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Setting The Christmas Table

November 27, 2016 by Erica Hughes 12 Comments

Christmas is often the time when we spend the most time, money and effort on dressing our house and our table; preparing food; and serving drinks. So I was very interested to be invited to attend an event sponsored by Arthur Price, the cutlery people which focused on the getting ready for the festive season.

I’d never been to Wolverhampton Grand, where the event was hosted, before. Growing up in Birmingham we tended to go to the theatre there and it was easier transport wise. I hadn’t realised what a lovely building Wolverhampton Grand was and I was very impressed by Arthur’s Bar, which is sponsored by Arthur Price. Designed in an art deco style, it is the perfect pre-theatre location to entertain family, friends and clients. It is good to know that you can enjoy the red carpet experience with your personal waiter in one of their private booths to enhance your special evening.

To start with we looked at cocktails, after all it’s traditional to offer guests a drink before dinner. We had a skilled mixologist take us through the stages of making these two lovely seasonal cocktails.

Next we took a look at cooking for the big day. Christmas dinner can be a logistical nightmare, so it was good to see some ideas of how to prepare parts in advance and minimise the stress. In 20 minutes, Simon our chef managed to whisk up the starter: a Salmon and Cucumber Gateau, the main: Pan-Fried Turkey Escalope with Cranberries and the dessert: Orange and Mascarpone Snowball. I was particularly taken by the spectacular dessert which was so easy to put together, but looked fantastic and tasted delicious.

Festive cakes were next on the agenda. I tend to be put off making a Christmas cake by the icing side of things, but having picked up a few tips, I might actually have a go next year.

Next we moved onto dressing the Christmas table. I really liked the idea of putting baubles into a glass as an easy way of creating a bespoke decoration. The Christmas tree napkins were another nice touch.

Laying the table is the finishing touch to add to the Christmas feast and as well as being a practical thing, it should look beautiful too. I know from experience that it’s very easy to make a table look good using Arthur Price cutlery as we have been using ours daily for the last 12 years and it still looks like new.

Kitchen Design – How to Get It Right

March 7, 2016 by Erica Hughes 1 Comment

In 2014 we redesigned our kitchen and made our dreams a reality. We’d been saving up for this part of our home renovation and refurbishment for a few years and we were keen to get our kitchen design right. We’d previously had a kitchen refitted at our old house and we’d picked up a few pointers along the way, so we tried to use what worked well and change what didn’t.

Get Plenty of Ideas

Even if you have a good image in your head of what you want go out and see as many kitchens as possible. Look in magazines, online and get the opinions of friends. We got a few firms to draw up plans for us before settling on our final version of our layout. Kitchen design is changing and there are always new ideas and improvements out there to consider.

Consider Current and Future Needs

A kitchen is a room that is too expensive to refit very often. Consider your current storage needs and try to add in a bit of scope for the future if your space allows. If your children are small, mind they are likely to have bigger appetites at teens for example, and you will need to be able to store more food. I’d say go for more cupboard space than you think you need rather than less. It’s unlikely that you will regret that extra space.

Get a Designer to Come Round to Your House

Some kitchen suppliers are reluctant to send someone round in the early stages of a working on a kitchen design, if at all because it takes up a lot of staff time. We found it very useful to have an expert on the ground in our house looking at our room shape, window placement, sunlight, etc. and making recommendations. For us it was a key thing and the difference between using a kitchen company and going elsewhere. If you have a few kitchen designers round, you’re likely to get some different ideas and you can look to incorporate them into your final design.

Get a Reliable Firm to Fit Your Kitchen

We were lucky here as we knew we were likely to go with the company that did our previous kitchen. They had done a good job the previous time and had a good range of products to offer. Another way to source a good kitchen firm is to ask for recommendations from other local people. As we were returning customers we even got a discount on the price which came in useful. We also went with the builders and the structural engineer that they recommended and the whole process was very seamless. It might have cost a little more to use all their people, but we didn’t have to get involved with scheduling and the interplay between the various trades. Doing a kitchen up is stressful enough and you need to cut down the potential stresses and strains when you can.

This post has been produced in collaboration with homify.

A Trip to the Spring Fair

February 12, 2016 by Erica Hughes 13 Comments

This year for the first time I went to the Spring Fair at the NEC. It’s an enormous event and it’s impossible to get round all of it in one day. It is a great place to look at the latest products and the trends for the year ahead. One of my focuses was on kitchenwares and tablewares.

There were some lovely things. I love these egg racks. They’d look wonderful in my kitchen, although I think I’d feel the need to keep them full to get the overall effect.

The Spring Fair is a trade show which is for buyers to decide what they would like to stock for the coming seasons. I was there in a press capacity, but most people attending are buying for shops. You can’t just go and buy stuff off the stands to take home.

It was good to get an idea of what will be available in the shops soon. Some of the ranges are very new and the Spring Fair is the perfect way to get a sneak preview.

There are also some very practical, but still beautiful, pieces of kitchen kit available and I’m wondering if I can justify ‘investing’ in some of them.

Later in the year there’s the Autumn Fair, which will have the latest things for the new season. Tickets are free to trade customers.