The Splat Cooking Blog

I’ve just finished a one to one session with a lady who runs a luxury dog treat company and wanted to develop her own recipes that taste great (to dogs), were healthy and worked.  So spent the morning doing recipe development and playing with icing techniques using dog friendly carob, white chocolate and other ingredients.

Alison thought I was pulling an early April Fool on her when I told her last week about the one to one session, she did admit that this was going a bit far even by my normal practical  joke standards and almost fell off her chair when she realised I was serious.

Sue was lovely and will soon have a wonderful range of fantastically tasting dog and puppy cakes and biscuits. Jasper acted as taste tester, a job he’s been desperate for and approved.  Check out Sue’s website http://www.bone-appetit.com

I love my new title, Children’s Cookery Queen, bestowed on me with great dignity, pomp and circumstance by the fabulous, truly wonderful and mega creative Lindsey in Ocado’s copy writing team.  Lindsey, you are totally awesome, thank you, thank you, thank you for my new title, it makes me feel very grand.  I’d also so like to say a huge thank you to Ocado’s super-talented designer Kristian who’s worked so hard on the design of the new Children’s Recipe Pages.  You guys are amazing. Now, where did I put my Oscar!

If you’re new to Ocado, they are the ONLY online grocery business to get my shopping right, very, very few (probably about once every two years) substitutions, intelligent selection of products and use-by dates, really nice and polite drivers and quick delivery slots.  I’ve tried them all, used to have a go at a different supermarket about every 6 months until the delivery turned up and I realised why I trudged to Waitrose every Saturday morning – and then I discovered Ocado.  That’s why I’m working with them, they’re good and they are the only online grocer I trust to deliver the products I need for my cookery school on the day I need them as I know they won’t let me down, unlike others out there.

Try them, not only do a really good job they have really nice people working for them at head office.

thanks guys,

Beverley Glock

Children’s Cookery Queen

Graham, a lovely bloke who’s the duty manager at Waitrose’s Thame branch, has just agreed to donate the eggs for the free children’s pasta making workshops at A Taste of Summer Food Festival at Blenheim Palace this weekend. So I’d like to say a really, really big THANK YOU. Waitrose are fantastic, they sponsored us for ingredients when we first started up running cooking parties back in 2001, they’re brilliant.

This wonderful company is run by the lovely Polly in Prestwood, Bucks.  Not only does Polly produce the most tasty beef on the planet but it’s all really happy, I know, I’ve been up to  her farm to meet some of the cattle.  They are really cute and very friendly.

One thing really bothered me though, how Polly coped with bringing up these lovely cattle and then sending them on to the slaughterhouse – easy, she doesn’t name the ones that are going for beef, great answer.

So, if you want happy beef that tastes amazing check out Polly’s website or take a trip along to her new butcher’s shop in Preswood called the Fine Meat Company, http://www.thefinebeefcompany.co.uk

The oils and balsamic vinegars this company sell are out of this world. I’ve used lots of oils over the years but these are just the best. The Sicilian is my favourite, closely followed by the Catalan and the Truffle Oil is just amazing drizzled over Porchini Mushroom Risotto. Their balsamic is yummy and if you have a wish list you have to put on it the 50 or 100 year old balsamic and don’t share it with anyone!

Try their black label balsamic drizzled over ice cream or strawberries or crusty bread and some of the green label and the Sicillian oil to dip – heaven.
www.thegiftofoil.co.uk