For anyone who hasn’t yet been down to the Christmas ice rink in Calverley Grounds, Tuesday 20th, from 7.30pm to 8.30pm could well be the ideal opportunity. Bring your friends and family and join the assorted Twuttlers & Twuddlers skating around the rink in a suitably festive fashion (reindeer antlers and Xmas hats are entirely optional). It doesn’t matter whether you’re a dab hand at the triple salchow, or have never strapped on a pair of skates in your life… the event is open to all and suitable for skaters of all abilities.

For more information on the rink, click here to visit their website.

We’re told that hot drinks and food are available down at the rink ~ although we suspect that skating whilst slurping a latte and nibbling a mince pie is probably frowned upon. Actually, there are t&cs on their website, so please take heed of the dos and don’ts.

There is a spectator area for non-skaters to watch proceedings and shout helpful advice from the sidelines.

Next Tuesday evening is also the date for the last Bedford quiz before Christmas. This starts at 8pm and a Twuddle team usually enters, so once the skating is over, it would seem rude not to nip over the road to this most-excellent pub to give them some support. But no help in answering the questions please ~ you wouldn’t want them disqualified would you?

We hope to see you on the 20th! ~ Any questions & queries, please leave a comment below.

PS. There is a discount scheme for parties of 10 or more, so if you are thinking of coming along, please let us know. Get enough people together and we could save some money on the ticket price.

OK OK, so this’ll be 24 hours too late… but what the hell. The idea is simple ~ you beg, borrow, steal (we of course could not condone this), buy or even grow* a suitable pumpkin… and you carve into it a design so fiendishly horrific, that the gathered Twuddlers cannot help be impressed. Or scared witless.

Best design wins. As voted for by those at Sankeys on the evening of November 1st (a regular Tuesday Twuddle night). No prizes (unless a kind sponsor would like to step forward!), just the honour of being the best darn pumpkin carver in Tunbridge Wells!

Candles etc allowed, to illuminate your creation. But please be aware that we will need to light them ~ do NOT do this yourself when you get to Sankeys. We’ll allocate an area for the pumpkins to be displayed, and when the time comes for judging, we’ll light them for you.

*If anyone claims to have grown their own pumpkin, we will be most impressed. But expect to be treated with much suspicion should you make this claim. Especially if your leave the Sainsbury’s price tag on.

A fantastic late edition to the Mad Hatters Tea party, is a local business, “the Waffle Bar”. They are also based in Bodiam, East Sussex and have an amazing van called The Waffle Bar. They began trading at the beginning of summer 2008, selling their homemade waffles (yeast free/cooked fresh on site) and their real dairy homemade ice cream (made by them from local produce to them with no additives or colourings)…the ice cream has a shelflife of approx 3 weeks and is made especially for events, plus all their disposables are bio-degradable.

At present they have a dozen or more ice cream recipes to call upon, all the old faves plus a few new …all made from Northiam Dairy produce and free range eggs from Staplecross. They use no artificial additives, colourings or preservatives. Fruit based ice cream is seasonal of course and made from hand-picked fruit from Maynards at Ticehurst, East Sussex.

Mad Hatters are throwing open their doors (and the grounds of their lovely house overlooking Bodiam Castle) on Sunday 31st July from noon until 5pm to all Twuddlers, Twuttlers, Cruddlers, Skuttlers, Oakuddlers and their friends and families. This event is open to all, so if you want bring people along with you, they’d be most welcome!

The gardens of the Mad Hatters HQ make an absolutely ideal place to have a Summer picnic… beautiful formal gardens, orchards, fields, a small woodland… even a secluded pond! We’re free to use them to picnic in ~ Mad Hatters are even giving the garden an Alice in Wonderland theme for day ~ just for us! We don’t want to say too much more about this… it’d spoil the surprise.

Then there’s the Mad Hatters shop and storeroom ~ these just have to be seen to be believed, crammed to the rafters with amazing fancy dress costumes of every conceivable description. Have a look at their website for a taster of what’s on offer. And the best bit is we’re free to try on as many outfits as we wish… and to wear them at the picnic!

To make the day even more special, a swing jazz band will be on hand to entertain us… and the local Tunbridge Wells photography group (the ‘Flickrites’) are going to be present to take photographs. Simply ask a photographer to take your photo, and they’ll kindly oblige! No charge… free… gratis!*

Of course, you don’t HAVE to wear costumes, and you certainly don’t have to have your photo taken ~ the photographers realise some people don’t like having their picture taken. We are also aware that some parents don’t wish for their children to be photographed ~ in which case, simply make a member of Mad Hatters staff aware of your objection when you arrive. However, if you do take this opportunity, you’ll have some amazing photographs of you and your family!

