Today it finally happened. The inevitable has finally become a  reality. Yes folks, we have run out of black pepper.

I saw it coming but it has still come as a shock. I tried making preparations for it a week ago, searching the net in the vain hope of finding a UK grower. Reaching many dead-ends I gave up and then began looking for possible substitutes for black pepper. All of the traditional substitutes are no good to us as things, like papaya seeds and grains of paradise, cannot be or are-not  grown in this country. However, I posed this question to our Twitter followers and was buoyed by the revelation that nasturtium seed were used as a substitute during the Second World War.

Earlier today I finally got down to the garden center and bought 2 types of nasturtium seeds. Excitedly, I rushed home quickly and threw them in the pestle and mortar and began grinding. The first taste was not bad, almost a radish-like heat. Not really similar to black pepper, more vegetable type flavors than peppery notes. The aftertaste however was really bitter and unpalatable. It was also somewhat difficult to grind so I wondered if it required further processing.

The next stage was to toast them. Putting them in a dry frying pan I noticed that they did not release an oil like cumin would and very little aroma came from the pan. Tasting the results of this process was another disappointment. Any flavor (good or bad) had now disappeared and what I had made was essentially grit.

One more try.  This time putting the seeds in a hot oven. I set the heat to 200c and left them while I cleared the yard. 10 minutes later Emily called me in complaining of a strange smell. Indeed, our kitchen stank! The smell was very similar in fragrance to that of an old mans trousers. I am not just saying this for comical effect, there really was a stale urine and musk smell emanating from my oven.

I would like it noted that a lesser-man might have given up at this point. However, I continued to grind them up in the same fashion. They ground really easily this time and even looked like black pepper. The flavor again was atrocious. In fact it tasted like it smelled.

It was obvious at this point that the seeds were most palatable in their original form and I wondered if they needed other ingredients to work properly. I had made a squash soup by this point for the whole family and so sprinkled liberally over the top (just mine – Emily was not game). Thankfully the result was not inedible, but I also think that the nasturtium seeds added nothing  beneficial to the experience.

In conclusion, nasturtium seeds are a very pale substitute for black pepper. I would rather live without black pepper than eat it again. So for now we are without black pepper or any viable alternative.

To add insult to injury, I got one of the bits of nasturtium seed stuck in my back molar and have been tasting that bitter urine flavor all day. Yuk!

– James

Our table groaning with British produce!

We recently found that we could not get the variety of fruit and vegetables that we would like from the supermarkets and while often clearly labeled it is still a chore. So, we recently signed up for a local produce delivery service called  Kent Veg Box. Our first delivery came today. The produce is all fresh, totally seasonal and best of all local.

The only issue that we have is that the only fruit we can get at the moment are apples and pears. We have been promised rhubarb in 2 weeks time so I see a crumble on the cards.

To take advantage of the freshness of this stuff I got creative with another recent purchase – British spelt! I made a fantastic speltotto with leeks and carrots. I also added some ham, found in the deepest recesses of the fridge, and some chedder.

If you are beginning to feel hungry here is a large image of the resulting feast – I know, I am terrible!

British veg & ham speltotto

– James

I am not a great tea drinker. In fact hot drinks as a rule are things that I tend to stay clear of. I am not going to go into the complete ins-and-outs of why this is, but I see hot drinks generally as a bit of a faf. This standpoint often singles me out for ridicule in British society, so it is not something I readily admit to. However, Emily does like a good cuppa and especially relishes a dark cup of Twining Earl Grey.

Unfortunately for Emily, and rather surprisingly, Twinings is now about as British as Kielbasa Sausage. Twinings have recently moved all of their manufacturing facilities from the UK to Poland. It is also worth mentioning that this move was not without controversy and the cloud under which this move took place might make many reconsider buying their Tea anyway. Unsurprisingly it was somewhat of a revelation to Emily that she could no longer indulge in a quick cup of her favourite char.

Either way, tea is grown in China right? So, we are never going to find a truly British cup of Tea, correct? Well, perhaps not…

While recoiling from the news that she is going to have to give up her Tea drinking, she began scouring the internet for a solution. Thankfully Twitter, once again, came to her aid. The Tregothnan Estate, rather incredibly, has its own tea plantation in the heart of sunny Cornwall! They are the first, and currently the only, truly British tea producers in the country, having begun selling their home-grown teas 8 years ago.

Needless to say, Emily was quick to put in her order if for their Earl Grey and we will give a review when we receive it.

