Summer Dining

As many of our regular blog readers know here at Myakka we love food and cooking. One of the great joys of cooking is sharing it with family and friends all sitting round the dining table enjoying good food and good conversation. So we thought we would share some delicious seasonal recipe ideas which are perfect for your next dinner party. 

We have a great selection of tableware and dining furniture so your dining room can be ready for guests. We have some great table runners with matching place mats which look great on Sheesham wood tables. Along with rattan placemats and mango wood bowls (which are perfect for pre-dinner nibbles) we have a whole range of ideas for your home to make your dinner party the best.  How about these simple and seasonal recipe ideas...

Starter

May is a season where there is a great selection of foods available, many chefs will tell you that things that are in season at the same time will often taste great together so how about trying this delicious Crab and asparagus tart.

Depending on whether you are feeling adventures you can either make a short crust pastry case or cheat and buy one, then cover with some lightly boiled asparagus and then cover with a mix of white and brown crab meat. In a bowl mix eggs, cream and salt and pour into pastry case. Sprinkle over some of your favourite local cheese and then arrange some asparagus, spoke fashion on top of the tart. Bake for about 35-40 minutes in a hot oven.  Serve with a seasonal rocket, radish and spring onion salad.

Main Course

Roast lamb is always a favourite and with the addition of minted new potatoes it makes the perfect seasonal, summer roast. Simply stud your lamb joint with garlic, rosemary and thyme and then roast in the oven until it is cooked to your liking. Meanwhile cook new potatoes in boiling water with a sprig of mint, some garlic, thyme and chicken stock. Once cooked drain, and mix the potatoes with some freshly chopped mint, salt, pepper and some butter. Serve with some fresh French beans or freshly podded peas, delicious.

Dessert

For many their favourite part of dinner, the desert is what people will remember so why not treat your guests to a very seasonal Gooseberry and Elderflower Fool. Top and tail 450g of gooseberries and put into a pan with 150ml of elderflower cordial. Bring to the boil and then cook into the mixture is soft and pulpy, leave to cool. Make some custard with egg yolks, milk and sugar and let it cool.

Finally whip so cream and then combine the fruit, cream and custard by gently folding together. Serve in individual glass dishes and if you’re feeling creative, decorate with some fresh elderflowers on top.

Don’t forget to have a look at some of our great accessories for your dining room, we have a colourful selection of chair pads to make your dining experience extra comfortable as well as candle holders and lanterns to help create the perfect atmosphere. Take a look at our dining sets to find your perfect combination of table and chairs.

Once the table is laid and the dinner is cooled - the most important part of a dinner party is to enjoy, so take a seat, put your feet up and enjoy the food and conversation. The washing up can wait until the morning!

Easy Gift Ideas

Here at Myakka not only do we deliver great fair trade furniture but we also have a great selection of gifts perfect for even the trickiest person. So whether you are buying for a tricky husband or wife or even the grandchild who has everything, we have some great gift ideas many of which are small enough to be sent through the post making it the perfect solution for friends and relatives up and down the country.

Cream Rose String of Lights
These Pretty lights are perfect for hanging around a bedroom or any other room in the home. Made from real leaves from rubber trees, these atmospheric lights will be loved by tricky teenagers and adults alike.

Elephant Dung Photo Album
The cover of these photo albums is partially made from recycled elephant dung which makes this a really unique gift. With 30 pages of acid free paper and tissue paper, these albums make the perfect home for all those special memories. Available in large and small size.

Souk Lanterns
These pretty lanterns can be used either inside or out to create the perfect atmosphere. Inspired by the souks of Marrakech these lanterns are the perfect pressie for anyone who has a taste for the exotic.

Carved Elephant Bookends
For book and elephant lovers alike, these hand carved elephants make the ideal present for both young and old. Both functional and attractive these bookends add a unique and friendly touch to every home.

Sari Patchwork Brocade Wall Hanging
Made from recycled sari stitched into a patchwork wall hanging, no two will ever be the same. Hand finished in small villages in Rajasthan, this wall hanging looks great instead of a headboard or on the wall in place of a picture.

Carved Heart Photo Frame
The perfect pressie for both the old and the young, these pretty heart photo frames are made from solid mango wood, finished with a soft white wash. To complete, just add your recipients favourite snap.

Kantha Fuchsia Patchwork Footstool
This pretty footstool is new to us here at Myakka and has already become one of our favourites. Each footstool is made up of a patchwork of fabric so no two will ever be the same. Both ornamental and practical this is the ideal gift for someone who needs to put their feet up!

Wooden Heart Coasters
These coasters are a pretty version of something very functional. Perfect for your mug of tea or glass of wine these coasters protect furniture from ring marks and ads a touch of style. They are even designed to be stored neatly together when not in use.

Yellow Flower Wooden Stool
This pretty stool is made from solid monkey pod wood and has a hand carved and painted flower on top. Perfect for little ones to sit on or makes a useful perch for adult feet! This stool is also available with a red, white or pink flower as well as a train, aeroplane or a car and more!

Contemporary Nest of Tables
And finally these tables make the perfect gift, whether it is a wedding present or a new home present these tables are a Myakka favourite for a reason. Both practical and attractive these tables are useful for guest but store neatly away when not in use.

Whoever you are buying gifts for we are sure we t have the right thing for you. If you have a deadline on a gift let our friendly Customer Service Team know and they will do their best to get it out in time for the special occasion.  Don’t forget handmade gift wrap for that special finishing touch.

Compost - Nature's Way to Grow!

International Compost Awareness Week this year is between 6th and 12th May 2013! There is a full week of activities, events and publicity to improve awareness about using organic waste as a resource to produce compost.   Composting creates that black matter which makes your garden greener and the HOTBIN team is passionate about the stuff and here they are to tell us a little more...

