Online eco shopping for infants and toddlers

Saw this one in the Irish Independent last week.

Econatural.com – Ann Kelsey set up the business to bring organic and natural products into Ireland. I had a quick look through the site and while some of the products are widely available (Green and Black chocolates for instance) there are others that would make sense to purchase online.

In a similar vein is EcoBaby. This is a business that has been going for at least 9 years (we bought nappies from them for our son who is just over 9!) and their customer support has always been a joy to be at the receiving end of. They are prompt and professional and I would completely recommend them to anyone with young children who is concerned about their environmental impact.

And finally from the Irish Times is bababeag.ie which includes a range of organic clothing for infants and toddlers.

keith

Slow Food Seminar – Saturday 7th October

Learn to harvest & cook sea vegetables as a healthy, nutritious, tasty, alternative
Kilfaressey strand on the Copper Coast and afterwards at the Bistro in Annestown, Co. Waterford. Saturday the 7th of October from 10.30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Cooking with Sea Vegetables

The Ancient Celts and the Vikings understood the benefits of this nutritious food and used several varieties of sea vegetable in their staple diets. One of the best known of these is the traditional Welsh ‘’Laver bread’’ Saint Columba, records that his monks gathered ‘’Dillisk’’ to help feed his followers. The major consumers of vegetables from the sea today are the Chinese and the Japanese, who appreciate this nutritious food which can be very tasty when properly prepared.

High in minerals and proteins, low in calories, sea vegetables have always been valued for their rejuvenating and purifying properties. They can be combined with other whole foods to from the basis of a very healthy balanced diet. Today in Ireland the main market is in health food stores. In Waterford, Dillisk & Carrageen Moss are still used in some traditional local dishes

The Four Rivers Slow Food Convivium in cooperation with the local community on the Copper Coast in Co. Waterford aims to rejuvenate this good food tradition.

The goals for the day are:

1. Demonstrate to the community and visitors how to make culinary use of the large variety of seaweeds & sea vegetables available on local beaches
2. Encourage chefs to create a range of local dishes making the best use of all the marine resources about them
3. Enjoy great tasting, nutritious, natural, foods, packed with healthy minerals and vitamins

Programme:
10.30 a.m. Introduction to sea vegetables and edible seaweeds, followed by foraging on the beach at Kilfarassey at low tide – Dr Rhatigan of the Irish Organic Centre

1 p.m.  Lunch on a wide variety of local tasty sea vegetable dishes followed by a cookery demonstration.

7.30 p.m. Seafood Banquet,Location: Copper Coast Bistro, Seaview Celtic, Annestown, Co Waterford

Book early to avoid disappointment as seating for the banquet is limited.

Enquires from Margaret Cosgrave at 051-396686

Fee: €60 includes lunch & Seminar
Banquet: €30
Email: margaretATcoppercoastgeopark.com
See: www.slowfoodireland.com & www.coppercoastgeopark.com

Immaculate Cookies

Thanks to my brother Colin for a cookie tip from the US. He sampled and then bought some Immaculate Cookies and reckoned they would fit the bill here. They are 70% organic (that’s from Colins read of their packaging as it does not appear to be mentioned on their website) and work closely with American folk artists to develop the visual images for their packaging.

Their philosopy “bake well, work hard, be creative, have fun, and give back“

What more do you want from your cookies! You can see their list of stockists on their website here or purchase from them online. I would like to suggest to them that they include a zipcode search facility on that page – would make it a lot easier to find a local stockist.

keith

Bread and the baking thereof

About 10 years ago I tried baking bread for a couple of weeks. I (or it) was terrible! More recently I have started to use bread mixes with the kids so that they can have some idea of what is involved.

On Saturday I came across an organic bread mix from an Irish company so I decided to give it a try.

Sowans are based in Cork, Ireland and do a range of organic mixes. This one is yeast free, it uses bread soda. It was €3.75 so you would not use it to save money – however it made good bread and could be handy if you cannot get organic bread where you live. Which we can’t.

Their website is not up yet (www.sowansorganic.ie). They do have an email address: info AT sowansorganic.ie

keith

Single Estate – Snobbery or Good Practice?

