We have progressed our plans for 2010, and have run a stall at each of the Farmers markets in April, May and June, and will also be working with Linlithgow Climate Challenge on their Nourish Scotland programme on sustainable food in Scotland, and the plans for a repeat of the Harvest Feast. See 'More on events' for the second half of the year.
Another initiative for this year will be to publish video diaries featuring local suppliers.
We will publish our full programme for the year later this month.Please check out our Events section for that.
This Section is also where you can find out how our events went, what other groups are up to, interesting food & drink stories that we dig up, even what we've been posting on twitter recently. We also upload the newsletters form the World wide movement, Terra Madre, the UK Group, and our own and Edinburgh groups. You can find these in our downloads section.
We hope you find something that stimulates your interest.
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posted 10 Feb 2011 02:41 by Slow Food Linlithgow
We have added some photos taken at the lunch on Sunday 25th July at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine at Newliston attended by members and friends of Edinburgh and Linlithgow Groups.
Below is a portrait of our UK visitors - from Left Liz Hall, Slow Food Programmes Director; Catherine Gazzoli, Slow Food UK CEO; Laura Billings, Slow Food Membership and Groups Development Director; and Jen Marsden, Slow Food Communications C0-ordinator.
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posted 2 Apr 2010 03:14 by Slow Food Linlithgow
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updated 9 Nov 2010 13:52
]
We are firming up on our plans for 2010, and this will include a stall at each of the Farmers markets in April, May and June, and will also be working with Linlithgow Climate Challenge on their Nourish Scotland programme on sustainable food in Scotland, and the plans for a repeat of the Harvest Feast.
Another initiative for this year will be to publish video diaries featuring local suppliers.
We will publish our full programme for the year later this month.Please check out our Events section for that.
This Section is also where you can find out how our events went, what other groups are up to, interesting food & drink stories that we dig up, even what we've been posting on twitter recently. We also upload the newsletters from the World wide movement, Terra Madre, the UK Group, and our own and Edinburgh groups. You can find these in our downloads section.
You can find out how our events went during 2010 from the Newsletters in the downloads section.
We hope you find something that stimulates your interest.
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posted 27 Sep 2009 15:45 by Slow Food Linlithgow
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updated 30 Sep 2009 05:26
]
The Harvest Feast at Bonnytoun Farm, organised in conjunction with LinlithGROW, was easily the most ambitious event we have attempted so far.  We helped convert one side of the farm's mechanical shed into a viewing area so kids could get up close to Ben Cadell's Tamworth pigs & his free-range hens. The other side was transformed into an information centre, dining area & buffet which show-cased the very best of local produce. Utilising a 'pot luck' style of donation from local allotment owners, we received a fantastic array of seasonal produce including, but not limited to; kale, cabbage, apples, plums, potatoes, tomatoes, marrows, courgette, beetroot, green beans, leeks & onions. Our priveledge & challenge was to create a whole series of great dishes (see our recipe section) to make the most of these; most we prepared in advance, but a couple we prepared to order, adding a little theatre to the day!  Outside (on a glorious afternoon) kids were able to play some fantastic games (from wellie-wanging to apple bobbing, Lazytown Sports to Giant Climate Change Scrabble), while those grown-ups not involved in the wellie-wanging (a hard fought competition!) were able to watch Ben Cadell & Dick Longstaff spit-roast two Soay spring lambs; very much the centre piece of the buffet. To attract 200 people, mainly young families, to a brand new event like this was a phenomenal achievement. Our first thank you is to all those who bought tickets, not really knowing what they were getting themselves into. Their enthusiasm and open-mindedness (not to mention patience while queuing for food!) made sure that it was a huge success. Thanks to ticket sales & donations on the day, the event turned a small profit which, while far from our primary focus, will allow Linlithgow Climate Challenge & ourselves to reinvest and create more great events in future. Although it might seem a little early, one of these is next year's Harvest Feast. If you have any ideas for something different, things you loved & would want to see back or things you felt didn't work, practical or whimsical, please get in touch or join discussion on our Facebook group.  An event like the Harvest Feast is the product of hundreds of hours of planning & hard work from dozens of motivated volunteers & supporters. We'd like to thank the following people, while apologising to anyone we don't mention;
- Bonnytoun Farm: Ben & Ruthie Cadell put in a huge amount of work (in the middle of their own harvest) to make Bonnytoun Farm a fantastic venue for a day that will live long in the memory, as well as donating produce for the buffet. - LinlithGROW (the Food & Gardening Subgroup of Linlithgow Climate Challenge): It was LinlithGROW who first came to us with the idea of a traditional harvest feast, but done on a grand scale. They provided much of the manpower & organisation for the Feast (particularly Mel, Pete, Alan & Rose) and we could not have asked for a better partner organisation (to read their report on how things went, click here) - Hyndberry: Catriona (our convivium leader) & Margaret, who run arguable Scotland's finest 'Slow ethos' catering company, put in a tremendous amount of work to put the 'feast' into our Harvest Feast! They came up with a fantastic range of recipes to take advantage of all the donated produce; from local classics like Venison Stew & Potato Salad to more internationally inspired uses home grown ingredients like Apple Butter & Chilli, Tomato & Pepper Salsa. To download a full list of recipes used click Harvest Feast Recipes or check out our recipe section. - Dick Longstaff: