* For those that like to cook up a roast on a regular basis, then I really like the Cut & Carve Tray, which will give you a secure place to carve, but also capture all the great juices. And it can go in the dishwasher, a definite plus in my book!

* Got a lover of breakfast in bed? Or want to drop a hint to a loved one? This oak breakfast tray would definitely cut the risk of breakfast being more on the bed than in bed.

* I’m not even mad keen on vodka, but love this vodka set. Perfect for shots, more likely to be sloe gin in our house than vodka. Fill the carafe with spirit of choice and put in the freezer, and stand it over the base filled with ice when ready to go. Pretty coloured glasses too!

* I can think of someone that would love an apple press like this and will be busy sending this link to BFF. Although imagine her fella is less likely to leave the end product as just apple juice! If you always have an excess and wonder what to do, then this could be brilliant come next autumn. Local pig keepers will thank you for the leftovers too!

* For someone who is vowing that next year they are going to grow their own, then give them a real incentive by treating them to some great seeds. The beginner’s vegetable garden seeds gives them some interesting but straightforward stuff to grow, like French beans, minature cucumbers, cut and come again Green Oak Leaf lettuce and cherry tomatoes. If they’re more experience, then check out the large variety of single seed packets, for things like Green Globe Artichokes or Red Rubine Brussel Sprouts.

There are also great courses for cooking and gardening for cooking, and kit for the kitchen and obviously for the garden. A  taste of the good life for Christmas Day and beyond.

I love this time of year, lots of fruitful bounty in need of preserving. Not to mention rosettes going at the village horticultural show for marmalade, jam and chutney. So, it’s a great time to look at some of the great preserving books out there at the moment.

Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber – I know I’ve written about this book before, but it is still my favourite jam book of all time. Completely inspiring in every season, the flavour combinations are very exciting and definitely brighten up your morning toast. From my experience, they are not village show winning recipes though as they are too exciting and forward thinking. Or that could just be our village!

The Everything Root Cellaring Book: Learn to Store, Cook and Preserve Fresh Produce All Year Round – perfect especially for those of you with allotments or big gardens who have been busy growing your own produce. After all the hardwork of digging, you won’t want to let a single bit go to waste. This talks you how to make your own root cellar, not a term I think we use here but the prinicple is sound. It covers a bit of everything, so at least you can have a try of all techniques and see what works best for you.

Put ‘em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Preserving to Canning and Pickling – another long title, another fairly comprehensive look at the options, possibly slightly less homespun and a bit more modern in its recipe choices. Pickled beets with cumin and coriander is not your usual beetroot in vinegar and I like the fact that it covers things like Red Hot Vodka, as a way to use up your chillies. And I don’t know what peach butter is, but it sure sounds good.

Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavours for the Modern Pantry – don’t be misled by the title, this is a bit of a generic for preserving, though some cans involved.. Again, organised by season for easy selection, so coming into Autumn I’d be looking longingly at Blood Plum and Apple Jam with Rosewater. Some more unusual recipes, so if you think you’ve already got the basics covered, then this might be a good addition.

The SuperJam Cookbook – lets face it, by any measure Fraser Doherty is a success story. To have done so at such a young age is incredible. And the jam is tasty. And the photography is beautiful. And the recipes interesting. Honestly, if it wasn’t for all that you could really dislike him! Comes across as a very decent bloke though. Maybe a good opportunity to get a younger generation into preserving. Or one to teach us older dogs new tricks!

So some new twists on preserving possible with all of these. But if anyone has a village show award winning jam or lemon curd recipe going spare, I’d love to get it!

Perfect for outdoor drinking when the sun comes out, this jug and four tumblers from Jo Clark Design is made from recycled glass, and now has 20% off at £76.

For the grow your own kind of foodie, then these giant printed wooden herb labels will come in very useful whilst things are at the seedling stage. Now with 15% off.

If they’re going to be busy out in the garden, then guarantee they are going to need a sustaining cuppa at some stage. This enamel mug, urging them on in their digging, now has 15% off at £6.80.