It could be both I guess! In a number of foods – particularly chocolate and coffee – you can see references to the sourcing of the beans contained therein from a single supplier. This has a positive effect on the food chain:

• It can help develop a relationship between grower, manufacturer and consumer.
• The opposite is also true – the practice of blending beans means that they can be sourced from a number of different suppliers. This facilitates the obscuring of origin (great if a large company wants to get fuzzy about where its raw materials come from) and also encourages open market bidding as the beans become a commodity.
• With the Single Estate practice it is possible for the grower to get a fair or even premium price for their crop
• Finally the consumer gets exposed to the changes in the raw material and hopefully the finished product is a more interesting one for that

I was in the Temple Bar Food market in Dublin on Saturday and bought products from two retailers that are “single estate”. The first was coffee beans from Ariso Coffee – I have had many enjoyable conversations with the owner Michael Kelly over the selection of beans he has for sale. Freshly roasted, sometimes organic and mostly single estate. I bought a Guatemala coffee and am enjoying that! (Warning – slow Flash file when you click on their site link)

And on the opposite side of the square I came across a range of plain and milk chocolate single estate bars from Chez Emily. A new creation from them and as I was told – these are beans from a small harvest, when they are gone that is it for that particular range! The bar I bought was made from Tanzanian beans – a smooth plain chocolate with 68% beans.

keith

Red or White?

I have bought wine from Vendemia Wine in the past but it was not until last Friday morning that I heard one of the co-founders give a talk about their suppliers. Urs spoke about 4 different vineyards that their wines are sourced from – and it was a pleasure to hear his passion for the growers.

Buying goods from people who really care about what they are selling is always a treat. Urs and Helen sell online at http://www.vendemiawine.com/

UPDATE – Helen in Vendemia has started a blog here vendemiaorganicwines.blogspot.com (with some encouragement from me

keith

Craft Brewery

Way back when myself and Martina (my wife) lived in Telford, England we used to go to a small pub called the Coalbrookdale Arms. It had 9 pumps (from memory) and they were divided between 3 permanent beers in stock and 6 “guest” beers that were changed every single week. The regulars in that pub savoured their pints!

I remembered that pub today as I listened to a podcast from Steve Hindy in the Brooklyn Brewery craft brewery in New York. He loves what he does and tells a tale of ups and downs as himself and his co-founder struggled to get the business on its feet. He also talks about how the business connects strongly back into the community they are based in.

If you listen to podcasts then try this one.

http://www.venturevoice.com/2006/04/steve_hindy-brooklyn_brewery.html 

keith

Ooooh. Coffee and Icecream

This has got to reach into your heart (or stomach) if you are a foodie. Kieran Murphy runs an icecream parlour in Killarney, Co Kerry and he has a superb blog going since February 2006. See it here: http://icecreamireland.com/
He is passionate – and gives it loads in his posts. Take this one for instance

“2. Why do people order take-away espressos? I’m happy to serve anything to-go, but where are you going to take 1 oz of espresso? How far are you going to get? Will it not be cold before you get there? Wouldn’t you rather have it in a warmed cup, down it in a few seconds (after all, it is called “Espresso” i.e. “fast”), and be on your way?”

Informed opinion – that always works well in blogging

keith

Slow Food South East, Open Kilkenny gathering 30 June

You are invited to join a gathering of food lovers for a night of music and good local food in Lavistown House just outside Kilkenny City at 8 p.m. on Friday the 30th of June.

Tickets for the music and the food are great value at €20.

We plan to talk about the re-launch of the Slow Food movement in the Southeast. We would like to hear from any interested artisan and small food producers in the region and the ordinary food enthusiast.

Our aim is to build awareness for good food in this region in the interest of all top quality food operators, especially niche producers. We plan to support and cooperate with restaurants and speciality fine food distributors to help them to add value and to promote the region and its products.

For further information on the Slow Food movement – www.slowfoodireland.com

For more information or to book contact Donal Lehane (Slow Food Coordinator) – lehaneATiol.ie

keith

Passion..

..is what these two businesses have in common.

One is based in Ireland, one abroad. One makes chocolate by hand, the second commissions others to make clothes for them. Both are run by women (co-incidently I think) and both are passionate about what they do.

Cocoa Bean Artisan chocolates is Sarah and Emily – sisters who are based in Limerick. I have been eating their chocolates for nearly a year now and have sent feedback to them twice. Both times I got a response from them. Nice one. Their website is on V2 (at least) and it works for me – it conveys their love of what they do.

People Tree is an English based business that is fairtrade fashion. Clothes that look good for which the makers are paid a fair price. Safia Minney is the the founder and she runs a blog – http://www.peopletree.co.uk/safia/. I would love to read a blog from Cocoa Bean in the same way I can read the one from People Tree. It helps me connect with the reason for the business and the vitally important people behind it.

This stuff is important to me. Small businesses and their founders deserve support – especially ones who focus on things that are important to them and who find themselves (by accident or deliberately) outside of the mainstream because of that.
My kids will hopefully grow up with that in their heads – be passionate about what you do, do it well and enjoy yourself while doing it!

(This post was originally written for my Pure Play blog in May 2006)