Merry Christmas from Local Food and Drink

Local Food and Drink is ONE year old today!! (30th Nov 09)

’Tis the season to be jolly?

Merry Christmas from us all at Local Food and Drink

We thought we’d do away with ‘In Season...’ this month and focus on all things Christmas instead.

Keep an eye out for special Christmas farmers markets across the UK to stock up on some wonderful locally sourced goods to tuck into over the festive season. A good place to check dates and locations is here: farmersmarkets.net

Christmas is a good time to be a beer drinker. For centuries brewing and religion have been closely aligned and it fell upon the brewers to produce a tasty tipple for the seasonal celebrations. The tradition continues to this day as many breweries produce a premium product for the Christmas season. Take a look at GreatBritishBeer.co.uk to find your nearest brewery and pick up some local festive beers. These could also make an excellent gift for your real ale loving friends and family!

Hampers also make wonderful gifts. A chance to enjoy products you might not usually buy for yourself. Ludlow Food Centre has a tasty array of different hampers this season – but of course look online or in farm shops near you offering similar.

How wonderful to see the return of Delia to our TV sets for the first time since 1990 - with a one off Christmas special, Classic Christmas, airing on BBC 2 on Tuesday 1 December at 9pm!

Also Channel 4's champion of local seasonal food, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, has returned to River Cottage to discover the best that winter has to offer. Catch Hugh on Thursdays at 8pm on Channel 4 – this week (3rd Dec) Hugh creates his own chocolate goodies for Christmas gifts.

That’s all from us for December – have a great festive season and be sure to check back in January for our new ‘In Season..’ Detox special !!

A Shropshire trio open farm shop, deli and café - The Green Cow - outside Bridgnorth

A Shropshire trio, passionate about local food, have finally realised their combined dream, as on Saturday November 14th they opened their farm shop, deli and café, The Green Cow, just outside Bridgnorth.



Gregg and Sally Berger from Much Wenlock and Gregg's sister, Angie Dimmack from Telford, opened the doors of their shop at 9am on Saturday.

Sally said "it was amazing, quite a few people were waiting for us to open!"

With free tastings of 'Chase' Herefordshire vodka, free range sausages and bacon from Buttercross Farm as well as pickles and preserves from Mike's Homemade; customers really enjoyed the trio's first day's trading. Sally continued "it was great to see so many people coming through the doors and leaving with boxes stuffed full of goodies!"

Customer Elaine Hughes from Bridgnorth said "it is wonderful to have such a shop so near selling a huge range of food; it is just what we needed!"

Another customer, Georgina Withers, who came from Much Wenlock said "I can buy everything here that I need, from free range meats, vegetables, fruit to cheeses and speciality breads, milk and cream – and also to be tempted by a delicious amount of puddings and chocolate!" Georgina continued "I think it is really important to support local producers and to have such a large range of food in one place makes it much easier for people like me who haven't got a lot of time to shop at many different places."

Angie, who heads the café, said "we had a great day in the cafe, all of our tables were full for quite a few hours with people enjoying our home-made soup, cakes and light meals."

The Green Cow's ethos is to offer locally sourced food at a reasonable priced but of superb quality.

Having undergone nearly 3 months of refurbishment before it could be opened, The Green Cow is now open from Monday to Saturday 9am – 5.30pm and is located at the livestock market site, Tasley Road, Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

In season ... November

Chase those Winter Blues away with these warming recipes this November!

This Month on Local Food and Drink we are focusing on hearty warming dishes to cheer you all up as the weather descends to full on winteriness.

First off we have a very special recipe from the lovely Karen Thorne who runs her very own B&B in Shropshire – Hopton House.

Karen’s hearty dish suggestion is Venison Sausages in Red Wine. Of course, you could use any type of sausage you like here to give it your own slant. Karen suggests you serve this with lots of buttery mashed potato and cabbage – and we couldn’t agree more!

Next up we have a lighter – but surprisingly warming dish - Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad.

Love it or hate it – Beetroot is back! Beetroot contains betaine - a substance that relaxes the mind and is used to treat depression – great for battling the winter blues then. It also contains trytophan (also found in chocolate) which contributes to a sense of well being. Beetroot at this time of year is surely the way forward.

For those of you with a sweet tooth – why not bake some delicious Coffee and Walnut cupcakes.

Walnuts are one of the best plant sources of protein. They are rich in fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, and antioxidants such as Vitamin E. Nuts in general are also high in plant sterols and fat - but mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (omega 3 fatty acids - the good fats) that have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol.

Walnuts, in particular, have significantly higher amounts of omega 3 fatty acids as compared to other nuts.

How could we leave out Toffee Apples at a time like this? Having a Bonfire / Fireworks party this November the 5th then these are a must – click here to find out how to make these treats.

That’s all from us for November – be sure to check back in December for our new ‘In Season..’ Chrsitmas special updates