Dick manned the spit-roast from 10.30 in the morning, protected it from the odd shower & delivered the meat, perfectly cooked right on the dot at 4.30pm. We were lucky to have such a skilled fire wrangler! - Epulum: Not only did they sell all their tickets for the feast, but Christina & Carlien (the manager & chef) at Linlithgow's premier Slow Food restaurant helped us out by making the delicious apple crumble that was the centre-piece of the desserts & the apple chutney which went spectacularly well with the lamb. Meanwhile, the owner & Slow Food Linlithgow committee member, Michael Bennett, put in a sterling shift carving the lamb. - All the gardeners & allotment owners who contributed ingredients for the buffet; Dave du Feu, Kirsty Leonard, Mel McEwan, Marian McPhillips, Sheanna & Peter Roberts, Elizabeth Ross & others - Sheanna Roberts: We've just thanked her above, but when you produce lots of incredibly tasty, home-made Blackberry ice cream then donate it to the dessert station at our Harvest Feast, two thank yous is the least we can do! - Liz Reid & Friends: A superb group of musicians who provided a lovely musical backdrop to the event. - Fitkids: Mandy, the local representative of this innovative kids fitness & play scheme brought the Lazytown Sports Club to life in the rolling fields of Linlithgow & volunteered to run the other outdoor games. - Craigies Farm: They donated the strawberries that were such a hit at the dessert station. - Beecraigs Deer Park: They gave us a fantastic price on the venison which made a delicious & hearty stew. - Vegware: We've been using their compostable plates & cutlery for some time & they've just given us a fantastic discount code for local events so please get in touch if you want to make your event ethical & affordable! - Kitchen Canny: Rose, a member of LinlithGROW manned the information centre, with her particular focus on this superb scheme designed to cut waste & make the most of what you buy. - West Lothian Council: They allowed us to advertise the event via a temporary window display on the high street and let us use the bunting & everyone knows that no harvest feast is complete without bunting! - Provost Tom Kerr: He kindly attended planning meetings and provided funding for the posters and tickets from the Councillors’ Fund. - Linlithgow Gazette: They sent a reporter & photographer along who wrote a lovely story in the latest issue. We hope to give them plenty more to write about in future.
And finally...
- The Linlithgow convivium of Slow Food: Sorry to blow our own trumpet, but several members & supporters of the convivium deserve special mention for the work they did for this event. Catriona Staddon & Michael Bennett we have already thanked elsewhere. Archie McDiarmid cooked the hot vegetarian options & served them on the day, often with his daughter on his back! Kitty Lang, who walked all the way from West Binnie, abandoned her husband & jumped behind the buffet station to lend a hand. Lastly, all those members & supporters who bought tickets, persuaded friends & family to come along and generally made it such a fantastic event.
We have tried to make this list as complete as possible. If you know someone we have forgotten, please get in touch.
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posted 16 Sep 2009 07:23 by Slow Food Linlithgow
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updated 30 Sep 2009 08:51
]
Our supper to mark the visit of Catherine Gazzoli, the newly appointed Chief Executive of Slow Food UK & Henry Hoffman, Operations Director of Slow Food UK (also the first UK graduate of the University of Gastronomy) was a tremendous success. Appointed as part of the dramatic restructuring of Slow Food UK at the beginning of the year, Catherine was able to give us a valuable first had account of why the previous model hadn't succeeded and the the improvements (some of which had already been noted by members) that the new structure brings. Notable developments include the attraction of a significantly larger number and diversity of sponsors & patrons. Amongst our new sponsors Balvenie Distillery & Sheepdrove Organic Farm are probably the most high profile names, while our patrons now include such notable figures as; chef & star judge on Great British Menu, Pru Leith and Craig Sams of Green & Black's Chocolate. Local convivia will now see much more in the way of practical support from Slow Food UK. A new handbook with practical advise on everything from hosting the a great stall at a farmers market to issuing a great press release will be with every convivium leader by the end of Ocotber. Every convivium member will now will now receive a monthly newsletter direct from Slow Food UK with some of the best food journalism available in the UK, as well as keeping us up-to date with what's going on in other convivia. The technical issues regarding the Slow Food International newsletter which should reach every member, but seems to be missing the UK currently are also being addressed (you can download a copy from our downloads section. Henry Hoffman was able to give us a fascinating glimpse into life at the University of Gastronomy, in Bra. He is the first person from the UK to complete the 3 year degree there and told us what inspired him to take the course, what it involved and give us a hearty recommendation about taking the course should time & finances allow! Designed as an opportunity to meet the people who will be shaping Slow Food UK's future, the convivium subsidised the supper to make it free for all. We could not have done this with generous support of the following groups & supporters; - Michael Bennett, An Dau & Christina McDiarmid of Epulum who not only gave opened their restaurant especially for us on a Sunday night, but prepared a delicious meal & were excellent hosts
- Ben & Ruthie Caddell of Bonnytoun Farm who gave us a fantastic deal on a delicious ham.
- Chris & Amanda at Harviestoun Brewery who donated bottles of their award winning Bitter & Twisted and Schiehallion beers. These made for a fantastic tasting and went down very well with the pork.
- Linlithgrow, West Lothian Beekeeping Assoiciation & local allotment owners who provided the ingredients for dessert (plum & honey cake) and the basis for a delicious apple sauce.
- All of those who attended who generously shared around the goodies they had brought and made for a thoroughly convivial evening.
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