I love this print and will be ordering it for my kitchen, and living life by its philosophy! Only reduced by 10%, but is now £13.50.

I’ve written many times about my love of tea towels, and this union jack one is now reduced by 20% to just £8. Great standby gift. Also check out the Chin Chin tea towel (now £7) and the very colourful Tall Flowers one (now 35% off at £9.10).

Just a few lovely things to think about keeping on standby, treating someone to now, or just to cheer up your own day with!

Best of British for the best of dads

After yesterday’s global food tour of gifts for dads, then today it’s time to offer some thoughts on great choices from great British producers. Reduce the food miles of your gift, but not the flavour! Here’s some ideas for you:

* For dads who like smoky flavours, then try The Artisan Smokehouse of Suffolk. For something a little different, I would  buy dad the smoked British beef fillet, and some Smoked Cropwell Bishop Stilton, for an easy lunchtime with great taste. This is a small, family run concern based on the Suffolk coast, with most of the smoking taking place over maple, which gives it a really distinctive, rich flavour. Just remember to give these to Dad, or order extra for yourself, as very moreish!

* Head cross country to The Cheese Shed for selections of West Country artisan cheese. You can choose small whole cheeses to go in the Small Wonders box, or have cheese by region, from Devon, Cornwall, Dorset or Somerset. Some of these cheeses you’d probably have to be in the county to taste normally, but if this is a part of the world with great family memories, then this could make a memorable, not to mention tasty, gift. Mines the Devon collection please!

* To Yorkshire, and the botanic delights that are the fruit vinegars from Womersley Foods. I’d seen lots of people raving about these on Twitter, and bore a bottle of the Blackcurrant and Rosemary Vinegar back from Real Food Festival, eager to get it open. It’s not lasted very long! I’ve found that it’s very versatile, and I shall be expanding my store cupboard repertoire. Attractive, useful and tasty perfection, ideal if Dad likes to experiment in the kitchen.

* If Dad is a real carnivore, then treat him to a box of something special. I am particularly fond of the beef from Northfield Farm, particularly delicious and hung for a proper amount of time. It would certainly be a bit of a surprise for dad, although possibly not the easiest thing to wrap! I’m also very partial to their sausages, particularly the pork and leek.

* Proving that you don’t need to head off to Italy or Greece for a great cold pressed oil, try buying Dad some rapeseed oil. I have not been a big lover to date, but I tried the Chiltern Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil recently, and was really impressed. The smoked version is delicious, as was the lemon, so proving that you can get really fabulous oil produced here. Mix it up, or keep it plain, sure that Dad will be converted!

* Spice things up for Dad without leaving the UK, with a selection of chilli products from South Devon Chilli Farm. Making most of the Devon climate, the farm produces a huge range of chilli products from sauces to pickles and chocolate, not to mention dried chillis and seeds for growing his own. If he likes the really hot stuff, then maybe treat him to the chilli handling kit, may save sore eyes at a later date!

These are just a few, as there are so many great British producers to choose from. If you’ve got time, then I’d encourage you to get out to your local farmer’s market and see if you can’t pick up a great gift there first, but these all represent great sources if time does not permit.

Best of British photo by simononly on Flickr.

It’s Chelsea Flower Show this week so it’s flowers all the way, and edible flowers seem to be having a bit of a moment. You could just order some in if you wanted to try them, with Natoora doing a punnet of mixed flowers that would work with salads or to add an extra dimension of prettiness to desserts.

If you are feeling inspired by Chelsea and are getting out into the garden, then try Sarah Raven for great seeds to grow your own. The All Year Edible Flower collection includes Viola, Nasturtiums and Marigolds, so perfect additions throughout the seasons. Also worth buying blue borage, which is incredibly pretty and makes a perfect addition to Pimms and other summer drinks.

For something on standby all year round, then Steenbergs have a great collection of dried flowers and petals. There are cornflower petals with their amazing colour, dried orange blossom flowers for their beautiful fragrance and even dried peony flowers, for a pretty pink splash. They also offer a rose water and an orange blossom water, which to me are great cupboard standbys.

