The Handmade Scotch Egg Company ltd

Love British food...

2010-08-18T13:48:00.007+01:00

Those lovely guys at the Love British food website have kindly chosen us as their producer of the month this month... just click on the British Food drop down menu via the link above to find their report.

lovebritishfood.co.uk is the one-stop-shop for consumers, retailers, caterers and schools wanting to enjoy the diverse and delicious food that Britain produces.

On their site you will find everything you need to know about buying British food including what logos to look for, where to buy and information about regional and seasonal varieties.

You will also find information on taking part in British Food Fortnight, the annual national celebration of British food, running from September 18th to October 3rd this year, 2010 (note to self: need to organise some thing to join the celebrations!)

eggomaniacs ?

2010-08-09T12:48:00.003+01:00

Just in case you missed it, Tom Parker Bowles wrote an excellent piece in the Mail on Sunday on august the 1st, click on the image above and (in theory) you should be able to read it in full.... we are very luck to have so many enthusiastic supporters and even luckier if some of them are in the media, a huge flurry of interest on our website and we are delighted to report a great numbers of orders to boot!!

Can you help us to help?

2010-07-26T20:16:00.006+01:00

We just had this email in from Sophie, we'll do our bit but maybe you can too, don't know about you but I don't think I'd be able to do what she's aiming to do! You can click on this link here to find out more about The British Hen Welfare trust

"Hi Penny and Neil,

Please forgive me for sending a bit of a cheeky email - I'm raising money for the British Hen Welfare Trust and since you understand the importance of hens being free-range, I thought I would just chance sending you this email in the hopes that you can help publicise the event or provide a small amount of sponsorship.

I have three gorgeous ex-battery hens who wouldn't be here today if not for the British Hen Welfare Trust. They rely on volunteers and donations to do their amazing work rescuing and rehoming ex-batts, advocating for British free-range eggs and farmers, and educating consumers about the reality of battery egg production. Since they are a charity, they need a lot of support to do all that so I have decided to help raise money for them by doing the Three Peaks Challenge on July 31st.

If you haven’t heard of it, it involves driving to and climbing the highest mountains in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Snowdon) all in 24 hours. It’s a massive physical and mental challenge, obviously, as climbing Snowdon is hard at the best of times, not least after no sleep and two mountain climbs before it!

I’ve set up a JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/sophie-3peaks and I would be incredibly grateful if The Handmade Scotch Egg Company could sponsor me a small amount or somehow publicise it in any way. Rest assured any sponsorship through Justgiving goes directly to the charity. I am aiming to raise at least £2000 for the charity, and would be grateful for any amount to really spur me on when it’s 4am and I’m only about to climb the second one of the day!

You very obviously care about ethics and ensuring you source your eggs from hens who are healthy and happy, and since I am equally passionate about meeting my fundraising target to help this fantastic charity promote free-range and end battery farming, absolutely anything you can do to help would be wonderful.

Apologies again for this out-of-the-blue email and thank you so much!

Sophie Mccoy"

Stand by your beds!

2010-07-21T19:57:00.005+01:00

A flurry of excitement flowed through the building on Monday morning in anticipation of a visit from the renowned food writer Tom Parker Bowles.

A relaxed yet probing interview over a couple of hours confirmed his enthusiasm for good honest food has not diminished he was particularly interested in our locally sourced free range meats and eggs and like most visitors he struggled to believe that we really do make our Scotch eggs by hand... (all be it a number of pairs of hands now!)

Tom was kind enough to write a piece about us back in June 2007 with the opening line " These are some of the best Scotch eggs ever to have passed my lips" and a double page spread of our tempting breakfast pan
pictured again here for good measure

Unsurprisingly we received a great response with the hit rate on our website going ballistic. If all goes well Tom is publishing a piece in the MAIL on SUNDAY on August 1st this year, back in 2007 we were less computer savvy and were not able to get the best out of this fabulous opportunity so this time we thought we'd let everyone know, and take it as a great incentive to get all our stockists details up to date, so do take a moment to pop over to the main site and see who's near by.

If unfortunately there isn't a stockist near maybe you could suggest someone, if you let us know who and where we'll give them a call, if we are lucky enough to secure an order we'll send you a box of 6 Scotch eggs totaly free of charge as a thank you, and best of all you'll be able to get your favourites when ever you want with out the delivery charge!!

Thank you Cardiff

2010-07-12T19:56:00.006+01:00

You never cease to amaze us, your enthusiasm, your passion and your appetites!! Another cracking show in the bay this time with the weather on our side, although a bit challenging for all the refrigeration equipment around the site.

We have been stretching ourselves a bit this year with the 2010 road trip having already taken in, London, Oxford, Builth, Tewkesbury, Malvern, Builth, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Hay with some mixed results, it was a pleasure to be back in the Bay amongst friends.

Oliver, Jenny and Kenji all had the chance at last to see just how scary busy can mean, thankfully Helz got back from Uni just in time to help steady things along.

Unfortunately I forgot the camera this year so I thought you might enjoy this image from our first visit to the show a few years ago, these fine ladies were not around this year

Helz has arrived and set up at the GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW, so I'd better sign off now and go and clean the kitchen floor so I can head off tomorrow to join the fun, maybe see you there... or at another event soon

Hamper Draw Winner

2010-05-05T08:35:00.006+01:00

a little late to say the very least! ...following a rather prolonged delay our intended Christmas Hamper draw finally took place at Easter....

sorry, in truth, in all the excitement around Christmas the draw was in fact overlooked but gladly not forgotten, so we were delighted when Sarah, who had bought her raffle ticket here at the Eggshed called today to accept her prize. It made it all the more special that she had forgotten about buying her ticket making winning all the more exciting, so all she needs now is a good reason to party... looks like the next family birthday gathering will be supplemented with a load of lovely treats.

The winning hamper contains; 12 WeeOnes, 12 WeeBeasties, 6 Scotch Eggs, 500g Jumble, 200g Tamari Seeds and some pickled eggs.

The Hamper raffle was open to visitors to Scotch Egg HQ from the Egg-stavegganza weekend to Christmas last year raising £48.00 for helping re-home hard working battery hens.

Thank you one and all, the 2010 raffle will be launched at this years Egg-stravegganza on August 29th, with the draw taking place (will keep everything crossed we get it right this time) on December 11th so we can deliver on the 23rd.

Cheers from the 2009 Scotcheggers!

scotch eggs are out of this world!

2010-04-06T17:53:00.004+01:00

Thanks to our expat friend Becca, we now know where the Doctor gets all that energy from... just click on the title link above to read one of Matt's first interviews as Doctor Who 2010.... so it's obviously not just a coincidence that the doctors often have Scottish roots, think a raggedy scotch egg is due on the cards don't you?

BBC Radio London

2010-02-19T17:37:00.002Z

Thanks to Nigel Barden (from BBC Radio2, Great taste awards etc etc) we had a slot with Robert Elms on BBC Radio London earlier today listen again on the BBC I player for up to a week- take the timer slide to 1:34 to drop in on the conversation

Feckenham village shop

2010-02-16T18:24:00.002Z

Congratulations to one of our regular stockists, Kieron caught the news on the way to work and then Cath sent out the following press release so it seems only fair that we should do our bit to spread the word..."Feckenham village shop has just had its first birthday and what a year it has been for the once sleepy village. The community owned shop has a strong base of 90-village residents who run the shop and every single one of them is a volunteer! The shop won the Countryside Alliance Regional award and was put forward along with 12 finalists for the British National Countryside Alliance award. (3,000 initial entries) Off went 6 of the team to represent a cross section of the shop on Wednesday 3^rd February 2009 to the House of Lords for the final announcement of the British Champion 2009.
The rest of the village waited on tender hooks until finally the phone call was made. WE WON!Feckenham Village Shop is very proud and honoured to announce that we have become the 2009 British Champion for Village Shops class from the Countryside Alliance awards"

Don't you just hate it...

2010-02-04T12:15:00.005Z

when people start up a blog and then don't keep it up to date!?

Yes we know we've become one of the many!
sorry...

..since launching the friends online community we've been putting all the stories into the news letters and it seems wrong to repeat everything again on the blog, our favourite blogs are the spontaneous chatty variety where we can share ideas and thoughts.

So for 2010 we'll have a go at a weekly blog, a bit like a diary... let us know your thoughts.

January became a bit of a night mare for all of us so lets move on shall we (although an impulsive purchase of a 15 year old 4x4 will surely guarrantee no more snow for at least another year!)

February, week 5 (or as our computer seems to think Week 6, why do we trust these machines so much?) There seems a bit more buoyancy in the market but the announcement that the recession is over has more than surprised most of us, think the road to recovery will be a long one, let me know if you feel differently won't you.

The best news here is that Penny has handed a large chunk of responsibility for the main kitchen over to Sam (who's been fidgeting in the wings for over two years now) all's going very well but poor Penny is the looser in the short term as she's computerising the purchase side of things....buy in cases, stock in kilos use in grammes *!?@+/.. headache or not? although the very early starts are slowly becoming a memory.

Of course when the proverbial dust settles Penny's imaginative juices will be allowed full flow again, who knows what we'll be bringing you soon...

Neil has finally cracked the email marketing program and we're off on a bit of a sales drive to discover some more stockist around the UK, do you know of anyone we could introduce our selves to?

Finally, if you have not already done so please sign up on the website to keep abreast of all things scotch eggy- and join in the monthly draw for a Free six pack of delicious Scotch eggs...

35 out of 50

2009-12-03T17:06:00.005Z

The 50 Best Food Shops: from traditional village butchers to urban choclatiers, Rhiannon Batten of The Independent offers the experts' guide to where to find the finest meats, freshest fruit and sweetest pastries....

In amongst some very prestigious company you'll find us at Number 35! with such renowned specialist suppliers as Edinburgh's Valvona and Crolla and Gloucestershire's Daylesford Organic.

