Don't forget this Friday will be the first time hollyandtheivy.co.uk will attend the Farmers Market located in Solihull High Street between 9:00 till 17:00. As an opening offer purchase any 3 products from our range having a total price of over £6:00 and receive a FREE jar of hollyandtheivy.co.uk Green Peppercorm Mustard.

"Since the new range of "smoked" products hit the shelves 2 weeks ago we have been overwhelmed by the success" commented Lin "And it has been a job to keep up production especially of the Garlic & Aubergine which appears to have become a great favourite with our customers".

I have to my surprise had my customers enquire if we sell the Apple Wood Smoked Garlic we use in our products in the raw bulb format.

Generally the Garlic Bulbs are smoked over Oak Wood which is quite a strong smoke in my opinion, but our Garlic Bulbs are gently Cold Apple Wood Smoked in a Bradley Smoking Cabinet a Canadian company for a minimum of 8 hours, this then gives them a delicate Apple Wood smoked flavour while maintaining a strong Garlic character.

hollyandtheivy.co.uk offer you only the finest smoked garlic bulbs specially selected and smoked to perfection.

Apple Wood Smoked Garlic is extremely versatile and can be used to flavour any food. It is extremely good with chicken and fish dishes. It can be used both cooked and raw. The garlic adds a lovely barbeque flavour to any food and is particularly good when chopped and added to salad dressings.

The strong flavour of garlic is created by a chemical reaction when cloves are chopped. Therefore, a garlic bulb that is left whole when cooked has a much milder flavour. When garlic is smoked, it is similar to cooking it and gives a smoky taste and a much softer texture.

Although it was my original intention not to sell the raw smoked bulbs I have decided due to customer demand to sell the smoked bulbs at the Farmers Markets and shows we will be attending during the 2008 season at a cost of 80p per bulb.

Postal orders are accepted by an e-mail or phone call to hollyandtheivy.co.uk where the postal charge will be calculated dependant on the number of bulbs required.

hollyandtheivy.co.uk have been invited by EG Skett (Market Operators) to attend the monthly Farmer Market in Solihull, which is located in the High Street on the first Friday of every month starting on Friday 4th April 2008.

The Farmers Market is operational from 9:00 - 17:00. Hope to see you their !!!. "This now makes 5 "local" Farmers Markets" we attend that are within a maximum distance of 6 miles from where I produce the products commented Lin

hollyandtheivy.co.uk are to enter 2 of their products for the 2008 Waitrose Best Of British Awards. The 2 chosen products are "Fresh Ginger Marmalade which we have been producing for some time now" remarked Lin the other is a real gamble Garlic & Aubergine Chutney which is one of the new "smoked range" of Chutney I have created that will be hitting the shelves on the 18th March. "This is a real gamble" commented Lin as we have not put this (or any of the "smoked range" before) on general sale but indications from our regular tasters have been extremely favourable and therefore I feel this could be the winner !

To read the review from Alan Murray go to www.hollyandtheivy.co.uk and click the link

An update on the new range proposed by Lin of Chutneys using "smoked" ingredients are to hit the shelves ahead of schedule. She has decided to not only use Bing's Heath Smokery for the larger batches of smoked products once development of the products are completed, but to smoke her own ingredients for her trial batches herself in a smoker purchased from a Devonshire company Useful Stuff whose help from Alison has helped immensely in getting started with the "smoking" process.

The first selection of the new range of "Smoked Chutneys" will hit the shelves in 2 weeks at Birmingham University Farmers Market on the 18th March and at Moseley Farmers Market and Castle Bromwich Hall Easter Fair on Saturday 22nd March. These items will be available to purchase from the 18th March via our on-line shop.

These will consist of :-

Smoked Smoked Red Tomato Chutney
Smoked Garlic & Aubergine Chutney
Smoked Pineapple & Lime Chutney
Smoked Beetroot & Orange Chutney

Why not come along if you can and taste for yourself these "exclusive & unique" handmade Smoked Chutneys in the world of preserves for your self.