Not something I’ve tried, but I’m also intrigued by the Rose Petal Jelly from Fortnum & Mason. Unusually, this is made with fresh rose petals rather than dried. Would make a lovely floral change to your normal strawberry jam with clotted cream and scones, perhaps for a summer baby shower if it’s a girl, or even for a bridal shower. You could serve it along with Fentimans Rose Lemonade or add Monin Rose Syrup to a glass of prosecco for pink fizz that tastes like liquid Turkish delight to me. Just don’t over do it, too much and it becomes very sickly.

So don’t just think about flowers for table decorations, get them into the kitchen, onto the plates and into your glass! Just check for bugs first!

I retweeted a comment from Sally Golland about a great new gift from The Gluttonous Gardener, and great to get their latest catalogue through. And it turns out the Red Hot Box was just one of a great range of plant meets food gifts that they offer.

For something with unusual food brownie points, then I’d go for the medlar box. This is a really old fruit, and there have been a dwindling number of trees here in the UK, but then a number of chefs seem to have got interested in working with the fruit again. The tree also benefits from really pretty blossom, and is ideal for small gardens. As well as getting a small tree, the gift also includes a jar of medlar jelly, so you get a taste of what you can do with the fruit.

Got friends with a new baby? How about the Under the GooseberryBush set? Cute name, good gift, with a ready to plant gooseberry bush (not too much hardwork for the new parent). Then there’s the copper tag to record all of the important details of when their own particular gooseberry bush delivery was made. And then there’s the bottle of champagne. Just be careful this doesn’t come with a second delivery!

A classic gift from them is the Thai Chef’s Crate, which would give the keen cook their own supply of fresh kaffir lime leaves. The plant will grow happily in a conservatory or warm windowsill apparently, and you can be busy growing Thai Basil alongside, which comes as a packet of seeds. The crate is completed by three of the other essential tastes: palm sugar, fish sauce and chilli sauce. Perfect.

So whilst not the cheapest options, these are interesting, a little different and would show a bit of thought. Not to mention would be a gift that keeps on giving as they get to enjoy the continuing harvest of your fabulous foodie gift!

Nothing to do with my age and early onset of hot flushes, but more a great resource for those of you fancying growing your own chillies. Or, in my case, great source for a gift for someone who likes it hot!

Sow Chillies has one of the most comprehensive ranges of chilli seeds I have ever seen. So many that the A-Z listings need to be split into 3! Loads here I’ve never even heard of, like Bulgarian Carrot (mild to medium, first to fruit), Numex Big Jim (in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the world’s largest chillies, pretty mild) and Red Trinidad Scorpion (as hot as it sounds, tempremental too).

So you could choose by name, by heat level, or to maximise your cropping season. Or you could do what I did, and just order one of the seed collections. Nice packaging, and the thinkings done for you. For the beginner, there’s the Chilli Taster Collection or perhaps Not Sow Hot. For the expert or heat lover, then try the Ultimate Collection or Sow Very Hot. Which really is very, very hot chillies! With the exception of the Ultimate, all three collections are under £5, and the Ultimate is only £14.95 for 10 packs of seeds, so all pretty budget friendly gifts.

Also worth checking out their veg seeds, as some good unusual seeds on offer. I’m looking forward to planting, and eating, the two lots of beetroot seeds that I got, Chioggia and Burpee’s Golden. Should make for a very pretty looking salad, not to mention tasty!

If you want any advice on growing chillies, then read my interview with Craig of the We Grow Our Own blog, and chilli expert in residence for Wahaca.

Oh, and if you wonder if the Ring of Fire chill is hot, my guess is that the clue is in the name!

Whilst I was away I heard a news article about the price of chillies in Indonesia, where they are now more per kilo than meat. Given how much chilli goes into the average Indonesian dish, you can imagine the uproar! A lot of people are now trying to grow their own out there, which is most definitely worth considering.

I do have a passing interest, as most of our conservatory seems to have been taken over by chilli plants this year, as Dr T tried to grow a whole heap of varities, with varying success. So I thought I’d go straight to the expert and ask Craig, the Wahaca chilli expert, author of the We Grow Our Own blog and general green fingered guru to help make this year’s crop a bit more successful!

