Tag: food and drink

Heart Research UK Healthy Tip: Healthy picnics

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK

Healthy picnics

July is National Picnic month and this is a good time to get outdoors to celebrate the warm weather and enjoy some tasty food with friends and family. An outdoor picnic can provide the perfect setting for some fun activities to get your heart pumping.

Make your picnic a healthy one by following our healthy tips:  

Choose a location for your picnic

Plan your picnic in a relaxing spot where you can include a brisk walk or some fun activities, such as a game of frisbee or rounders. Getting plenty of physical activity can help to keep your heart healthy.

Avoid too much fat, salt and sugar

A diet that includes too much salt, fat and sugar is associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Instead of taking crisps, salted nuts, sausage rolls, cakes, chocolate and sugary drinks on your picnic, choose healthier options, such as unsalted nuts, lean meat (e.g. chicken breast), fresh fruit and veg, low-fat and low-sugar yoghurts and sugar-free drinks or water. 

Switch to wholegrain

Wholegrain foods are a good source of nutrients, including fibre, which is good for your heart. Try switching from white bread to wholemeal bread for your sandwiches or wholemeal pita or wraps. Salads can include wholemeal pasta or brown rice to
increase your fibre intake.

Pack in the fruit and veg

Pack raw veg sticks, such as carrots celery, peppers, cucumber and sugar snap peas to have with healthy dips, such as low-fat hummus or tzatziki. For a healthy dessert, you could try making a fresh fruit salad or fruit skewers served with low-fat and low-sugar yoghurt.

Find healthy and delicious recipes for your picnic

There are plenty of healthy picnic recipes available online, such as the BBC Good Food Healthy Picnic Recipes:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/healthy-picnic

Henderson’s to close

We have some extremely sad news: it is with a very heavy heart that the Henderson family took the decision earlier this month to close the doors of Hendersons of Holyrood & Hendersons of Hanover after 58 years in trading.

As a family-run business since the beginning, the shop/deli first opened in 1962, driven by Janet Henderson who 30 years earlier had discovered during her travels in Europe about the benefits of an organic and vegetarian diet. She and her husband Mac then brought this to life on their farm with an organic market garden in East Lothian. Mac Henderson lived to the ripe old age of 101.

As Covid 19 took hold in February/March 2020, this had a very detrimental effect on the business in terms of both footfall and revenue. Covid 19 hit us at a hard time, as we were just coming out of the quieter winter months, looking forward to Easter, summer trading and Edinburgh Festival.

The Government’s resistance to close hospitality businesses until late March meant that by this time our restaurant & deli business closed, we had haemorrhaged a serious amount of money leaving us in a very weak position.

The furlough scheme was a life-line with some hope but still came at a cost with 40 employees, plus we still had essential fixed operating costs, insurance, rent, utilities – with very high monthly outgoing costs and no income coming in – the current situation was unsustainable.

We opened the shop/deli for a month, providing a food/vegetable box delivery and click & collect service. Unfortunately, the city centre is bereft of footfall as virtually no passers-by, tourists or office workers, thus it was impossible to continue operating at a loss.

If our location was in a neighbourhood area it might have been a different story and if we had more of a strong online presence or wholesale trade, perhaps we could have pushed through and come out the other side.

Due to the uncertainty of the future of hospitality, lack of guidance from the Government and ongoing restrictions, there was no realistic prospect of us returning to any kind of normality in the foreseeable future.

As a family, this has not been an easy decision and we are absolutely devastated to be in this situation, outwith our control. The three restaurants and deli will not re-open.

Our family has been privileged to play our part in Janet and Mac Henderson’s great adventure that has been so well supported over the years.

It has been a very difficult decision for us and the Henderson family would like to thank our loyal customers, brilliant suppliers and lovely staff over the past 58 years and we will miss being part of what was Edinburgh’s bustling restaurant scene, which we hope will return in the not too distant future.

Local businesses urged to sign up to ‘Eat Out to Help Out’

Edinburgh and Lothians restaurants, pubs, cafes and other establishments that sell food for consumption on-premises are being urged to sign up to the UK Government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme.

Businesses who use the scheme will offer a 50% reduction, up to a maximum of £10 per person, to all diners who eat or drink-in throughout August.

The scheme is open to businesses across the UK and can be used all day, Monday to Wednesday in August.

