Free Tickets to give away!

We have 2 pairs of free tickets for this weekends Garden Show at Wrest park,  Silsoe, Beds. The tickets can be used on any of the three days of the show.

All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on this blog or our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Humbers-Homemade/134529056608191?v=wall  or RT our competition message on twitter www.twitter.com/humbershomemade or do all 3!

Winners will be drawn at 12 noon on Thursday 26th May.

Good luck!!!

Funny how things come about!

A couple of weeks ago I was approached by a company looking for Seedless Raspberry Jam.  I have made seedless jam before but it involves a lot of work as the fruit has to be pushed through a sieve to leave you with just the pulp and with raspberries that is not an easy task as the flesh is around each individual seed.

So I made a small batch and sent the company a sample, which I am pleased to say that they loved and this week I delivered their first order of the jam in 3kg tubs, and I left them a sample of my Lemon Curd as they may well in want to use this in the future.

Funny thing is that I have found that the Seedless Raspberry Jam is a very good seller at the markets too, just goes to show that you do have to just go with the flow of things!

Isn't life funny?

RND 11 Our contribution

So for Red Nose Day this year I wondered what I would do, and on pondering I had an idea (my 10yo Dear Daughter called it a light bulb moment) as my Apple Jelly is clear I wondered if I would be able to put a bright red glace cherry in it to symbolise a Red Nose.

So I had a play and yes this worked really well, although I found out that you needed to get the air out the of the glace cherry to make it sink (see who says there isn't science in cooking!)

So the jars looked good but they needed eyes which I was just going to draw on with a permanent pen, but before I did this I though I would just look on the internet to see it anyone made 'eye stickers'.  My search came up with a mail order company called 'Yellow Moon' who I have dealt with in the past as a Rainbow Guide leader, who did a reel of sticky eyes.

So from a very simple idea came this product that we took out to sell this weekend and they were very well received and we hope to raise a lot of money for Comic Relief.

Who said Twitter is just Cheese Sandwiches

So after a nearly 2 weeks of feeling rather awful, I had orders that I needed to catch up on and make so I started with Red Onion Marmalade.



The teaspoon or so left in the measuring jug



But when bottling up I found I had an amount

 left which was too small for anything, so as

 it was around lunch time I decided to

have it myself.  So what to have it with?



Now I am rather partcial to a cheese sandwich, so on checking the fridge I found that we did indeed have cheese so I proceded to make said sandwich.



Doesn't look great I know the light was too bright I have been informed!



But then my dilema was do I toast the sandwich or not as seeing as I have post the last photo on Twitter I decided to do the same with this photo and ask the question to toast or not to toast.  Teh responses came back from @hazelshomegrown @realmensow and @s_humber_design that toasting was the way.

As the sandwich was too thick to fit in a toasty bag,

so I toasted under the grill, and this was the result.



Red Onion Marmalade and Honey Mustard all
capped up ready to go





Then to show the full cycle of the Red Onion

 Marmalade I also took a picture of the

jars that I had bottled earlier that were

going out to a local Farm Shop.

So that was my lunch on Friday! makes a change really as I don't often actually stop for lunch, but Friday I did, and very nice it was too.

Please leave me a comment on this blog, and I will write again soon.

Vickie xx

Exciting times ahead - Are you my Jam Factor?

I had a very exciting meeting with 2 great friends yesterday, and if you are connected to the food industry in anyway there will be an exciting development soon, I wish I could say more but I know that I would get told off for spilling the beans!

At my markets at the weekend people were still saying Happy New Year! it felt really weird as it is almost 2 weeks into the New Year and how fast we forget all the festivities, just like holidays I suppose, you only have to have been back a short time and it feels like an age ago that you were away.

Luton Tweetup
We had our very first Luton Tweetup on Sunday and although the numbers were small, it appears that we are going to do it more often and the numbers of those interested has grown.  I can't wait to meet more lovely peeps in the flesh and the upcoming events, let me know if you are interested in coming along to one.

Are you MY Jam Factor?
As a result of being on The One show at the end of November last year we are upping our production and we are looking for a reliable person to join our small but lovely team of workers (that would be me then!) The hours would be flexible and a food safety certificate would be an advantage but not essential, so if you are interested either send me an email at vickie@humbershomemade.co.uk or call me on 01525 750246 or 07967900110, I would like to hear from you.

