Worldwide celebrations right on our doorstep

When I woke up on Monday morning with no electricity, heating or hot water I thought it was a sign for the rest of the week ahead. I had a very bad feeling that if the week started on a bad foot it was only going to get worse. It turns out I was wrong. Why? Because when I realised the date I knew I was in for a week of treats.

23 January 2012 marked the start of Chinese New Year and this year they are celebrating the year of the Dragon. The next few weeks will be packed with endless celebrations full of colour, fun and amazing food. I may not be Chinese but I love to join in the celebrations and embrace the country and its cultures/traditions. What’s more, I also love the food, conveniently, so I will make sure I eat a lot of it this week.



Courtesy of Kittikun Atsawintarangkul / freedigitalphotos.net



Two days later, i.e. today, it’s Burns Night. Yep, 25 January sees Scottish people around the globe celebrating the birthday of famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns.  All number of Burns suppers take place on this popular day, which may be both formal and informal. Typically they include haggis, Scotch whisky (hurrah!) and the recitation of Burns’ poetry.

If that isn’t enough, 26 January marks Australia Day. Yet more reason to celebrate culture, tradition and of course food, hooray! Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. 26 January commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, thus marking British colonisation.

Courtesy of Laura Collins

With all these dates in the diary I thought it only right that this post embraces all three countries mentioned above and all the delicious food that comes out of them. I have therefore put together a list of some of the most loved, traditional celebratory dishes from China, Scotland and Australia in a hope that it may inspire you to tuck in and join the party.

Typical dishes eaten during Chinese New Year

Buddha’s Delight – a lavish vegetarian dish made with a wide variety of ingredients, including arrowhead, bamboo, bean curd, black mushrooms, carrot, noodles, daylily buds, fat choy, Ginkgo nuts, Lotus seeds, Napa cabbage, Peanuts, Snow peas, tofu, water chestnuts, wheat gluten and wood ear.

Sweet and Sour Pork – This dish is popular with families hoping for a lot of grandchildren, as the Cantonese word for "sour" sounds like the word for grandchild.

Yusheng – This raw fish salad is said to bring good luck. This dish is usually eaten on the seventh day of the New Year, but may also be eaten throughout the period.

Courtesy of SundayMorning / freedigitalphotos.net

Jiaozi – Crescent-shaped Jiaozi are a symbol of wealth and prosperity because of their resemblance to ancient Chinese money.  They are eaten at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Niangao (Year cake or Chinese New Year's cake) – A cake prepared from glutinous rice. It is considered good luck to eat Niángāo during New Year because "nian gao" is a homonym for "higher year." The sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the cake so he can't badmouth the giver's family to the God of all Gods.

Typical dishes eaten on Burns Night

Scotch Broth – A thick soup made with carrots, turnips, onions, celery, leek, pearl barley, lamb, peas and kale.

Arbroath smokies – Smoked haddock from the town of Arbroath.Haggis, neeps and tatties – put simply it’s sheep or calf's offal, swede and potatoes

Courtesy of FreeFoto.com

Cranachan – This traditional Scottish pudding is made with whipped cream, whisky, honey, and fresh fruit.

Shortbread and oatcakes –  Quite self explanatory really!

Typical dishes eaten on Australia Day

Aussie pies – Pies filled with meat and potato which are a favourite with Australians the world over

Barbecue prawns – Any variety of prawns go down well on Australia Day, whether they be plain, cooked in garlic or covered in piri piri sauce.  "Slip another shrimp on the barbie."

Courtesy of Sura Nualpradid / freedigitalphotos.net

Beer battered fish and chips – A delicious meal perfect for a lazy afternoon

Anzac Biscuits – A popular biscuit made with oats, desiccated coconut, lemon rind and golden syrup.

Lamingtons – These are a quintessential part of every Australian's childhood. The little sponge cake is dipped in chocolate icing and then rolled in desiccated coconut.
YUM!

So there we have it...a long list of food for a long week of celebrations.  Enjoy, I know I will.

Peace, love and celebratory pizza.

What On Earth

What On Earth hits the news

We have been raving about our latest media coverage on Twitter and Facebook recently but we haven’t added it to the blog.  Sorry about that folks.  But, there was logic behind this, honestly.  We didn’t want to add all the coverage sporadically so we waited until we had enough articles to give you a nice, big blog post all about what we’ve been up to lately.

So, here is said blog post.  We’ve been busy little bees lately as we seem to have been of interest to a few publications.  Jeremy has been getting his five minutes of fame as he has been involved in interviews with several journalists too.  Check him out…his name is just everywhere at the moment!

