hollyandtheivy.co.uk Preserves and Chutneys

Did you see BBC1 Program on tonight 22nd October "Country Wide" with Paul Heiney had an article on Medlar & Quince Jelly production in Essex. Holly And The Ivy would like to remind our customers that we have been producing both of these products for the past 4 years using locally grown produce and have a good supply of this years crop ready for sale. We also have a supply of Crab Apple Jelly as well.

We would like to inform our customers that we now have in stock the 2009 New Season Crab Apple Jelly

Christmas products are now available from Holly And The Ivy via our ON-Line Sho, Food Festivals and Farmers Markets

STOP PRESS !!!!

New additions to the Chilli range of products which are HOT Red Onion Marmalade, HOT Apricot And Beetroot Chutney and HOT Beetroot & Mint Chutney.

Dont forget to come and see us at the Lakeland Chilli Festival 15th - 16th August 2009

It doesn't seem like 12 months have past since I was last asked by Beth (Ludlow Food & Drink Festival Organiser) if I would do a cooking demonstration for the 2008 Festival. Last year I did the cooking demonstration in the Corve Street "Fringe" Cooking Marque this year I will doing my unusual cooking demonstration in the castle on the main stage on Saturday 12th September at 15:45. Recipes are still under wraps and normal, but I can assure you that the majority of the products used in the demonstration will be locally sourced for freshness and taste.
If you are at the festival don't forget to come and see me and get your discount voucher for 10% discount on Holly And The Ivy products used during the demo.

One advantage of being a small handmade producer of preserves is that you get to meet a wide variety of people of all ages, who most of the time always have a chat about your products and the old saying "this is just like my mother used to make" is often heard.
As regulars to this WEB Site knows I have always liked listening to peoples stories and even ideas for new preserves often emerge. Last week was no exception I was attending our regular Farmers Market at Leamington Spa as normal when one one of my now regular 80 year old customer came to seem me to purchase as normal her 2 pots of preserves. Audrey (a spritely 79 year old) every month like clockwork purchases a Seville Marmalade and a Strawberry Jam (infact I get it ready for her before she comes at about 9:30 in the morning) came clutching a brown paper bag in her hands which she gave to me saying "This used to belong to my late mother and I believe you should have it". On opening the bag I found inside an old recipe booklet printed by the British Government Ministry Of Food during WW2 containing recipes for various items including "preserves" which made use of the limited availability of products during the war years.
On reflection after she left my stall and looking through the booklet that Audrey gave me I felt very touched that she had given this obviously treasured booklet to me and decided then that I would produce a very limited selection of items from this booklet to show my appreciation.
Therefore I will be producing 4 items from this vintage booklet produced by the Ministry Of Food which will be a Parsley Honey (This being a substitute for real Honey), Green Bean Chutney, Orange And Apple Marmalade & the old favourite Apple Chutney.
These items will only be produced in 45ml jars and will sell as part of our "45ml Pick And Mix Selection" at £1:20 each or 2 for £2:00

The "Tasty Club" has evolved through customers saying it would be a good idea if you did a similar thing to a "Wine Club" showcasing a selection of new and tried preserves instead of wines.
Wine Clubs are to be found almost everywhere in the world in places where wines are made, SO we have introduced a Preserve Club showcasing handmade preserves made by me in Birmingham with local produce where possible.
Click HERE for further details of how to join

Holly And The Ivy through customer requests have created a complete range of diverse preserves totally based on "Chillies" from around the world.

The current range of 8 preserves range from the very mild Jelopeno Chilli to the "Naga".

These are available on 45ml and 110ml jars from Farmers Markets we attend, Food Show Events and via our ON-Line Shop.

The range will be added to constantly, so please check our WEB Site at www.hollyandtheivy.co.uk for latest products available.

NB Although the "Naga" is currently the HOTTEST CHILLI available in our range we have luckely been able to secure a shipment of the "HOTEST CHILLI IN THE WORLD THE DORSET NAGA" which will be available mid to late August 2009

Holly And The Ivy would liek to announce that they will be launching a complete new selection of Chilli Preserves made from Chillies from a British Grower in the South Of England at the Ludlow Food Festival 2009.

The exact make-up of the selection is still under close wrapps, but what we can say at this time is that the selection of 8 "Fresh Chilli Preserves" will have chilli ratings from mild through to the famous Dorset Naga (which holds the record to be the hottest chilli in the world).

These products WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE UNTIL THE FESTIVAL IN SEPTEMBER DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE FRESH CHILLIES WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TILL THEN.

Their has been considerable amount of customer interest in the "EXTRA HOT" accompaniment for cold meats ect that has been produced by us.

I can now say 2 months on since we created the original 2 preserves that the “Chilli” range products have been going extremely well, in fact you might be interested to know we are increasing the range and have only this week produced the first batch of a “Mango and Scotch Bonnet Chutney”.

Currently we are producing the Scotch Bonnet Savory Jam,Green Pepper & Jalapeno Jelly and the new addition of the Mango & Scotch Bonnet Chutney. These are available from our regular FM's and food shows we are attending in 45ml and 110ml jars.

Later on in the year we have secured a supply of 8 Chillies from a Dorset Chilli grower and intend to produce for the Ludlow Food & Drink Festival in September a “Chilli Pack” which will contain preserves made from the 8 Chillies produced by them. This range of preserves will go from a very "mild" heat at one end of the scale to the the famous “Dorset Naga” which as you might know is the hottest Chilli in the world.

Keep an eye on this BLOG for further details