–       James

The New Year seems to have sparked an unconscious desire for me to start taking a little more care of my appearance. Friday lunchtime, I skipped out of work for an hour to visit Ted’s Grooming Room on Theobalds Road in London. I decided to treat  myself and had, not only a haircut, but a shave, my eye-brows threaded, manicure and massage. Anyone that knows me will contest to the fact that this is a little more metro-sexuality than I would normally indulge in. However, I will admit to thoroughly enjoying it and having spent the last two days not being able to pass a mirror without giving myself a cheeky little wink. Emily was very jealous when I told her. I suspect she thinks I am after an upgrade.

Handmade home for my British made Kent comb

Today, in order to maintain my new ‘do’, I bought my first comb in about 20 years. Kent Brushes still manufacture brushes and combs in the UK and unlike most of the things we have recently wanted to buy, I was able to find one locally. Looking through the literature that accompanied my new purchase, I was please to note that they also make Toothbrushes. There is no way that were are going to be able to source British replacement heads for mine and Emily’s electric Oral-B toothbrushes. Our toothbrush order to Kent Brushes will be in soon.

I have recently been toying with trying my hand at leather-working and have recently bought a load of second-hand tools (made in Britain) and some English leather. Today, I made my first piece. A little house for my new Kent comb! I think I have done a pretty good job and even added a monogram (classy).

English Salad can be found even in winter!

While visiting Westerham (to get my comb) we went to our local grocers, and I was personally very pleased to see English salad leaves!!! No more mock-lettuce (cabbage) in my sandwiches from now on.

We also found out, with some surprise, that Costa coffee is in fact a British company. So, to celebrate we went for a coffee. We were informed on Twitter that Costa, for some reason, import their milk. I am not sure if this is true but it sure would seem like a strange thing to do. We will ask them when we next stop by. If they do import milk we will try to get to the bottom of why. You never know we might just start a mini British revolution!

As our stunning and properly British Rainbow Trugs trug arrived this morning I thought that it might be a good excuse to start plugging the salad gap. As you have heard James is quite partial to salad in his sandwiches and now we are all on our way back to work there will be plenty of them to be made.

With all this in mind I decided that the best first use for the trug was to house some seeds that I got from a fantastic magazine called Grow It!. Lucan and I put about 15 litres of compost into the trug and then sprinkled in a selection of winter salad leaves to get us started. Hopefully it will be quite happy sitting on the window sill of the utility room and once we are getting back towards Spring it can be emptied out and used for something else.

All scattered and ready to grow!

We have been invited to a Burns night on the 25th of Jan. It is billed as a black-tie affair and Emily is getting all excited about getting dressed up. She was particularly keen to buy some Tartan accessories to tart-up an old dress, rather than invest in anything new. She specifically wanted a pair of Tartan shoes. As these shoes will only be worn once, we would normally head off to the high street and buy a pair for £20-£30. However, now that we are committed to buying  British, unconsidered buying seems to be no longer possible. Try finding a pair of British made womens’ shoes on the high street, never mind finding them for under £50. British made clothing is expensive. The expense of such items is going to effect the way that we begin to think about the clothes we wear.

Anyway, in order to get around the expense of buying British in this instance Emily decided to upcycle an existing pair of shoes.

She started with an old red pair of shoes and cut rectangles of tartan to completely fit over. Then with a mix of super tacky fabric glue and a small amount of water, painted all over the surface of the shoe and fix the fabric tightly across the shoe surface.

Then the shoes were left to dry by the fire for 10 minutes or so to make sure the glue was hardened. After that the very careful cutting process began using a pair of nail scissors. Around the edges of the shoes where the upper met the sole the sharp point of the scissors was very handy to squeeze the fabric (and quite a bit of glue) into the gap giving a pretty neat finish.

Lastly she cut out the hole for the foot to go into and then trimmed the gap between fabric and old shoe with red ribbon to give it a decent finish. The shoes were finished off with a red ribbon bow to get around the problem of getting the ribbon around the corner.

All finished

My preparations are a lot easier. I have simply dusted off the old DJ and made sure it still fits (it has been about 3 years since it was last worn). Thankfully it does, despite an indulgent Christmas.

– James

The fruits of today’s efforts

I went to make myself a sandwich last night. There was some left over roast chicken, some mayo and even an avocado. These are some premium sandwich fillings, the type of ingredients that rarely come together in this house. I was beginning to get exited. Even the bread was fresh. For once, I would not have to dig a couple of  frozen slices from the fridge and toast them. There was just one thing missing… salad. While the salad is not the main event in a sandwich, it forms an important part of the foundation.

Upon querying Emily on our lack of cool iceburg or peppery rocket . I was curtly informed that salad does not grow in Britain at this time of year. As if to tease me, she did say that it was possible to get watercress… but that the stuff in Waitrose was Spanish so she did not buy it.

