Meet the Maker: Karen Bland

Meet the Maker: Karen Bland

Next up in our profiles of the multi-talented team of home-bakers who make treats for The Kiosk, we introduce Karen Bland. Creator of the much-loved cookie wands, gingerbread people and other firm Kiosk favourites; Karen is a biscuit guru with a burgeoning cookie-cutter collection. She likes to have a range of the more unusual cutters, so that her biscuits stand out from the crowd. As well as being perfectly formed, they are beautifully wrapped in cellophane and tied with gold ribbon; making them the ideal gift or a take-home-from-the-park treat. Karen always rises to the challenge of topical cookie-making, and in the past has supplied The Kiosk with Pudsey Cookies for Children in Need, Coffee mug-shaped biscuits for Macmillan Cancer Care's biggest coffee morning, and teddy bears wearing medals for Rainbow pre-school children taking part in a charity walk around the park.

Karen explains that she has always enjoyed cooking, and even remembers the first thing she made at primary school : Raspberry Buns (which sound rather tasty and quite ambitious for a first cooking lesson, clearly Karen has always aimed high!) These days, Karen cooks and bakes pretty much full-time; and says that she loves to make all kinds of things; savoury, sweet and anything that needs decorating – hence the edible artworks at The Kiosk. “The decorating part is quite time-consuming,” she says, “but luckily, I really enjoy that bit. That's why I'm always on the lookout for unusual cutters!”

As well as her masterpieces for The Kiosk, Karen supplies the renowned sandwich-capital of Bedford, Roosters, with cakey treats. She is also part of the talented team of home-bakers who supply a home-made goods stall for the regular Country Market Stall on Wednesdays in town centre. Karen is a keen jam and chutney maker, and also makes a mean Victoria Sponge. Keen to pick up good home-baking advice from reliable sources wherever possible, The Kiosk grilled her for some top tips for successful sponges:

• Your grandma was right; weigh your eggs, and make sure the weight of the flour, sugar and fat match the weight of your eggs. For further advice on this, see the article here
• Try using an electric hand whisk to whisk in the eggs. Karen thinks this is a crucial stage in the cake-making process. She uses her Kenwood hand-whisk to get the lightest results.
• Get your oven nice and hot before you put the cake in.

The proof of the pudding is, of course, in the eating. So in the name of balanced scientific research, why not head down to The Kiosk and try out some Victoria Sponge for yourself. Or even a cookie wand. They really are hard to resist; often vanishing in minutes after delivery. Perhaps they really are magic?

Half Term Fun and Games

HALF TERM FUN - The Kiosk Activity Challenge

 

If you are having a 'staycation' half term, and feel overwhelmed at the prospect of a pricey marathon of entertainment-finding, don't worry! We have done the hard work for you and scouted out some fun, and crucially inexpensive things to do over the next week, all in and around Russell Park in Bedford!  Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to see how many of the 10 activities we have found you can tick off in the week.

1. RUSSELL PARK 

Come down to play in Russell Park and stop off at The Kiosk– we have lots of exciting things planned for the week – as well as the usual tea, coffee, cakes, goodies, milk & biscuits and of course our famous Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Mountain Explosions!

Monday 18th 9.30am - join us for Songtime with Kris from The Frogs Chorus

Wednesday 20th 11am - 3.00pm come down and do some badgemaking with Celene

Friday 22nd 2pm - 4pm Facepainting with the lovely, and extremely talented, Sophie

2. IN THE SWIM

Even if you're not going away somewhere hot this half-term, you can still visit Bedford's very own Tropical Paradise – The Oasis Beach Pool. Open for Holiday Supersplash Sessions from 10 - 4.30, Monday to Friday, with off-peak swimming sessions from 4.30 - 7.30. There are some great offers on admission prices available here, valid until the 28^th February.

 

3. DISCOVER A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Not only is the Bedford Central Library free, it is also warm and dry, (always a bonus for days when the weather doesn't behave itself.) Let the kids have a rummage through the bookshelves, while you sit in the storytelling chair and remember the days of Bernard Cribbens and Jackanory!  Peruse the notice board which is a mine of information or escape to another world by burying your own head in a book! There is also a great coffee shop where you can sit and watch the world go by.  

Wednesday 20th:11.00 - 12.00

Chinese New Year Storytime - Fabulous stories and crafts - fun all ages.

Friday 22nd: 1.00 - 4.00

Pitta Puppets - Drop in and make puppet kings and queens with Jim Morris.

