That's Food and Drink: Love is in the Air at Mandira's Kitchen for Valent...

That's Food and Drink: Love is in the Air at Mandira's Kitchen for Valent...: Evenings are still dark and there is nothing more romantic than a cosy night in! What is unromantic is spending all your time in the kitchen...

Christmas fly-tippers are being targeted

Belfast Hills Partnership have been down chasing fly-tippers throughout 2022 with quite a measure of success, passing on details and images of over 20 incidents of fly-tipping to local councils for investigation and often resulting in prosecution.

“Most urban fringe areas suffer from ongoing fly-tipping”, explains Partnership Manager Jim Bradley, “with many assuming there’s nothing that can be done to stop persistent offenders emptying their rubbish along quiet country lanes in the hills. We decided enough was enough and started putting cameras up to catch these polluters.”

By securing funding, signage and licenses for cameras to monitor hot spots, the Partnership has been working in conjunction with local authorities to monitor and deter fly-tipping.

Local residents have welcomed signage from Belfast Hills Partnership discouraging fly-tipping. They have been co-operative and supportive of the measures being taken by the charity to address this ongoing issue. 

BHP Wildlife Connections Officer Noel Rice highlights the effectiveness of the signage, “Residents who bear the brunt of this anti-social behaviour have told us the presence of signage, whilst not eliminating fly-tipping, has definitely reduced the amount of incidents.”

Unfortunately, the Christmas season often coincides with an increase in fly-tipping around the hills. With Christmas decorations coming down and the New Year approaching a lot of people may have generated increased waste in their homes. 

BHP would like to remind residents to keep the hills tidy and free from waste by disposing of it properly. If not collected by a reliable person your rubbish could end up being dumped and you could be held liable for it.

BHP would like to remind people to explore their options when discarding unwanted items. Local Councils can offer a free bulky waste collection service for larger items like furniture and some electrical appliances. Items that are still in good condition can be donated for future use to charity shops. Platforms such as Freecycle can link you up with local people who might be interested in what you no longer want. 

BHP Manager Jim Bradley had this to say: “Everyone always focuses on recycling but re-using things are just as important. Before you part with something consider whether it's at the end of its life or if you or someone else can breathe some new life into it. Putting in that extra bit of thought and care means our hills stay free pf rubbish.”

If you see illegal dumping this festive season remember that you can report it to the local authorities who can take appropriate action. By working together communities can send a strong message that fly-tipping will not be tolerated at any time of the year.

http://www.belfasthills.org

New Year ecards from Hope Springs water charity

Water poverty alleviation charity, Hope Spring hopes to round up a successful year of fundraising, on its charity eCard platform with the release of its Happy New year ecards. 

There are a dozen cards in the series. The charity is expecting its supporters and visitors to their website to send New Year greetings.

The main target of the new ecards are those who forgot to send Christmas cards to their friends, colleagues and loved ones. Sending a new year eCard will help to ensure they did not miss our sending greeting during the holiday season.

The newly released eCard includes four, targeted at people who do not celebrate Christmas or new year, but wish to participate in the season’s festivities. It simply says seasons or winter greetings. Users of Hope Spring’s charity eCard platform can start sending the new eCards from 29th of December.

Spokesperson for the charity, Seun Olonade said “we had a strong take up of our Christmas eCards. Buoyed by that, we launch our new year and winter greeting range”. Hope Spring charity eCard platform, has been one of the organisation’s most reliable fundraisers.

Seun Olonade added “we do not expect new year ecards to be as successful as our Christmas eCards, but any additional donation generated by this new set of eCards, will help us achieve some of the projects we plan for next year”.

Hope Spring uses funds it raises from ecards and events it organises to fund clean water projects in Africa. Their clean water projects include boreholes and well construction. They plan to complete four borehole projects in 2023.

You can find out more information about Hope Spring from their website and social media pages.

http://www.hopespring.org.uk

Cold weather hints for the Twelve Days of Christmas and beyond

With cold temperatures threatening across the country, Graham Conway, who is a motoring expert and the MD at Select Car Leasing shares ways drivers you, AND your car, can stay warm behind the wheel without breaking the bank.