"this small but lovely company uses carefully sourced materials to produce an award winning range of our picnic favourites..... the range of different varieties of scotch eggs that this family business produces, is staggering!"

As is often the case we get a great thrill of excitement to be in the papers then panic sets in as we look around and think, do we live up to the mark? a few hours later and the shops been spring cleaned (again) a few adjustments to lay out and a pot of paint acquired, off to do a taster evening then back for a rather belated Halloween party for the team at home, so painting will have to wait until tomorrow

We have our fair share of problems to conquer but thank goodness there is such enthusiasm out there makes it all seem worth while.

Foodie Trivia for the festive season

2009-12-01T19:04:00.005Z

24 days and counting...

As we slowly come around following a frantic BBC Good Food Show at the NEC last weekend (thank you one and all it was very exciting being minor celebs after the drive time broadcast) it appears that December has finally arrived! Penny put out this years advent calender this morning and I discovered all sorts of foodie trivia to report, for example did you know

Stir up Sunday - the Sunday nearest to November 30th (St Andrews Day) is traditionally the day in the UK to make Christmas puddings, so if you are running late dont forget to give the mix a good stir and make a wish.

Hollie has booked tomorrow off for a bit of retail therapy and is threatening to bring a load of decorations in on Thursday, time to make a swift exit, I fear, or she'll have me climbing the walls (for a change !)

Can't find the cable to connect the camera so will have to do pics another time....

Mr Chris Evans and BBC Radio2

2009-11-16T18:35:00.009Z

Thursday November 12th 2009...

Well what a day, following our interview with BBC Radio Oxford on Wednesday morning it was amazing to get a call from BBC Radio 2- they 'phoned just before mid-day inviting us to the London studio for 5pm and all hell broke loose.... Penny ran off to make a couple of Tickled Pinks, Charlotte and Neil made up leaflet and stockist packs and got the telephones on charge while Hollie got online to search out trains times, Matt prepared the samples we needed and produced a couple of small cool bags to take them in and in just a few minutes we had the car loaded and were off to Birmingham International to catch the fast train to London.

The train was in the station so after a quick word with the guard we boarded the train only to find a short while later that there was a £20 surcharge (each!) for not buying a ticket on the platform..and we wonder why we use the car all the time.

However nothing was going to take the edge off our excitement as we made a list of all the things we really must mention and do when we got 'on air' .... a smooth run with only 2 stops found us in Euston Station by 3pm.. 2 hours go so thought we'd fit in a visit to our stockist Sourced Market at StPancras and then a tube ride to Borough Market to look at potential pitches (there are moves afoot to have a weekly slot - will let you know as and when) getting back to Euston at 4.35pm, 25 mins to go!

It was dark by now and the rain was moving in as we dashed along Euston road (Google map in hand) uncertain how far we had to walk to get to the BBC but no worries we had time to spare as we pitched up at Western House the home of Radio 2 at 4.59pm...

Ben came to reception and took us up to the Radio 2 offices where we were able (in theory) to unload our stuff and gather our thoughts, but a few minutes later Steve Wright pops out of his studio and then the infamous Sally traffic was over to snaffle a Vegetabularian before any one else... we're introducing ourselves and calmly cutting up an egg for her when we hear shouting from down the corridor - seems we were on!

To be honest the next half an hour or so just flew by, we'd done our piece and were getting up to say good bye when Chris has a brain wave... 'we have tasted your eggs so why don't you stay and taste the stake tartare that Nigel Barden was bringing in shortly'

The rest as they say is history, we seemed to be in and out of the studio all the way through the show- a real blast we loved every moment and it was such a privilege to be so welcomed by Chris and to see the true professionalism of this highly motivated team, they genuinely deserve to be at the top. (and yes, all that planning on the train went out the window just as soon as we got chatting)

On returning to the streets of London we turned our 'phones back on and they just didn't stop- thank you, thank you everyone for your messages it really made our day- don't think we've actually returned to normality yet.

On Friday Kevin our Web man sent an email over to let us know that our usual hit rate of 100 or so a day blossomed into nearly 3000 in an hour during the show WOW!

So you will probably have guessed it but Christmas has definitely come early to this quiet corner of Herefordshire

Britains Favourite Pub Snack

2009-11-11T16:08:00.004Z

Well its really good to know at least someone else agrees with us... although we don't supply many pubs just now so this could be an opportunity to spread the word

Sorry been a bit pre-occupied over the last few weeks, unfortunately the blog has taken a bit of a back seat will give you a bit more detail soon, promise... but a 'phone call this morning found Neil on BBC Radio Oxford chatting Scotch eggs, well he doesn't talk about much else does he!

Many thanks to the tream in Oxford it was a pleasure doing business with you

Will spend a bit more time on the blog soon, just as soon as we have finalised the Christmas range for you

Award Winning !!

2009-09-15T19:22:00.010+01:00

Sometime in between all these events we were proud and privileged to gain two awards at this years Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food Retailers why not pop over to their site to find out more about the awards and all the other winners.

The Black Watch is definitely trying to muscle all it's cousins out of the way in it's attempt to knock the Classic Mac off the top perch, it also made the finals of the HEFF Diamond Awards this year too.

We're thinking maybe it's time for it to have it's very own blog,
for the sake of the others, what do you think?

Ludlow Food Festival

2009-09-15T18:57:00.006+01:00

Our sixth visit to the wonderful Ludlow Food & Drink Festival, always here as part of our local farmers' market the infamous Teme Valley Market where we originally launched this mad idea, we all had a busy time hardly getting the chance to see what was going on but strolling around before the gate were open you could see why so many people come to soak up the sights, tastes and smells of what is one of the best food festivals on the circuit.

As the saying goes 'every picture tells a story' nothing left again!!

If you look closely you'll see on the left hand side of the stall a sign for Scotty's. An experiment, which I'm glad to report went very well, so we'll be repeating it allover again at Abergavenny next weekend. Scotty's are simply the 'scotch' part on its own, oven baked and ready to eat- basically savoury sweets- at £4 a dozen they proved hard to resist.

As I said on an earlier post we've had an excellent run over the last few weeks, a very big and heartfelt thank you to all of you who have been supporting us. It's been a heck of a year since we moved here into the eggshed with what seemed the end of the business world announced in October you'd have been hard pressed to predict the sustained growth we have been able to achieve, with us now supplying over 90 Deli's around the country, if you'd like to know where you can get your fix send us an email at info@handmadescotcheggs.co.uk and we'll send you the current list (although be warned it is changing week by week)

Burghley Horse Trials

2009-09-15T18:34:00.007+01:00

Thank you one and all - we had a great time and sold loads of eggs too... with Lotto now on holiday and then back to University we were a bit short handed this weekend so Helz brought along her friend Kate, a visitor from Australia I think she found it all a bit different but seemed to have fun. A big thank you to Dave and his family from patchwork for keeping us entertained and to Dave and Mark from Gwatkins for keeping Helz in check!

We had a very warm welcome from the Burghley crowd and hope to return, if they'll have us next year, this time with a bit more stock, sorry we rather underestimated the requirements for this one. (Note to self: really should try to get into a few more horse trials next year)

I gather that last year the weather was dreadful and patchwork Dave was hoping for a bit of a repeat so he could take Lara out for a bit of a spin, in the end all he could do was to give the kids a thrilling ride back to their caravan. PS thank for discovering the brilliant fly swat guns!!!

Monmouth-Eggstravegganza- Plumb Fair

2009-09-15T17:20:00.005+01:00

Been a bit of a to-ing and frow-ing time these last few weeks with an event either happening or just on the horizon so not found much time to sit in front of the computer, sorry, will try to catch up a bit....

....following a relatively quiet few days since last posting on the blog, Thursday August 27th found us at the Monmouth Show, a lovely 'proper' show - for the begining of what has turned out to be a sell out tour. I still find it hard to comprehend the fact that it is just one day, they have show jumping, dog shows and just about every farm animal on show, crafts, cars, farm machinery, whilst in the queue to leave I spotted this rather superior looking goat checking out the competition- we had a lovely day and to top it off we sold out thank you, also congratulations to Sal & Rog friends from Neil's childhood who won best stand in their classdisplaying their restored pine furniture.

Cheltenham Farmers' market on Friday was another sell out, unusual for a Bank holiday weekend, maybe the plaudits are right and less of us are going away this year, whatever the cause it was a delight !

On Saturday the 29th we held our second Eggstravegganza here at the eggshed, a bright warm day with a good flow of visitors throughout the day, unfortunately camera died so no pics this time, but the highlight of the day was the arrival of a gang of four who had driven from London to give one of their party the surprise of his life... a dedicated Scotch Egg fan he had just arrived from Australia and thought he was going to his daughters in Cardiff for a holiday , instead they brought him here to make his own and to feed his enthusiasm... thanks guys you made the day! hope to see the pictures some time soon.

Bank Holiday Monday saw a return to Pershore, this time for the renowned Plumb Festival, another warm sunny day, the town had ' gone to town' with ballons tied to lamp posts and something happening in almost every nook and cranny and I cannot remember seeing quite so many vintage/classic cars on display before. A great atmosphere and another sell out, a hat trick I believe.

No sooner back in the office than we were off to Burghley Horse Trials on Wednesday evening, a new one for us, which turned out to be one of the nicest (is 'nice' a compliment do you think? It's meant to be) of the year.

Marseille- how and where do you enjoy yours?

2009-08-21T15:40:00.003+01:00

Well the girls are definitely wining this one so far, with Lucy in Venice a few months back and now Marie in Marseille... so who can beat that? I know they've made it as far as Hong kong and New Zealand but theres no proof ... yet!

So how and where do you enjoy yours?

Congratulations, and Celebrations....

2009-08-20T18:35:00.011+01:00

CONGTATULATIONS
Hollie passes first time, having kept the date a close secret she called in this afternoon (when she's officially on holiday) to let us know of her succes -no more buses she cries !! ....although our first thoughts were more along the lines of how much more Hols can work, she on the other hand just wanted a Scotch egg fix and to introduce Maggie the morris minor on her first day as a driver before heading off to surprise her friends!

