Tag Archives: totnes

Get in your canoe!

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Today the marvellous Hal Gilmore gave us a video testimonial for our website – have a look  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi4zOPq1Wiw&feature=channel&list=UL

Now there’s a great customer – our very first customer, and he keeps coming back! Many thanks for the kind words Hal, we also think you’re great – Here’s why.

Hal runs an exciting business called Transition Tours visit www.biggreencanoe.org

Transition Tours provides programmes of tours, education and personal development in the River Dart area for all kinds of lucky people, around the theme of transition. Offering three kinds of programmes  - Transition Tours, Leadership for Resiliency and Source to Sea Exploration – Hal and the team really are offering something different and special. Sima and I work very much within the framework of transition in our food ethics, and it’s a real pleasure working for a business with such values at its centre.

Here’s a bit more about what Hal does taken from the website:

Tours inspire people by connecting them with practical, positive, solution-focussed ideas in practice.  These make for effective and inspiring away-days and study trips.  You can engage one of our tours as a one-off event, a break-out session for your conference or as part of a longer, broader and deeper personal development programme.

 Great afternoon for us all. Even in the limited time we had, [your] infectious enthusiasm and intelligence ensured stimulating, thought provoking discussion and a visit to some great examples of positive action”

Transformational learning unlocks new thinking, inspires new ways of doing, and enables people to realise their potential.  We don’t shy from navigating some tricky waters aboard the Big Green Canoe!  We go places together and you can expect to be challenged and ask some big questions along the way.  Together we make great discoveries and find ourselves in exciting new waters at the end of our time together.   This makes for some powerful, team-based personal development with real world application.

I was feeling negative about things before, and now I see a new perspective and I am happy and excited.”

 

Student study-programmes engage a wide range of disciplines and interests by providing a real life case study of innovative ideas in practice.  We shatter the lacuna between the theory and practice. Out of the classroom and aboard the Big Green Canoe learning is suddenly very real and relevant.

Sustainability is embodied throughout our operations so, while we are learning about ways to change the world, we are carry it out through our actions as well.  What we learn is linked to how we live, and change becomes more possible.

 

Summer cheer

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Guy Watson’s called it Cropaggedan…. This weather has sure been a challenge for us all. I see dripping, glum tourists grimacing against the rain as they try and see the upside of a holiday in rainy Totnes. The farmers in the area are no doubt struggling – although we are still able to find fantastic local produce and ingredients from Devon and the UK, which is amazing, considering the changeability of weather we’ve had the last two months!

Those of us who survive the winter purely to enjoy the beach come June are loosing hope, music lovers are swimming in mud in fields all over the country and festival, county show, fairs and markets throughout England and Wales are loosing money, and I imagine good humour with all the cancellations and wash-outs!

I’ve tried to not get down about the lack of summer. There are upsides to every down and I’ve noticed that when the sun does shine it feels more precious and wonderful because of it’s rareity and fleeting presence!

When it’s been grim, I’ve set about making mint jelly, elderflower cordial and sorbet, gooseberry jam and nettle pesto. Cooking is my rainy day salvation.

For a grey summers eve I thought I’d share a warming supper recipe. The spring lambs are now hoggart which is delicious and quite different from lamb in flavour. At the last Good Food Market in Totnes I bought a couple of Hoggart shanks from a local small holding farm and am cooking them in a slow cooker to take to a friend’s for dinner. I’ve cooked the shanks in red wine, tomatoes, mint, garlic and rosemary for several hours and the meat falls off the bone and is deliciously rich and flavoursome – fantatsic summer comfort food, lovely served with new potatoes, steamed asparagus and broad beans.

Slow braised Devon Hoggart shanks. I use a slow cooker, but this can be made in a casserole dish in a low oven

x2 shanks

x2 tins of tomatoes

x2 onions, diced

x2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

x2 rashers of local, free-range streaky baco, chopped up into strips

x2 glasses of red wine

x2 sprigs of rosemary

x2 bayleaves

x2 tbs homemade or good mint jelly

s+p to taste

Fry the bacon and onions, then add the garlic and fry until golden, then remove from the pan into the slow cooker. Brown off the shanks in the fat left from the bacon and put them to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for several hours, turning the meat occasionally.

Festivals and lunches

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Hannah and I have a busy few weeks coming up! We have a couple of jobs from previous clients who have come back for more delicious and seasonal food, we’re at Dartington Food Fair Sunday-Tuesday and The Bay Horse Inn on Cistern Street in Totnes starts serving The Kitchen Table food Saturday 2nd June!

We’ve really enjoyed making salads and dips with veg sticks for Sacks Too these last few weeks and they’ve been selling well. It’s nice to know that people can get a healthy snack in the day so we’ll continue supplying fresh, seasonal and interesting food for people to picnic with, grab on the run or have on their lunch break, Wednesday-Friday each week.