You are also welcome to take pics yourself, so please bring your cameras.

Entry to the entire event is 100% free, there’s ample parking on site and Mad Hatters have arranged toilet facilities for us. Please note that some of the fields have horses, chickens and (some very exotic looking) sheep. When we were down there, wild rabbits were running all over the place… it really is lovely place, but because of the farm animals, visitors are asked not to bring their dogs with them.

If you’d like to come to this event, please send an RSVP email to info@madhattersfancydress.com. Although numbers are not limited as such, Mad Hatter’s understandably want to keeps tabs on how many people will be attending. If you have any queries, please leave a comment to this post.

*There is one exception ~ Steve Collins will be setting up his photography equipment to help raise money for charity by taking people’s ‘avatar’ pics. This is your chance to have a stunning avatar on your Twitter or Facebook pages. Whether or not you choose to be photographed in fancy dress is completely up to you!

We look forward to seeing you in Bodiam next Sunday ~ don’t forget your picnic!

For directions please click here.

PS. One further thing to mention. Should the weather on the 31st prove inclement, we may have to cancel at short notice. So if it is raining on the morning of the 31st, please check with the Twuttle website to see if the event is still on or not.

We’re pleased to announce that the entries for the Photowalk will be on display at Wobblybridge Gallery from Tuesday 15th February until Saturday 19th February. Judging will take place on Wednesday 16th February from 7pm until 8.30pm.

Everyone who attends the judging evening can cast a single vote for a photo in each of the following categories. You must attend the evening to vote. The evening is free and open to all ~ as indeed is the exhibition.

The categories are:

1. Best shot from brief one

2. Best shot from brief two

3. Best shot from brief three

4. Best ‘series’ ~ a complete set of all three images, one for each brief

5. Best overall photograph/image (judged from all three briefs).

Each photograph will be displayed with its brief to assist with the judging.

In addition to the above five categories, a judging panel from Redbox, Wobblybridge and Hop House Design will make awards for:

6. Best photograph shot using film (judged from all three briefs)

5. Best image shot using a mobile phone (judged from all three briefs)

6. Best example of digital manipulation (judged from all three briefs).

The organisers will be providing wIne and soft drinks on the evening of the 16th ~ but everyone who attends is being asked to contribute to the evening by bringing a bottle.

On Wednesday the 2nd of March, we’re being given an opportunity to sample some of Taywell’s latest (and most adventurous!) ice cream creations ~ BEFORE they’re unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Alastair Jessel of Taywell Ice Creams is going to personally host a special Twuddle tasting evening at his Paddock Wood HQ ~ and give us a tour of his production unit. Dare you miss this fantastic opportunity?

Numbers are limited ~ we can only take 15 people at a time on the tour ~ so we’ve decided to have two tours, one at 6:30pm and a second at 7:30pm. Please leave a comment below if you wish to attend, stating your preferred time.

One last thing, the ice cream Alastair is going to present to us will be rather special ~ several flavours with, ahem, an ‘alcoholic’ flavour! Taywell Ice Creams will be entering these new flavours in the 2011 Great Taste Awards (www.greattasteawards.co.uk) and Alastair would love our opinion on them… so don’t hold back! Although it’s a pretty fair bet they’re gonna be fab eh?

Quick reminder that the re-scheduled Twuddle Curling Night is on January 26th. The venue is the same ~ Fenton’s Rink near Pembury ~ the first and only curling rink in England!

Cost stays the same, at £18 per person. If you wish to take part, please leave a comment below (with your email and/or contact phone number). Numbers are limited but we have some places still available. We also have the option to increase the number of lanes we have pre-booked if numbers increase greatly. Would be fantastic if we could take over the whole rink!

Fenton’s’ are providing all you need, including equipment, shoes and instruction. And for those that have asked, yes, the rink has a fully licensed bar!

For further information visit www.fentonsrink.co.uk

We now have a list of nominations for the Twuddle Awards night at Sankeys on Tuesday 11th January. If you wish to add to anyone to this list, please leave a comment below. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your nominations private (as many of you do!), then please send us an email at nominations@twuttle.com instead.

Nominations will close this coming Friday at midnight. Any new additions we receive before then will be added to the list. You then have until next Tuesday to consider who to vote for. You can only vote on the night ~ postal, email, virtual or proxy votes are not accepted!

