19 Gales Fresh Hand Made Blueberry & Apple Turnover {by @NLi10} (19 Gales Farm Shop - Birmingham University Campus)

For a change, and due to the Indie Uprising that is taking place on Xbox Live in December I'm reviewing things from my local Farm Shop. While you probably don't live within reach of this particular one it's well worth you having a look locally to find your own source of home cooked, locally grown snacks!

For pudding on my last trip over to 19 Gales Farm Shop I picked up a couple of these blueberry and apple turnovers. As the pork pie was so filling I decided to take them home instead, but they got a bit flattened on the way. They still tasted great and although I'm not a fan of the blueberry (raspberries every time for me) the mix of flavours was great. If these were home made for home consumption then I think I'd have doubled the fruit inside them and then had them as a massive pudding with ice-cream, but as a commercially viable product for 75p each these were fab. Also they had none of the hard sugar coating on the top which seems to blight most commercial turnovers to compensate for the lack of flavour inside - these actually tasted of fruit and were naturally sweet.

I urge you to go out and seek local independent places that do fresh baking, while the chains are OK most of it is shipped to them readymade and then just heated to the finish on the premises. Truly fresh baking is great, and if you are too lazy to do it at home like I am then Farm Shops are a great alternative.

And don't forget - the big online global farm shop that is the Xbox 360 Indie Games section (it's tucked away near the back under the download games, hiding after the demos) has a whole couple of weeks of new games ranging from a tiny 65p to an epic £3.20 (80 to 400 points in M$). There is even a list at http://www.indiegames-uprising.com/ so you can spot the featured gems more easily. Epic Dungeon is my favourite so far, but I haven't tried them all yet!

by @NLi10

Wassail Ale [By Spectre] (English Heritage Gift Shop)

For ease of travel by car over the last year or so we’ve been holidaying in North Wales. Cinabar and I usually go away for a week somewhere in April, then to Alton Towers and London (to see a show) for a week away on my Birthday in July, and then three days in November. For the three days this year we were going to be exploring Seahouses in Northumberland, as well as Alnwick Castle and Bamburgh Castle, and generally have a poke around the north coast. Cinabar was desperate to stay in a big spooky castle whilst we were there, so she booked Lumley Castle for two nights. We then found out that Alnwick and Bamburgh Castles are both shut in November. Cinabar found a ship in Hartlepool called the Trincomalee that had fought in Trafalgar and had recently been refurbished from a Naval training ship to the way it looked when it sailed the seven seas ready for battle in 1817 (“Ha, ha… me Hearties! Shiver me timbers! Yo ho ho and a bottle of...” Okay, okay… I’ll stop). After lunch on the way and getting lost a couple of times, we arrived at the ship’s museum at 3pm. We saw this Wassail ale in the shop, but didn’t manage to buy it before the place closed. We did have a great time wondering around the beautifully refurbished ship though. We also had a good wonder around the docks and saw the rather rough looking North Sea from the harbour walls as the sun went down.

We then drove to Cinabar’s spooky sounding Lumley Castle. We heard several ghost stories from the staff that night, including a Cavalier who sits amongst the guests in the lounge area, and how a staff member had been scared half to death in one bedroom by a cold wind and a figure sitting on the end of the bed waking her up in the night. After a tasty, but expensive meal we had a good wonder around the haunted castle. Every picture, ancient bust and statue seems to stare at you with soulless eyes that follow you where ever you are in the room. Before bed we looked at the map and decided to explore Hadrian’s Wall the next day.


Over the next two days we visited three Roman forts; Chester Fort, Vindolanda, and Housesteads, which were all fascinating to wonder around. Chester Fort had a well preserved Roman Bath House, whilst Housesteads had a very well preserved latrine (see above!) and we had a race jumping across the stones of the pillared floor in the Grain Store. We saw this Wassail ale again at Chester Fort and snapped it up straight away this time. Made by Ballards Brewery for the English Heritage, this 6% volume beer sports itself as a “full bodied fruity beer with an underlying hoppiness.” It says on the label that it’s brewed with the finest malts and barley. On opening I noticed the strong barley smell straight away. The barley smell transcends to the taste giving this beer a sturdy barley flavour with a wheaty musky taste to it. The quality of the beer certainly doesn’t disappoint the taste buds. This is a good beer to drink late at night in a spooky castle to warm your shaking bones or failing that crack open a few whilst watching a good epic movie.

“I’m Spartacus!”

“No, I’m Spar…..!!”

By Spectre

Milka Minis (Sainsbury’s) [...and a Question]

This is just a brief mini post to let you know about a new product, that isn’t really new to the taste buds. I was still rather pleased to find these in Sainsbury’s, being the Milka fan girl that I am. They are obviously for the Christmas and are miniature Milka bars in a handing sharing box.
Flavours include: Dime/Daim, Hazelnut, Milk Chocolate and Chocolate Cream. All of course are gorgeous, and I didn’t need to wait for Christmas as an excuse to try them.