Firstly, news of our very successful year in 2011 reached a number of websites.  (We actually wrote about how good last year was in a previous blog post.)  The story was published on:

• Fresh Business Thinking
• Retail Times
• Why I Love Organic
• Organic Portal
• Agro Food Planet
• 73 Shelves

The story was also discussed in great depth on the International Business Times.  This piece was a favourite of Jeremy’s because it contained a HUGE photo of him!  You can read the article here: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/282253/20120116/organic-food-triumphs-fronts.htm
After journalists found out about our success, other publications were interested in chatting with Jeremy about the organic food market as a whole – in particular, the popular trade publication, Food Manufacture.  As a result of the interview the following article was published….and it’s one in which Jeremy caused quite a stir! http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Ingredients/Supermarkets-blamed-for-organic-market-slump

Finally, our Jeremy was featured in London’s Evening Standard as he posed a business question to Dragon’s Den star and famous entrepreneur, James Caan.  The letter got published and Jeremy’s name was once again in lights.  You can check out his question here:

Peace, love and almost famous pizza.

What On Earth

Bumper year for What On Earth

It's been written about on the internet and Jeremy has been giving interviews about it over the phone but we haven't yet told you about it.  Sorry about that folks.  We hadn't forgotten about you - it's just been a busy week.  So, what is the 'it' that I talk about?  'It' is the excellent year we had last year.  Oh yes, 2011 was a magnificent time for What On Earth and for this we feel thankful, proud, appreciative, ecstatic, pleased...the list could go on.

Last year alone we managed to produce more than 15 tonnes of organic dips and almost 200,000 pints of organic soup - almost double the amount of products made in 2010.  We bucked trends and forecasts and proceeded to have one of our most successful years in operation, despite continual reports on the weakening organic market and the slump in food sales.

Throughout the year we generated high revenue and managed to deliver over half a million products to our customers. Pretty amazing huh?  In total, this included seven tonnes of hummus, five tonnes of mezze and more than three tonnes of babaganoush.  You greedy lot you!  Not that we're moaning of course.  Our chefs also managed to cook in excess of 23,000 buckets of soup and more than 16,000 pizzas and pizza bases – a huge increase on 2010. 

Taken from slashfood.com - with thanks

Just add another 16,000 to the pile!

The head honcho, Jeremy, is putting our success down to the fact that we supply smaller, independent stores rather than the large supermarkets.  He thinks we've managed to buck the trends because we work with small, high-end suppliers. It has offered some protection against the rising food prices that are affecting supermarkets across the country you see.  Our products sell in the stores we supply because they aren’t available cheaper in any supermarkets.  Plus you customers are a lot more loyal to the little guys and for that we are truly thankful.

As you know, we act as a supplier and distributor as well as a manufacturer and we have teams working 24 hours to keep up with demand.  In 2011 our night team, which is made up of just six members of staff, delivered almost 180,000 loaves of bread while the rest of the nation slept.  Impressive hey?   We owe them a huge thank you, so...THANK YOU GUYS.

We believe that organic is a choice and we make organic food so all of you can have this choice.  We promise, therefore, to continue making our delicious products for as long as you want them.  It's our New Year's resolution to you.  Jeremy and Rolf started the business in order to put the goodness back in food and to change the way society eats and that is what they are still doing now.  Hurrah. 

Here's to an excellent 2012.

Peace, love and successful organic pizza.

What On Earth

Shoplifting celebrities over the years

British chef, Antony Worrall Thompson was arrested for allegedly shoplifting at a Tesco store on Friday 6 January 2012.  He is said to have been cautioned for pilfering goods, including cheese and wine, via the self-service checkout area.  The alleged crimes were caught on camera by store chiefs in the Henley On Thames outlet, Oxfordshire.

This recent news didn’t shock us.  It’s not that we expected Worrall Thompson to steal food – far from it in fact – we just weren’t surprised that yet another celebrity was caught taking what wasn’t rightfully theirs…and ultimately not fully punished as a result.  Stealing is against the law – that is drummed into us at an early age but why on earth do some of these celebrities get away with it?  Would Joe Public get away with such crimes we ask?

Looking back over the years, there has been a long line of celebrity thefts; some shocking, some not so.  We thought we’d give you a run down of our top ten favourite light-fingered stars.