CELEBRATIONS
As you know we don't need much of an excuse to have a cake, but the official farewell to Lotto certainly warranted a bit of sparkle! Think we've said good bye before, but this time her return to University is on the horizon, Penny and Charlotte look on as the Kitchen girls continue to hide in the shadows-

Congratulations go to Hamish too, three B's just what he needed to get into Uni- he's not been so involved with the company recently but along with Lilly did all the legwork in getting a tent sorted out for us to use at events this year- something we couldn't cope without this somewhat changeable summer.

Must say it's starting to seem everyone will be off this autumn, Helz also got the place she hoped for, it's going to be a fun season ahead with fresh faces to meet and greet you all.

Don't forget Eggstravegganza on the 29th, I'll also be out on the 27th at the MONMOUTH SHOW a great one day event just out of town, not to be missed!!

the 2009 EGG-STRAVEGGANZA

2009-08-12T08:57:00.007+01:00

I know it's hard to believe but yes it is nearly a year since we moved up to the Eggshed and that means that it is time to roll out our EGGSTRAVEGGANZA again...

In spite of pretty rubbish weather with the road closed for flooding on the morning of last years eggstravegganza we had a good turn out with a great atmosphere although the highlight seemed to be when everyone had the opportunity to throw eggs at me!!

This year we're opening up the kitchen on the Saturday of the August Bank holiday weekend, so obviously wall to wall sunshine will be the order of the day!, come along and join in the fun:

check out the blog posting from September last year...

Nozstock 2009

2009-08-03T19:12:00.010+01:00

Thanks to the rain we had plenty of time to kill, so the stand encountered a bit of a festival makeover, glittering lights and some inspirational felt pen work from the girls and we soon blended in, nothing to do with being next to the champagne and pimms tent honest!

Sally who helped us before we moved into the eggshed last year turned up to inspect us and see how things were going, good to catch up and hear that Gaby's toys are still doing well

A bit off our normal track I know but after our visit to the Big Chill last year we were sorely tempted by a much more manageable local music festival, also Hollie has been going for the last few years and pushed me hard to get us there... shame the rains came...

It's funny really, we've been on a run of events for a few weeks and this one had been held up as a bit of an opportunity to wind down, relax and have some fun, in fact the stress the weather brought made it feel more of a nightmare on Friday morning where we were greeted by the news that we'd need to be towed on and towed off at the end, there wasn't an electrical supply and the loos already hummed... however it all came together and calmed down in true festival style... once your there your there so time to chill... so we thought about what we do and came up with this the definitive route to selling our products

The Art of Selling Scotch Eggs

1. The Chilled approach (some say too laid back)

2. The Extrovert approach (it really can be quite fun you know)

3. The barter (if you buy an egg I promise to pour this pint over my head!)

What ever the approach the important thing is the quality so although we're out having a laugh with you - spare a thought for Penny and the kitchen brigade who tend to keep to the shadows

cheers and thank you

A final thank you must go to the Nozstock Team, in spite of everything thrown at them they built and re built tracks around the site and everyone got out safe and sound, at one point I counted 7 tractors towing vehicles to safe ground... a terrific effort we'll be back next year!!

The CLA Game Fair

2009-08-03T18:37:00.005+01:00

After the Royal Welsh we headed up to Belvoir Castle for the CLA Game fair in Leicestershire

I know loads of people do the show circuit one after the other and another etc, but we haven't- so the late finish and early start were a real test, and as you'd probably expect by now the girls didn't let us down, a lot of laughter helped (thanks Helz!-although the singing in the van on the way home left a lot to be desired...)

Although just a couple of hours north of here it was surprising how many new friends we made, thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm, particularly appreciated as there is so much temptation at these events good to know the humble scotch egg can hold it's own is such prestigious company!!

Sales were good over the weekend and we welcome aboard The Garlic Farm and Scald End Farm Shop new stockists helping to quench your appetites...

The market stall worked very well, the van not so, but I think we broke all our records by packing away and getting off site in under an hour... all helped by it being a lovely dry patch before the down pours we drove back through, will we ever get a decent summer again, well I suppose the good news is I still can't mow the lawn at home...

The Royal Welsh Show

2009-07-23T12:49:00.006+01:00

As you know this is our first trip to the biggest agricultural show in Europe- a great show but the weather has been to say the least a bit damp and muddy, its interesting to see how we each tackled the conditions... Lotto opted for the country boot, Helz kept her youthful credentials in trainers , and I went for the ageing hippy crocks and rolled up cargoes option, well it may be wet but it's not cold!

This was also the first outing for our market stall rather than the gazebo, the thinking being to keep things a bit cooler without a roof, not so necessary after all.. look out for the same stall over the weekend at the CLA Game fair

for those who don't work at these events, spare a thought for us- up at 5am, load and leave by 6am, set up and be ready with a smile for 9am- work, wander around, eat, etc and work a bit more, pack up at 7pm drive back to the eggshed for 9pm unpack and get in for 10 thirty.. back up at 5am- anyone else reminded of Groundhog day?

So as a treat we decided to camp this weekend! if the experts are right we may be in for a bit of luck with the rain moving away, fingers crossed, what ever it'll all be a bit of an adventure! see you there

PS anyone other than Hols notice my mistake Sea Sick Steve, not Sid!! sorry think my mind had drifted back to - hissing Sid!

a brush with fame...

2009-07-16T19:12:00.004+01:00

all be it a rather distant brush to say the least!

My little brother (on the right) meets up with Imelda May at the Cornbury Festival a few days back, for a change we were off at a food event, well Cardiff Bay is rather special, so missed what he keeps telling me is a fantastic festival- maybe next year we should take along the eggs!! or maybe have a day off....mmm.... difficult choice...

Feeling a bit like I've missed the boat here with Hollies Dad seeing Imelda in concert in Birmingham just a couple of months back... better start seeing my friends again.

For those of you have not discovered this addictive blues/soul artist here's the openning paragraph on her website, very reminiciant of the 1991 film The Commitments a favourite film of ours

Jools Holland is excitable by nature, but when he spots a new artist who has what he considers “it,” his enthusiasm goes off the scale. To go by his reaction to Imelda May, she has “it” in spades. “I’ve got to have you on the show,” he told her after seeing her play live – and so, a couple of months ago, she duly found herself on “Later With Jools Holland,” wowing an audience who included Jeff Beck, Elbow and Roots Manuva. Beck, in fact, made a point of telling Holland that he was only there to see Imelda

hope you enjoy the link. Anyone seen sea sick sid ?

Thumbs up to all our fans...

2009-07-14T18:08:00.007+01:00

What a great reception... thanks to all you scotch egg fans out there, a record breaking weekend in the Bay, shame about the mixed weather...

The Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival lived up to and beyond expectations again, although Saturday evening was a bit of a wash out the rest of the weekend was bathed in glorious sunshine with thousands of people milling around enjoying the music, the bars and all the stalls selling food from all over the world.

As, what is becoming, usual the Black Watch came in as the most popular recipe but this year the vegetarians came on strong, sorry to those of you who were let down on Sunday afternoon, last year all we had by then were veggie recipes!!

Our next outing is again back to Wales this time to the renowned Royal Welsh Show back in Builth Wells again, third time in three months! Opens Monday 20th - Thursday 23rd. We've not been to this one before but am told by every one it is the best! (wikipedia claims it is the biggest agricultural show in europe) so we're bound to meet some of you there, for those true fans we're down to the last dozen 2008 limited edition TShirts (note to self: must get this years off the drawing board) so this will probably be your last chance to grab a piece of history...

Speaking of Fans, how's this for a bit of kitsch:

Spotted on the internet by one of our fans! Hand painted tartan and Scotch egg fans, more to see at on their website

Another first for us will be the CLA Game fair starting on Friday the 24th, for those on the ball you'll see that there isn't a break here! *** knows how this is going to work but as the saying goes 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' although Penny is questioning my judgement here, wish us luck!

Don't forget the farmers' markets, we'll be at most of our usual spots, but have to admit there may come a time when we just cannot make eneough eggs....

Finally we'll round the month off with Nozstock

one cracking picnic...

2009-07-02T09:41:00.006+01:00

...does not mean we'll have one every Wednesday!!! (contrary to the rumourmongers)

A colourful bunch don't you think!. As a thank you to Crayley who has looked after out books (and put up with me!) for the past year or so and to Lotto our placement student from Harper Adams University College we all got together in our garden for a picnic/send off last night.. Perfect weather, if in fact not just a little too hot, a very relaxed evening with hardly a word about work!

We'll miss both girls a great deal

Crayley had a mountain to climb when she got here (after a bit of a disastrous, all be it short lived predesesor) but managed to pull everything together always with a smile and a real enthusiasm for everything Scotch Egg, this despite anouncing on her first day that she didn't actually like Scotch Eggs... maybe not a full convert but most deffinately a Jumble Queeen. We must also thank Mike, her partner, as an all round professional tradesman he has built our shop and meeting room, repaired electical and plumbing problems and run all sorts of errands Thank you Crayley for creating a nice smooth transfer of the reins to Kieron who started on Monday, good luck to him..

As for Charlotte (aka Lotto) what can we say, our first placement student a great ambassador for the college, she has turned her hand to all manner of things here, from packing in the chiller in the depths of winter, to manning the phones (her own pet hate!), to taking over the whole order processing system when Aimee went off on maternity leave, to fronting the market stalls and a main support at events, festivals and shows - never complaining despite some rediculous hours (especially after attending college balls!) A succesful eventer away from work Lotto is driven to succed and will undoubtably fly in whatever she chooses to do... She'll continue to help for a while at events and shows through the summer returning to Uni in September.

I'm writnig this the morning after and there is most deffinately a somewhat slow motion feel around the place... think I'll break out the cake, usually works!!

artistic rumblings....

