This year the Christmas stock… food, drinks and presents will be sourced from Sheffield or Yorkshire where possible. My resolve came this year from seeing such a change in the way national brands were marketing themselves as being stockists of ‘locally sourced’ products. I hoped to go a step further and cut out the middle man! …
So, this year our sprouts, roast potatoes, peas etc will come from home Farm in Yorkshire ( www.riverford.co.uk 0845 600 2311). Our delicious turkey wellington ( yes were attempting a pastry layer this year!!) has been reared in Yorkshire and even the slate table mats we serve this on will comes from our friends at Grey and Echo who supply locally sourced slate (www.greyandecho.co.uk). Our friends at Our Cow Molly may be happy to hear we have developed a homemade Christmas pudding ice cream for the day – we’ll let you know the recipe if it’s a hit!
For all our presents we have tried our best to use local independent retailers instead of department stores. The Hamper we’ve created (the recipient will remain anonymous as Father Christmas will be surprising them on the 25th!) is full of treats such as Henderson’s relish and homemade chutneys.
Wherever you are this Christmas, one of the best presents has to be the investment we make back into our local economy – as we spend more and more each year and it’s great to know we can help and support local business by thinking on a more local level.
Have a Wonderful Christmas everyone :)