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!!