2009-06-28T15:21:00.006+01:00

Well the Hay-on-Wye food and drink festival lived up to expectations, a lovely town, lovely weather and lovely people... what more can you ask? Didn't get the chance to find out who the artists were but these mobiles looked really great, and they've got me thinking of a 'heath robinson' version of making scotch eggs for the eggshed shop

Meanwhile we were stretching things again with Penny returning to Moseley farmers' market, think it was September 08 last time we let her loose in the city streets, as usual a well supported event although on the way back she got stuck for a while in what can only be described as a cloud burst... torrential rain, thunder and lightening... really localised as wall to wall sunshine with me and Lotto who covered Cirencester farmers' market ( no celebrity excitement reported this week, sorry)

A pleasant day, just what she needed, after the dramas on Friday, when returning to collect the van after Cheltenham farmers' market she was involved in the discovery of a body, a poor chap looked as if he had died by the public toilets and Lotto called the emergency services, we are very proud of her, a lot of people would have walked by not wanting to get involved but with telephone guidance she checked for vital signs, only to confirm he was already dead, and waited for the experts to come and take over.

Sunday finds us back in the eggshed, nice to get a few moments when things are a bit quieter, getting on top of things, with Crayley moving on our new book keeper Kieron starts tomorrow, although I'd better get off reasonably smartly as we're having a leaving party for Crayley and Lotto at home on Wednesday, a picnic is planned so the least I can do is cut the grass!

PS anyone else stay up to watch the boss at Glastonbury on the telly last night- awesome!

well no one else could reach!

2009-06-23T17:17:00.006+01:00

Last weekend found us at the second ever Cheltenham food & drink festival, this time out in the throng rather than as usual in the food hall... surrounded by fantastic food with Bison burgers and sausages on our left and delicious Asian noodles on our right it was a real challenge not to be constantly eating.

Lotto and I set up on Thursday and with the help of a handy ladder we spotted were able to lay claim to the whole tent!!

Along with our unrivalled Scotch eggs we brought along the pick and mix Jumble ball counter with Chilli, Leon and Baz fighting it out with the Scrumpy, Mac and Vegetabularian recipes to the delight of all concerned.

Sold in mixed dozens they are quite simply savoury sweets to munch on straight away, but take them home and thread them on a skewer to make stylish kebabs for the BBQ, add them to a chunky tomato sauce and you've got the makings of one of the worlds favourite suppers...

Now we've tried them out at a couple of events I think we can safely say they have huge potential, will be packing some up soon, promise...

This weekends outing is to Hay-on-Wye, one day only on Saturday the 27th another first for us but everyone tells me it is a great day out - see you there!

Addictive or what?

2009-06-14T18:37:00.004+01:00

Sometimes it would appear that we only make one scotch egg - the Black Watch!

We've got to the point of adding a health warning for customers at markets: 'Warning this Scotch egg is extremely addictive!!!' People will travel miles for one of these beauties, who can forget Andrew Webb, the man responsible for getting this blog off the starting blocks, and his true devotion... and as if to confirm it's status the Black Watch was a finalist in the Heart of England Diamond Awards last month

Here's an early starter, sent in by Charlotte A (I know, we really do seem to attract Charlottes to this business!) of Alex her 5 year old developing a mature pallet already..

so - 'How and Where do you enjoy yours?'

2003-2009

Penny & I celebrated our Sixth birthday today at the Teme Valley market, it was as usual a bustling market with loads of friends both new and old taking advantage of a rare moment of generosity with Penny handing out samples galore! A lovely surprise too, when Beth (see not everyone of our team is called Charlotte) turned up to say hello. Beth was a major part of the team in 2005/6 working her socks off helping us to establish ourselves at the markets and shows just about burning herself out trying to keep up with the dogged slog that Penny and I put in... looking great and introducing us to her Fiancee.

The Times- weekend

2009-06-06T10:54:00.004+01:00

From grand cru beers to hand-mined salt, no food is too humble for the gourmet treatment. But has our snobbery gone too far? asks Simon Beckett of the Times.

" In France, Italy or Spain , where traditional rustic cuisine is rightly celebrated, no one is accused of snobbery by buying Serrano ham or Parmesan cheese, why should it be different here? The simple fact is good food made with top quality ingredients might cost more but it tastes better. What is sad isn't that we are rediscovering that, it's the fact that we ever forgot."

An interesting thought provoking article about us brits and our attitude to food, although our experience over the past few years tells me that enormous number of us really do appreciate proper values and quality produce.... many thanks all of you for your support

NB Next weeknd on Sunday June 14th we'll celebrate our SIXTH birthday at the Teme Valley market, where it all started, hope to see you there

Events up date

2009-06-05T19:58:00.004+01:00

Lotto took the opportunity to introduce our stall in Shrewsbury today, a first visit for us, invited along to share a stall with our friend Alex of the Farm Deli at Dobbies it was a lovely day and thank you for all the kind comments, will have to go to more new places soon...

In just a fortnight we'll be back in the lovely Montpellier Gardens in Cheltenham for what they promise will be a food lovers weekend to remember:

This year we'll be on the right (stand S13) as you enter the grounds (in spitting distance of the cider bar!!) a change from the Food Hall but giving us a chance to catch you both on the way in and the way out... good plan!

Good news ... got the confirmation today we'll be on stand C2 at the Cardiff International food Festival in July (been on the waiting list as I was a tad latesending out my application form...oops!)

PS don't forget to get The Times tomorrow, should be agood article about Cheltenham Farmers' market for you to enjoy...

yesterday and tomorrow

2009-06-02T14:30:00.009+01:00

This morning has been a bit of fun as, Richard arrived on behalf of The Times to take some photo's for this Saturdays (June 6th)Weekend Magazine, fingers cross the powers that be like his work and the article gets in, Penny certainly enjoyed a taste of her former life...

a favourite picture from one of the AGA shoots back in 2005

Looking to the future

Maybe its the summer kicking in, (although the forecast is for a cooler spell - shame!) but we are getting busier so we have room for another pair of hands, Charlotte has placed this advert in the local schools today:

"We are looking for 2 Part Time Kitchen Assistants to work Monday and Tuesday between 9.30am and 2.30pm, in our Bishops Frome production kitchen. Previous experience not required as full training will be given. You will need to have a willing and personable approach to work, and the ability to work well as part of a team. Pay rate dependent on age and experience.

Please telephone Neil Chambers for more details and an application form by Friday 12th June 2009

The Handmade Scotch Egg Company Limited, The Egg Shed, Hop Pocket, Bishops Frome, Herefordshire, WR6 5BT. Tel: 01885 490520, email : info@handmadescotcheggs.co.uk"

if you live in the area why not give us a call, we are able to be reasonably flexible over the actual hours.

PS: we'll be recruiting for weekender's again soon when Lotto finishes her placement with us at the end of June.

intermission - normal service will be resumed shortly

2009-06-01T18:59:00.007+01:00

Well it's taken a while but Penny, Mena and Neil actually escaped (yes we know it is a bit of a surprise but we ran out of excuses!)for a few days last week down to the New forest for a healthy dollop of R&R, at the Master Builders in Bucklers Hard, and what a stroke of luck the sunniest days of the year to date!

Not to bore you, but it is traditional, you know, to tell everyone how it all went, from a relaxing drink after a fine BBQ in these picturesque gardens;

to soul enriching walks along the beach

inspirational encounters with greatness;

peace and tranquillity on the river bank (looks more like safari territory don't you think)

high-jinks with the old gaffers (boats that is, before you get the wrong idea)

to dreaming of what might be...

Thank you to all the scotcheggers team for keeping things running along as we swanned off, we really appreciated the change of routine makes me think we may not need to wait a further 6 years 'till we can head off again....

STOP PRESS:
Lotto and family have chosen to name their beautiful foal SMOKIE JOE, although now he has a little sister too so watch out for some more cuddly pictures soon

right them, holidays over back to it, see you around

Proud 'mums'

2009-05-21T19:06:00.004+01:00

Lotto's first foal:

A stroke of good fortune this week as Lotto's day off coincided with the arrival of her much anticipated foal on Tuesday night, maybe it's going to be a bit trickier to get her to do the extra hours now... not even a day old and this leggy beauty is yet to be named but that's not bothering him-

So whilst Lotto was home with her new arrival Hollie (the vet one) rolled in to introduce Indie, poor Penny was out on the delivery round so missed all the fun but Indie managed to bring the place to a standstill in no time at all- apologies to the customers who arrived in the middle of this, thank you for your patience-

so all in all huge excitement all round, it's funny really you just don't know what's going to happen, each day just brings it's own surprises....

Happy birthday Lilly

2009-05-15T16:38:00.002+01:00

Hiding in the shadows, Lotto and Lilly helped make the Malvern Spring Garden show last weekend a bumper event! Thanks guys, not forgetting both Hollie and Fred who helped on other days.

Lilly turned 16 on Friday and as part of her birthday wish she wanted to work on the show stand, a whole lot busier than the shop here at the Eggshed where she has been helping from time to time whilst borrowing my computer to do her arts project for school... a bit scary to start with but customers can be nice and with Lotto as her guide she took to it like a duck to water, will be out to play again soon I'm sure.

By the way doesn't the light box work well in the back ground (thanks Hamish.

Off now back to Builth Wells, where we started this stint four weeks ago (seems a lifetime) this time it's the smallholders show a new event for us, going as guests of Farmers' Markets in Wales so looking forward to meeting up with old friends and making some new ones, fingers crossed for a less hectic week next week, although it's a bank holiday so Pershore on Monday,(actually we're off to Pershore this evening for supper with Mum and my godmother Sheena down from Paisley for the weekend)

hope to see you out ans about somewhere soon.

on top of the world!

2009-05-15T14:12:00.003+01:00

well lands end actually!

so How and where do you enjoy yours?

