We are still working with the charity Cord with our ‘toilet twinning ‘ campaign and this is going really well.

Warwickshire Living magazine published an article on ‘toilet twinning’ for us this month ( another photo of me on a loo !!!) and the charity have announced that they have now twinned 645 loo’s not bad, but plenty more to do!!

We are thrilled to announce the addition of our newest member of our team Sarah Briggs.

Sarah has joined us from the start of October bringing with her a wealth of experience in the kitchen and bathroom industry . She started her career as a young 17 year old at Jewsons , then went to Ballingers at Hockley Heath as a kitchen designer being promoted quickly to showroom manager, after having her son Dan, she was transferred to Leamington where she stayed until Ballinger’s was sold to Travis Perkins.

Sarah lives with husband Mat who runs a very successful landscape gardening business - ‘Cubbington Landscapes’ so if anyone need some help with the garden design ready for next summer contact us or ring Mat on 07949 613159

It is great to have a new member of the team and she has fitted in really well ( and so nice to have another female on my side in this male orientated industry !!) although Daniel is already complaining that we are ganging up on him !! ( some would say he deserves it !!)

We now have access to more members of Sarah’s family - her sister Rachel owns Wellesbourne Florists - see www.wellesbourneflorists.co.uk or ring Rachel on 01789 840376 for any enquiry’s - we have sent some flowers out this week and they are georgeous !!!

So if any of you remember how great Sarah was from her days with Ballingers - come and see her and we will do all we can to help you again.

We are now proud to present our latest local corporate partnership working with CORD the local based charity

CORD has launched the first ever global toilet twinning to wipe away disease & flush away poverty.

Toilet twinning is a new and unique way of supporting people for whom good,clean,safe sanitation is a luxury- not a way of life.

Cord is working to improve water and sanitation in war torn Burundi. In the past year they have helped local people there to build 870 latrines, each benefiting a family of 6.

That’s 5,220 people who can now go to the loo in a safe, private and hygenic way !

Now they plan to double that number and we are going to try and help them.

For every bathroom that we sell we will donate £60.00 to Cord to give our clients their very own toilet twin, their smallest room will be twinned exclusively with their own individual  latrine in the remote Giharo Commune of Rutana Province. Only their toilet will be twinned with that particular latrine, and they can even locate their twin deep in the African Bush via Google Earth, every client will also get a photo our their twinned latrine to hang in their smallest room !!!

for more details call us or

log onto toilettwinning.org- twitter.com/corduk

email:info@cord.org.uk  or call 01926 315301

come buy your bathroom from Modern Homes and let us twin your toilet with a bog in Burundi to flush away poverty !!!!!

Having been asked very many times for tables ,chairs and stools to compliment our stunning range of kitchens, we are pleased to now have available the brilliant range from HND (UK) Ltd.

They are a specialist manufacturer of Marble, Granite, LImestone and Glass tables for kitchens,casual,dining,occasional and conservatory use in both contemporary and traditional styles.

All the stone table tops are manufactured in Worcester using natural materials only, or we can colour match to your chosen granite or solid surface kitchen worktops.

We have a large range of chairs using a variety of materials but always with a view of being stylish, practical  and comfortable.

Within the range there are petite chairs which are popular and practical in small kitchens ( see Patsy,Nikki,Alice, Glacier or Flip ! chairs) these can tuck away under the table when not in use.

There are chairs for casual dining now the kitchen has become the main entertaining room ( see Pippa, Georgia,Carla,Coco and Gigi)

There are chairs that offer a styling that this unique but well engineered , practical and functional ( Elle uses a special plastic compound to achieve simplicity and elegance,Glacier in clear acrylic, Linguine with PVC strappings, Suzie in a special plastic compound with no fixings in view on the seat face and back face, and Carla in woven nylon fabric giving great comfort.

Chairs for fun ( see Carnival and Flip!) these work especially well with white kitchen to add some colour to the proceedings.

Our stools offer some classic designs ( see Z , Chicago,Trento, and Parma) as well as ‘ action’ stools which swivel and have a gas-lift height adjustment. ( see Rimini, Lucca,Detroit,Manhatten and Seattle.)

Our stools are suitable for standard UK kitchen worktop height of 910mm.

In our Traditional /Classic range there is the new Assisi forged chair hand made in Italy and very comfortable without a cushion, unlike so many chiars in this category. This range will also suit dining, conservatory or terrace use.

Call in and see then on display or ring us for a brochure !!

As promised , finally !

Well we have been very busy, here are the recipies from our cookery demonstation on 4th April with Chris Hand.

Thanks again for Chris for his fabulous ideas and the food was wonderful, I urge you to try the Aubergine Caponata it would be great with any kind of meat or fish, now the weather is finally getting better , this is the ideal dish to serve with bbq food in the garden.

Don’t forget Chris is keen to help with any individually designed private dinner party or buffet, he can also offer cookery demonstrations, and also wine tasting.

We will be offering him all our support with his next venture of his own home deli business and will hope to offer all his produce though ourselves as well, we will keep you posted on updates.

Please contact him direct on 01788 817334 or 07986211557

Thank you all for coming and spending some time with us it is always good to catch up with our existing clients and meeting new ones.