 

Chatterbooks is a group for 8 to 12 year olds which runs every three weeks with crafts, games, quizzes and more! The next meeting is Saturday 2nd March at 2.30.

 

4. CRAFTY PLAN #1

Visit The Kiln on Bedford High Street. Call in, choose some pottery – loads of shapes and sizes available to paint and decorate and they will fire it for you, ready to collect a week later.  There is also a lovely coffee shop and tea room - not that we need caffeine to enjoy ourselves you understand!

 

5. SAY CHEESE

If you're not going away, photography is a great way to see familiar places in a totally new light, and get a new perspective on where you live.  If you like a challenge, we are running a photographic competition at The Kiosk, the closing date for entries being March 10th. To tie in with Crufts 2013, your subject needs to be of the Canine variety, but If you don't already own a dog, why not phone a friend who does? See if you can go for a walk with them and their four-legged friend and take some pics to enter Canines at The Kiosk. For some handy tips on animal photography, have a read of this guide for children on the National Geographic site, happy snapping!  For competition categories, terms and conditions read here!

 

6. CRAFTY PLAN #2

Buy a Craft Kit from Bedford's The School of Craft – there is free delivery on craft kits this week, which include all you need to make your own Mexican Wrestlers Mask, or Modernist Flower Display! The boxes fold out into a mini-magazine with full instructions, extra activities and lots of information.

 

7. MOVIE MAGIC

Wreck it Ralph (times available here) is sure to be a hit with the younger contingent, on over half term at Cineworld, just a short walk from Russell Park. For very cheap cinema-fun, check out the Saturday morning kids' films.  At only £1 per person it's a bargain, and did you know, if you book online you can save 10%?!

 

8. FLAPJACK-TASTIC

One of the most popular bite-sized treats we sell at The Kiosk is Barbara's Triple-Tested-Flapjack.  Flapjack is perfect for a 'cooking with the kids' morning. Find our top recipe suggestion here.  (If it does all go horribly wrong, you can always come and taste how it should be done and buy some of Barbara's Flapjack at The Kiosk!)

 

9. TOTALLY RUBBISH

Have a Spring clear out! Recycle any clothes that have been outgrown by donating them to one of the fabulous local charity shops. Other bits and bobs that you find cluttering up the house can also often be put to good use.  Challenge the kids to create a work of art from a load of rubbish - there are loads of ideas on the fabulous cbbc show Totally Rubbish.  And for more up-cycling ideas for kids to try (or for you to have a go at on their behalf!) have a look at this great Pintrest board. Pinspirational! 

10. LETS GO FLY A KITE

If you don't have the wherewithall to hire a Mary-Poppins-type-nanny for the day, (tempting as that might be) then do as the great lady herself advised and take your kite to Russell Park! If you didn't know, Russell Park is the home of the Kite Festival which will be back for the weekend of the 25th - 27th May 2013. Just enough time to get some practice in! All you need is a kite and bit of wind! (If you don't have a kite make your own!)

Have a wonderful Half Term - and we do hope you enjoy our activity challenge!  We'd love to know how well you did and what your top half term survival tips are too.  So head down to the Kiosk for a catch up and a reviving cup of coffee - we're open 8.30 - 5.00 all week!

Canines at The Kiosk

Terms and Conditions for Canine at The Kiosk Photography Competition February/March 2013.

www.facebook.com/CaninesattheKiosk

www.facebook.com/RussellParkKiosk

 

 

The Small Print...

1. All photos must be received by midnight on the 10^th March 2013. The winners will be selected and informed via email the following week.

2. This competition is open to UK residents only.

3. The competition is judged upon, but not limited to, the following criteria....

The creative composition of the photo, image quality, relevance to category.

5. By entering this competition you grant Kiosk at the Park the right to publish submitted photo(s), your name, and your dogs name, on our blog, in the press and on our social networking channels.

6. Small photo alterations may be made by our staff in order to fit our website, social networking channels or email newsletters.

7. Canines at The Kiosk will be judged by a panel of local personalities chosen by The Kiosk Management. All decisions are final.

8. All photos sent to Canines at The Kiosk must be the legal property of the person submitting the image and must have been taken by them. The Kiosk at The Park will not be held responsible for any copyright infringements.

9. The Canines at the Kiosk team reserves the right to refuse any photograph which they deem unacceptable and not suitable for this competition.

10. By entering this competition you will also be automatically added to our mailing list but please feel free to unsubscribe at any time.