Just to prove we do let our team have the odd day off, here is Sam literally as far away as she could get from the kitchen!! (without escaping the country too, although a bit of synchronised swimming looks in the offing)

Send us you picture enjoying your scotch egg, with or without a collectors T shirt on (although preferably with some attire!)and we'll send you a free voucher towards your next purchase.

bon appetite!

warm and cozy...

2009-05-06T13:50:00.004+01:00

Were off to the show ground this afternoon to set up for the Malvern Spring Garden Show, a highlight on our show calendar, although I tend to come away with tons of ideas and plans for the garden that simply have to wither away as the business continues to absorb us.

Something a little different (and for once something with a decent shelf life!), we introduced these charming egg cozy's at the Welsh Mouthful a couple of weeks ago:

Hand made by Ros they are flying off the shelf, each one is totally unique so you can avoid any breakfast table arguments over who's egg is who's, get yours while you can or for you creatives out there the wool is supplied by Ros' friends at the knitting parlour in malvern so why not pick up your stocks before you head home.

Don't worry we're bringing scotch eggs too! and if things work out we'll have a selection of oven baked Meatballs ready to munch on or to take home add a sauce of your choice and serve with pasta or pop in the freezer for another day.

now form an orderly queue

2009-05-04T14:43:00.005+01:00

Thank you Tewkesbury! Another great event staged by the guys at Tewkesbury Council, Grenchurch and of course Dave Loynes. Well run and with lovely weather too, everyone was packing away last night in high spirits!

Our new jumblestuf stall received a warm welcome from one and all with a very patient queue lined up most of the day, sorry for the wait but hope it was worth it!

A big thank you to Sam who ran the stall backed up by Faye on Saturday and Jo on Sunday with Penny joining in where she could, between preparing the next batch and manning the eggshed shop! All a bit stressful launching a new idea but looking back now well worth the effort- will be tweaking things a bit before we go again but the die is cast... will let you know where we'll be popping up again soon.

Meanwhile Charlotte got stuck in on our traditional Scotch Egg stall in the food hall, think I did some work!, but as camera man I get to hide away under the proverbial bushel.. (the couple on the right seem to be really enjoying their purchase don't you think)

A sell out this weekend, can you help to keep up the momentum ? Malvern Spring Garden Show starts on Thursday, if you've not been then you're in for a pleasant surprise this show has become known as the Chelsea of the Midlands, all the celebrities are here and the garden pieces are truly inspirational. And after all that to absorb you'll need to recharge in the food hall so hope to see you there.

attention please

2009-04-28T20:17:00.006+01:00

Fred's family come over to visit and cannot resist the temptation to have a go:

Under Penny's watchful eye Marie, David and Mum are introduced to the fine art of Scotch Egg making- they had heard a lot from Fred but not ever tried one let alone made one!

Well we are pleased to report that not only are they now officially aficionados they're off back at the weekend to spread the word, from Le Mans to Marseilles

...who knows a French franchise in the offing?! Certainly got the impression they liked what the saw (although my school boy French isn't up to much these days- think we should try to get some lessons from Fred rather than the other way around!)

The big welsh mouthful!

2009-04-27T18:37:00.002+01:00

A good start for this 4 week run, here's Hollie having her first taste of meeting the great unwashed (don't mean it really) This weekend we were enjoying some lovely sunshine in amongst the showers in Builth second time around for this new event, loads to inspire your creative juices and equally loads to quench your appetite hope to see this one build over the next few years.

Poor Lotto on the other hand had a bit of a tough couple of days with a flat in Moseley on Saturday, a huge thank you to her Dad and the incredibly helpful gentleman who went home and found proper spanners and good old WD40 to get them back on the road, it really is good to be reminded how generous people can be.

If that was not enough whilst parking up for the Ledbury Food Festival on Sunday the power steering gave up the ghost and the breakdown men had to be called in...

lets hope these hic-ups are behind us now and we can enjoy the exciting events on the horizon

Hope to see many of you at the Tewkesbury Food Festival this weekend

Catching up...

2009-04-24T19:10:00.004+01:00

Thought I'd try and sneak one more blog under the wire before the end of the month! So what's been happening you might ask, well we had Easter of course, a return to the point to point world and now we're off on a road trip with 14 markets and 12 show days in the next 4 weeks, not to mention the continued support from both new and old deli stockists....

With a market every day over the Easter weekend there wasn't a great deal of time off as such but as the saying goes 'a change is as good as a rest' (ask me that one again please x penny!) Cheltenham on Good Friday hit the record books, thanks to an excellent article by Jenni Silver in the Gloucester Echo and Citizen papers, although the pics certainly suggest I'm starting to look like a scotch egg... Sunday the 19th brought a return visit to the Andoversford Point-to-Point only this time with wall to wall sunshine, brings back some great memories of helping my friends watch over the site through the nights before racing day back in the late 1970's (consisting of regular patrols through the night, an ample supply of beer and a pack of cards)

Now regular readers will have heard mention of Lucy, a true Scotchegger in waiting, well here is one for the album, Lucy doing her bit for HMSE over the channel on holiday in Italy:

Thanks Lucy, now come on
HOW & WHERE DO YOU ENJOY YOURS? Italy is a long way from Herefordshire but I know you aficionados (with or without T shirts) have travelled even further, share your story here on the blog...

Finley pays a visit

2009-04-03T14:15:00.003+01:00

Finley called in to work today to have a look at his mums desk and to see what all the fuss was about. He took it all in his stride having a snooze on my arm whilst Aimee, Sam and Penny got up to date with the gossip and all that's happening in the scotch egg world...(even managing to sneak a bit of Fred's roulade from yesterday... he didn't put up much protest, maybe his head was a bit fuzzy from last night!)

Thanks guys it was a lovely break in proceedings, glad you're all well and coping with this new life, see you again soon...

joyeux anniversaire

2009-04-02T16:26:00.005+01:00

Happy birthday to French Fred... guess what? another cake!! well actually a truly scrummy chocolate roulade and a brilliant 'F' shaped sparkler.
So we started with my rock cake/buns, then a killer chocolate cake for Faye, Sam opted for a healthy Quiche and Lotto a sublime carrot cake and of course ended up with the roulade. It's going to be hard now for a couple of months until the next birthday but will do everyone's waist line a bit of good.
For those of you thinking ahead we were planning a visit to the Chester Food & Drink Festival over Easter but one or two obstacles have reared their heads and we are going to have to skip it this year, hope we do not let too many of you down.

We will be out and about though, you'll find us on the 9th at Ludlow, 10th Cheltenham, 11th Brecon, 12th Teme Valley and 13th Pershore and as a special treat Penny's come up with the Yoats for easter

Simple but absolutely delicious- the yolks only, wrapped in Andrews saddle back pork and finished in proper Scottish oats- cannot promise to have them around all the time but a real treat on high days and holidays

fair well

2009-03-26T19:29:00.003Z

A sad day as we bid goodbye to our good old Vitto van, a hard working member of the team for over 5 years... but with over 250,000 miles on the clock she was just too long in the tooth to cope with Fred's prang last month...

Even Ed our 'white van man' has said that he was amazed just how long the old dear had lasted as he dropped of her replacement a slightly younger Vivara, lets hope his influence is as strong with this one!

Camden Lock March 2009

2009-03-16T17:52:00.004Z

Last Saturday, the 14th, Penny and I rose at the unearthly hour of 4am and after loading the van for Lotto to go the Brecon Farmers' market headed off to London, a relatively easy journey found us at Camden Lock around 8am on a beautiful spring morning. We were made very welcome by the organisers, the stall holders and the customers a real treat, thank you all!

To be honest at one point I felt we were going to need a bigger vehicle to come back in as there is just so much temptation (if you've not been you must)hope to be back soon, will let you know when we've cracked the logistics,(getting home at midnight made it a bit of a long day, especially when I had to be at the Cardiff riverside market first thing on Sunday)

Hereford on Thursday, a month on from fred's unfortunate trip in February, won't need to leave 'till 7.30am..bliss

red sky at night

2009-03-05T16:57:00.004Z

This scene of the night sky over our buildings transported me back a few year to the days before Scotch eggs when art was my life, this sky could have been painted by Salvador Dali not snapped by me a couple of nights ago, looks as though I've got a new screen saver!(feel free to help yourself too..)

'Red sky at night,shepherds delight' lets hope this is a sign of better things to come, certainly there is more of a sense of optimism at the markets that's been missing these past couple of months

rock CAKE or rock BUN?

2009-03-04T18:26:00.005Z

Little did I know that my chosen birthday cake (thank you penny!) could have stirred up such an intriguing question... Are you a ROCK CAKE or ROCK BUN person?! Vote now to help us resolve this unsettling dilemma..

March is the Birthday month here at the Eggshed, 4 birthdays in as many weeks! It's my honour and privilege to kick things off, a big thank you all for your generosity...
sorry no time for more got to get to then bar!....

Congratulations!

2009-02-27T10:04:00.002Z

Those of you who visited us at events througout 2007/8 and those who've called the eggshed will have met or spoken to Aimee, our office manager and all round organiser, well were delighted and proud to let you know that Aimee and James now have a beautiful little boy, Finley, in the family, the girls from work have hardly been able to contain their excitement and have been taking turns to visit him all week!!

Congratulations to you both, enjoy but please don't forget us, we are missing you...

Oops!

2009-02-27T09:54:00.003Z

Just had a call from Simon who organises the Cirencester Farmers' Markets, sorry I had missed this off our diary page, promise Penny will be there. Following Fred's unfortunate accident last week our good old van is off the road for now so back to using the car again...

You'll get the better deal probably because I'm off to Moseley and there is a small matter of a rugby match this evening so I'll just have to spend the evening in the Green Dragon (shame!)

Six nations companions!

2009-02-04T20:09:00.004Z

Lest you have missed it let me remind you that the SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP is about to kick off! An excuse to visit our friends in the Green Dragon again!! However if you are watching on the box why not invite a few mates over and share one of our special tuck boxes, an opportunity to support your team or should you prefer to eat the opposition!!! This year will have a special poignancy here with Fred form France living with us now the competitive spirit is running high, come on Scotland lets do better this year!!