I have got some research to do, as yesterday two separate people in two separate meetings suggested the use of 'mind maps' and apparently this would be good for me to use as I have thoughts running around my head like mad and it should help to get some order into what I want to do and achieve so that is this weeks task - along with the general running of the business - to see if they are right and how you go about doing a 'mind map'.

I'm sorry that this post is going to be such a short one but I am off to go and do my stint at the Bedford Credit Union which is opening a collection point in Flitwick, so if you want to know more about me you will have to follow my tweets and you can come and talk to some of my great friends.

So bye for now

Vickie xx

Always the Bridemaid and Never the Bride

So my lovelies I have had a mad 2 weeks and whats more looking at my calender for November and December it would appear that it is going to get worse, I mean busier!  Also looking at said calender I don't have a weekend off till the 25/26th December! are you sure there aren't any markets on those days? what do you mean you don't think that anyone will be out shopping!!!

On 8th Oct I took my National Certificate for Personal License Holders (NCPLH) exam and passed with 39/40, which means that I can now apply for my Personal License to sell alcohol, so the Sloe Gin and Damson Vodka I have been making for the last 2 months won't have to be given to all and sundry as presents but can be sold at farmers markets!

We also on the weekend of 16th and 17th attended a couple of Apple day celebrations, one at Luton Hoo and one at Bromham Mill which were good fun and we had a bonus as the weather was dry too.  We also have tried some Farmers markets that are a little further away from us in Middlesex and the bottom of Bucks and although the markets that we attended weren't brilliant we will try for another couple to see if they perk up any.

On the 20th we attended the Creating Futures Awards in the beautiful city of Ely, I had been shortlisted for the Personal Transformation category, however I didn't win, but everyone kept being nice saying that it is the taking part that counts and that I was a winner to get to the last 5 out of 100 entries but I still wanted to win! but that is just the competitive bit of me!

I have been sending samples off to deli's and farm shop here there and everywhere, and to help me with this I have bought some boxes and cardboard trays from a local company in Luton, so here's hoping that they all decide to place orders!

I think I have an e-book in me that I would love to write telling people what they need to be able to sell food to the public, as the number of people that I have to tell what is required of them to be covered legally is amazing. I have a lady this week who thought that she could make different flavoured oils and not be checked have any sort of qualifications she would just be able to rock up to a farmers market and sell, UH-UHH! they seem shocked when I say that it doesn't work that way.  So watch this space.

So half term as well this week, I have 12yo son away with the Youth Parliament until Tuesday leaving me with the 10yo Daughter and 8yo Son who luckily love Lego and I am sending them down the shop each day to get the voucher for a Lego toy from The Mirror everyday this week, which means lots of trips to Toy R Us to get the toys but they are being good at the minute and not asking for anything else but the free toy, but they have asked for the Playmobil or Lego Advent calenders rather than a chocolate or the paper ones that we have in stock! I think that I like the toy advent calenders but do you know how much they are? the Playmobil are £15 and the Lego £25 do I really love them THAT much?

Anyway I have orders to get out and work to do so I will write again soon.  Please do leave a comment and tell me what you would like to see in my blog, all ideas welcome x

Scrummy Local Lunch in the Sun

Well I know this must sound terrible that I'm about to brag about my own creation but  I did enjoy the Autumnal sunshine yesterday afternoon sat outside eating my lunch of Fresh sliced Ham from Woburn Country Foods of Haynes West End in Bedfordshire, a nice chunk of Tomato and Rosemary Foccacia from Redbornebury Mill, a generous nobble of Wobbly Bottoms Soft Goats Cheese with Sweet Peppers and not forgetting some of my finest Bedfordshire Pickled Shallots and the end of season favourite Green Tomato Chutney. I must admit though my ploughmans with a difference was simply superb and I felt rather guilty not saving any for my poor hubby who I know would have enjoyed it no end!

Still that 15 minute break while I savoured all the great tastes of some very locally sourced products, didn't stop my mind whirring about all the apple based goodies I could make for Apple Day this Saturday at Luton Hoo and Broham Mill on Sunday where we have a stall.

Better keep this short otherwise you'll all think I live a life of leisure eating scrummy lunches then faffing on the computer.