11. There is no limit to the number of submissions per person.

12. Please ensure the information you submit is completed accurately.  Canines at The Kiosk will not be responsible for photos being placed in the wrong categories due to inaccurate information submitted by entrant. 

13. This competition is in no way related to Facebook, although entries will be posted on www.facebook.com/Caninesat TheKiosk.

14. The winner will be announced on Sunday 17th March at 11am at The Kiosk, Russell Park, Bedford.

15. Entrants must be accompanied by the completion of the caption "My dog loves Russell Park because....", with contact details.  Entrants must specify whether they are over 16 or under 16. 

 

Canines at the Kiosk

Here at the Kiosk we love meeting all of the friendly dogs who come to the park with their owners. Sometimes the owners are walking the dogs, sometimes it is more the owner who is being taken for a run, but we're always very happy to see them, and we've always got a dog biscuit to hand and a thirst quenching bowl of water.  We have decided to celebrate the Russell Park dog contingent by launching our very own version of Crufts, right here in Russell Park: Canines at the Kiosk! It is a dog photograph competition for all the hounds who hang out in the park, with six categories, including:

• Top Dog
• Lookalike
• Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
• Puppy Power
• Man's Best Friend
• In the Dog House

In addition to these there will also be an overall winner of Best in Show – judged by a panel of distinguished local personalities - the winner of which will receive the magnificent prize of a Professional Pooch Portrait! Winners of all categories will be awarded doggy bags and have their photos displayed at the Kiosk throughout March and April. Just like the status that goes with being a Crufts winner, your dog will also have the not-to-be-sniffed-at honour of being an official Canines at the Kiosk Top Dog.

Perhaps you and your doggy pal live up to the cliché that dogs and their owners look alike, or maybe your puppy performs a series of daft but incredible squirrel-chasing feats? Or is your dog one of those who picks a peculiar spot to get his 40 winks? Get snapping those top dog moments and send them in. All categories are open to your interpretation, so be creative and see what ideas you, your imagination and your four-legged friend can come up with.

Send us your pooch-photos by Sunday 10th March 2013 along with the category you are entering and a reason why your pooch loves our park starting:

'FIDO (insert name of your pooch here) loves Russell Park because....'

in no more than 50 words. We also need to know whether you are under 16. Send your entries to kioskatthepark@gmail.com or tweet them to us @KioskatthePark #CaninesattheKiosk.  You can also post them on facebook at www.facebook.com/CaninesattheKiosk

We will accept up to five photographs per entrant. Happy snapping!

And just so you know, despite our well publicised love of the inimitable Onesie, we cannot condone forcing dogs to wear them. However, this is how they would look, if you were interested.

Local Hero - Jeni Melia

Each month in The Bedford Clanger, we sponsor a column entitled 'Local Hero' where we celebrate a member of the community, nominated by a member of the community who believes this special person deserves a treat.

Our Local Hero for February is the very deserving and equally as lovely Jeni Melia; musician, music therapist and director of the fantastic Music 4 Memory in Bedford, nominated by Sarah Russell. Established in 2008, Music 4 Memory is a twice-weekly group which brings together people with dementia and their carers, aiming to offer them an opportunity to sing, dance and laugh together in a supported, welcoming and stimulating environment.

Jeni has lead the group from its beginnings, and she firmly believes that 'Music 4 Memory can achieve anything'. This vision and belief clearly inspires the whole group, who have gone on to achieve wonderful things such as participating in the hugely successful 'Hear and Now' project alongside youth choir Fusion, and the Philharmonic Orchestra. This pioneering inter-generational project was created to bring together these diverse groups from the same community in order to foster mutual understanding through a common love of music. Much of the inspiration for the compositions came from the reminiscences and memories of the Music 4 Memory group themselves – making it a very powerful, personal and extremely moving piece of music.

Jeni is an experienced musician, teacher and qualified music therapist whose dedication to Music 4 Memory has ensured that each week, up to 60 people with dementia and their carers are united, inspired participants in something meaningful, and thoroughly enjoyable.  As one member of the group says 'Music 4 Memory reminds me of who I am and what I can do.'

We are especially pleased that Jeni is our local hero this month, as Kiosk co-owner Nansi Rose takes her own mum along to Music 4 Mermory, and has seen first hand how much the participants all benefit from Jeni's enthusiasm, encouragement and kindness.  'My Mum even sings solos, her most recent performance being of a folk song in Welsh - Jeni makes even the impossible happen and there wasn't a dry eye in the house!'.