Haven't forgotten you all, promise!

2009-02-04T19:53:00.004Z

I'm astounded to see that just about a whole month has flown by since I last sat down to the blog! Business has been pretty good in spite of the endless bad news and now bad weather with many of you braving the elements and coming to the markets and supporting our many stockists around the place.

Penny has finally given in (I've been badgering her for years to let us share these sublime creations)and we are going to trial her succulent handmade square quiches at the farmers' markets over the next few weeks, starting at Stroud this weekend. Not only do they taste great they are fun to photograph, got a bit creative!!

Lets hope they go down well! Will be testing out various packing methods too so once things have sellted down we'll get them up on the online shop for you all.

On the packaging side we have carried out a bit of grown up research and are trialling some new packing for the jumbles, shoud be able to let you know more in a few days.

Also if you pop over to the jumbles blog later in the week you'll find loads of new uses for your jumble...

so i think i can now see where this month has gone!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T14:01:00.003Z

We're back, refreshed and freezing!! I know it's usualy colder after December but this really is cold, poor Barbara had to go home on our first day back as the cold water pipes down one side of the kitchen were frozen!! Penny reported -8 on her car thermometer this morning, although I've had to move the computer out of the sun this afternoon....

So good news everyone an excuse to eat more scotch eggs!!

Burns Suppers have been part of Scottish culture for about 200 years as a means of commemorating their best loved bard. And when Burns immortalised haggis in verse he created a central link that is maintained to this day. The ritual was started by close friends of Burns a few years after his death in 1796 as a tribute to his memory.

Unfortunately we cannot supply the piper and all the trimmings but we do have the Chieftain Scotch Egg! Made with the finest prize winning Haggis from MacSweens of Edinburgh and our delicious Saddleback pork, as the poem goes just ‘waiting to be addressed’…

As an accompaniment add a few WeeBeasties or a take a Chieftain Jumble to make all kinds of burns night treats

wending our way...

2008-12-23T15:34:00.004Z

It's time to close the doors and wend our way, thank you everyone for helping to make this a truly memorable year.

Merry Christmas and a safe prosperous New year to one and all

The Scotcheggers

Two days to Christmas..

2008-12-22T18:57:00.004Z

The markets are over for us this year, although you can still pop into Stroud to get your last minute treats from a good selection of our fellow marketeers!

The mountain, known as Monday December 22nd 2008, has been climbed, a huge effort from all but a particular thanks to Aims and Lotto who arrived full of enthusiasm at 6am to get stuck in to the task, and before too long the trays began to fill...

(looks as if we've branched out into toffee apples don't you think?)

We sent more eggs out today than ever before in a single day, how Penny and the kitchen brigade made them all is mind boggling, thank you all!! sorry about the last minute panics, but it just seems mean to let potential customers down..

Tony made it to all the shops he planned to with just a hand full to visit tomorrow, a trip to Knightwick Wines to drop off the Christmas orders and it's time to tidy up and let everyone wend their way home for the holidays.... better pop over to see Paddy to stock up for the duration

5 days to Christmas

2008-12-19T19:57:00.003Z

But only 4 markets!!! Cheltenham was a bit cold, but by what they've achieved in the Kitchen today it seems it was a better (ie not such hard work!) place to be.

A busy one tomorrow with Moseley,birds eye view below (did you know they won best urban market 2008?), Stroud (the national winner of the FARMA Certified Farmers' Market of the Year 2008") and Malvern (not an award winner yet but still a lovely friendly market, well worth a visit) Hope to see some of you around.

The order book is now closed for Christmas deliveries and mail order so we are trying to get on top of all the paper work this generates as thanks to your enthusiasm we have a bumper year of parcels to get out on Monday. Everyone is in early on Monday morning to ensure your orders get through, images of Santa's helpers spring to mind...

Hereford victorian Market

2008-12-18T19:17:00.003Z

Having organised ourselves with loads of layers for that authentic victorian look the weather turned out to be very mild!, we certainly seem to be living in a world of unpredictablity, what with the weather and the economy who knows in this topsy turvey world we may well get a white Christmas...

Here's our stall all set up for the hoards, Scotch Eggs, Wee Beasties, Jumbles....

and the new oven for those toasty treats, who could resist?!

Find the jumble book

2008-12-15T19:09:00.004Z

Following last posting Kevin has now put a link through the jumble logo on the main site straight through to the jumble book, lets hope that will solve the problem for now. In the meantime thanks to our southern hemisphere advisor, Alister, I'll have a go at linking onto the blogroll as well - watch this space!

Despite natures best efforts we made it to all the markets we had planned this weekend, floods and ice - not ideal! Anyway all this poor weather has got us thinking and so on Thursday at Ludlow market we tried out HOT SCOTCH EGGS- talk about comfort food! Not only do you get a whole meal in one you get a brilliant hand warmer thrown in for free!! So no excuses now, we'll see you at the markets over this last weekend before the Holidays, check out the diary on the main site to see where we are.

Just a wee reminder that the closing date for Christmas deliveries is this Wednesday the 17th so if you are still looking for that unique gift or want some trulyy remarkable canapes for sharing over the holidays pop along to the shop now!

Need a bit of techie help!

2008-12-10T20:13:00.002Z

Despite spending a few hours playing around I have not yet found how to link this blog to the jumble book blog so for now the route is through the link below the picture of Penny and Neil at the inaugural eggstraveganza earlier this year, Penny seems to be finding it extreamly amuzing to cover Neil in raw eggs!
Just click on the vew my profile link and then into the jumble book
good luck
can anyone help me.. please

New blog

2008-12-10T10:38:00.000Z

Starting today we're starting our Jumble book blog... Ok so what is a jumble?
It’s a fundamental raw ingredient ready to use on its own or incorporated into your favourite recipes –
Roll it!! Shape it! Stuff it! ....how will you use yours?

Bin the take-away menu… pick up a jumble, raid the store cupboard, sprinkle with your own personality and hey-presto a meal for the family in less than ½ an hour…

For Christmas, stuffing, canapés, boxing day brunch, for that unexpected vegetarian guest… check out the Jumble book blog for many more serving ideas…

have fun!

Catching up!

2008-12-08T18:19:00.000Z

Well I really don't know what happened to November but it seems that it is over a month since I sat down to have a chat! Penny & I planned to take a whole week off at the beginiong of the month but we're out of practice and only managed 2 days but a big thank you to the gang for making even this short break possible, we promise not to make a habit of it!

We lived through the 10th anniversary market at the Talbot, last one before Christmas is this Sunday November 14th, and the unique Farmers' Ordinary on the 18th, whilst building up for the anual pilgrimage to the NEC for the BBC Good food Show.

Our Best Good food show so far , thank you everyone, and thanks to you for your mail orders which are now flowing in...

Thanks also to Kevin, our webman, the new ordering system and simplyfied workings in the shop make it a whole lot earier and fairer..

Broadway Deli (Worcestershire Deli)

2008-10-27T19:00:00.000Z

Another of our stockists has sent through some pictures for us to share with you. Broadway Deli, I'm sure you'll agree, a particularly attractive deli, situated in one of Englands most beautiful towns on the edge of the Cotswolds, have been with us for over 3 years now. They are looked after by Fran our local representative for the area, who is obviously doing a teriffic job to have elicited such a glowing report! Many thanks to you both....

Broadway Deli

16, High Street

Broadway

Worcestershire

WR12 7AA

Broadway Deli was established by Louise Hunt and Alan Frimley in August 2002. Our aim is to provide our customers with good, old-fashioned top quality food served to them by charming, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Our small café is heavily patronised by discerning customers, both locals and visitors. Our picturesque premises just add to the pleasant shopping experience. We source our products very carefully and are very particular about the goods that we stock and the companies we deal with. The Handmade Scotch Egg company fits the bill totally with their fabulous range of scotch eggs, blending innovative flavour ideas with best quality ingredients to produce a range which is totally unique. We are very proud to have these wonderful handmade scotch eggs for sale in our establishment.

Who could ask for more ?

(well what about the Hairy Bikers.....)

World EGG day October 10th 2008

2008-10-10T07:33:00.000+01:00

Having loaded Helz up and sent her off to Cheltenham farmers' market, I came in to make a coffee and caught an interesting comment on the Radio, today is WORLD EGG Day! Sorry for the lack of warning...

In an effort to find out more I popped over to the think egg website and couldn't belive the amount of information there is out there on eggs... we really should be eating more!!

Here, for example, are some great fact on the nutritional benefits of eggs

"Eggs are an excellent complete food, nutrient packed and great for your health.They contain the highest quality protein available . Because they have a high nutrient content compared to their calorie count, eggs are nutrient-dense. This makes them especially helpful as a nutritious part of childrenn's and senior diets, as well as diets for the weight conscious.They are easy to chew and digest, making them suitable for people of all ages. Eggs also have a number of nutrients important for good health. Egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin which contribute to health of the eye. The choline found in eggs plays a role in brain function. Both the egg white and yolk provide protein, plus assorted amounts of all needed vitamins, (except vitamin C), and an array of important minerals. Altogether, these nutrients maintain your body, repair tissues and ensure that body processes all function properly"

as the saying goes... "every little helps"

Rochford Country Meats

2008-09-23T18:08:00.000+01:00

Andrew and Cheryl are our main pork suppliers, based just outside Tenbury, Andrew is somewhat unique as not only is he a farmer he is also a fully qualified butcher- no surprise then that his pork is second to none!!

We work closely together with Andrew who having talked through Penny's requirements delivers here every week, he has told me how many pigs we have needed to date but I don't think you'd want to know!!

