23 July 2010

Of Fish In Dumfries And Galloway

17 July 2010

Walk In North Yorkshire - Battle of Boroughbridge

I have a confession to make - I am not a big walker that likes to conquer hills and mountains, even if I know I should be striding forth across moorland and up mountains.  I am not a walker that goes into the hills for the beauty of nature; I ge...

14 July 2010

I Don't Know

I had recently found that our children, as well as some colleagues at work, would always answer questions "I don't know" or "Don't know", whether it's the answer to "What do you want for supper tonight?" or "What did you do at school today?"  So I ha...

11 July 2010

Two Books For All Environmentalists

I have just finished the second of two books that are must-reads for those interested in our planet.  They are Nigel Lawson's "An appeal to reason - a cool look at global warming" and Bjørn Lomborg’s “Cool it – the skeptical environmentalist’s guide...

09 July 2010

Pierre Hermé’s Recipe For Raspberry And Chocolate Tart

Pierre Hermé continues to inspire me. 

08 July 2010

Recipe For Pomegranate Barbecue Sauce

We have been asked for some time whether we could source a pomegranate molasses and I am nearly there on that.  One of our current suppliers, who is based in Beirut in the Lebanon, sent us a sample of Concentrated Pomegranate Juice which is the same...

06 July 2010

Razor Review From Steenbergs

For many years, I shaved with a Gillette safety razor that used a classic plastic double-bladed Contour disposable blade until mid 2009.  However, I did not find the shave particularly close or satisfying, and I didn't like having to chuck the blades...

05 July 2010

Ripon, Religion And Football

For someone with little spirituality, I spent much of last Sunday at religious events.  Both of them were for Ripon Cathedral Choir School, which is celebrating 50 years since its foundation by Ripon Cathedral.  Proof that little old Ripon can be a g...

05 July 2010

June 2010 Food Blog Round Up

At Chocolate & Zucchini, there is a delicious sounding recipe for sablés from Yves Camdeborde's book Dimanche et Famille.  Clotilde Dusolier's blog then sent me around various links on her site to several other biscuit recipes that sound fantasti...

04 July 2010

Walk Around Nosterfield Nature Reserve In Yorkshire

03 July 2010

North Yorkshire Walk - Thornborough Henge

On Thursday 1 July 2010, I did one of Axel's Random Walks near Nosterfield and Thornborough in North Yorkshire.  I recently bought myself an Ordnance Survey Explorer Map of Ripon & Boroughbridge (#299) and in the top left corner you can just find...

03 July 2010

I Just Don't Get Ocado Business Model?

I am fascinated by Ocado and its upcoming flotation.  Why you might ask?  Well, it is because Steenbergs is having a go at becoming an online retailer, but obviously on a micro, mini scale compared to Ocado.  But also, I just don't understand their b...

02 July 2010

Recipe - Chocolate And Nutella Tart

England's football team were abject last Sunday, but the Chocolate And Nutella Tart recipe from the French patisserie chef, Pierre Hermé, was the perfect compensation - sweet, rich and complex in taste that left you just wanting more.  In one of my p...

01 July 2010

Inspired And Humbled By Jennyruth Workshops

Sometimes you visit some people, who really are so good and wonderful that it shames you a bit.  The people at Jennyruth Workshops are some of those unsung heroes that underpin every society in the world; they just get on with it, doing good work, da...

30 June 2010

Recipe For Sweet Pastry Per Pierre Hermé

Having been given a great sweet tart pastry recipe by Anthony Stern from Independent Foods, I have recently come across an even better Sweet Tart Dough in Pierre Hermé’s book “Chocolate Desserts”.  I must admit to being given the heads up about the w...

28 June 2010

Simple Burger Recipe - Part 1

Saturday, a cold Saturday a few weekends ago that felt like winter but was meant to be almost midsummer.  It felt like a good day to start trying to find the Steenberg family's favourite burger recipe.  We tried three recipes which we taste tested si...

26 June 2010

Other Climate Change Indicators

Other than temperature, there are a few more indicators of climate change that are studied, which I will cover in overview here as promised in one of my earlier blogs.

25 June 2010

Sprouting Beans

We have just put Just Wholefoods Organic Sprouting Bean Mix onto Steenbergs web shop.  I remember my mum used to grow mung bean sprouts in a Kilner jar at home which was quite fun and tasted really fresh and crunchy in salads or used in a stir fry. ...