I took another trip to the fridge and had a root around. Cabbage! It looks the similar to lettuce. It might be a British wintertime substitute in, this, my hour of need. I began careful construction of my prized sarny, with its bed of Cabbage (I took the tough stork out of each leaf to make it more lettuce-like).

Anyway, long story short; cabbage is a very poor substitute for any type of  salad item. Yuk! One bite in and I removed my mock-lettuce and had a less than satisfactory sandwich without green-stuff. Bummer!

Apparently it is possible to grow winter salad leaves in Britain. So, today I got up early and began constructing our new greenhouse so that we can produce our own. Next time I need a late-night sandwich I am going to be prepared!

– James

Yesterday was our first proper day living totally British. Since there was little to nothing open yesterday, we decided to put off blogging about our first day until now.

We went to Tunbridge Wells before New Year and Bromley today. Both times we came away having bought nothing. We noticed that, particularly in Bromley, there were almost no independent shops. While not the focus of our challenge, is is hard not to get upset about the declining character of our high streets. All the same shops filled with the same brands. Tunbridge Wells High Street was not much better, although I know that there is more independence and so more Britishness, to be found in the Pantiles. This will be a visit for later on in the year. One thing that is immediately apparent is that the task of buying just British would be impossible if were were to rely on the high street alone. Thank god for the interwebs!

Our Twitter followers keep suggesting British goods that we simply cannot resist. I can see this costing us a fortune.  Based on Twitter recommendations I have ordered some Chelsea boots from Yull, and I honestly could not be more excited about them arriving. I will be posting a video review when they arrive to show them off in all their glory. James has ordered some socks from Marko John’s, in a fetching Lavender colour. We are waiting for them to arrive too.

Today we visited Coolings Garden Centre, Knockholt on our way back from Bromley and found a real mix of British and non. It is a shame though that they obviously have no official commitment to stock British goods.  An example of this is that of our new Twitter friends Rainbow Trugs, a British manufacturer plastic trugs made in Britain (on whose behalf we did a little reconnaissance). However, Coolings have choosen to stock a Spanish made alternative rather than this great British Manufacturer.  We have alerted Coolings to this via Twitter and would like to get a response from them. It would be nice to see them adopt a Buy British policy, but even if they could change their Trug stockist that would be a start. We will follow this up with Coolings and attempt to get an official response. While at Coolings we did however find some superb British tools, which were not massively expensive and look and feel fabulous. They are made by Joseph Bentley in Sheffield but they seem to be hiding this under a bushel. These is no indication  on their packaging of their British credentials. The only mention of thier British manufacturing is buried deep in their website. Joseph Bentley – Be proud to still manufacture in  the UK!!!

Its been an eye opening start to 2013 and we are very excited by the prospect of living British. Getting over or barging straight through the hurdles that we meet and blogging about it all the way is all part of the fun. Happy New Year everyone 🙂

-Emily

We have a little issue in the Bradshaw household in our quest to live totally British. Traditionally British brands like Cadbury, Weetabix, and Mini (amongst others) are still manufactured in the UK but their ownership is no longer in British hands. The question is where this falls on our Britishness scale?

These companies continue to give UK workers jobs, but the brands themselves have now have been swallowed up by bigger foreign companies. Should brands in this situation still be considered British enough for us to continue buying them as part of our project to only buy British goods and services?

This is a debate that we cannot resolve, so it is over to you. Based on the results of this poll we will either continue buying these goods or not. Thank you for your help!

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To make this post more interesting here is a cute picture of a bored baby!

Snooze warning: This post is not going to be interesting, but as we are committed to living entirely from British goods and services it is important, for the sake of completeness, to make some account of our household expenses. This means reviewing those companies that currently provide us with finance, insurance and energy services, and changing them if they don’t live up to goal of living entirely British.   

I was a little nervous about this as changing banks and/or suppliers can be a bit of a nightmare.  Thankfully, I need not have worried. Generally, there is very little we need to change.

Our mortgage is with Cheltenham and Gloucester (C&G) who are a fine British institution and one that we are happy doing business with.  Our household banking and insurance policies are with RBS, and while they have had a bad press in recent years they have always provided us with a decent service (but like all banks, they will only give you money if you don’t need it!). Our electricity and gas are both supplied by Scottish power, and we have no complaints there. Equally, we have no complaints about our water supply from Thames Water. We turn the tap and the water flows hot and freely, what more can you ask?

Finally, my personal bank account is with RBS and Lucan has an account (with more money it that either of his parents) with Halifax. The one issue that I have found is that Emily’s personal account is with HSBC. She will be pleased when I tell her she needs to swap banks ;-0 !

– James