Customers do not need a voucher as participating establishments will just remove the discount from their bill. Businesses simply reclaim the discounted amount through an online service, supported by HMRC.

The scheme is aimed at protecting jobs in the hospitality industry and is in addition to the reduction in VAT from 20% to 5% for tourism and hospitality businesses.

Businesses who sign up to the scheme will receive a window sticker and will be able to use promotional items such as posters and logos for social media.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “During lockdown the hospitality industry has been one of the hardest industries due to necessary closures.

“This scheme can give the industry a real boost during August to help businesses get back on their feet again.

“The hospitality and catering industry supports a huge number of jobs in Edinburgh and the Lothians which rely on the sector doing well.

“I encourage businesses across Edinburgh and the Lothians sign up to this scheme to attract more custom at the beginning of the week throughout August.”

Struggling pubs need freedom to stock local products to survive post lockdown

CAMRA’s Cheers for Choice campaign calls on pub companies to allow landlords to sell local beers from small and independent breweries.

Every pub across Scotland should be allowed to stock and sell beer and cider from small, local and independent brewers and cider producers, to help them recover post lockdown.

That’s the message from CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, as they launch their new ‘Cheers for Choice’ campaign this week. 

As pubs prepare for reopening next month, CAMRA’s members across Scotland are signing petitions to pub company bosses urging them to allow all landlords to stock local brews. 

Current beer ties mean that most pub tenants are restricted in what they can sell in their pubs and are often banned from putting on the products they know their customers want to drink. 

The campaign wants pub companies’ beer tie arrangements to be relaxed as pubs reopen following the coronavirus lockdown, so that all parts of the industry can pull together and support each other. 

A recent survey of 21,000 beer drinkers and pub goers across the UK carried out by CAMRA found that 68% of people are less likely to go to a pub if it isn’t selling local and independent beer and cider. 

MSPs are also being urged to support the Tied Pubs Bill being put forward in the Scottish Parliament by Labour MSP Neil Bibby. The legislation would give tied pub tenants protections in law, including a right to be able to sell guest beers in their pubs. 

Commenting, CAMRA Director for Scotland Sarah Crawford said:  “Relaxing restrictions for tied pub tenants is the right thing to do – making sure all parts of the industry, no matter how small, are supported in the recovery from COVID-19 and are able to thrive in the weeks and months ahead. 

“Allowing small and independent brewers and cider producers are able to sell into all pubs will also improve consumer choice and allow pub goers to support local brewing businesses. 

“It also makes business sense, with 68% of pub-goers saying they would be less likely to go back to a pub if it doesn’t have a range of brews from small and independent producers. 

“That’s why we are encouraging pub companies to relax restrictions on what beers can be sold when pubs reopen, as well as urging all MSPs to vote in favour of the Tied Pubs Bill later in the year so all landlords can have a legal right to serve guest beers from local and independent breweries.” 

Labour MSP for the West of Scotland Neil Bibby MSP said: “I agree with CAMRA that restrictions on tied pubs should be relaxed to help brewers into the sector and allow more consumer choice for pub-goers.  

“This is a critical time for pubs and brewers in Scotland. They need all the help they can get. One way the Scottish Parliament can help is through tied pub reform. It’s time to stop the big PubCos extracting profits from Scotland and support Scottish publicans who want to invest in their businesses and provide more choice to customers.”

Brand new brasserie back from the brink

AN AMBITIOUS new restaurant that launched just weeks before lockdown has come back from the brink – after its owner was told it was too new to qualify for grants and the furlough scheme.

Pier Brasserie, the £100K transformation of the former Prezzo site, within Newhaven’s prime former Fishmarket building, launched with much excitement and anticipation in February.

Within weeks it became clear that the spread of Covid-19 was set to devastate the sector along with the dreams of owner Mark Patonyi, one of city’s most esteemed restaurant managers, previously front of house at Martin Wishart’s The Honours, Manager of Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond and general manager of Steak Restaurant at Picardy Place.

Now, Mark, 36, alongside head chef and friend Vladimir Garcik and a team of two, has opened a take away offering, enabling foodies to sample high-quality bistro dishes while taking in the views of Newhaven lighthouse and the bridges, from the harbour.

The father of one, who moved to the UK from Hungary in 2007, said: “It may sound cliché, but 2020 has been an unbelievable rollercoaster of emotions.

