If You Go Down To The Woods…

If you’re at a loose end this Sunday, then head on over to Daylesford, kitted out in your Hunter’s and thermals, for an hour and a half of wildlife spotting and foraging with Daylesford’s environmental scientist Tim Field and their rather superb Executive Chef Paul Collins. Not just a chance to get back to nature and to take top tips on cooking, gardening and the raising of happy, healthy organic, free-range chickens (as is the current topic du jour), but you can also have a bit of a snoop around Lady Carole Bamford’s backyard. We hope the next foraging trip will be through her house proper so we can see whether her real-life is as beautifully immaculate and perfectly designed as her lifestyle store.
The wildlife/foraging tour takes place on Sunday 20th January from 11.30am until 1pm
Call Daylesford Organic for more information: 01608 731700
www.daylesfordorganic.com
Talking of happy chickens, be sure to sign up now to support the Chicken Out! campaign:
www.chickenout.tv

 

No More Dinner Party Faux Pas

Foie gras is, arguably, the most controversial foodstuff you can put into your mouth. In some states in the US it’s been banned, while conversely Michelin-starred chefs serve it in its many forms all across their menus. High-end supermarket chain Waitrose has come up with the perfect solution for foodies who take the ethical treatment of the animals they eat very seriously: thanks to the launch of Faux Gras. Excellent name (soon to be trademarked by Waitrose), wonderful product. Foie gras proper is produced, as you no doubt know, through the force-feeding of geese and ducks – and with some 63% of the British population believing that foie gras should be banned, faux gras’ launch is timely. This new product is made from the livers of birds that have been allowed to roam freely in British farms and even swim in ponds if the mood takes them – all the richness of the controversial pate, without the cruelty. The livers are blended with goose or duck fat to produce a decadently creamy texture, definitely reminiscent of its more brutal French cousin. And with prices starting at just £4.99, it’s a damn sight cheaper too. What’s good for the goose…
www.waitrose.co.uk

 

Love Spreads

For some, the idea of a slice of toast hot from the toaster slathered with melting butter and topped off with a generous scraping of Marmite is foodie heaven. An acquired taste, it’s easy for those of us that love the yeasty spread to see why it might not be for everyone’s palate. Despite its recent carnation in a squeezy format (talk about lowering the tone, for goodness sake), we’re still firm followers of the spread here at Resource. And we’re especially excited about getting our mouths around the new limited edition version of Marmite. Made with Champagne and launching especially for Valentine’s Day, only (well, we say only…) 600,000 jars of the yeast extract will be available containing 0.3% Champagne and boasting a very special gold-coloured label. If you’re looking to really treat your Marmite-loving loved-one this Valentine’s Day, then go the whole hog and buy them a Marmite-branded Dualit toaster too. Marketing gimmickry gone mad! (Er, we’d still love to try it, though. And yes, we’d quite like the toaster too).
www.marmite.co.uk

 

We Dig It

Those of us who already own shiny, gorgeous iPhones know that looking after your mobile phone has taken on new critical levels of care. Move all spillable beverages away from the iPhone; do not dump new iPhone into the bottom of handbag/briefcase filled with potential scratching items; do not allow iPhone to be handled by anyone under the age of 18; ask envious friends to please wash and dry their hands before fondling one’s iPhone; place on soft piece of material when putting iPhone down onto hard surfaces; stop wearing diamond earrings so that they do not scratch the iPhone when talking on iPhone; carry the iPhone using only a gentle-but-firm fingertip grip on its outer-most edges. Really. Come on. While we adore Apple’s most covetable piece of kit, our lives cannot be ruled by our mobile phone. However beautiful it is. And so to the iPhone’s antithesis: the mobile made for the anti-iPhone set who see their mobile as – gulp – an essential piece of kit that needs to withstand day-to-day knocks. Appropriately, big yellow digger company JCB have come to the rescue with their JCB Toughphone. Encased in tough rubber and the company’s trademark yellow, the phone has been given an IP54 rating, meaning that it’s shock resistant, dust resistant, splash resistant, drop resistant and can be used in temperatures ranging from minus 20 to 60 degrees Celcius. Handy. As well as being a butch little number, it’s also fully-loaded with gadgetry including Bluetooth, tri-band and built-in speakers. Nowhere near as pretty as the iPhone, and not quite so packed with modern technology, it is, however, pretty darn useful for those of us who just can’t offer the commitment levels an iPhone demands.

Available from Bamford And Sons
Tel: 020 7881 8010
www.bamfordandsons.com

 

Speedy Baby

If one of your resolutions (and, quite frankly, whose isn’t?) is to get fit in the new year, then one of the most obscure, bonkers and yet brilliant ideas we’ve seen is the Roller Buggy. Invented by an Austrian designer, and produced by Pix Studio, the baby buggy boasts a retractable scooter platform meaning that when the busy pavements clear before you, you can pull out the platform and speed off. With chunky wheels and all the safety equipment needed to keep your baby tucked safely into its seat, it’s perfect to increase your heart rate when you’re out in the park. No more risky than the three-wheelers you see being pushed around by joggers, it means that having a baby is no longer an excuse to pile on a few extra pounds. (We’re just hoping that the lady in the picture didn’t hit a high kerb when speeding through Manhattan as she appears to have mis-laid her child. An unfortunate publicity shot, certainly).