Lindsay Lohan’s endless bad behaviour has resulted in large media coverage and even saw the well known actress spend time behind bars.  Over the years Lindsay’s crimes have seen her accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace and for ‘borrowing’ Masha Markova’s $11,000 fur coat.

Other largely reported and infamous shoplifting incidences were those of Winona Ryder.  In 2002, Ryder was arrested for stealing £3,000 worth of clothing from a Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.  Six years later she was allegedly spotted leaving a Hollywood store with make up on her that she hadn’t paid for.

Those are not the only big name celebrities to have been caught with their fingers in the till, as it were.  Others include:

Peaches Geldof: In October 2011, Bob Geldof’s daughter, Peaches, was allegedly caught helping herself to almost £70 worth of make up from a Boots store in London.  According to reports, Peaches was followed by a plain-clothes Boots store detective as she shamelessly loaded her pockets and shopping bags with what was apparently nearly £70 worth of mascara, foundation and eyeliner.  Peaches had been involved with shoplifting in the past but was let go without charge.

David de Gea: In 2011, the Spanish, Manchester United player allegedly picked up an Original Glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut and ate it in the magazine aisle of a Tesco store before walking towards the exit without paying, or buying anything else.

Gabriela Irimia: In January 2011, Cheeky Girl, Gabriela, was detained after stealing groceries said to be worth about £40 from a Sainsbury's store in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Adam Rickett: In 2007, the model/actor left a New Zealand supermarket with a block of cheese, a bottle of HP Sauce and a jar of coffee.  He was caught for his actions and although he admitted to the theft he said it was just an "honest mistake".

Glen Johnson: The England football star was reportedly fined by police for trying to steal a toilet seat and bath taps from B&Q in 2007.

Britney Spears: The popular singer was accused of pinching a wig just hours after stripping down to try on underwear in an adult store in Los Angeles in 2007.  It was alleged that after an altercation with staff, Spears took a wig off a mannequin and left without paying for it.  She has also been involved in several other shoplifting incidences in the years after this one.

Jennifer Capriati: The three-time tennis Grand Slam champion was caught leaving a Florida shopping mall with a cheap silver ring in 1993.

Well there you have it - ten top celebrities that have been caught shoplifting over the years.  And these are just some of them.  Who knows how many haven't been caught too - not that we're making accusations of course.

Word of advice to famous people all over the world - pay for items in the future!  If us regular, non celebrity citizens can do it I'm sure you can too.

Peace, love and non stolen pizza.

What On Earth

It's time to recycle Christmas

I counted more than ten Christmas trees slung out onto the streets of London as I walked to work this morning – and that was in the space of about ten minutes.  The sorry looking trees littered the pavements and, in some parts, meant having to walk on the road to get round them. Some of them have been there for days; others were newly dumped over the weekend.

The worst thing about seeing these trees is that although some of them were brown and broken, others were still green, bushy and healthy looking.  What a waste.  These once colourfully decorated and brightly lit trees that were the centre piece of festive houses across the city are now strewn on the streets like discarded cigarette butts.  It’s just another addition to January that reinstates the fact that it’s one of the year’s most depressing months.  Surely these trees must have a better fate?  And surely London’s pavements won’t be covered all year round by the pitiful looking objects.

Courtesy of Douglas E Welch - WelchWrite.com

Twitter gave me the answer to these questions as I got into the office...well, for London’s borough of Lambeth anyway!  That’s right.  Lambeth Council is offering a Christmas tree recycling service from 9 – 22 January 2012, between 9am and 3pm.  Apparently, this borough alone throws out 250 tonnes of Christmas trees every year so the council’s scheme is certainly a meaningful one.  To add to this statistic, Lambeth Council has reported that in the UK we use enough wrapping paper to stretch nine times around the equator.  Shocking.

Recycle those trees

The recycling service allows Lambeth residents living in kerbside properties to leave their Christmas trees with their refuse bins for pick up by the council.  Those living in non kerbside properties can recycle their trees at various sites, including:

• Clapham Common, Windmill Drive SW4
• Kennington Park, Bolton Crescent entrance SE5
• Streatham Common, upper car park SW16.

Christmas trees will also be accepted at Lambeth Reuse and Recycling Centre, Vale Street SE27 on Monday, Thursday and Friday from 7.30am to 4.30pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 5pm.  You can find more details here: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/News/2011/MakeReducingYourWasteAndRecyclingYourNewYearsResolution.htm

So, what are you waiting for Lambeth residents?  Let’s get those trees recycled and do our bit for the environment.

Peace, love and recycled pizza

What On Earth