Lillian. A book by Dorothy Blake

Lillian is the biography of Lillian Vickers.

She was a pretty girl, typical of many girls of her time, when she went to work on a farm.

The story tells of the often hard life that Lillian and her family suffered, of ill-health and fortunes, some good, some bad.

It relates tales of the strong bonds that run deep through the generations of the families involved in the life of Lillian. And also, in a way, it tells the life stories of thousands of other Lillians and Susans, and Marys who also lived lives of hardship, deprivation and of love and loss, hope and heartbreak.

Because although this is Lillian's story, it is their story and our story, too. For the vast majority of us have Lillians in the history of our families.

If you are buying presents for someone of farming stock, or someone who is just interested in social history or in biography, this book will be an ideal Christmas present for them.

It is published by Austin MaCauley at £6.99, the ISBN is 978 1 78455 057 8.

www.austinmacauley.com.

The Well Travelled Gourmet's Jolly Hot Chilli Sauce

For those who like something a bit different here's The Well Travelled Gourmet's Jolly Hot Chilli Sauce.

It is hot, but not implausibly, impossibly, hot. It is sweet, yet it is the natural sweetness one would expect from well-chosen and properly preserved and properly cooked green chillies.

What can you do with Jolly Hot Green Chilli Sauce at Christmas time?

What about using it to make a delightful dip for some mozzarella cheese dippers? Or what about using them with some of those lovely hand cooked crisps that you like?

What about adding it to the gravy for the turkey? Obviously, not unless you tell everyone what you have done as some people (sadly) don't like chillies.

What about the turkey? There are recipes for preparing your humble Christmas dinner bird into something of a super bird, using chilli sauce, so why not?

Obviously you can use it on Boxing Day to boost the inevitable turkey curry, or go all out and produce a Thai special dish with it?

Or how about a nice turkey chilli?

Remember, folks! Google is your friend, you can find lots of neat recipes at www.google.co.uk or www.google.com.

Well Travelled Gourmet products are available from www.tesco.com.

The Girl on the Pier

The Girl on the Pier is a new novel by Paul Tomkins.

It concerns the story of Patrick Clement, a skilled and expert forensic sculptor who helps recreate in 3-D renditions, the features of the corpses of unidentified human remains.

There are interwoven threads of different and apparently disparate threads.But are they quite as disparate and as different as one might think at first sight? 

Or are darker, more evil forces at work here?

There's a damaged and brutalised marriage, a wrecked piece of art, a love lost before it is even breathed about, let alone consummated after an extremely brief encounter on Brighton Pier one oh so very hot summer's day, years previously. 

Then there is a skull of a girl who has been unidentified for almost five decades, after she was found, the victim of a murderer, also on Brighton Pier in the early 1970s.

Who is the mysterious artist's model, Black? What is the link with the artist who painted the damaged artwork, Jacob Dyer?

Is there a connection with the murder of the girl back in the early 1970s? If so, how deep does that connection go? Who is the killer?

If you know someone who likes tightly written, compelling psychologically driven mystery novels, then you really must get this book for them. It will make them a very welcome Christmas present. 

It is published by Matador at £8.99, the ISBN is 978 1784621 049.

It is available through bookshops and can be purchased via the Amazon-powered book shop at the sister site of That's Christmas, That's Books:  http://thatsbooks.blogspot.co.uk/.

That's Food and Drink: Good Indian cooking is Our Little Secret!

That's Food and Drink: Good Indian cooking is Our Little Secret!: As a friend of ours said: "You know, the only real, surefire way to get a real Indian meal, cooked by a real Indian chef is to go to ...

You need Pistachios nuts or Almonds at Christmas? Go Wonderful!

Yes, if you like to have a good supply of Pistachio nuts oe Almonds at Christmas, doesn't it make real sense to ensure that you do have a good supply of Pistachio nuts or almonds for you, your family, your friends and your guests? Pistachio nuts orv almonds that are fresh and tasty which are nutritionally sound and richly satisfying?

Yes! Of course it does! So why do so many people risk buying their nuts from a shabby little so-called pop up shop with a few shelves of bags of nuts that, although labelled as 'fresh' may well be older than some of the people that you know?

Or nuts from a chain of "bargain" shops with bags of nuts with implausible names that came from goodness knows where, but which even the wild birds in your back garden will turn their beaks up at in disgust? Or launch a retaliatory strike on your washing!

Why? Why do people take that risk every year? Is it in the desperate and forlorn hope that one day it might be different?

There is only one way to change this, to ensure that you get the nuts that you need and that your guests deserve and that is to seek out a named brand, well, one named brand in particular, Wonderful Nuts!

They say Wonderful on the packet, and the contents of their packets is, of course, Wonderful.

There are traditional roasted and salted pistachios and something that is more than a little bit unusual for all your fans of pistachio nuts, Sweet Chilli Pistachios!

They also produce a unsalted variety and a salted and peppered type, too!

As for the almonds, they come in blanched, salted and unsalted varieties, too.

To learn more visit http://wonderfulpistachios.co.uk.

or http://wonderfulalmonds.co.uk/uk/

Do something different with the leftovers, go Chancham this Christmas

Not heard of Chancham, before? Well, neither had we. But now we have heard of it, and tasted it, boy! Are we glad to have made its acquaintance!

Chancham pepper sauce is proudly, lovingly and carefully made in Britain. But it is made to a traditional Bajan recipe.  Bajan is otherwise known as Barbadian, and comes from the Caribbean Island of Barbados.

It is a tasty and welcome though quite warming addition to Christmas leftovers, so it will certainly add more than a little heat and heart to your turkey curry, turkey casserole, turkey Bolognese (never has turkey bolognese made with minced leftover turkey? Trust me, you haven't lived!)   and turkey soups in the post-Christmas period.

It makes an excellent accompaniment for sliced cooked meats, too, plus with cheese and biscuits,

The flavour is fresh and lively, the kick of the peppers is offset and balanced by the pleasant tang of the distilled malt vinegar, the mustard and the tumeric which gives it its attractive yellow colouring.

Buy a bottle and you'll soon be unable to remember how you coped without it in your kitchen.

To learn more about their full range and to purchase visit them at www.chancham.com.

Rosebud Preserves are jars of pure joy

Yes, Rosebud Preserves are jars of pure joy. The jar of pure joy that we partook of was a jar of Rosebud Preserve's Ampleforth Abbey Beer Fruit Chutney.

It is dark and extremely fruity chutney, It is made with Ampleforth Abbey's delicious beer, cider vinegar, onions, sugar (unrefined, of course!) prunes. dates, apricots, sea salt, allspice and cayenne pepper.

The result is a dark and thick chunky beer fruit chutney that is an ideal accompaniment for cheeses (such as Wensleydale, mature cheddar and Shepherd's Purse cheeses and also it is wonderful with sliced turkey, so is a must have for Boxing Day turkey sandwiches.

To learn more about their range or to buy online please visit www.rosebudpreserves.co.uk.