BOROUGH MARKET SECRETS FROM THE BOROUGH BELLES

Many of you may know that I am indeed part of the WI. The Borough Belles Women's Institute to precise and in recent months was made joint president. Not only does the Borough Belles give me so much fun and also contact with other like minded women, but it also makes me privy to inside information...

Each year the WI votes on a resolution, this year it is the "High Street SOS"  which you may have already seen in the press with faces such Mary Portus heading the campaign. Our very own President, Lara Clements, also became a face for this campaign by being interviewed on Channel 5 News. Read more about the campaign HERE. We were so proud of her and she'd only been given a few hours notice from WI HQ! Following the interview she headed straight to our August meeting with a talk from David Matchett, the market development manager at the famous Borough Market!

One point that was brought up during Lara's interview and also when discussing the local high street shops and markets, is the fact that it is more expensive than shopping in the big supermarkets! We put this point to David, during the Q&A, after his talk.

David agreed that Borough Market stall holders do not sell the cheapest of produce, but that it is of high quality and each stall holder could tell you where it came from and what day it was picked. Also making the point that it is only in recent years that you can buy chicken everyday due mass production and that when buying meat it would be savoured and only bought one day a week. Society has changed and people now expect & are looking for quantity rather than quality, which is what Borough Market stall holders are selling.

That said, David did inform us of how once a week a few stalls do 'food bargins' & '£1 bowls'. He has very kindly sent the Borough Belles insider info that the girls have allowed me to share with you here on Never Eat Wobbly Jelly!

For ease of location please use this link to locate the traders named below

http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/market-map

Elsey and Bent have 1kg bowls of heritage tomatoes for £1! 
Get the chutney pan on. Gary will see you right here!!

Teds Veg also has a self serve £1 selection with other fruit and veg.

Sillfield Farm Shop  has wedges (up to 250gm)  of creamy lancanshire for £2 each and also big wild boar steaks at 2 for £6 each. Ask for Peter for any porcine advise.

Une Normande a Londres, will have their 5 fromage for £10 deals back  next week, these are selections of cow,  goat, and sheep,  hard, soft, washed rind and blue, and one of the best deals on the market. Uli  will guide you on his selection of cheese and charcuterie

Also if you need to stock up the spice cupboard Mags at Spice Mountain has got a 6pack of basics for £10; Mags also gives discounts for refilling if you bring your own storage jar.

Other £1 Fruit and Veg bowls are on offer from Jock Stark Thursday to Saturday; usually an interesting selection and good quality; and from Paul Crane on Friday and Saturday. Paul Crane is great for buying in bulk, ignore the prices on the flash and buy by the case; he wont refuse any interesting offer.

Game will be coming into full swing and as the harvest approaches the time of plenty should be easier on the pockets.

Do you have any ideas for how we can support our local high streets?

Is there any local business that you think we could feature on the blog and why? 

If you do post me a comment on the NEWJ blog or feel feel to drop the Borough Belles WI a line either via their FACEBOOK PAGE or by email: boroughbelleswi@gmail.com

CHESINI BIKE ADVENTURE

With the Tour de France starting this weekend I thought I'd do a post bicycle related and what better than about my beloved Chesini!

Chesini, is a 1970's Italian made bicycle from Verona, that in it's day won an award in The Bicycles Oscars.

So far this so called summer I have managed to go on a few adventures which I highly recommend. 

Orginally a bit apprehensive of cycling in London, I have since found it addictive! 

Richmond Park and St Petersham Nurseries was a great day. I got there from New Cross via the London Overground. My cycle buddy for the day, Ruth, met me at Hoxton on route.

We even managed to get to the top for a well earned drink and a superb view of Richmond Park. Unfortunately due to lack of bike locks we didn't stay to sample the culinary delights of Petersham Nurseries but I will be definitely going back soon to amend this! www.petershamnurseries.com/

The next adventure was a little closer to home. The Horniman Museum, Forest Hill via the Forest Hill Food Fair for a bit to eat.

We decided on a Van Dough pizza at the food fair, which was freshly made infront of us. Then baked in a wood-fired oven in the back of their Citroen H Van. So good, so fresh! I highly recommend you search these guys out - www.vandough.co.uk/

After our lunch we continued our cycle up to the Horniman Museum. Again, there is rather a big hill to climb but well worth it!

This is how I'd imagined a museum to be when I was a child. Lots of diagrams and glass cases filled with stuffed animals with their Latin names below. It was like stepping back in time.

 The day rounded off with a '99. Can't get much better than that!

Hope to post more adventures soon.

Seasons Are changin!

As it's Sunday, we headed up to the Farmer's market in Blackheath to get some produce for the coming week...

Is it me or do work lunch boxes seem to be the hardest thing to keep exciting and interesting? Not only do they have to be portable (un-leakable) usually have to be cold or pre-cooked (no ovens at work) but also tasty and satisfying. And on top of all that variety!

Now I know we're in the height of summer and what I'm about to say will seem strange... but soup seems the way forward! Obviously this will change once I'm all souped up, but having a bowl of soup is healthy, hot and also will keep you fuller for longer compared to a salad - 'don't you know' - well that's what I heard them say on this TV programme. There were lots of army men eating soup and others the same ingredients but not pureed... anyho the soldiers that had the soup stayed fuller for longer.

Oh I've just thought of another reason why soup is goood in the summer - it's like having a cuppa tea. A hot cuppa tea will cool you down quicker than a glass of ice cold water.  FACT.
Again heard this on another tv programme and made a lot of sense but don't ask me to explain... something to do with your bodies inside freaking out at the hot tea and then cooling you down quicker...??

That was a bit of a tangent wasn't it......

So where was I? Oh yeah 'Soup kitchen' and work lunch boxes.
My work colleague, Kim, and I are gonna start making lunches for each other. So she'll sort out Mon & Tues and I'll sort out Wed & Thurs etc etc... We're gonna do soups, which works out brilliantly! Cause when you make soup, it usually ends up being a 'Vat' of soup & you end up eating the same soup every day for a WEEK!? So by us combining our efforts, not only do keep the variety, try recipes you've never made but it's also rather fun and exciting! 'You never know what ya gonna get' :D

Also I might get myself this cool yet informative t-towel. It tells you what veg is in season every month, which in turns tells you what veg you can get lots off for not a lot of money - Great for soup making! It's designed by Stuart Gardiner (he's done some really cool stuff!) and I think they might sell them round the corner from my office in SCP. Ooo might pop in on Monday :D

Another modern way to stay in touch with your seasonal veg would be to sign up with 'Eat the seasons'. They send you an email every couple weeks to tell you what's in season and has links to recipes and things. very useful as it's free and again very 'informative' (God I'm sounding like my old teacher Mrs Cox!? She was my Home Ec teacher - named after apples - Ha!? co figure)

Bought some delicious Kent Cherries... majority were eaten by the time I got home ;o)

Plan to make Spinach & lentil soup for Wed and Thurs next week. I ended up getting the spinach from the supermarket, as all the spinach in the market had wilted a bit in the sun.
Let's hope Kim likes it :O)

Mx