The aim of this week is to encourage gardeners to improve their garden with rich, nutritious compost. Raising awareness for composting has never been more important than it is now with soil degradation increasingly becoming a worldwide problem. However you can be part of the solution to turn this trend around by simply composting! Composting will give you that good feeling that you are doing a small part for the environment - Saving landfill space and creating only CO2 instead of the more harmful methane. Composting not only reduces the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of, but also converts it into a useful product for your garden – Wow a big double whammy!

One HOTBIN user described his experience of HOTBIN composting as “quickly converting waste into good stuff for the garden whilst taking me a step further towards the good life.” Making and using compost is described as the cornerstone of organic gardening so if you want to 'Grow Your Own', there's no better place to start!

Using compost is the easiest way to make your garden grow more beautiful! Compost on your flowerbeds greatly improves soil quality by helping it retain moisture and improving tilth. It also reduces the need to use chemical fertilizers as it holds onto plant nutrients and releases them slowly to the plant roots. Compost is a complete and natural way to improve your soil.

The HOTBIN was specifically designed to help maximize what nature does naturally by bringing together the right conditions to make HOT composting easy. It works as you can actively achieve temperatures between 40 -60C. The higher temperatures along with the effective aeration allow the HOTBIN to effortlessly reduce and recycle a wide variety of food and garden waste into great compost all year round.

Why is HOTBIN composting different? Well most importantly the HOTBIN is insulated and controls airflow so it can compost fast which means you can add ALL food waste. And by this we mean; left over meals, plate scrapings, meat, fish, small bones and things like pasta, mouldy bread and cakes.

This is a huge benefit as 65% of food waste items are traditionally NOT added to a cold composting bin. Using a HOTBIN increases significantly your diversion of food waste from landfill. But be advised you do need a special food waste compost bin like the HOTBIN to handle all food waste

So what are you waiting for… home composting benefits your garden and your environment and it's easy!

Psst! You will find nice & rich compost tips and hot topics on our website & our blog! www.hotbincomposting.com and http://hotbincompostingblog.com/

Celebrate World Fair Trade Day!

 On 11th May 2013 Myakka will be supporting World Fair Trade Day. World Fair Trade Day is designed to encourage us all to buy more fair trade products so we can make a real difference to the lives of millions of producers across Africa, Asia and Latin America. World fair trade day is a festival of events that celebrates the work of fair trade which is celebrated in over 70 countries around the world.

World Fair Trade Day celebrates the work that fair trade has done to help producers from some of the poorest parts of the world fight poverty and provide a sustainable livelihood for the rest of their lives and beyond. It celebrates the millions of people working within fair trade and the world of producers and traders who support fair trade to help provide a fair and sustainable living for everyone involved within the supply chain. It is about encouraging and strengthening fair trade relationships and building on the 10 principles of fair trade.

This year to support Fair trade fortnight we gave away an amazing fair trade hamper we put together with the help of some of our fair trade friends. Fair trade is an important part of the Myakka ethos and we want to encourage as many people as possible to support and to buy fair trade products. More and more people are seeing fair trade and the right and sustainable thing to do, big brands have now started using fair trade produce such as chocolate and more and more fair trade products are available in our shops every week from flowers and fruit to beer and biscuits, there has never been a better time to buy fair trade. 

May is a busy month for fair trade as the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) Biennial Conference will take place and from the 26th – 28th May 2013 in Rio de Janeiro. Although we would love to go to hear about all the developments in fair trade and to discuss all the challenges and opportunities, Rio is a little too far from sunny Somerset to make the trip but we are looking forward to hearing all about it. During the event Rio will be nominated as Global Fair Trade Capital because of the work that is done there to encourage and promote fair trade.

To celebrate World Fair Trade Day The British Association of Fair Trade Shops and Suppliers (BAFTS) have made a video celebrating fair trade and explains what fair trade is all about. The video 'For a Few Pesso More' shows the supply chain on a coffee bean and how small, simple changes to this chain can make a big difference to the farmers growing the crop. To take a look at the video simply click here.

Take a stroll this May

Here at Myakka we like to be as active as possible so we are supporting Living Streets National Walking Month. Living Streets is a charity that wants to encourage us all to walk a little more and campaigns to make our streets safer for pedestrians, and this May is the perfect time to start walking a little more. 

With the sun now beginning to shine why not take a walk down to your local shop instead of taking the car, or how about walking to work? Walking has so many benefits – it makes you fitter, is great for your heart and helps burns calories, it saves you money in fuel or bus fare, it is a great way to clear your mind ready for work in the morning and after work on the way home and it is the best way to discover new things about your area.

As part of National Walking Month, Living Streets is running a Walk to Work Week from Monday 13th May - Friday 17th May. This is the perfect opportunity to stretch your legs and give walking to work a try. It may take a little longer but you will feel fitter, more refreshed and it will help improve your bank balance! Why not register your work place and log your walk. You can even set up teams to see who clocks up the most steps, as well as measuring your won progress in terms of calories burnt, distance walked and the amount of CO2 you have saved by walking and not taking the car. It only takes a few minutes and a little bit of competition is good for us all!


Living Streets campaigns to make our streets safer for pedestrians and cyclist which in turn makes or environment a safer, cleaner and more social place. They are running a number of campaigns including ‘Show your love for 20mph’ encouraging councils to make residential and shopping areas a 20mph limit; a campaign to stop pavement parking which causes pedestrians to walk on the road and a campaign to remove ice from pavements as well as roads, to make it safer for pedestrians during the winter months. Their website is full of hints and ideas on steps we can take to improve our streets as well and tips and ideas on how to campaign for safer streets in your area.

Take a look at Living Streets website to log your walk, register your work place for Walk to Work Week or to find out more about Living Streets and how to help their campaigns.