A Great Christmas Day Starter

As we approach the end of November Christmas preparations (for most of us) are in full swing, and as the majority of our preperation involves food, we thought we would share another great recipe from our resident chef Hannah.

If you were a fan of Hannah's mincemeat and mulled wine then you're sure to love her Easy Christmas Chutney and Hot Breaded Goat's Cheese!

The chutney is appropriately named as it really couldn't be easier to make. All you need to do is place all the ingredients into a heavy based saucepan, simmer gently for 1 hour and pack into a decoartive jar.You could then serve it alongside a cheese board of all your favourite local cheeses, or give it to friends and family as a gift.

This combined with with the mincemeat and mulled wine will help you on your way to creating a whole hamper of homemade goodies!

If you fancy making a completely homemade starter for your Christmas dinner, then why not use your chutney as an accompaniment to Hannah's Hot Breaded Goat's Cheese. It's sure to impress your friends yet leave you plenty of time to concentrate on the main course.

You could then of course let yourself off an buy in a pre made Christmas pudding!

The majority of ingredients you need for this recipe; such as Whitworths Sultanas and Warburtons White Bread are available on the British Corner Shop website, although some things may need to be sourced locally.

Top 10 Most Popular Breakfast Foods

It's a well known saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and according to our 'most popular products' group on our website, breakfast foods are certainly some of the most missed products among expats.

So we've decide to write up the top 10 most missed British breakfast foods.

Number one on this list is Warburtons Crumpets, and I've got to say I completely agree with this being at the top. There really is nothing like a warm crumpet smothered in proper English butter, especially if it's accompanied by a large mug of PG Tips, which is in fact second on our list.

These two taking the number 1 and 2 slots doesn't do much to dispel the generalisation that we Brits like our tea and crumpets, but who cares when they taste as good as they do! Tetley and Yorkshire Tea also make an appearance at numbers 8 and 10.

The number 4 and 5 slots go to Warburtons Premium Brown Bread and Blue Pig Company Dry Cured Back Bacon. This will come as no surprise to those of you who live abroad or travel outside of the UK for your holidays, as it's a well known fact that bacon from outside the UK just doesn't taste the same, and it is probably one of the most missed British products.

Bread can also vary a lot depending on the country you're in. France for example; do great baguettes and rolls but can't quite seem to master the simplicity of a loaf of sliced brown bread. So, perhaps we just have to face the fact that you can't make a proper bacon butty without proper English bread and bacon!

If there is a favourite breakfast product of yours that you think should be in the top ten, why not leave a comment and let us know!

 Top Ten Breakfast Foods

1. Warburtons Crumpets

2. PG Tips

3. Marmite

4. Warburtons Premium Brown Bread

5. Blue Pig Company Dry Cured Back Bacon

6. Heniz Beanz

7. Nestle Shreddies

8. Yorkshire Tea

9. Shredded Wheat

10. Tetley Tea

Homemade Mincemeat and Mulled Syrup Recipe

It's now less than 6 weeks until Christmas and (according to the local news) this is the time when the majority of us kick start our planning for the big day.

I think we'd all agree that the two major tasks we all have to undertake in the lead up to Christmas are; preparing the food and doing our gift shopping. So this is why I think you'll find this new recipe by our resident chef Hannah, extremely useful.

Hannah has provided us with two recipes this week, the first being homemade pear and chocolate mincemeat and the other mulled syrup.

Both of these recipes are quick and simple and can be used to help you make your mince pies and mulled wine for Christmas day. Alternatively you could simply pour the contents into two decorative jars, add a rustic tag and you've got a perfect Christmas gift!

You do of course have the option of making some for yourself and some as a gift, this way you've tackled a small part of both major Christmas tasks in one go!

If you'd like more Christmas food inspiration in the run up to Christmas, be sure to check out the recipes section of our website regularly, as Hannah will be adding more recipes over the coming weeks.

Love it or Hate it, Christmas is on its Way!

So fireworks night is over, de-icing the car is a regular morning task, and it’s now dark by 5pm; this can only mean one thing….Christmas is coming!

Love it or hate it Christmas is fast approaching, and one of the best ways you can avoid a stressful festive season this year, is to utilise the fact that some foods can be bought and prepared way in advance of the big day itself.

One task that’s great to tick off the list in November is the making of the Christmas cake. Of course making a cake this early does have its downfalls, as the chances of it surviving until Christmas day without a few slices taken out of it are quite small (well in my house anyway)!

However; if you can manage to restrain yourself and you do decide to give the home made variety a go, then take a look at our home baking category. It’s full of useful products such as; flour, treacle and dried fried, that will help you on your way to making a cracking Christmas cake.

If you’d rather someone else did the hard work for you we also have a wide range of pre-made cakes in our Christmas Collection, such as Walkers Luxury Christmas Cake with Brandy; delicious and at your doorstep in the click of a button!

If you like all your Christmas treats to be home made, then be sure to keep an eye on the website over the next few weeks, as our resident chef Hannah will be providing us with some simple and quick festive food ideas!