The second part of this post is inspired by all the Christmas goodies on the shelves. There are a lot, but quite a few are like the one above, not really new just differently packaged. So my question is – “What would you like us to review this Christmas?” Have you seen an interesting Seasonal chocolate bar? A weird flavour of Crisps? A Christmassy beer? If you have any suggestions do please let us know. There is an email address at the top of the page, or leave simply a comment below, we would love to hear from you.

Milka is a Swiss brand of chocolate that has gained popularity worldwide for several reasons:

1. High-Quality Ingredients: Milka is known for using high-quality ingredients in its chocolate products. The brand often uses Alpine milk, which is sourced from the Alpine region, known for its lush pastures. The use of quality milk contributes to the creamy and smooth texture of Milka chocolate.

2. Smooth and Creamy Texture: Milka chocolate has a distinctive smooth and creamy texture. This is achieved through a precise manufacturing process that involves grinding the cocoa particles to a fine consistency. The result is a velvety chocolate that melts in your mouth.

3. Unique Taste: Milka has a unique and recognizable flavor profile. The combination of milk chocolate and Alpine milk gives it a sweet and mild taste, which is distinct from other chocolate brands. The balance of sweetness and creaminess appeals to a broad range of consumers.

4. Heritage and Tradition: Milka has a long history, dating back to its founding in Switzerland in 1901. Over the years, it has become associated with quality, tradition, and a sense of nostalgia for many consumers. The brand's commitment to maintaining its heritage can contribute to the perception of its chocolate as being special.

5. Variety of Flavors and Products: Milka offers a wide range of chocolate products, including various flavors, fillings, and formats. This variety allows consumers to find a Milka product that suits their individual preferences, whether they prefer classic milk chocolate or variations with nuts, fruit, or other additions.

6. Distinctive Packaging: Milka's iconic purple packaging is easily recognizable and contributes to the brand's identity. The visually appealing design can create a positive association with the product even before it's tasted.

Chicago Town - Take-Away: The X-Factor Pizza (Sainsbury’s)

I absolutely love the concept of a stuffed crust pizza, but have to say that on occasion the thought of extra cheese with an already cheese top pizza can seem a bit much. Chicago Town have solved this and instead of putting cheese inside their crust they have stuffed it with barbeque sauce, genius.
The ‘X-Factor’ special, is essentially a meat feast pizza and comes complete with ham, pepperoni, sausage all on a pizza base already topped with barbecue sauce and mozzarella. Inside the box was an easy bake sheet to ensure that the pizza cooked evenly, and I think it came out looking rather tasty!
The sauce inside the crust (yes, I started backwards with my pizza slice) was really flavoursome, and oniony, but curiously not as sweet as I had been expecting. When the meat tastes were mixed in it came alive, and was enhanced by further pieces of onion in the topping. Each piece of meat was juicy and flavoursome and the sausage pieces were a particularly treat. You certainly couldn’t complain about the amount of topping either, it was lovely and generous.
All in all this was a fab choice of pizza, and if you are eating in watching X-Factor, I heartily recommend it. Consider it some compensation for the early departure of Wagner – I had him as my favourite to win. :-D

19 Gales Fresh Hand Made Pork Pie [by @NLi10] (19 Gales Farm Shop - Birmingham University Campus)

Hooray for Independence!

No - it isn't the 4th of July, but if you have an Xbox 360 and head towards the Indie Games section (it's tucked away near the back under the download games, hiding after the demos) then you'll spot that there are lots of new toys to play with over the next few weeks. Essentially all the top games designers on there got together and decided that they would all release a game in early December - ranging from 65p to a massive £3.20 (80 to 400 points in M$). There is even a list at http://www.indiegames-uprising.com/ so you can spot the gems more easily.

Now regular viewers are probably wondering what this has to do with food & snacks? And you'd be right - the world of gaming and the world of snack foods don't often collide.

The point of all these games is that they are homemade by small groups of people and sold to people who like good, unusual stuff - just like a big global online Farm Shop! Now I don't know whether all nations have these, but here in the UK they are essentially small cooperatives where a group of people get together and buy local produce and make their own and sell them from stalls. The one I'm featuring this week is 19 Gales Farm Shop at Birmingham University - so successful that they have their own store (see pic). The goodies on offer are not ones that you can go out and buy nationally usually (except for maybe the fantastic Apple & Rhubarb drink I had last week which was from here) but I hope that you can find a similar thing local to you to support.


Today's item is this 'medium size' pork pie. You can't really see the detail on this as I foolishly chose to photograph it with the wrapping still on but it looks appetising and is cheap for the size. I ate it for lunch and almost couldn't finish it (I think you may be supposed to share this size, but it's nice to be indulgent sometimes). As you'd expect the meat is chunky and fresh, and the jelly around the edges is fantastic. It had an odd consistency as if the ingredients hadn't been completely stirred as one side had much less pepper than the other, but that just added to its charm. The pastry was lighter than I expected and while still not sweet had a more desert like quality to it than I'd expected.

I'm a regular when I'm over that part of town and have a few more things from the store to share so will be back on Sunday.

by @NLi10