Food & drink
For 10 nights only from December 1st to December 12th, 'Mrs Paisley's' pop-up restaurant will be opening its doors once again to highlight the importance of eating in a more eco-conscious way.
Created by Ronnie Wood's ex, Jo Wood, and Arthur Potts Dawson, chef and co-owner of Acorn House, Mrs. Paisley's Lashings is a genuinely innovative project taking place at Jo's own home, Holmwood House, Kingston.
Every feature of the restaurant will be driven by environmental concerns. Ingredients will be sourced from the greatest producers in the UK as well as grown in Jo's own garden or picked at local allotments.
Several of the evenings will also be hosted in association with some of the world's most international renowned eco-luminaries in order to further the vital message about food and the environment. And profits from Mrs Paisley's Lashings will be ploughed back into creating Mrs Paisley gardens in schools across the UK where children can learn about growing their own nourishing food.
Costing £100 for a three course meal including house wine selected by the Chef and a sample cocktail, it's not exactly a cheap night out but it promises to be a great experience. For reservations at Mrs Paisley's Lashings you can contact Amy Wright 0207 4071407 or amy@outersanctum.net.
www.mrspaisleyslashings.com
Food & drink
A humble cup of coffee is usually transformed into a stylish and sophisticated cappuccino by adding frothed milk, which has been whipped up using an electric 'steamer'. But if you don't want a bulky and energy-guzzling device taking up space in your kitchen, a cool alternative is on offer at Ethical Superstore, which now stocks the 'Presso' non-electric espresso and cappuccino coffee maker. It has handles, a bit like a bottle opener, to create the necessary pressure to make these speciality coffees and more.
Still confused? So was I. Follow the jump to see a video of the Presso in action!
£88.95 at Ethical Superstore
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Vegetarian and Vegan living
The opportunity to share the many benefits of a great tasting healthy cruelty-free lifestyle with the world is upon us once again - it's National Vegetarian Week!
If you're already vegetarian you could use this week to help spread the word! Let everyone know that it's not just about lentils, tofu and open-toed sandals any more (although there's nothing particularly wrong with any of those). There's a whole world of deliciously sumptuous delights awaiting those who are willing to take a small dietary step. You veggies are the living proof of the benefits of this lifestyle - so get out there and show yourselves off!
What to do if you're not already a veggie...
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Green News
Easter is on its way, and like any holiday, it brings with it a host of ethical dilemmas. If you're planning on tucking into a chocolate egg there are all the usual waste issues to consider, and are you're going to spend your hard-earned cash on fairtrade and/or organic eggs for you and your family this year? But even if you're going to stick to good old chuckie eggs, you're not off the hook, even if you always insist on buying free range.
Apparently, our greed for extra large eggs is causing untold misery and suffering to our national brood (and Lord knows hens seem to suffer enough already). The fairly obvious reason being that - as Tom Vesey, of the British Free Range Producers' Association put it,'it can be painful for a hen to lay a larger egg'.
Related: Free-range outsell battery eggs for the first time | Chicken Out: Would you buy battery again?
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Food & drink
Are you still getting a veg box delivered? When I started on this blog, I, along with most of my neighbours seemed to be having weekly shipments of organic goodness from Farmaround or Abel & Cole, but nowadays the green van seems to be visiting with much less frequency; presumably replaced by the discount shopping bag and can of baked beans.
But are we being fooled by supermarkets and their increasingly elaborate 'special discounts' into feeling like we're saving when we could be doing just as well on more wholesome food?
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Green News
The latest product to go fairtrade is one that I think marks a real sea change in the move towards more ethical trading practices in big business. It's one of the UK's best selling brands: Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate!
As the nation's best selling chocolate bar, Dairy Milk's switch to fairtrade will result in the tripling of cocoa sales under fairtrade terms for farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for existing certified farming groups, as well as opening up new opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the system. Where fairtrade chocolate was once hard to come by and not especially tasty, this move means that from July, millions of people will be buying fairtrade without even knowing it.
Related: Cadbury's to introduce 'fart free' chocolate | Cadbury's eco egg is greener than we thought!
Food & drink
Shrove Tuesday is here, and if you want to attempt something a bit more adventurous than sugar and lemon this year, why not experiment with some mouth-watering recipes for seriously special pancakes? I've found some great ideas for toppings today from the guys at Freedom Foods, including stewed rhubarb and ginger and cinnamon and rum-glazed bananas. Crikey. Is it lunchtime yet?
Follow the jump for the recipes!
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