They have a shop at the farm so if you are in the area call in- you won't regret it

here are couple of snaps just emailed over:

Ludlow 2008

2008-09-15T18:57:00.001+01:00

Helz & Charlotte ready for action! Thank you for another excellent show, in spite of the poor weather running up to the event the organisers held the faith and we were blessed with the best day in months on Saturday, wall to wall sunshine, quite literally as we were inside the castle walls. A new lay out made it a lot easier for visitors to find their way around and the choices on offer were excellent - and best of all it was the second time in just a few weeks that we have been standing next to Catherine from Sweet Stuff Slow, if you don't know her Pots of deliciousness yet then your in for a real treat when you do!

We were there again this year 'on tour' with 8 of our friends from the Teme Valley Market a great comfort with everyone working together, if you can you really must try to come along to the next market on October 12, as it's our 10 anniversary market and as well as the ususal suspects we are to be joined by Eddie Grundy from the Archers... and on a countryside note look what I found in the garden this morning ( I know I'm behind on the mowing but this is taking the mick!)

Melbury & Appleton (London Deli)

2008-09-10T09:43:00.000+01:00

We have been quietly building our relationships with a growing network of specialist independent shops around the UK, all enthusiasts offering something a bit special and we thought you'd enjoy meeting some of them here on the blog...

Melbury and Appleton
271, Muswell Hill
Broadway
London
N10 1DE

" a small independent delicatessen and grocer that aims to be a one-stop shop for both essential and hard to find ingredients for the home cook, as well as provide you with a wide range of the other yummy food from everyday essentials to life's little luxuries - all at sensible prices.

We put a huge amount of time and effort into finding and selecting the food we sell so that you don't have to. We are passionate about superb quality, great tasting food so all of our products are carefully sourced with the majority coming from small British artisan producers.

Claire has been carrying a selection of our eggs since February 2007, and has in the last week launched her website where you can order all sorts of exciting goodies (even scotch eggs!!)

Claires' enthusiasm spills over even when we are collecting their weekly order on the 'phone where we'll end up putting the world to rights and learn about what's out there, many thanks Claire for your encouragement and yes we will look at free range pickled eggs....

I asked for a comment about our eggs and the best they could muster was " an excellent hangover cure!" ... who am I to disagree?

Egg-stravegganza!

2008-09-08T12:30:00.000+01:00

The weather was not on our side to say the least, when we arrived on saturday morning but things brightened up in time for the noon deadline- the main A4103 was closed and we had about 4 inches in the road outside!

Once we had carefully made it thru to Ledbury, Charlotte was off to stroud farmers' market and we got down to tweaking for the egg-stravegganza.

Lilly was roped in at the last moment as Aimee was under the weather (and Gavin dragged himself over for 1pm, sorry Gavin that Alton towers did' nt happen this weekend!) and a great time was had by all that made it!

Spot the difference, an enthusiastic bunch but not all that accurate!

Lucy is taking it all very seriously- congratulations to her, unlike her father's hers were round! (we have earmarked a job for her of course)

The race was on -90 seconds on the
timer and quality controled
by Lilly the most peeled
was 6 eggs!
All finished off with a rather too entusiastic version of the local Egg Chuck! ( my own particular thanks to Crayley!!)

The move

2008-09-02T16:23:00.000+01:00

The boys fuel'd by bacon sandwiches got stuck in and all the equipment was up here by early afternoon on friday, thank you so much, we really couldn't have done it without you.

As each piece arrived in the shed everything was cleaned and then the fun started as we tried to make things fit with the plan!

The girls were fired up and determined to get things right, here they are positioning the fryers and cleaning out the fridges.

Sam got a bit fed up with me having the camera around and stole it for herself and got carried away herself!

and best of all it fits!!!

From Cookhouse to Eggshed

2008-09-02T15:38:00.000+01:00

Thanks to an above and beyond effort from all concerned we're in the Eggshed- Thank you everyone!

As you can see we've not moved too far, but we've been walking betwwen these two buildings for over 6 months now -

The new kitchen is just great - we have views, we have space- when we look back already it seems incredible that we were able to make as many eggs as we have in the old cookhouse...

With just one day cooking we firmly believe we've done the right thing, the opportunities ahead are now exciting rather than terrifying, will try to keep a bit more up to date with the blog as we settle in

First Blog

2008-08-23T18:15:00.000+01:00

On my list of jobs for today whilst Neil, Helena and Helz were at Moseley and Circencester Farmers Markets was to type something, anything on the blog. So..... my first blog ever! I have been doing things in the kitchen all day as I do and its not long now until I am in the Egg Shed making the first eggs in our totally new space a far cry from my Mother's old deep fat fryer cooking just 6 eggs and setting fire to the kitchen using economy 7 electricity!! The Egg Shed looks fantastic sinks everywhere, running water and I have earned a wall, the use of a computer (not much good with scotch egg mixture over your hands but I will try!) and an R. & D. Space not sure entirely what that means but I have a feeling its where I should be developing the business and come up with more ideas for eggs ...... sky is the limit. So next week we move .... Just off to walk the boss and the boss' friend Bristol I will try another blog when I remember how I got to this point on the screen!!

Growing up...

2008-08-22T19:21:00.000+01:00

(growing note,not grown!)
Having started out from home in June 2003 selling through our local farmers' markets, word of mouth gradually spread and followers of this blog will know that our move into the eggshed will let us make more for you hungry lot. Well combined with this move is the decision incorporate the business so we will become, from October 1st 2008 The Handmade Scotch Egg Company Limited. Nothing changes as far as the day to day running of the Business with Penny and Neil doing just as many hours so don't panic ... just keep an eye open for the new logo:

you are cordially invited

2008-08-21T17:14:00.001+01:00

Come rain or shine...

2008-08-17T17:36:00.000+01:00

As we grow accustomed to what seems to be our Summer, it's good to know that your enjoying our eggs come rain or shine.

Also great to hear from Iain Liddell, from Slow food London where as part of a series of orientation lectures (at Brunel University) for Chinese students starting internships in UK, he served a selection of our scotch eggs (Black Watch, Scrumpy and Leon), along with apple and elderflower juice, smoked salmon, Mull cheddar, Meantime London Porter and Dundee Cake to highlight British foods: which he tell me were most successful (ps. will alter the post code for Melbury and Appleton soon)

perfect flying lunch...

2008-08-12T09:57:00.000+01:00

The high light of an other wise pretty lousy weekend, the RED ARROWS popped in for lunch! so much for our Great British Summer!...
a big thank you to those of you who braved the weather such a shame, I spent nearly 3 days there and didn't see a balloon!

up up and away...

2008-08-08T07:38:00.000+01:00

We're out and about again with the guys from SOURCED MARKET, this weekend finds us all at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, a free event if you're in or around the Bristol area over the next couple of days, Helen and Charlotte drew the short straw and are on the early shift this morning ( 5.30am!) and will be around to serve you up 'till 8 ish this evening. One of the other Charlotte's will be with me on Saturday and Sunday so hope to see you there...

Scotch Egg and salad just £4.00, and delicious pickled eggs for 50p what more can you want?!
(how about a Black Watch with baked beans for breakfast)

We've struck GOLD !

2008-08-04T19:17:00.000+01:00

We've struck gold in this year's Great Taste Awards - we have just heard that we have been awarded a Gold two star - we are delighted to be picked out of almost 4800 products, especially as just 220 products achieved this accolade!

We will of course not let this go to our heads... but it's good to have something to shout about! however the real world continues and having just got back from an exciting and enlightening trip to the Big Chill we're readying things for the Bristol Balloon fiesta
(in the park land of Ashton Court Estate on the south western edge of the city) come along and try some of our 'Award winning' scotch Eggs!!!!

Chuffed with the T's

2008-08-02T19:28:00.000+01:00

Just in time the anticipated T Shirts arrived for the festival... should catch the eye!

Sorry Charlotte not the best picture of you but a great way to get our message across.

This one is a bit better, Charlotte or is it Charlotte ?!?

Our first outing with the Salad boxes, Penny as usual. has excelled and visitors are being very complimentary, a choice of Egg served with coleslaw, bean salad, juicy tomatoes from Drews of Worcester and beautiful organic leaves and flowers from Caroline at Hanley Organics topped off with a good dollop of mayo or one of Kit's Chutneys... what more could you want!

Helz thought the fantastic mushroom burgers from our neighbors sporboys were worth a go, well a girl cannot live on scotch eggs alone can she ?

Couldn't resist this one!

2008-08-02T19:18:00.000+01:00

How & Where do you enjoy yours? ...at Stroud Farmers' market

Earlier today two guy's came over and bought a couple of eggs, but as soon as they started eating them the family just had to join in - thanks to you all!

three into one will go!

2008-07-31T17:50:00.000+01:00

Never seem to be able to say no... last weekend saw both vans and the car drummed into service, Helz (below) went off to the Welland Stream Rally, Penny to Moseley Farmers' market and Neil to Cirencester - this is part of the reason that the blog is a bit out of date....

...this and the fact that we're at the Big Chil l from today- The traffic queues are dying own now, at around 3pm this afternoon they were looking endless! - Charlotte and Helz are on the stall this evening at the sourced market in the 'body and soul arena' and both new Charlotte and I will be with them tomorrow...

come along and enjoy a delicious Scotch Egg and Salad- nothing run of the mill around here!

Penny went dog-walking and spotted a photo opportunity

2008-07-24T20:00:00.000+01:00

So, Penny comes knocking on the door for a dog walk and her ever creative imagination spots a photo opportunity not to be missed! So she asked me, Hamish, a former employee, to take some photos and email a few! So once dog-walkers had gone I got my camera and took some photos. Getting arty, I ended up taking over 30 photos, not suitable for emailing. So visit to Scotch Egg HQ was required.
Having had a tour of the impressive developments over here, I set about uploading the pictures and writing today's blog entry - Penny has avoided writing one... ...again.
So, enjoy the picture, enjoy the blogs, and enjoy the summer while it lasts!