I’ve been working out of the Bay Horse for a couple of months now and driving customers crazy with delicious smells coming out of the kitchen as I prepare our catering dishes for various jobs and Sacks Too lunches, so The Bay Horse and The Kitchen Table decided to join forces. From Saturday 2nd June you will be able to have a fresh, seasonal and tasty fritatta, quiche or a hearty Chunks pie with two delicious salads for lunch. What a combination?! Great local beer, fantastic locally sourced, lovingly cooked and fresh food in the newly paved garden in the sunshine!

This Sunday (3rd June) we’re at the Dartington Food Fair which will be our first ever festival! We’re really looking forward to being amongst so many local Devon food heroes, some of whom we know, and some of whom we look forward to meeting. We’re celebrating the Jubilee with a trio of seasonal salads; The Great British Potato Salad; zesty mayo, Devon Organics locally grown mint, The Husbandry School blue potatoes and crunchy oca (a wonderful red tuber from South America), fresh garden peas and spring onions. We’re serving this with a really tasty Crunchy Spring Slaw with hazelnuts, fresh organic mixed leaves and edible flowers from School Farm in Dartington (how local can you get?!). So come and say hi and have a punnet of salads or a Za’atar Humous and salad wrap or…. and I left this to last for a reason!……. a slice of rhubard Victoria Sponge. We’ve gone totally British and gloriously regal!

Oca from The Husbandry School

 

Local, local, local!!!

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Our fledgling outside catering business, based in Totnes has been focused from the outset on using local Devon suppliers and being true to our tagline ‘Conscious Catering’. The Kitchen Table has been up and running now for more than half a year! Unbelievable! We’ve spent that time learning, meeting, eating, cooking, learning some more and really getting to grips with the business. I think Hannah, myself and KT (as we affectionately refer to our little business) are trully becoming bosom buddies! We have several repeat clients and a growing and diverse client base. It’s so pleasing to meet new people, plan their business and community meetings, public and private events, celebrations, weddings and family festivities with them and to come up with menu’s which sing the praises of our local growers and producers in tune with the seasons.

This last month has seen us hosting our very first (of many!) Kitchen Table conversation cafe’s hosted by Embercombe which was a rip-roaring success and we’re so excited to be planning the next one already for July – watch this space to find out who will be hosting the summer conversation!

It’s also seen us involved in organising a coffee festival in Totnes, to celebrate the towns independent cafe’s and send a clear message to any conglomerates, that we’re doing just fine thank you!! This festival is a joyous celebration of our diverse and ungentrified high street (as well as an opportunity to drink a lot of coffee!). Hannah rocked the airwaves today, talking on Totnes FM about the message behind the festival and she’s played a key role in organising the exciting barrista competition being held in the Civic Square Sunday 20th May.

In addition, this rainy spring has seen The Kitchen Table doing a trialCannellini, local purple sprouting broccoli and black olive salad run of supplying Sacks Too on the Plains with healthy, affordable and delicious lunch options.. each week we’ve made a scrumptious quiche, sumptious salad and sensational dip and veg sticks! They’ve been selling well and I’m excited that people have something healthy and creative for lunch – because though we all love a pasty, it’s nice to treat our bodies sometimes too.

So, I’m really enjoying this season of collaboration, mutual benefit and support. We’re in the process of putting a suppliers page together so you can see some of the wonderful people, projects and businesses that supply us to use their delicious produce in our cooking.

If you want a sample of our food, why not pop into Sacks Too Wed-Fri this Wild garlic, nettle and Sharpham brie quicheweek and try a wild garlic, nettle and Sharpham brie quiche, a cannellini bean, purple sprouting broccoli (grown just outside Totnes) and black olive salad or a mildly spiced carrot and red lentil dip with carrot sticks?

Also, next month we’ll be at The Dartington Food Fair, so come say hi?!

Celebrate great independent coffee in Totnes

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Totnes Independent Coffee Festival

Totnes has a thriving locally owned high street which attracts tourists and local shoppers alike who come to appreciate the variety and unique quality that independent shops provide. Allowing Costa Coffee to set up shop here will only fuel the sad decline from vibrant independence to yet another generic British high street. Instead of accepting this as inevitable we wish to highlight the quality and variety of coffee providers we have here in Totnes. We have a wealth of small local businesses who benefit the local community, economy and people directly. By supporting these businesses instead of large national or multi-national stores we ensure that the wealth stays locally and works for our community.

The Totnes Independent Coffee Festival starts this Saturday. Check out the following cafes and restaurants for their unique coffee related promotions during the two weeks. You have a chance to win some fantastic prizes in our prize draw. To enter simply fill in the card provided with your coffee rating the customer service and coffee quality. You can also sign the petition against Costa Coffee coming into Totnes.

Join us on May 20th in the Civic Square for the first Totnes Barista competition with our panel of expert judge from Coffee West, Owens Coffee, and Base Coffee. We will be providing demonstrations on the art of coffee making, live music and of course, samples of delicious freshly ground coffee. The Barista competition is kindly sponsored by Owens Coffee of Modbury.

