11 April 2010

Pale Blue Dot

Sometimes you read something that says things so much more clearly and beautifully than one could ever hope to do oneself.  And I have recently read one of those - it comes from Richard Dawkins' brilliant anthology of science writing called "The Oxfo...

07 April 2010

First Impressions On UK Political Parties From Green Agenda

As promised, I have started the process of looking at the main political parties from the perspective of the environment and international development.  I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I had expected with this, but I will continue.  Yes...

31 March 2010

New Penja Pepper from the Cameroon in Western Africa

I’ve got some new peppers and as usual I am bit over-giddy about it.  These ones are classic Piper nigrum – the traditional pepper plant for normal black, white and green pepper.   Usually, we get our black pepper from India and Sri Lanka, but these...

28 March 2010

Global warming - what's the fuss all about?

I have to admit to becoming more skeptical about global warming since I began studying at The Open University on an Environmental Studies and Science Course.  I doubt that becoming less convinced about much of the stuff written about global warming w...

27 March 2010

Recipe - Hot Cross Buns

I have always bought our hot cross buns from the baker or the supermarket, which just seems a bit too lazy really, so I thought I would have a bash at making them myself this year.

24 March 2010

Chinese Green Art Teas - Yin Yuan

I have received a few Chinese Green Teas that have been hand crafted into intricate shapes - they are called Art Teas or Flower Teas and they really do look exquisite.  And for those tea drinkers like me, who love the ceremony and artistry of the who...

14 March 2010

Recipe for Simnel Cake

Today is Mother's Day and what a glorious sunny, Spring day it has been.  We gave Sophie a gorgeous bouquet of flowers - white roses, lilies and greenery - and went to church for a Mothers' Day Service, a bit of a rarity for me.  I liked the sentimen...

11 March 2010

Enjoying Tasting Oolong Tea

Today it's a sunny day with a warming, clear fresh light and a blue sky.  This is great weather to look at tasting oolong teas from China and Taiwan (sometimes called Formosa by tea drinkers).  The clear light allows you to see the subtle colour diff...

09 March 2010

Tasting Japanese Green Tea

At Steenbergs, we are undergoing some changes to our loose leaf specialist teas.  Last year, we redesigned the labels to be bespoke for each tea type and with better descriptions on making tea, as well as being bright and fun looking.  Next week, we...

09 March 2010

Two Media Mentions In The Guardian

Steenbergs was mentioned two articles this weekend in The Guardian which was most kind of the two authors - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Yotam Ottolenghi - so thank you both. 

25 February 2010

Recipe for Vanilla Fudge and Coconut Ice

I know this is really quite pathetic but I have only just cracked how to make fudge in the last year.  It always seemed to burn every time I tried to make it - the problem is that most recipes don't give the mixture long enough for the sugar to be tr...

21 February 2010

How We Are Reducing Our Family Environmental Impact – Insulating the Loft

One of the major users of energy in a house is for heating the building.  Space and water heating in homes gives off about 20% of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions, which is about 5 tonnes CO2 per home every year.

15 February 2010

Recipe - Pancakes Stuffed With Mixed Mushrooms In A Cheese Sauce

Following on from making pancakes per Sunday's post, we used the 8 pancakes, or crêpes, that this made by stuffing them with a mushroom filling, covering them in a cheese sauce and baking them in the oven.  This is how we made it. 

14 February 2010

Classic Pancake Recipe

Shrove Tuesday is the traditional start of Lent.  It has become associated with pancakes in Britain and so everyone spends the day making pancakes.  We regularly make pancakes for breakfast which the kids then top with cinnamon sugar or lemon and sug...

13 February 2010

How We Are Reducing Our Family Environmental Impact – Getting Started

I thought we could share how we have tried to reduce our carbon footprint and what we are still looking at doing.

07 February 2010

Follow the frankincense trail

05 February 2010

Steenbergs Launches New Design For Spice Tins

At Steenbergs, we have been doing a lot of work trying to refresh parts of our organic spices and seasonings range.  Now we have relaunched our spice tins into a bright new label and an elegant rolled tin.

04 February 2010

Recipe for Traditional Pudding: Queen of Puddings

I was listening to Radio 4 the other day and they were talking about steam puddings and how it is a truly English traditional that is not found anywhere else.  One of the puds they were talking about was Queen of Puddings which was being made  at Riv...