Craig, what do you need to grow chillies in the UK, and can they be grown successfully if you don’t have access to a greenhouse?

Ideally, the best time to start planting your chilli seeds is January or February. The reason for this is that it will give your seeds and plants a good head start, so that you can enjoy lots of lovely chillies throughout the summer months.

There are a few bits of basic equipment that you will need. You’ll need a plant pot, some multi-purpose compost, a spray bottle, and obviously your seeds! First fill your pot with the compost and firm it down. Spray the compost with the spray bottle, but the idea is keep the compost moist, rather than drenching it.

If you are using the Wahaca chilli seeds, snap off the matchstick carefully and plant it point end down into the compost to the mark on the matchstick. However, if you are using your own chilli seeds instead, just place them on top of the compost, cover them with another 0.5cm of compost, and then lightly spray it again with the water spray.

Now what your chilli seeds need are heat and moisture. You can help them along by covering the pot with clingfilm and putting it somewhere warm like a windowsill over a radiator, if you do not have access to a greenhouse or a conservatory. Check the seeds every day, and spray the compost again if it seems as if it is too dry. Remember the idea is to keep the compost moist and not wet!

Also, be aware that different varieties of chilli seeds take different times to germinate. On average they can take up to 3 weeks to germinate, but some hotter varieties can take up to six weeks, so just sit on your hands and be patient!

What chilli would you recommend people start with, as an easy grow? Which variety is the most versatile, and which gives the highest yield? And my daughter would like to know which is the sweetest (i.e. not that hot)!

Best varieties to start out with are Jalapenos, Serrano or Hungarian Hot Wax – very reliable. None are guaranteed to give the highest yield, as so many factors can influence how it grows. For example this year’s crop was less than last year due to the awful weather. Beginner’s chillies would probably be either Hungarian Hot Wax or Poblano. Tasty & fruity without too much heat!

How much watering/attention do they need?

Nomally only need watering if the compost looks like it is starting to dry out, and more frequently as the weather grows hotter. Important not to waterlog the plants as it can rot the main stem and weaken the plant.  When the first fruit appears, you should add tomato feed in half the recommended quantity to the water for the chilli plants, or use a specialist chilli feed.

What’s the most common mistake people make when growing them?

Common mistakes are letting the just germinated plant get ‘leggy’; over watering, under watering, not keeping it in a hot place, as chillies like light and warmth!

Is it true the chillies get hotter the longer you leave them on the plant?

Very true!

Are there any chillies that can grow outside in the UK?

Chillies can be grown outside in the UK, and the further south you are the better chance you will have with them. The only ones that cannot really are the Habenero varieties and the other really hot ones, as they need the humidity and the warmth of a greenhouse or polytunnel.

What’s your favourite recipe using chilli? And your favourite product being produced with a chilli angle?

My favourite recipe including chillies would have to be the one that I cooked on the last series of Britain’s Best Dish, namely ‘Thai Spiced Mackerel with a Cucumber & Green Papaya Relish”. This got me through to the last seven in the country where unfortunately I was knocked out. There are so many good chilli based products out there, it is impossible to pick one! The only one I am not so sure about is chilli beer, as I have yet to taste a good one, and I do like my beer!

So, some great advice, and worth putting a few seeds in over the next few weeks if you like to keep it spicy. Even better, stop by Wahaca, have a great meal and then pick up the free chilli seeds in there. And if you’ve got some chillis to use already, here’s Craig’s winning recipe to inspire you!

Chilli shot by David Singleton on Flickr.

Bring on the first English strawberries, the raspberries, the blueberries…and in the meantime please inspire me with new things to do with appples and plums! I may have found myself not warming to him when I watched Toast over Christmas, but I do love his food writing.

Here’s to celebrating our seasonal fruit harvests!

And is there a better crop to get kids involved with than growing salad? Its quick, and fairly foolproof, and they’ll love these funky containers to get their crops going in. Just make sure they are well into the concept of sharing!

I found these at Garden Boutique, currently priced at £15.95.