“From the highs of our amazing opening – and those initial few weeks which saw us packed out – everything came crashing down.

“It looked like we would never be able to recover – and it has been heart-breaking that we can’t even offer our team the small comfort of furlough, as we’re so new we didn’t receive our PAYE reference number until after the 19 March cut-off date.

“We’re still doing everything we can to appeal that, as it just feels so unfair. As a new business we’ve not had any chance of building up cash reserves.

“Up until a few weeks ago it didn’t seem feasible that we could launch a take-away offering, but it got to the point I couldn’t sit around and wait for my fate any longer.”

He has subsequently launched a carefully selected menu utilising the best local and Scottish produce, including seafood landed in the harbour and meat from Donald Russell butchers. Included in the menu will be ciabattas, fish and chips, burgers, salads and desserts – as well as few options available each day for children.

Mark added: “The menu is an honest reflection of the food we were serving in the restaurant prior to lockdown – and easily enjoyed outside or at home.

“We’ve put in place all safety precautions too and had the team practice everything rigorously to ensure we can do this in the safest possible way. It gives us a chance to safely gear up to a potential part-opening in weeks, depending on how guidelines change.

“I also want to give a huge thanks to those that have offered kind messages during lockdown, knowing the situation we’re in.”

Ahead of the February launch Mark had been at the heart of the £100,000+ transformation of the site, project managing each process to ensure they meet his exceptionally high standards – as well as hand-picking a 15-strong team.

For more information about Pier Brasserie or to get first sight of the new menu when it launches, visit: https://www.pierbrasserie.com/ or follow us on Facebook @pierbrasserie and Instagram @pierbrasserie

Over 200 young people take part in FDF Scotland’s Lockdown Food Challenge

To help keep pupils engaged with food education during lockdown, Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland challenged young people across Scotland to design an innovative street food dish that they and their families would love.

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Win free doughnuts for a year!

Your favourite signature Original Glazed doughnuts will be available for UK nationwide delivery* with the launch of its latest additions: Krispy Kreme Celebrations – an indulgent doughnut decorating kit, and Say It With Krispy Kreme, a hand-piped half dozen, personalised with a message of your choice.

Krispy Kreme is inviting people across the nation to get creative with their signature original glazed doughnuts. From 22nd June, Krispy Kreme fans can begin placing orders to treat themselves or send the perfect gift to loved ones.

The arrival of the Krispy Kreme Creations kit allows fans to indulge their fantasies of becoming a doughnut chef while Say It With Krispy Kreme adds a personal touch when gifting to a loved one  whether you want to customize with a name or meaningful message.

From birthdays to baby showers, anniversaries to make-shift graduations, with a personalised hand-piped box of Original Glazed doughnuts, whatever you want to say, say it with Krispy Kreme.

The launch of UK nationwide delivery with the Krispy Kreme Creation kits and hand-piped half dozens means doughnut lovers across the country can now order signature Original Glazed doughnuts straight to their door by contactless delivery.

Thanks to the expansion of the doughnut brand’s delivery service, you can now enjoy the infamous Original Glazed from the comfort of home and garden.

Krispy Kreme’s beautiful bespoke hand-piped half dozens are the perfect gift for friends and family. Right now more than ever, everyone deserves a little treat and what better way to put a smile on someone’s face and tell a loved one you’re missing them with the gift of sweet treats.

Complete with everything you need to make the doughnut of your dreams, the Krispy Kreme Creations kit, comes with four Original Glazed doughnuts, chocolatey and caramel icings and a selection of indulgent toppings including cookie crumb, lotus biscoff biscuit crumb, chocolate & honeycomb pieces and white chocolate, the perfect activity for a joy-filled afternoon.

To celebrate the launch of UK nationwide delivery, one lucky customer who places either a Say It With Krispy Kreme or Krispy Kreme Creations order on the 22nd June for a kit of hand-piped half dozen, will win free doughnuts for a year.

Following the prize draw on Tuesday 23rd June, the winner will receive a pre-loaded gift card as part of their doughnut delivery**.

Krispy Kreme Creations kits will be on sale for £14.95 and Say It With Krispy Kreme hand-piped half dozen boxes will be on sale for £10.95. Both available from 22nd June with a £3.95 delivery fee; with first delivery day available from 30th June.

More information can be found at https://www.krispykreme.co.uk/.

*excluding Scottish Highlands & Islands **T&Cs apply