07 December 2009

Kit-Kat Goes Fairtrade

Fairtrade has just announced that Kit-Kat, the massive brand of Nestlé in the UK, is switching its cocoa over to Fairtrade.  This will start in mid January 2010 and is obviously a reaction to Cadbury's Dairy Milk going Fairtrade in Summer 2009.  See...

22 November 2009

A Christmas Traditional Craft - Making A Pomander

Today we’ve had a ago at making pomanders.  Pomanders were used in England from the medieval period until the 18th century as a way of perfuming the air.

19 November 2009

Antony Gormley And 2 Modern Icons (Or Maybe It's 4)

I have just been for a short family visit to Corbridge which is from where I hail.  I am born and bred in Northumberland and have Northumberland, the Tyne and the North coursing through my veins and deeply embedded in my psyche.  I love the North and...

17 November 2009

Keep Governments Out Of Saving The World

One of the areas of society that is exercising my thoughts at present is how societies organise themselves, are governed and whether we (as citizens) are actually free ... or just whether we are being told that we are free, but in reality are all jus...

09 November 2009

Steenbergs in the press

Steenbergs Organic is in the press again with some nice articles. 

08 November 2009

Recipe - Making Your Own Christmas Pudding

We have had a brief hiatus from Christmas preparations with Halloween and Bonfire Night, but this weekend I've got back to the task of preparing for Christmas.  This weekend was the turn of the pudding.

07 November 2009

Give A Christmas Present Today

It's the end of the ancient British year as we move from the bright, warm summer period into the winter period.  It's a time to reflect on where we are.  As we move into the colder, winter months, it is a time to be thankful for what we have got and...

06 November 2009

Bonfire Night and Delicious Parkin Recipe

Another symbol of the passing year.  Another memory of cold, dark evenings.  Another thread perhaps back to simpler times, perhaps even to pagan times.  Bonfire Night has a special place in our annual celebrations, even though I know it’s not very PC...

05 November 2009

Autumn Poems

Perhaps Autumn is a time for poetry.  So here are a few poems that conjur up the period for me. 

04 November 2009

Autumnal Leaves Falling

Autumnal leaves are falling everywhere.  They have hung on in there for quite a while longer as we have had a short spell of decent warm weather and very little wind.  But even so, nature cannot be stopped and even the delicate finger-like leaves of...

03 November 2009

Recipe For Sweet Chestnuts Foraged At Fountains Abbey

We (that's me and my 2 kids) have been enjoying a few walks this half term break - in the deer park at Studley Royal which is at the lower end of Fountains Abbey and at Brimham Rocks. 

01 November 2009

Recipe For Pumpkin Pie

What to do with all that lovely pumpkin that you've got after scooping out your pumpkin, or just because they are such good value discounted in those shops that have overstocked.  This year we've made a classic pumpkin pie - which was deliciously ind...

30 October 2009

Carving Your Pumpkin At Halloween

Carving a pumpkin is really quite simple and (dare I say it) quite satisfying to do.  Here is how we do it in the Steenbergs household.

19 October 2009

Response from Kabul about Schools, Hospitals and Mosques

Relating to my blog dated 6 October 2009 (see below for links), I have had this response from Mike Hollis, who is Programme and Strategy Co-ordinator, Department for International Development in the British Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

15 October 2009

The Icefjord Commitment

"Amidst the wisdom and majesty of water, ice and sunlight, we have prayed within the realm of our own traditions.

09 October 2009

Steenbergs' Annual Organic Audit

This week heralded our annual audit by the Organic Food Federation, which is one of the UK's original organic auditors. 

06 October 2009

Schools, Hospitals and Mosques for Afghanistan

Following on from my blog of the other day, I contacted the Department for International Development (DfID) yesterday through their website to ask them the following questions:

14 September 2009

Summer's Over

Saturday was hot, a really glorious day.  However, the swallows have gone so the blue sky felt empty without their energetic dance swooping and soaring the catch insects.  They must have left while I was in London last weekend and into last week.  An...