 Papamoa woman Sarah McNeely had her own Charlie Bucket moment. The mother-of-two initiate her own golden ticket in a Memphis Meltdown ice-cream wrapper last week. But instead of winning a trip to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, Ms McNeely will make a poignant pilgrimage to Crete. Ms McNeely and partner Paul Beauchamp had been saving their money so that they could attend the 70th Commemoration of the Battle of Crete in May next year. But the $10,000 win means the couple can now make the journey without financial stress. The trip is more than just a holiday it's a pilgrimage to honor Mr. Beauchamp's late grandfather, Ken little, who fought in World War II. It will be an emotional moment for the couple. Mr. Beauchamp was very close to his grandfather, and for Ms McNeely, the trip will be an chance to honor the man she never got to meet. Just to be capable to go and share that will be really cool. The war was a bit part of his grandfather's life. Labels: Golden ticket, ice-cream wrapper, McNeely
 Alphonso mangoes are in season for only six weeks or so and it is the beginning of their season now. Highly sweet scented and very sweet, their flesh is delightfully orange. They are available from Middle Eastern shops and good greengrocers. This recipe consists of no more than pureed mango with a drop or two of cream and sugar. It is best eaten on the day it is made. If you do not have an ice-cream maker, place it in a Tupperware bowl and put in the freezer. You will need to swirl it every half-hour or so until it sets to prevent the final surface being too icy. Slice crosswise down the sides of the stone of each mango, cut down to remove the small strips of flesh left by the stone and, using a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Place in a food processor with the sugar and salt. Puree until smooth. Squeeze over the lime and puree briefly again. Pour into a bowl and stir in the cream. Labels: Alphanso mango, mango icecream
 The 16th annual Royal Scoop Egg stalk was more than a one day-event. It was the conclusion of a huge community effort. This year more than 30 volunteers worked to put on one of Southwest Florida's biggest Easter egg hunts. Volunteers from Bay Forest and Marbella stuffed most of the 18,340 eggs. Teenagers from saintly Academy of Dance along with local children, adults and senior citizens spent hours laying the eggs on a huge lawn donated for the event by First Baptist Church of Bonita. Volunteers helped direct the games, organizing children as they played an egg on spoon race, egg in ice cream cone race and raw egg toss. There were volunteers manning the grill cooking up hamburgers and hot dogs. Others did face painting or helped with the bounce house or giant slide. People kept coming up to me and calling me and telling me they wanted to help, said Sarah Zimmermann, who owns Royal Scoop with her husband David. It's great to see so many people helping. Labels: Bonita Egg Hunt, Florida Easter Egg hunt, kids thrilled
 About this time, London's forte candy shops are counting all those Easter eggs that have hatched into golden chicks. There are at least eight such shops in the city. All are small and locally owned, specializing in chocolate, candy, baked goods, gift boxes and baskets, and other Easter-flavored novelties. Often these goodies are made right on the premises. What they have just passed through, on the last-week run-up to Easter, is their busiest time of the year, the chocolympics, the jelly-bean bonanza. Now it's time to tally the rewards. Owner and gastronomical modernizer Dave Ghobri offered a bunch of Easter-themed goodies such as giant chocolate eggs into which customers could put toys, tickets or whatever. The egg halves were then sealed together again to become personalized surprise gifts. It takes seven steps to make an egg, Ghobri says, which is why they sold for $11.95.Ghobri also sells chocolate goodies of all kinds, plus chocolate by the pound All of it he makes in his plant in Sarnia where he also has a store. He also sells treats at the weekly Saturday Sarnia Farmers Market and at a summer outlet in Sarnia. Labels: Easter eggs, Gastromical modernizer, Londons sugar  Nick came across a website the other day called Puppies Eating Ice-cream Just pictures of pups licking ice-cream. Well, someone always argues. In this case, it might be you, pointing out practically that dairy products are not great for dogs they can't be digested properly by the dog's gut. Feeding ice-cream to a puppy is a bad idea, as cute as it looks. But we have done it. Our dogs love the taste of ice-cream, and any walk along Oriental Bay is a stop-start exercise as Phoebe halts every few yards to snuffle and lick at ice-cream stains on the pavement that may have been there for days. We have watched the dogs eye us pleadingly as we munch through a snow freeze or frozen yoghurt in a cone, and relented by tossing them the tip of the cone with just a bit of the creamy stuff attached. The dogs rarely get nibbles of corn chips or nuts, but we try to do the right thing and not fill their eager little bellies with sugary stuff. Nick have seen other dog owners nourish their pets with biscuits, chocolate, pieces of cake, scones, creamy pike lets the dogs love it, of course, but without getting judgmental about others, it's a boundary we won't cross. Our dachshunds are basically dogs with dwarfism, and as a result of that condition their spinal tissues aren't as sturdy as in a standard dog and they can get injured easily. Excess weight magnifies the problem, so keeping a daxie trim is an important health safeguard Labels: Dachshunds, Dogs, Oriental Bay, Puppies  The new Rite Aid shaping up on El Camino Real and Mercedes Avenue in Atascadero is set to open in July. Construction began in November. The new store will have an ice cream stall and a drive-through pharmacy in about 17,000 square feet, said Mike Hieshima of the Carpinteria-based developer Epsteen & Associates. The entire staff is poignant over, local store manager Jim Barksdale said, noting that approximately 20 to 25 staff are excited about the change. The new store will mark an updated look with stone veneer siding, red-tile roof and new landscaping, Hieshima said. There will also be 62 new parking places. The existing Rite Aid, situated behind the new building in the Plaza Del Camino shopping center, is more than 20 years old, he said. It will feature 21,000 square feet of vacant space for a new tenant when Rite Aid moves out. Labels: Atascadero, New icecream Stall, Rite Aid  Carmarthenshire ice cream a family-run firm has won a two-year contract to supply NHS hospitals in Wales. Frank's Ice Cream, based at Capel Hendre in Amman ford, will make more than a million small tubs of strawberry and vanilla ice cream a year. Giulio Dallavalle, who runs the firm with brother Renaldo, said they have a special ice cream to win the contract. The award-winning firm's 20 employees are now working round-the clock, seven days a week. Mr Dallevalle said the beauty of the convention to supply hospitals in Wales was that it "de-seasonalises" the ice cream market, and that they were working non-stop, partly to meet the demand. They said it is a momentous contract for us and we are happy with the outcome. Labels: Capel Hendre, Carmarthenshire icecream, supply NHS hospitals |
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Papamoa woman Sarah McNeely had her own Charlie Bucket moment. The mother-of-two initiate her own golden ticket in a Memphis Meltdown ice-cream wrapper last week.
Alphonso mangoes are in season for only six weeks or so and it is the beginning of their season now. Highly sweet scented and very sweet, their flesh is delightfully orange. They are available from Middle Eastern shops and good greengrocers.
