for delivery but we go direct into our local restaurant and buy over the fish counter.  Always friendly.

http://www.pieminister.co.uk/store/
This is for the pies delivered, and a list of shops to eat them in, we have been to the Oxford shop many times, also bought the pies and love them.  Highly recommend the Heidi pie and the Wild Shroom pie.  The pies are not small and it has been known for us to share a pie between two with veg and potatoes.

http://localrootswycombe.co.uk/
Lovely Deli, sells great cheese (and they have a lot of knowledge) and I highly recommend the soft middle scotch eggs.  Also sell great bread, chutney, honey and oil.  If you have time to have a baguette and a cup of tea

http://www.harehatchsheeplands.co.uk/
One of my prime places - I get a lot of my veg and basics from here, they also do a frozen section where you can buy (for example) cooked yorkshires individually, broad beans by the scoop, berries by the scoop and individual dumplings.  Friendly staff.  A new cafe that we have not tested out yet

http://www.tvfm.org.uk/market/4/beaconsfield/
A farmers market in Beaconsfield, we like this and recommend the eggs, apple juice and honey

http://www.tvfm.org.uk/market/2/ascot/
Farmers Market in Ascot - again a nice simple market with the same apple juices, would also recommend the bacon and eggs

http://www.maidenheadfarmersmarket.org.uk/
Farmers Market in Maidenhead - I cant recommend Just Biscuits highly enough.

http://www.milkandmore.co.uk/home
Our local milkman, bringing us goats milk and juice before we even get up, happy days

http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/
We used A&C in the past, were disappointed, left them.......for ages....... and now we tried them again.  Maybe its the new owners but things have improved.  Had one order so far, happy with that and I will be back.


Oh, and here are places I want to go to

http://www.theorganicfarmshop.co.uk/farm/

Farm, cafe, local orders, courses and camping

http://www.rhug.co.uk/
Farm Shop, delivery and restaurant.  Am very tempted to try a delivery but may well wait until we next go to Aberdovey and call in on the way home to test, taste and try

http://www.topsausages.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1
Sausages that look so good and have no nasties in them, I want to try these

http://www.sjfrederick.co.uk/
Good, perhaps excellent, ethos on how to raise a chicken, would love to try but prices a little out of my reach at present when delivery is added. 

http://www.simplesimonspies.co.uk/menu_pies.htm#dw
I have a weakness for pies....... I will try these at some stage


There are others but my attention is waning....... I am looking out at a cold drizzly day and am contemplating lunch.

Can I admit I just love bacon and eggs.....

It seems we have become bored with horse dna stories and so the newspapers have trawled the food news scoop and today they report that bacon, sausages processed foods et all are to be linked with cancer, diabetes and, in general, early death.  Also reported is a link between salt intake and MS, and other immune system- attacking-our-own-bodies illnesses.  Such joy.  Oh for the days of simple foods produced well.  Hey, hang on, that is what we have today!  If you take a step outside the supermarket and into the world of Deli’s, Farmers Markets, Farm Shops, home baking all this can be yours.  

This week my praise goes to Abel & Cole, out of five companies asked they were the only ones to tell me how the chickens they sold were harvested.  Everyone jumping on the free range and organic wagon loves to have pictures of happy chooks, long grass, open fields, singing them to sleep at night, knitting them little hats in the cold evenings (well ok…….) and we all know we are going to eat these fluffy little creatures, but whilst there is much talk of good quality, taste, plump, juicy etc., no one is actually prepared to discuss as openly the transition between field and plate.  It matters.  Its of no benefit to me if the chicken had a good and healthy life then was terrorised and butchered along with caged birds in a warehouse slaughterville. I want to know if the chickens were collected at dawn (when they are calmest) and how far they had to travel to be harvested (what a great term), and by what method were they put out of their knowledge of what was to come.  So, Abel & Cole, well done on the info, and it was good enough for me to buy a chicken from you.

And, by the way, I spent over a month trying to find a fish provider that a) would tell me how the fish died, and then b) finding one that would come close to humane.  Most fish are suffocated, as in left to die from being out of the water.  Seems a long slow death to me.  I have yet to find a method used that is more acceptable.  By all means inundate me with details if you have any.