Participating venues -

MANSION CAFE
RUMOUR WINE BAR
LA FOURCHETTE BRASSERIE
DEVERES
ANNE OF CLEAVES
TANGERINE TREE
WOODS
GREEN CAFE
BRIOCHE
BARREL HOUSE
BISTRO 67
WILD FIG
LOAFERS
FAT LEMONS
OLSEN CAFE
OLD BAKERY AND COFFEE SHOP
MAISIES
CRANKS
STAVERTON BRIDGE NURSERY CAFE
THE WHITE HART INN
ROUND HOUSE CAFÉ
CHINA BLUE
RIVERFORD
ROYAL SEVEN STARS
WATERSIDE BISTRO
NEW WALK

 

Sold out!

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Good news for the 40 odd people who tried to book on our Kitchen Table Conversations last week only to find us fully booked, we will be doing it again! This time was hosted by the fantastic Embercombe (http://www.embercombe.co.uk/) next time….well we have a whole host of inspiring local organisations lined up for you.

65 of us enjoyed fine food and excellent conversation around the Kitchen Table last Thursday at the Barrelhouse, Totnes. It was a real joy to see our guests really listening to one-another and enjoying the conversation over our local cauliflower or spiced lamb tagine. Suzy Edwards and Jo Clarke from Embercombe presented opposing arguments on ‘isn’t growing our own food outdated and idealistic?’. Who indeed has time for a second job?  But who would want to sacrifice the serenity found with hands in earth, digging potatoes or planting lettuce, breathing the air, reminding ourselves how beautiful and how fragile life is.

Great to meet you all, look out for our next Kitchen Table Conversation in Totnes.

The Kitchen Table Conversations

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Isn’t growing our own food outdated, idealistic and too much like hard work?

Embercombe is inviting local food lovers, experts, producers and everyday eaters round The Kitchen Table to enjoy great food, good company and stimulating conversation on April 19th at 7pm in The Barrelhouse, Totnes.

The event is free, with a delicious meal available for £6 provided by us, The Kitchen Table. The bar will be open all evening for alcoholic, soft and hot drinks.

This provocative conversation cafe will be kicked off by Suzy Edwards and Jo Clarke. Suzy was a co-founder of the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s and sat on the board of Friends of the Earth. She is a professional environmentalist who enjoys scrutinising ‘sacred cows’ and now works at Embercombe. Jo is a Devon farmers son and has been a clown, a gardener, a parent and a teacher and now cares for the 50 acres of land at Embercombe, which feeds 1000’s every year and runs the land based learning programme there.

The speakers will talk about  ’How we can all do our jobs AND eat sustainably?  Isn’t growing our own food outdated, idealistic and too much like hard work? , then the conversations over wonderful Kitchen Table food will begin. Suzy from Embercombe says “This is a fantastic opportunity to process what you’ve heard and discuss the issues raised”.

Booking essential, please email sima@thekitchentable.org.uk stating whether or not you will be eating.

Oh the joys of the wild

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Oooo the joys of the wild, to watch Oyster mushrooms growing and prepping freshly shot pigeons and pheasants from our mate Richard. I think I scared away poor vegetarian David, the final straw being the ceremonious gutting of a brace of pheasants in my kitchen. Ah well, at least I gave him tea first. Oh course our Oyster mushrooms didn’t actually grow in the wild, the grow boxes in our kitchen are the creation of Adam Sayner, our supplier of the season. I am currently watching harvest number two start to take shape. You get an average of three harvests from one box! And only £12, a bargain that is, and a fabulous gift. Last Christmas most of my family were growing gourmet mushrooms.Adam uses recycled coffee grounds to grow the mushrooms in. How cool is that! You can buy them from http://www.fungi-futures.co.uk

So recipe number two from our first Supplier Of The Season evening.

Braised puy lentils with rare pigeon breast and curly kale Serves 4

  • 8 wood pigeon breasts, marinated overnight in blackberry gin (or sloe gin)
  • ground spices – (1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 star anise, 1/4 cinnamon stick, 1tsp allspice berry, 1 tsp juniper) 1 tbsp brown sugar, zest of 1 orange, salt. Fry mirapoix (1 carrot, 1 celery stick, 1 onion, diced). Fry for a few minutes.
  • Add 1 clove chopped garlic and 4 rashers sliced bacon. Fry.
  • Add a splash of sherry.
  • Add 250g puy lentils (washed) and enough stock to cover (I made a pigeon stock).
  •  Simmer until the lentils are cooked but retain their shape.  Season well.
  • Drain the wood pigeon breasts. Fry in a hot pan for a couple of minutes each side.
  • Rest before slicing and plating up with the wood pigeon resting on top of the braised lentils. Serve with curly kale on the side.

All the vegetables in the recipe were local and organic. The pigeons were shot in the woods nearby. The mushrooms grew in my kitchen. I suspect the puy lentils were grown in Puy.

Many thanks to our marvelous photographer Hele, to the talented Adam for his mushrooms and for Mark and Jenny for their eating skills.

Enjoy

Hannah x Continue reading →