Tomato and Thyme Focaccia

Makes 1

Ingredients

125g Strong White Flour

125g Semolina Flour

7g salt

8g fresh yeast

165g cold water

2 sprigs thyme

4 cherry tomatoes, halved and dried

Sea Salt flakes

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method

Put the flours, salt, thyme and yeast into a bowl and crumble the yeast with your fingers. Add the water and fix to a paste with a wooden spoon.Bring together in the bowl with your fingers and leave to rest for 15mins.Put it onto the worktop and work until the dough turns smooth, place back in the bowl and rest for a further 15 minutes.Repeat this process one more time. Then roll the dough onto a flattened round, put it onto a baking sheet. Cover the round with Extra Virgin Olive Oil , and put the tomatoes around . Leaveto prove in a warm place for about 30 minutes. When proved make holes with your fingers and sprinkle sea salt flakes on the top. Bake at 180o for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Watercress and Wild Garlic Soup

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 potato cut into small dice

2 bunches watercress

1/2 bunch wild garlic

500g water or vegetable stock

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a gentle heat and fry the onion until softened but not coloured. Add the potato and water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 mins, until the potato is soft. Meanwhile, cut away the tougher stems of the watercress, when the potato is soft, stir in the atercress and wild garlic, immediately remove from the heat. Puree the soup until smooth in a blender. Season to taste and serve drizzled with a lattle extra virgin olive oil or cream as you like !

Ginger Beignets

Makes about 20 small beignets

280g strong flour

10g ginger

10g yeast

30g caster sugar

3g salt

1 egg and 1 egg yolk ( slightly beaten)

100ml milk ( at room temperature)

30g unslated butter ( melted and cooled)

To make the dough, place flour and the yeast into a bowl and lightly mix. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead for about 10-15 minutes until the dough gets smooth and shiny. Shape into a ball and cover the bowl, rest in a warm draught free place for about and hour ( or until it doubles in size)

Heat the oil in a large deep pan , using the dough roll into small balls ( this amount should make approx 20)

deep fry a few at a time until brown, dust with caster sugrr and serve warm with fruit compote, vanilla ice cream or cream fraiche.

Aubergine Caponata

Makes 4 good portions

1/2 aubergine

1 onion

2 celery stalks

1/2 fennel bulb

1 courgette

2 fresh plum tomatoes

1/2 bunch basin

50g sultanas

50g pine nuts

20ml red wine vinegar

10g caster sugar

salt and pepper

50ml extra virgin olive oil

olive oil for frying

vegetable oil for frying

Method

Cut up all the vegetables into 1cm dice, fry the onion without colour in the olive oil, put into a large bowl.Heat the vegetable oil up in a large saucepan, one at a time fry off the aubergine,courgette,fennel and celery til light golden brown. Drain on kitchen roll then put into the large bowl. Add the tomotoes, pine nuts, sultanas, basil, vinegar, and sugar.Mix gently together, add the extra virgin olive oil nd season with salt and papper. Mix again . taste. The cover with cling film for an hour to let the flavours combine together, after approx 1 hour the caponata will be ready to use !! enjoy !!

Another date for your diary !

On Saturday 6th June by poular demand Karen the Home Economist from Bosch will be back with us to demonstrate  their range of fabulous appliances.

She will be showing you how easy and clean and efficient it is to use an induction hob, and how easy to clean afterwards !!

Lots of ideas to use with the multi function oven and of course the brilliant time saving and healthy way to cook in the combination/steam oven and combination/microwave.

At least this time she won’t have to be here at 6.00 am as she was to help me cook breakfast for Liz Kershaw and the team from BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire !!!

We will post details of exact times nearer the day and as usual space will be at a premium, so if you are thinking of new appliances, or want to get the best from your existing one’s, please contact us as soon as possible to reserve your place.

We are pleased to announce that our next cookery demonstrations are now planned.

Saturday 4th April Chris Hand will be back with us we are planning two sessions 11.00 am and 2.00 p.m.

details of the menu will follow shortly but will concentrate again on fresh seasonal produce.

Saturday 6th June but popular demand we Karen from Bosch will be back with us for the day, during this session we will be concentrating on what features and functions the Bosch appliances can give you.

We will be using the combi steam oven the combi microwave as well as the multifuntion oven and halogen hob. Karen and I will be trying to help answer any questions you may have about your existing Bosch appliances or indeed any new Bosch appliances that you may wish to purchase.

BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire

Well that was an early start I don’t think that we have ever been in work at 5.30am before !!!

At 6.00 am.this morning Liz Kershaw and the production team from BBC Coventry and Warwickshire arrived to set up for the breakfast show .

We were very lucky to have Karen our home economist from Bosch to help us prepare breakast for everyone ( well to be fair Karen did most of it and Daniel and I rushed around looking busy !!)

The whole experience was most enjoyable and can be heard on the radio website http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlive/bbc_radio_coventry_warwickshire/

just press listen again- or please tune in in future to this fabulous local radio station its great.

Breaking news !!!

On Friday March 13th Liz Kershaw will be presenting the first part of the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire breakfast show from Modern Homes

We have been successfully sound checked and all looks good, however the bad news is that we need to be at work from 6.00 am in order for them to set up !!!
( some would say it’s just as well it’s radio not TV !!)

We will be offering Liz and the crew their breakfast cooked by us and Karen from Bosch on our new Bosch  working display.

We will keep you updated with more info as we get it and hope that all customers past, present and future will tune in on the day !!

Butternut Squash with Crispy Pancetta

Serves 4

Ingredients

20g butter

1 onion chopped

1/2 carrot finely chopped

1 garlic clove finely chopped

200g arborio rice

100ml white wine

100g butternut squash, diced

1 litre water, vegetable stock

50g parmesan, grated

Method

Place your stock/water in a pan and warm

Cook the onion, carrot and garlic in the butter on a medium heat for one minute with no colour, add the rice and continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the time to separate the grains of rice. Add the butternut squash, the pour in the white wine and reduce by half, then add a ladle of stock to cover, cook until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Then add further small amounts of liquid just covering each time for a period of 15 minutes. Check the rice for al dente cooking. Then stir in the cold butter, extremely fast. Taste and 1/2 the parmesan correct seasoning and serve.

Garnish with remaining parmesan and crispy pancetta.