 

Inspiringly Beautiful

Whenever we’re feeling a little jaded, or need something visually beautifully to inspire us – or, indeed, something delicious to get our creative juices flowing – we head out to Daylesford. Arguably the most gorgeous shopping emporium in the world. We popped over to Carole Bamford’s delightful store after a bite to eat at the Kingham Plough (delicious cider from Brittany, an excellent hand-raised pork pie with homemade chutney, a slightly over-cooked baked egg with Aga-burnt toast, a charming barman and sloppy service from their glamorous front-of-house) and were, as ever, completely moved by just how exquisitely the place has been put together. They say God is in the details and Lady Bamford certainly has left no (perfectly shaped, highly polished) stone unturned. We oohed and ahhed our way through the foodhall (and managed to blag a taste of Stichelton on the way), stroked every possible item we could in the Bamford Barn (mostly those items made from cashmere and softer-than-soft leather), made mental notes for our garden, found a beautiful collar and lead for office pooch Henry and plastered ourselves with wonderfully smelling products in the Haybarn – where a sense of calm and wellbeing envelope you as soon as you push through the doors. We were only there for an hour, but we left feeling full of ideas for our homes and a few pounds lighter (that’s Pounds Stirling).

www.daylesfordorganic.com 

 

Throwing In The Towel

If your Christmas was marred by arguments about who did the washing up, then perhaps you weren’t offering your guests the right kind of tea towel? (We’re not even going to bother asking why you didn’t just bung it all in the dishwasher). We love these whimsical designs by Emma Bridgewater, guaranteed to add a dash of humour to the task of tidying the kitchen.

www.emmabridgewater.co.uk

 

An Eggs-ellent New Year

Did you get everything that you wanted for Christmas? With the Resource team, one gift leads to another. One of our favourite stocking fillers this year was the beautiful little Henkeeping tome published in association with The National Trust and Country Living. Sub-titled ‘Inspiration and pratical advice for would-be smallholders’, it’s gotten us rather excited about the prospect of our own version of The Good Life and so starts our wishlist for 2008. One chicken-y item that we’ve had our collective eye on for a long time has been the Eglu – a rather nifty, i-Mac-a-like design to keep your hens happy and safe, whatever the weather. As well as being the perfect anti-fox home for your egg-laying lovelies, they can also be used to house ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs. The latest version of the Eglu is the new Eglu Cube, which can be moved around your garden or smallholding to ensure that your animals get to munch on the freshest grass available – it’s insulated, can have its covered run extended if you decide to keep your flock in one area, can be hosed down to keep it clean, and can house up to 10 birds.

The Eglu – and chickens to fill it – is available from: www.omlet.co.uk

 

Let It Glow, Let It Glow, Let It Glow

What with the current craze for upside-down and black Christmas trees, there’s definitely a Gothic, whimsical streak running through this year’s Christmas trends. If you’ve got friends and family visiting for Christmas lunch this year, then a sure-fire way to impress is by creating a dramatic table setting. Forget Good Housekeeping’s last minute cleaning tips, and opt instead for a visual assault on the senses: beautifully crafted cutlery, carafes of wine, enormous pewter platters ready for a feast (Whippet Grey do some beautiful ones), a seasonal arrangement of ever-greens and holly and place names scribed in your finest calligraphy so that you can keep the feuding parties at either end of the table. Perfect for adding some modern Gothic splendour to your table is Louise Campbell’s “The More The Merrier” candlestick. Created for the new Scandinavian design collective Muuto, the design can be shaped to fit perfectly into your table setting and will give off the perfect, calming glow.

 

All We Want For Christmas…

If you’re having problems deciding upon which gift to lavish the Resource team with, then we have a fabulous idea for you. No pressure. But if you do want to seriously impress us, then we can’t think of anything that would make us smile more on Christmas morn than a gift voucher from Four Seasons. Preferably with a few noughts on the end of the figure you’re buying. That would mean we could get away to the Four Seasons Hampshire (pictured above) for the odd weekend of spa pampering and clay pigeon shooting, treat ourselves to a shopping trip to NYC (for research purposes, naturally) and a decadent couple of nights in the Georges V in Paris. There’s something rather lovely knowing you’ve got some luxurious weekends away stacked up when the winter nights are long and cold.
Presented in a beautiful folio, we guarantee a very happy recipient this Yuletide.
Buy online before 18 December and choose an amount from $20 (we wouldn’t if we were you) to $100,o00.