05 September 2009
STEENBERGS SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER
Beat the autumn blues with Steenbergs
Once again its been a packed summer with lots of new products and events happening at Steenbergs - so it certainly has not been a wash out in Yorkshire!
We've got lots of new things to share with you as well as a special offer for you.
Don't forget our recipes and our blog for ideas to inspire. Happy autumn from us all at Steenbergs.
Thank you for all your support and we are always interested in hearing from you.
Steenbergs home baking continues its colour campaign
After the success of Steenbergs extracts and floral waters, we've continued the new look throughout our home bakery range. The seven organic Fairtrade flavoured sugars have all taken on colourful labels - vanilla, cinnamon , lemon, lavender, mulling wine, chai and our award winning rose . They are joined in this range by our organic Fairtrade mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. They make a colourful and useful addition to any kitchen.
If you've never tried flavoured sugars before start off on pancakes or over fruit to get the flavours and then try baking with the different flavours. We've all got our own favourites but it also depends on our moods - lavender and lemon work well in dressings and over meat as well as in puddings. Steenbergs lavender sugar was used by Sophie Grigson in the Fairtrade cookbook for lavender scones.
Cinnamon, vanilla and rose are slightly more traditional in that they can be used in pretty well any sweet dish. Try the first two in home made hot chocolate as another suggestion.
Although the summer is still on its way out it won't be too long before we are turning our heads to making Christmas puddings and cakes so don't forget our Fairtrade mixed spice, as well as a tasty addition to plain yoghurt and a host of other baking dishes.
New products
The range of products available at the Steenbergs online shop grows all the time. Favourites from our recent additions include "The world famous Spice and herb playing cards" - the spices version of these cards are packed with nuggets of information about spices as well as beautifully illustrated. Fantastic for playing anything from patience and hearts to bridge.
We've added a shaving area to the web shop. Axel was amused when his 6 year old daughter pounced on his shaver and asked whether she could take it to school as an example of something "old". The truth is that "an old fashioned" razor as opposed to disposable or electric is still one of the classic eco friendly products - you don't have to change your razor very often just your blades.
Another new area is for babies and children - this area has been introduced as we know that many of our customers are families. It is has a selection of more eco-friendly products. Before we start the debate on "real" nappies versus disposable. We are looking into "real" nappies as a next step and these disposable ones are more biodegradable than normal disposables.
On a more fragrant note the new products we now stock include incense sticks and natural protectors for clothes and against shoe odour.
New organic food includes Duchy Original biscuits, organic teriyaki sauce and even more choice in our cereals and vitamins/ supplements.
We've also just started stocking a whole variety of Tyrrells hand cooked potato crisps - Tyrrells grow all the potatoes they use for the crisps on their farm in Hertfordshire - very tasty. There are two sizes the handy snack size and the more sociable larger pack. These are available in cases as well to make it easier for stocking up your larder.
Other new products that we are excited about include our ecoforce recycled clothes pegs and sponges - making things out of things that would otherwise end up in landfill has just got to be good news. The clothes pegs are really good and seem to be coping with the weather that this Yorkshire summer is throwing at them!
Daylight bulbs, organic cotton wool, organic maple syrup... there's all sorts of new things at the Steenbergs online shop.
We add to these on a regular basis and if there's anything that you would like us to start selling or that you don't seem to be able to find please don't hesitate to email us at enquiries@steenbergs.co.uk.
Special offers
We would like to offer you 10 per cent discount on all your orders in September if you quote the following code 0909. This offer is valid until the end of September. The perfect time to try out something new whether its one of our curry mixes, home bakery products or even hand soap.
We've also got all our Glenroyd organic chutney, mustards, marmalades and jams on special offer. There's never been a better time to stock up.
FDA report on organic
The recent FDA report on organic food was a bit of a non event except for its release in the traditional "silly season" in August. For more information on our response to this report please look at our blog x 2 .
Alternatively we include our comments on the very recently revised standards for Fairtrade spices.
We keep the blog as up-to-date as possible with news and views which we hope are of interest. We always welcome feedback.
Ecoleaf home cleaning products
We are in the process of moving all our household cleaning products to Ecoleaf. Ecoleaf is a new brand on the market of eco-friendly household cleaning products and is produced for Suma workers cooperative. This organisation is one of the heroes of wholefoods and organic and has done much to help provide environmentally responsible products.
We look forward to hearing your feedback on their products, certainly we've been very impressed by their performance so far and the antibacterial hand soap has become a bit of a family favourite.
New Fairtrade products
New excitements from the Steenbergs camp of Fairtrade products include two of our curry blends going Fairtrade - organic Fairtrade garam masala and organic Fairtrade curry mix. We will constantly continue to look at new Fairtrade products as and when available and possible.
We are also now stocking in our online shops several other Fairtrade products including Fairtrade rubber gloves, Fairtrade chocolate crispy bars, as well as the Fairtrade cleaning cloths , cocoa, sugar, golden syrup and coffee that we currently stock.
Force cereal part of Steenbergs family history
We've recently started stocking Force cereal - which claims to be one of the first breakfast cereals. This is not the first time the Steenbergs family has been the purveyors of Force. Axel's just discovered that his grandfather was the UK agent for Force cereal just under a century ago, before the first world war when Force was imported from America for the first time. At that time it was owned by A C Finckens - now it's part of Nestle.
Staff choice
This is a new idea for the Steenbergs newsletter where one of our trusty staff share their own selections. This month's turn is Lesley
Favourite Steenbergs product:- organic Malay Masala. The whole family loves the curry I make with this - a definite winner.
Recipe - for 4
- 1 tbsp organic coconut oil
- 1 tsp organic malay masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp onion granules
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 5 closed cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
- 1 large tin organic coconut milk
What to do:
Melt coconut butter, fry pepper and mushrooms until soft. Add malay masala, onions and garlic and fry for 1 min. Add turmeric, stir in and add coconut milk, bring to the boil, add cooked chicken and reduce to a simmer for approx 10 mins or until chicken is heated through. Serve with basmati rice. (You can also use any vegetables you have to hand and substitute the chicken for white fish).
Fav non Steenbergs product: Biona organic Coconut oil - this is great because we use it for cooking and moisturising
Environmental tip: If you have a multi-fuel or wood stove and no central heating, or would like to cut your gas bill, you can set up a closed radiator system to run by thermal syphoning from a radiator placed behind the stove. We installed this about 12 months ago and the difference has been amazing and we haven't turned on our gas heating since.
Steenbergs out and about
Since our last newsletter, we've been delighted to be listed in The Observer's top food gadgets listed - particularly for our sumac and Za'atar.
Our home bakery range was also listed in Woman and Home as website of the day.
Our natural almond extract has recently been reviewed favourably in Caterer and Hotelkeeper and our organic spray dried vanilla powder also received praise from the BBC Good Food Magazine.
Our list of stockists grow daily and our home bakery range is now stocked by a variety of distributors so we don't always know where our products are available. However if you have any problems please don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best to help you.
