Proper snacks taste proper good!

The Proper snack company produce snacks that are proper good (that's bad English? I can live with that!).

Several years ago Cassandra decided that she had had enough of the snacks that were then available. They were too salty, too fatty, were filled with nasty ingredients that really had no place in foodstuffs or snacks. Or, if they were being made to be more healthy didn't taste all that good.

So Cassandra decided to start making proper popcorn. Using a repurposed cement mixer. And from that eco-friendly start  (nothing wrong with some recycling and repurposing) things have really progressed for Proper snacks.

Of course you can still buy Proper Popcorn (Caramelised Biscuit, Salted Caramel, Sweet and Salty, Lightly Sea Salted, Sweet, pop at home microwave popcorn, Salted Caramel Popcorn Bars and Hazelnut Praline Popcorn Bars) but there's also a growing range of other Proper snacks for you to enjoy.

There are now Barbecue Lentil Chips, Sweet Sriracha Chilli Lentil Chips, Sour Cream and Chines Lentil Chips and Salt and Vinegar Lentil Chips.

They are vegan friendly, though tasty enough for omnivores to enjoy, too and don't contain a long list of suspicious sounding ingredients that would look more at home in a science laboratory than in a bag of snacks for you and your children.

For example, Proper Lentil Chips contain lentil flour, potato starch, sunflower, rapeseed and coconut oils, corn flour, sugar, rice flour and natural flavourings and spices. 

To learn more about the company, how it's working hard to be the type of company we should do business with (Net Zero by 2030) and its range of snacks you can visit them at www.proper.co.uk.

They are a B Corporation and are hiring staff for a variety of roles.

If you want to stock their products they have a wholesaler here https://musclefinessewholesale.com/brands.html/proper-snacks.html

The People's Captain Latte Latte Love beer

The People's Captain Latte Latte Love beer is an absolutely stunningly good milk stout beer.

Produced with lactose, coffee and cacao nibs, plus water, malt, hops and yeast, it's a very interesting beer style.

Although brewed with coffee and cacao nibs it's only slightly different from a "proper" milk stout, but that slight difference is all it takes to bring Latte Latte Love beer from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

There's the milk stout taste, but the coffee taste floats to the surface (to coin a phrase) and the chocolate taste lingers throughout.

It's not a weak, insipid beer. Full of exciting, bold tastes, but you need to be wary. It's a 5% beer but it doesn't drink like a 5% beer, so do keep that in mind!

It's a product of an absolutely wonderful place the Brewing Positivity Laboratory and it's also a supporter of indigenous communities in the Amazon Rainforest.  

What is the People's Captain? It's a very, very special beer club. How is it different? In their own words: "We're on a mission, to use the social power of craft beer to bring communities together. We believe positive mental health is a vital part of life and we're inviting you to be a part of our journey to have a positive social impact in yours.

So, make it count - grab a beer, have a great conversation - and let's create positive change together."

Your first case of beer will cost under £20. To learn more please visit them at https://peoplescaptain.co.uk/

And they have got together with Tony's Chocolonely to offer milk chocolate and salted caramel milk chocolate both of which go so, so well with Latte Latte Love beer! 

Double Dutch Mixers

Joyce and Raissa de Haas

I have learned something new. It's perfectly possible to make a very nice Bloody Mary using gin as the base, but probably only if you use a high quality mixer as part of the recipe, in this instance a Double Dutch readymade Bloody Mary mixer.

Double Dutch was founded by Dutch twins, Joyce and Raissa de Haas in 2015 when they launched their first two mixers, Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil.

Over the next seven years they developed a range of absolutely stunning and delicious mixers. They are so tasty that you could well be tempted to drink them in their own right, not bothering to use them as mixers! (Ginger ale, for example!)

What mixers are available? Cucumber and Watermelon, Bloody Mary Soda, Cranberry and Ginger, Ginger Ale, Double Lemmon, Ginger Beer, Indian Tonic Water, Skinny Tonic Water, Soda Water, Cucumber Margarita with Chilli Soda and, of course, Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil.

My wife and I had great fun depleting our stock of alcoholic drinks (Scotch, Welsh, English and Irish Whisky, plus London Dry Gins) when we mixed up so mightily tasty Double Dutch cocktails. Obviously not all at the same time as that would have been messy!

But it was great fun to learn some new recipes including the gin bloody Mary using the Bloody Mary Soda. I'd never considered using anything other than vodka and was pleasantly surprised that it actually tasted pretty darn good!

Where can you buy Double Dutch mixers? Direct from their own shop  https://doubledutchdrinks.com/collections/our-drinks on Amazon and in Waitrose.

Are you a buyer for a large chain of supermarkets, a wine and spirits retailer, etc? Then you need to get in contact with their trade team sales@doubledutchdrinks.com.

Soho House, Dishoom and The Alchemist are venues that treat their customers like Kings and Queens by using Double Dutch tonics. To learn how your venue can up its game contact sales@doubledutchdrinks.com.

You'll find lots of cocktail recipes on their site, so have fun testing them!

(Image (c) Double Dutch)

Off your food due to hayfever? Superdrug can help

 I love food, but there's something that can put me off eating. Hayfever or allergic rhinitis. (Boo!)

Stuffed up nose, dry eyes, dry, sore throat, sinus headaches and a general feeling of malaise. Yes, it's no wonder we don't feel like eating under those circumstances.

What can we do about it? Visit your local branch of Superdrug and make your way to the hayfever display. Or ask their duty pharmacist what they can recommend. 

So get to your nearest branch or go on line to sort your allergies out. They offer click and collect and on line purchases, too.

I personally like the following items:-

Superdrug Hayfever Relief Wipes Twin Pack. £1.89 for a twin pack.

Superdrug Saline Nasal Spray 100ml at £4.99 this is one of my go to remedies. 

The relief is instant. Really, really instant!

Superdrug Allergy Eye Drops 10ml £3.29

My eyes really appreciate these eyedrops. They work so well at soothing them.

Superdrug Allergy Eye Mist 10ml £5.99

Maybe you can't put eyedrops in? Some people can't. But now you can use this eye mist spray to ease your poor eyes. 

There are also a range of other allied products available including antihistamines. Some Superdrug branches have health clinics and/or pharmacists.

To learn more visit https://www.superdrug.com/

Cranswick Country Foods Chicken products recall warning

Image courtesy of Pixabay/rajdeepcraft

Cranswick Country Foods, a major UK provider of processed chicken products to a wide range of retailers in the UK, has had to issue a product recall notification due to an outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning linked to their premises.

Retailers involved in the recall are: Aldi, Amazon, Waitrose, Co-Op, Sainsbury's, Caffe Nero, Costa, Jamie Oliver, One Stop, Tesco and Starbucks.

A full list of the products involved is here- https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-32-2022

On their website Cranswick have stated "Cranswick can confirm that a routine internal inspection has identified the presence of Salmonella in a limited number of cooked chicken products prepared at our poultry facility in Hull.

"These products are sold as ingredients for sandwiches and meals through UK retailers and food to go outlets.

"As a precautionary measure, we have asked our customers to remove any of their products containing our ready to eat chicken produced during the affected period. We are working closely with the Foods Standards Agency and will collaborate with their experts to resolve the matter.

"We are conducting a thorough investigation into the possible cause of the contamination and the site will remain closed until the investigations are complete.

"The safety and quality of every product produced by Cranswick is our number one priority and all necessary protocols will be followed and completed before we restart production."

https://cranswick.plc.uk