We hope that Jeni and her friends are hungry when they come down to the Kiosk for her Local Hero reward – cake stands laden with home-baked cakes, scones and other goodies. Congratulations Jeni!

We are always on the lookout for Local Heroes and would love to hear from you if you have someone in mind who you think deserves a special treat.  All you have to do is send us an email to kioskatthepark@gmail.com or drop a note into The Kiosk with your name and contact details and the name and contact details of the person you would like to nominate.  Write a short paragraph about what makes them a Local Hero and we will do the rest!  The successful nominee will be invited to join us, with you and our friends from The Clanger to enjoy afternoon tea in the park where they will be presented with their Local Hero Certificate.

Meet the Maker: Barbara

If you have ever strolled down to the Kiosk for a snack and gone for one of the marvellously-gooey- looking flapjack squares, then you will already be aware of Barbara's flapjack-making prowess. A special recipe she was given by her sister - a sheep farmer like herself - whilst in New Zealand, it is called the Triple-Tested-Flapjack™.

Barbara told me that she had gone out to help look after her baby nephew and her sister told her to make herself useful, showing her a recipe that 'couldn't fail'. 'Well,' said Barbara, 'on the third attempt it sort of worked, so I brought the recipe home!'  The Triple-Tested Flapjack™ is now available for your delectation, exclusively at the Kiosk. It is baked in the Aga at Barbara's farm in Wilstead, where she and her husband look after 460 sheep, as well as arable crops (and two teenagers.) The Aga was a 'non negotiable thing' says Barbar; 'having grown up with one, I couldn't bake in anything else. People ask me how long you cook the flapjack for, and at what temperature, but really I have no idea! I just bung it in the Aga and take it out when it's done!' So when you eat the TripleTested Flapjack™ you know that it is baked locally to perfection in an Aga, with no added weird preservatives or anything. Just pure oaty, crunchy, sticky goodness.

At the Kiosk's request Barbara recently developed something equally as delicious to rival the ever-popular but mass-produced Granola Bar.  Barbara's nutritious homemade Super-Seedy-Flapjack™ incorporates seeds, nuts, dried fruits and oats and is definitely one of the most tasty ways of introducing 'five-a-day' into your diet,  

Both Flapjacks are extremely popular with Barbara’s teenage sons and their friends, especially the rowing contingent, and rations are often sent away to Regattas as a post-race energy-boosting snack. There is some resentment at home, she says, at the large trays of Flapjack that are regularly whisked out of the Aga and taken straight to Russell Park.

So for all growing teenagers with insatiable appetites, hungry children who've been on the swings all day, fitness fanatics needing an energy boost and dog walkers looking for an oat-stuffed gooey treat - head for the Kiosk in Russell Park and order a Flapjack or two..... a treat in store indeed!

 

 

 

The Wild Things are Here...

We have been excited about the Dumbstruck/No Loss Productions Christmas show  The Wild Things for a while now - we even had a sneak preview when the cast popped down to The Kiosk in Russell Park (which you can see here) and at last, the Wild Things really are here!  Well, they are at The Place Theatre on Bradgate Road anyway, with performances from now until Christmas Eve. The show is lovingly based on Maurice Sendak's classic picture book 'Where The Wild Things Are' and is the story of Max, a boy who likes to dress up in his wolf suit and "make mischief of one kind, or another".

When Max's mum sends him to his room without any supper, he finds himself transported to where the Wild Things are. The story is very simple, and the show builds on the clues in the book to imagine what goes on when Max visits the mysterious creatures. The scenery and design are all masterful creations by Bedford's very own illustrator David Litchfield who keeps the mood of the drawings similar to the originals, but gives them his own special style. The four Wild Things all emerge as beautifully written, individual characters over the course of the stage show, which in a festive nod to the pantomime season, also involves a little audience participation. 

In short, this is a wonderful and funny performance of a much-loved childrens' book which is a perfect Christmas outing for all little (and slightly less-little) Wild Things. To add to the magic, small packets of sweets from Arcadia Sweet Shop, as well as delicious Ice Cream from Spaghetti John's in Castle Quay can be purchased during the 20 minute interval. Interval entertainment is also available in the form of Wild Things activity sheets and crayons which are included with the programme. And magic is really what this show is all about. Max says at the end of his adventure, "I've been gone for ages and my dinner is still hot! Now that's what I call magic..."