See you at Sankeys for what proves to be an interesting night!

Website of the year:
www.tunbridgewellsevents.co.uk
www.organ-nics.com
www.ladympresents.co.uk
www.redboxcameras.com

Blog of the year:
Anke, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Three Beautiful Things
Mrs Anke’s Ladybits

Twitter personality of the year
Hari Covert (@MrHariCovert)
Matt Sankey (@sankeysRTW)
Martin Wilson (@kentpolicetwell @5065a)
Fiona Mills (@nooodlydooodly)

Business of the year
Achieve More
Divinity Café
Love is Boutique
Wobblybridge Gallery
Sankeys

Twit of the year (note: this award is for the best twitterer, NOT the person considered to be the best ‘twit’!)
@MisterJez
@tinybluebubbles
@carlsphotograph
@iansolley
@Jody_Lloyd

Photographer of the year
Carl Abrams
Tino & Pip
Steve Collins
David Bartholomew

By popular demand, here is Fiona’s winning recipe from the Twuddle Xmas Bake-off:

Vegetarian Christmas Sausage Plait

2 onions, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

Olive oil

Garlic cloves to taste (I used smoked garlic!)

Packet of ready peeled/cooked chestnuts

A good handful each of walnuts and pecans

1 tbs of fresh thyme and rosemary, chopped

A good chunk of rye and pumpernickel bread, crumbed

A good chunk of white bread, crumbed

1 carrot and 1 parsnip, grated

1 egg

Slug of port

Salt and pepper to taste

Chilli powder or Tobasco (optional)

Mushrooms, thickly sliced

Cranberries, caster sugar, port for cranberry sauce filling

1 packet of puff pastry (or homemade if you’re keen!!)

~~~~

Heat oven to 220 or equivalent (hot setting as for pastry)

Make cranberry sauce:
Put cranberries in a pan with a little water, a good slug of port and caster sugar to taste, bring to boil and simmer for 15 mins until soft, put to one side.

Meanwhile:
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion and celery until softening, add the garlic and fry for a minute or two before putting into a food processor with the nuts and herbs and processing until fairly smooth.

Put into a large bowl and add the grated carrot and parsnip, the breadcrumbs, egg, seasoning and a good slug of port, mix to a really stiff and sticky consistency adding more breadcrumbs or liquid as necessary.

On a large sheet of non-stick baking parchment, roll out pastry to a large rectangle, pile just over half the filling in a thick strip along the centre, longwise. Arrange a layer of sliced mushrooms on the top, spread with a generous amount of the cranberry sauce and cover with the remaining filling. Now cut the pastry on either side of the filling into about 8/9 diagonal strips, brush with milk or egg and fold one at a time from alternate sides over the top of the sausage mixture, being careful to seal/stick the strips together well and not leaving too much filling showing at each end. Brush the whole thing with milk or egg, transfer, using the baking parchment to lift, onto a baking sheet and cook in a hot oven for about 45mins, check after half an hour and cover loosely with foil to stop pastry burning, ensure filling is cooked through.  The finished plait is best left to stand and settle for 10mins or so… enjoy with the full roastie works, homemade onion and mushroom gravy, bread sauce and cranberry sauce of course!!

A massive thanks to everyone who took part in the Xmas Photowalk. We had nearly 50 entrants… so the contest for the winning photographs should be hotly contested.

You need to enter ONE image for each of the three briefs you were given. As a reminder, they will be judged in the following categories.

1 ~ Best shot from brief one
2 ~ Best shot from brief two
3 ~ Best shot from brief three
4 ~ Best photograph shot using film (judged from all three briefs)
5 ~ Best image shot using a mobile phone (judged from all three briefs)
6 ~ Best example of digital manipulation (judged from all three briefs)
7 ~ Best ‘series’ ~ a complete set of all three images, one for each brief
8 ~ Best overall photograph/image (judged from all three briefs).

You need to get your files (or film) to RedBox before the end of Monday Jan 10th. They will then print each of your three entries on 8 x6 in paper. You therefore need to save your files to a 4:3 format. Any queries, pop into RedBox on Monson Rd, call them on 01892 544 702, or tweet them at @RedboxCameras.

JUDGING
As for the last Photowalk, everyone who attends the opening night of the exhibition at Wobblybridge Gallery will get a chance to vote. Each person will be allowed to cast one vote in each category. We’re arranging the dates of the exhibition at the moment ~ looking likely to be in early February. Please leave your contact details below (email and/or phone number) if you’d like us to contact you as soon as we have the dates.