Bye all!
Hamish

the Big Chill - August 1-3rd 2008

2008-07-23T18:55:00.001+01:00

I know it's a bit late but we can now let you know that we'll have a pitch at the Big Chill, Eastnor Castle from the 1st to the 3rd of August.

This is a bit of and adventure for us as it'll be our first music festival so finger crossed you'll be hungry for some good old fashioned down to earth food.

Instead of our normal stall were going to tempt you with a bit more... not simply a choice of both meat and vegetarian Scotch Eggs but also a selection of delicious salads, dressings and toppings.. something for breakfast, lunch, supper and those in between moments!

I have finally ordered the team t-shirts, having batted the idea around for a couple of weeks so watch out for the new look for the festival, and soon to be available in the on-line shop

all aboard...

2008-07-21T18:19:00.000+01:00

More and more is put in place .... fans gently whirling away, porthole windows in the doors and a crisp clean finish it is starting to feel as if we are working on a ferry... lets hope we land somewhere really warm and relaxing!!

As Joe and Fred get towards the end of their part of this exciting project Dave is following on with the electrics, power points, lights and switched are appearing, hot water and plumbing not far away now..

Condensers and Ceilings

2008-07-17T18:24:00.000+01:00

A flurry of activity today with the doors being hung and condensers going into the chill rooms , frantic cleaning and sealing and to top it all, literally!! the beginning of the kitchen ceiling going into place.

Next the dismantling of the Cookhouse chiller so we can reuse the parts and Dave's about to start the plumbing....

Just £2.00 each here at the kitchen shop

2008-07-16T19:44:00.000+01:00

The Chiller boys have been hard at it sealing the joints etc, but not a lot to show in a picture today so thought you might like to know that our kitchen shop is open.

Not quite finished yet but open for business, if you're in the area please call in, we have most of the range available most days, but as always if there is something you particularly want please 'phone ahead and we'll do our best to help. We always have local free range eggs and Quail eggs around and a few treats to go with your eggs.

As an incentive to get you to visit us here we are from the begining of this month selling all scotch egg varieties for just £2.00 in the shop, look forward to seeing you soon

a pair of Charlotte's

2008-07-14T14:46:00.000+01:00

Things did get a bit confusing over the weekend as we had two Charlotte's on duty, and believe it or not Neil still managed to get their names wrong!!

Thank you Cardiff, another brilliant show, this event just seems to get better and better. The weather did contribute a bit I'm sure, but the music, the traveling comedians and of course the stalls created a wonderful atmosphere.

Our sincere apologies to those of you who were let down on sunday, we really did bring a lot more than last year, but they all went again!!

Will be back in town next Sunday at the Riverside market and of course you can call into the Rowan Tree Deli during the week, or pick them up on line!

a favorite photo

2008-07-10T20:13:00.000+01:00

A favorite image, taken at the Cardiff bay festival in 2005, that year it really was a scorcher

very nearly rooms!

2008-07-10T19:52:00.000+01:00

24 hours later and we very nearly have our packing room, finished store and overnight chiller. Neil's off to the Cardiff Bay food festival (it really is free to get in so come along if you can) and Penny is doing the Cheltenham Farmers' market so Joe's decided to go and finish another project -- we'll all re-convene on Monday.

Best of luck to all of you off to the Fanoville weekend, sorry we can't make it, but know it'll be great, Dave has a gift for these sort of things!

And still they come..

2008-07-10T04:20:00.000+01:00

When they turned up on Monday with this trailer load, we thought it looked a lot, well we did want a bigger chiller! But then today they brought a bit more...

Lets hope this is the lot!

After unloading the lorry in pouring rain, the lads got stuck in and we have the first wall in place, Penny and I cannot decide if our 'stage fright' feelings are excitement or fear!!!

Chillers day one

2008-07-07T14:41:00.000+01:00

Joe & Fred turned up this morning and the foundations are in!! By next week we should be up and running... a real treat after having out grown our current chiller months ago!

Hamish & Angus.... in the car

2008-07-05T12:20:00.000+01:00

Hamish and Angus called in this morning to pick supplies for the journey (to the opticians! but who knows what could happen along the way....)

Angus (on the right) has set himself some high standards in life, having just been into the local Audi dealership and with out any prompting ordered him self an R8..

quick lunch

2008-07-04T17:06:00.000+01:00

Seems only right that I should be part of our new campaign, how and where do you enjoy yours?

A minute in the microwave, a bag of crisps and a quiet moment Sorted!

let them eat cake...

2008-07-03T19:24:00.001+01:00

Sally's turn this week, another birthday cake from Penny's repertoire, although it turns out that March will be the best month next year as we have 4 birthdays to mark!!

Meanwhile the some of the girls
can't wait.... Sam holds Faye and
Charlotte at bay. not really sure
if she's protecting Sal or
just making sure there's enough
left for herself!

Progess...

2008-07-01T19:25:00.000+01:00

Well it now seems a bit more possible that we'll all be under one roof soon. Julian has finished painting the staff and changing rooms built last month and we've had the luxurious purple kitchen floor laid... not what you'd call a dull looking kitchen!! ( Sam's after a disco mirror ball to add a bit more sparkle, anyone know where we can get one?)

Now that Joe's starting to build the cold rooms, doors arrived today the rest is due on Monday the pace has stepped up so fingers crossed we'll get in during August

LIVE

2008-06-30T18:47:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to Andrew and the team at Ford Focus, a great review in yesterdays Mail on Sunday supplement LIVE magazine... and of course a big thank you to all of you who got in touch, a few more 'eggs' winging their way out there as we speak.

Watch out for new out lets too, seems the scotch egg still has a way to go!!

The inaugural Cheltenham food & drink festival

2008-06-24T17:59:00.001+01:00

I know its a few days since a posting but have been busy, honest...
last Thursday Hollie (the vet) and I (neil) went over to Montpellier gardens and set up our stall (as above) for this first Cheltenham food festival.

All in all an excellent event, with over 200 exhibitors from all over the country, we met up with friends from the BBC good food festival along with mates from the farmers' markets and to top it all there was what seemed like an endless beer tent!...a special thanks to Don from Freeminer

Also I don't think we'd have survived with out the 'elephant' strength coffee kick starting the day!!

If you missed this weekend our next outing is to the seaside on July 11th,12th and 13th for the Cardiff Bay International Food & Drink Festival this is a free event so you've no excuses - come along and taste the world!! This will be our 4th visit to this exciting event, fingers crossed it's not a wet as last year...

Of course if you want to know where else we're going have a look at the events listing on our main site, hope to bump into you somewhere soon..

you don't need to be clever to work here but it does help!!

2008-06-19T10:35:00.000+01:00

We're extremely proud to let the world know that two of our student helpers have qualified with flying colours...

Helena Gough, Doctor of Philosophy, specializing in electroacoustic composition

Helena as been helping us at the Moseley Farmers markets since we started going there 3 years ago and before that was a regular member of Penny's team at the CBSO centre. all through this time she has been working hard on her degree and developing her portfolio of sound.

Now a renowned Sound Artist Helena performs all over Europe, so we're very lucky when she can fit in the markets...

Hollie Dale BVM&S, MRCVS

Hollie has been helping us in just about every aspect of the business, from cooking, through packing to office work and of course out on the show/market stands for over 3 years.

Now a fully qualified VET she is helping out for a final stint just now whilst cavorting around the countyside on interviews for her new career...

As the girls move up (and away) we'll miss them dreadfully but wish them every success in the world...

oh to be young!

- you can taste the passion, the commitment, the graft and the optimism.

2008-06-17T19:15:00.000+01:00

We were delighted to welcome the intrepid Andrew Webb from Channel4, who is writing an on-line diary with video reports, photographs and recipes, as he journeys around Britain on his mission to unearth Britain's foodie gems....

Not only a committed scotch egg afficianado his technical expertise is entirely responsible for this technological leap in to the blogoshpere!

So it seems entirely fitting to publish his picture (below) of the Black Watch he made with Penny on his visit along with a link to his exciting project

"It was the name that won me over: Black Watch. That and the fact it stood out as the bad boy of the Scotch egg versions on offer, boasting a dark under crust created by adding black pudding to the sausage meat mix. I bought one, froze on the spot at the first mouthful, and went back and bought another after I'd finished the first".

Watch Andrew having a go on hie website

For the full picture visit Andrew's foodmap and see what it's all about for yourself if you have a look at his visit to the Midlands you'll also see the other exciting people he's uncovered, have a look at the Teme Valley market page too...

Best Farm Shop in Worcestershire

2008-06-16T18:44:00.000+01:00

As voted for by the readers of Worcestershire Life magazine.

Our congratulations to Darren and the team at Revills Farm Shop, beating off some stiff opposition for this award. They have a lovely shop which seems to get bigger every time I visit, a tribute to their hard work, make sure you call in if you're in the Defford area , roughly half way between Upton and Pershore for a welcome coffee and pick up your eggs!

We have been delivering to Revills just about every week ever since Isobel and Neil met at the Welland Farmers' Market back in the late summer of 2004, so feel they are very much part of the family, hope everything continues as well for them.

Joyce retires

2008-06-13T08:03:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to Joyce for her help and support over the past couple of years, Penny will miss her. To mark this auscpicious occasion all work came to a stand still, sorry only for 5 minutes!, so everyone could wish Joyce well in her retirement.

Penny baked her favorite Lemon Drizzle cake which Joyce kindly shared with us all, it's becoming a bit of a habit these 'cake breaks' what with Aimee and Penny both having birthdays this month....

With Joyce moving on we have taken on Faye who will learn how to roll eggs in the next few weeks and help in the packing room. good luck to her too

How & Where do you enjoy yours?

2008-06-12T08:15:00.000+01:00

Helen & Simon ponder the question.... Simon's become a true afficianado of our eggs, having eaten more than just about any one else!! Here at the forest food festival he is introducing Helen into this exciting world!

We'd love to know how you enjoy yours, join clan and post your pictures here too

You're never too young to start!

See you on the circuit somewhere