“On frosty cold mornings, many drivers will wake up extra early to boost the heating in their car. Whilst this won't really consume a significant amount of extra fuel, it can actually shorten the life of your engine. 

“After having your vehicle in the cold overnight and then warming it up, this can cause extra fuel can go into the combustion chamber, which can leak onto your cylinder walls. 

Too much fuel on your cylinder walls can dissolve the oil that keeps the cylinders lubricated, leading to damage to vital components.

“Instead of leaving your car to heat first thing in the morning, it’s advised you keep the vehicle warm overnight, taking the strain off the vehicle and making your mornings less stressful.”

Below, Select’s Graham Conway shares five things drivers can do the night before to make icy cold mornings that bit more bearable.

Park your car in an insulated garage

Whilst not everyone has the luxury of a garage, for those that do, make the most of it!

Keeping your vehicle in an insulated space overnight will keep the vehicle from reaching freezing temperatures. Even if the garage is not insulated, your car will stay warmer than it will out in the open.

An alternative method of insulation is a car cover blanket. Whilst it not only will from scratches caused by bikes, bins, or treacherous weather conditions, it will also reduce the chance of windows frosting over. 

Heated blankets

Again, if you are lucky enough to have a garage, place some heated blankets across the interior of the vehicle the night before.

A cheap electric blanket (costing around £14) costs about 3p an hour to run, equalling around £1.37 if used for seven hours a day.

With this in mind, placing blankets across the seats will help produce heat inside the vehicle and minimise the defrosting in the morning.

You can also buy electric blankets that actually plug straight into your car’s cigarette lighter terminal, to keep you toasty until your car warms up. 

Use the recirculation button

Whilst people can assume the recirculation button is only used the circulate cold air around the vehicle, it can also help to circulate hot air too.

The air recirculation button works by cutting off the outside air to the inside of the car, helping to recirculate air inside your vehicle.

This effectively will be a catalyst for the hot air circulating around the vehicle when the car’s heater is on, helping to heat it quicker.

Invest in heated car seat covers

You can actually buy heated covers for your seats. They include a thermostat that, like how any thermostat would work, will heat the seat to an ideal temperature before then turning off.

When the seat begins to cool down, it will then restart. These are pretty cost-effective accessories to have, as well as protecting your sets from any dirty hands, accidental spills, crumbs, stains, dirt etc. 

Stock up on hand warming packets

Especially for those with children, stock up on hand warmers that are completely self-efficient and will keep hands warm during the drive.

You can activate your hand warming packets around 10-15 minutes before getting into the vehicle and place them on the seats before the kids get in. 

Whilst slightly heating the car interior, they will more importantly keep children's little hands warm during the cold journey. 

https://www.selectcarleasing.co.uk 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here in the UK it is a little under two hours to Christmas Day and my wife and I who publish That's Christmas and its sister That's Food and Drink.

We would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and joyous New Year.

We would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who has helped us by providing us with information and also provided us with samples of foods, drinks, gifts, etc for our team to try, test out and review. 

Without all of you, we would not be able to publish our sites and we are genuinely grateful to all of you, readers, companies, Public Relations specialists, etc.

That's Christmas will soon be going into its period of semi-hibernation until the Christmas 2023 season starts up during the latter part of next year, 2023. However, if we find a story of intertest to fans of Christmas before then, we will publish those stories, so please do keep popping back to That's Christmas to check for such stories.

However, after a brief Christmas break, That's Food and Drink will continue to bring you the latest food and drink news plus recipes for you to try out.

Please do keep an eye out for the That's Christmas Veganuary feature when, throughout the month of January, we will be covering the latest vegetarian and vegan meals, ingredients, drinks and recipes.

Once again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Tropical Sun Ready-to-Eat Jackfruit Range Exclusive to Asda

Justifiably famed for its meat-like texture, young green jackfruit is often hailed as a “vegan sensation.”

Whether preparing fresh or tinned jackfruit, the process can be long and manually intensive, making it impractical for those who are short of time or not good with cooking from scratch. 

But fear not, faster food fans, the UK’s top World Food brand Tropical Sun has teamed with Asda to offer its customers two ready-to-eat jackfruit products that will delight anyone looking for a plant-based ‘pulled meat’ experience. 

