Farewell to 2021…

It is likely that many of you were glad to see the back of 2021 but there is definitely blue sky ahead! We hope that you all had a lovely festive break, with long walks and long lunches a plenty and are ready for a fresh start to 2022!

This month we take great pleasure in sharing with you two of our favourite delicious recipes, both perfect for this time of year. Plus all the details you need to enter… yes, you know it… Fanny’s Marmalade Competition! There are a couple of reminders from the Flower Shop and we hear what Kingfisher means to Gilly, one of our fabulous Florists.

We wish you all good health for the New Year ahead.

Something to lift your dishes…

Citrus flavours to bring brightness:

• Seville, Blood & Naval Oranges

• Kumquats

• Lemons

• Yorkshire Rhubarb

The first sign of Spring comes in the form of Tulips, Daffodils & Narcissi, whether it be cut flowers or pots of bulbs.

Do you need a reminder of your loved ones Birthday or Anniversary?

The Flower Shop offers a fantastic and FREE ‘Dates To Remember’ service to those of you who may need a gentle reminder to buy flowers for a loved one on a certain date!

You simply give us your name and the important date and we will email or call you a week before to see if you would like to send your loved one flowers. Of course, there is no problem if you don’t wish to… it’s just a reminder.

Contact the Flower Shop

Dinner & dessert inspiration…

Whether for friends or family, these two fantastic dishes have been well practiced by two of our favourites (Sally Welch of Gomshall based Sally Cooks and our very own star baker Rosie Wakerly), who can confirm that they are both winners! Here we share the two recipe’s for your cooking pleasure.

Sally’s Aromatic Vegetable Tagine

Serve with couscous and yogurt

Serves 8-10

“I just love this dish! It is so versatile and very tasty. The meatballs and vegetable stew are cooked separately so if you have any vegetarians coming then this is a perfect meal for them.  The meatballs and the vegetable stew can be made well in advance and can also be frozen separately. The meatballs can also be served with some humous and flatbread or served as a canape with a yogurt and mint dip.  A perfect meal for casual entertaining.”

Ingredients

• 2 onions, roughly chopped

• 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped

• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

• 3 cloves garlic

• 50ml sunflower oil

• 1 red onion, sliced in half and sliced into semi-circles

• 600g (approx half a butternut squash) peeled and cut into 1.5 cm squares

• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

• 300-400g cauliflower, cut into small florets, tossed in a little oil with ½ tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp ground coriander and roasted for 20 minutes in a hot oven.  (I add this at the end of cooking the vegetable tagine)

• 1 large parsnip, roughly chopped

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp ground ginger (heaped)

• 100g dried apricots cut into 3

• 2 tins of good quality chopped tomatoes

• 3 tsp rose harissa 750 mls chicken or vegetable stock
  

  To serve

• 1 pomegranate, seeds removed

• Chopped coriander

• Yogurt

 Please click below to see the full recipe, with Lamb Meatballs & Cous Cous…

Rosie’s Favourite Vegan & GF Lemon Polenta Cake…

Serve with Creme Fraiche or Greek yoghurt (or vegan alternatives)

Serves: 12-14 slices

Ingredients

• 150g ground almonds

• 150g fine polenta (not instant)

• 2 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (gluten-free if necessary)

• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

• 100ml light olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing the tin

• 200g caster sugar

• 2 large lemons, at room temperature

• 250ml almond-milk plain soy yogurt, at room temperature

• 75g icing sugar

• To serve: Berries of your choice (optional)

Please click below to see the full recipe…

Who is the best Marmalade chef?

We are excited to announce that Fanny's Marmalade Competition will be on Wednesday 23rd February 2022, here at Kingfisher Farm Shop.

This is our eighth year of hosting this prestigious event. It is named after Fanny Maiklem, who loved marmalade and created the competition along with her daughter, Nellie at their farm shop. Sadly Fanny passed away 8 years ago. There was such a strong following for the marmalade competition that we thought it would be sad to let it go. Nellie put her full support behind our holding of the event and will hopefully be one of the judges, even if only judging the expressions on our faces!

As with previous years we will be donating £1 per entry to Phyliss Tuckwell Hospice Care in memory of both Fanny Maiklem and our dear Margaret Arminson.

Pick your class; Lady's Seville, Lady's mixed fruit, Gentleman's Seville, Gentleman's mixed fruit, Children's Seville, Children's mixed fruit and Previous Winner open class.

The closing date is Tuesday 22nd February.

Judging will take place on Wednesday 23rd February, from 10.30 am.

Winners will be on display at the Farm Shop from the 24th - 27th February and entries may be collected from Monday 28th February.

Entry forms are available from the Farm Shop or Register Online

There’s no longer any excuse… we even have all the ingredients, even jam jars!

The Alfredo Lazzarini farm

For those fans of Italian cooking, this one is for you! One of our newest products is a fantastic 5 litre tin of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the Lazzarini family farm in Mentana, central Italy.

We heard about the oil from Maurizio, a long standing and loyal customer of ours whose sister Lidia lives in Mentana with her husband, Alfredo.

Alfredo Lazzarini started the business five years ago and looks after the farm and crops with the help of his family (his wife Lidia Marcela and his son Francesco Maria) and a team of seasonal workers. The farm itself focuses on organic fruit and vegetable farming but Alfredo’s favourite side of the business is olive oil production from their 200 olive trees!

If you are anything like us and seem to need to top up your 1 litre bottles of Olive Oil far too regularly, then the investment of a 5 litre tin is definitely worth it for your pocket and your palette.

Dry January Favourites…

Meet Gilly…

Hello, my name is Gilly. I work part time in the Flower Shop and have done so for the past two and a half years. 

I so enjoy working at Kingfisher.  I enjoy the environment, being part of an amazing team and getting to know our regular customers. 

I have recently had the privilege of being able to follow a dream of pursuing a qualification in floristry so that I could work as a florist.  As I don’t live locally, I discovered Kingfisher Farm & Flower shop as it was en-route to college.

My discovery of Kingfisher was extended further as one beautiful April morning on the way to college my car decided to break down as I was driving into Abinger.  I remembered that I could park just outside the gates of the Farm Shop and hopefully get some help.  To my horror as I pulled up, my car started to smoke from the bonnet and caught fire! 

Thankfully it was just my car that went up in smoke.  I only mentioned to Marion that “I was the lady whose car caught fire” after she offered me the job! 

I am so thankful for the opportunity I have working here.  I work with a team of people who I continue to learn from and have a whole lot of fun with.  I am learning about my new skill and growing in confidence.

So, thank you to all at Kingfisher for allowing me to join alongside you as we journey this part of our lives together. 

Besides the flowers (every single one) my favourite something in the Farm Shop is the Crosbie’s Granola tray bake :)

Photography Credit: @chloe.hardwick