Carry On Britain » Stuff

Ding ding…all change…

Dunc — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Well well! What a monumental loss of focus we have had on this very blog. For that we are eternally sorry

In all honestly it’s been a world of change for us. No longer do we brave the murky grey skies of Manchester (although the city is strangely missed), as two of the team moved out into the Peak District countryside and the other two of us have moved down to Nottingham. New jobs, new homes and new places to visit.

Although, this little website has unfortunately been neglected, I have very much been keeping tabs on the plethora of British Made craft and produce to emerge over the last year or so. At times it has seemed to me that the whole country has felt the need to champion our manufacturing abilities again, which is great. I hate to use the word ‘trend’, but it’s become quite apparent that ‘British Made’ produce has became a major selling point for the high street retailers and supermarkets alike.

At the start of our little task, it was actually quite hard to find some British fruit, veg and produce in the major supermarkets even when it was in season. This seemed to change quite quickly last year, and I vividly remember walking into Sainsbury’s one day and noticing loads of little Union Jack styled ‘British Produce’ tags on the aisles helpfully pointing things out.

Unfortunately, where there’s a bandwagon, people inevitably jump on it, so there’s also been an influx of mass produced tat covered in union jacks that’s quite blatantly manufactured overseas with little regard for quality. I like to call this ‘Brit Washing’ and if I see another badly copied version of Emma Bridgewater’s iconic mugs then I may crack!

So once again, sorry for the tardiness in posting. Hopefully my next one will be sooner than 2012! There’s actually a little pub close by that prides itself on serving local produce and also has something on the menu called ‘The Great British Platter’, so it would be rude not to give it a whirl and report back. ttfn.

The Lizard Cider Barn, Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall

Dunc — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:05:43 +0000

“She makes cider inside ‘er inside…”

There’s not a lot to say about this little place except that you should really drop in if you’re going anywhere near the Lizard Peninsula and you have a penchant for the appley goodness of cider.

Rebuilt from part of the wartime RAF station at Predannack, The Cider Barn is a fairly new addition to the area. Home to Cornish Blacksmith Cider, they actually make the good stuff on site. Drop by to enjoy tasting the wide selection of different ciders, wins, liqueurs and meads. They also have an outdoor display of ancient Cider presses too.

There was such a massive selection that me and Louise had a bit of a problem choosing, so we ended up buying a big selection which we then merrily ‘tasted’ back at the campsite.

Check this tea towel out.

Lou — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:45:07 +0000

I have just found this from Stuart Gardiner, a tea towel with a yearly guide to 74 British seasonal fruits & vegetables printed on it. It comes in a six colour unbleached organic cotton tea towel and its made in the UK.

How cool is that.

You can buy it here

British booze and cheese night

Lou — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:14:05 +0000

Roll on the British booze and cheese night

(and crumble)

Tonight….

My house

All Carry On Britain peeps attending.

I will update tomorrow

Lunches

Lou — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:27:47 +0000

So I’m back to work today after seven weeks of christmas, holidays and work trips. Basically I’m trying to lose the weight that I gained over Xmas so no more trips to the vending machines and certainly no trips to M&S for lemon cheesecake. So I went to work today armed with British apples and bread from Barbakan and my soup. Since we had the largest celeriac known to man in our fridge, yesterday I decided to make a soup. I threw together some garlic, a whole celeriac, leeks, onion and some carrots (all British) and some chicken stock, watch out Nigella. It looked lovely in the pot, its just when you blend it, it just looks like baby food! Back to the drawing board on that one. Tea made up for it though, parsnip, potato and cauliflower curry (again all British).

Ps I know the Muppets arent British but I love them and this was the best lunchbox I found.

Wild At Heart

Lou — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:22:15 +0000

I’m home!

As I’ve spent the last two months in the depths of Christmas celebrations and work trips to China a good old-fashioned detox is in order. Since I’m usually away in January, I start my New Year’s resolutions a little late, not like it makes a difference because I never stick to them! This year will be different, I’m approaching thirty and its time for huge changes.

This year along with the usual suspects (I must not smoke, I must go to the gym more) I have decided that I will buy British wherever possible.

So I will start with a GREAT BRITISH DETOX to try and repair my body of the wrongs I have done over the past few months and support British produce at the same time.

But I’ll start all that detox stuff tomorrow. My first port of call when returning home….. Wild at Heart. Wild at heart is a deli based in Chorlton (www.wildatheart.uk.com) and they have the most amazing selection of cheeses, salads and cakes amongst other things. One of their aims is to support local and rural economies and when it tastes this good, I’m totally down with that. After literally stuffing my face with cheese, ciabatta, olives, stuffed peppers and finishing off with an organic chocolate cheesecake, I sheepishly looked at my mass of empty plates and decide to go home. I have just been in China for two weeks! I am just wondering how long I can use that excuse for.

Anyway DETOX STARTS TOMORROW!

Shocking Behaviour

Lou — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:54:08 +0000

I know it is not a good start to a blog that is promoting Buy British to say I’m in China! I know SHOCKING, but at the end of the day I have to earn a living and it just so happens that the long-standing ‘British’ company I work for manufactures in China.

I have this dream (God who do I sound like) that it would be lovely to see everything designed and produced in good old blighty. I voice my opinion on this quite a lot and although it’s a beautiful idea, the logistics are a nightmare. If we can find skilled people in the UK to make the products, it still causes a problem because all the components are made in China. Not only does fail to boost our economy but also the air miles will still be through the roof!

Anyway all this economy talk is well out of my league…..I promise from now on I’ll only talk about food and fashion – my two favourite subjects of conversation.

Not long till I get home and the first thing I want is Covent Garden soup and a Pie Minster pie…more on that later ☺