Tropical Sun’s BBQ and Tex Mex Pulled Jackfruit hit the shelves of the Asda World Food aisles on the late last month, just in time for ‘Veganuary.’

The 400g tins will retail at £2.49 (check in store) and are the perfect base for a quick and easy plant-based meal. Stuff the BBQ jackfruit into a lightly toasted brioche bun, top with salad and serve with chunky chips for the ultimate ‘pulled pork’ experience. Load a tortilla wrap with the Tex Mex jackfruit, rice, black beans and guacamole for a burrito that goes beyond!

Vas Sideras, Tropical Sun’s Supermarket Lead said of the jackfruit products: “We’ve seen a soaring demand for plant-based foods in recent years and these ready-to-eat products build off the success of our Jackfruit in Brine and Jackfruit in Water products which are amongst the most popular foods in our entire range.”

That's Christmas would like to point out that Tropical Sun ready-to-eat tinned jackfruit products will, in our experience, make an alternative to the usual nut roasts for the vegan Christmas dinner.

It's Christmas and your car's frozen! Here's expert advice on what to do and what not to do!

During the winter season, as the temperature drops, many drivers are making a common mistake that leaves their car doors damaged, and needing costly repairs. And who needs that, especially at Christmas time? 

And who doesn’t hate the chore of de-icing our car windscreen? But for many, what's even worse is finding out that your car door is frozen shut.

Sometimes the door handle is frozen, sometimes the rubber door seal is frosted shut to the body of the vehicle, and other times the ice is holding the metal of the door to another part of the car. 

Whichever frozen car part you’re dealing with, the one thing you should not do is to try and pull the door open. 

Graham Conway, the Managing Director at Select Car Leasing, is sharing some solutions on how to safely unfreeze a car door, saving you from an unwanted, broken car door handle. 

Try the door on the other side

“The quickest and easiest option is to carefully try another door on the vehicle. The problem could be that one side of the vehicle was exposed to more shade, and the other exposed to more sunlight, making the other side less likely to be frozen.

“If you can get in another way, start the engine and get the fans going, blowing heat out. The warm air inside the car will help thaw the frozen door. If you’re in a rush to get going, climb over to the driver's seat if you can do so, but only start driving once it’s safe to do so, which includes having properly defrosted windows.”

Push the door

“Instead of trying to pull the door open with force, give the door a firm shove instead. This might be enough to crack any ice that’s holding the door and keeping it forced shut. Put your hand flat on the door and lean against it, but don't give it a sudden slam. 

“This is much better than trying to pull the door open, as pulling with too much force can pull off the handle, damage the inside mechanisms of the door, or damage the rubber door seal.”

Scrape off ice 

“If the handle seems to be the only part of the vehicle that’s stuck, scrape off the ice on the handle with a scraper and this should hopefully sort out the problem. 

“If there’s ice all around the door and holding the door stuck, then slowly remove and scrape as much ice and the edges as possible. Once this is done, push the door in to try and crack the remaining ice and then pull.”

Hot water

“Pouring some hot, but never boiling, water around the affected area can help the ice that’s causing the jam to melt. However, this is a short-term solution, as once it cools it will freeze over the existing ice, potentially making the problem even worse.

“Make sure the water isn’t too hot, certainly as I say, certainly not boiling, and once you’ve got the door open be sure to dry down any wet surfaces to avoid more ice forming as you drive along.

De-icer

“Whilst bottles of chemical de-icer are usually sold as a way to clear windscreens, it can also help with a stuck door or lock. 

“The chemicals will be able to break down the ice that’s stopping the door from opening, whether it’s a stuck handle, stuck bodywork or a tsuck rubber seal.”

How to stop it from freezing

“Unfortunately, aside from uprooting and moving to warmer climes,  the cold can’t be stopped, but there are ways to stop your car door from freezing. The easiest way is to park your car somewhere sheltered such as a garage or carport. If that’s not an option that's available, a car cover can provide enough protection to stop your car icing up.”

If you would like to use this content, please credit Select Car Leasing using this link:

That's Christmas would like to thank Select Car Leasing for their invaluable assistance in putting this blog post feature together.

https://www.selectcarleasing.co.uk.

(Image courtesy of Arek Socha and Pixabay)