Win Foodies Festival VIP Tickets

Celebrate the Summer with Foodies Festival at Tatton Park 17,18,19th July
and WIN VIP Tickets! COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Foodies Festival, the UK’s biggest celebration of food and drink, returns to Tatton Park this summer 17,18,19th July and you are invited to join in the 10th anniversary celebrations with a feast of celebrity and local chefs, new tasting theatres, artisan producers and more street food than you can shake a satay stick at!

Start your day with a masterclasses in the Aga Rangemaster Chefs Theatre and watch MasterChef winner Tim Anderson, David Mooney from The Blue Moon, ex-Corrie star and cheese specialist Sean Wilson, and award winning vegan blogger Little Miss Meat Free cook their favourite summer recipes for you to recreate at home for family and friends. MasterChef finalist Luke Owen, Food Glorious Food Winner Rahila Hussain and the Sweet Mandarin Twins Helen and Lisa Tse will also share their culinary secrets, inspiring you to experiment with new flavours and ingredients.

Take a drinks masterclass with Charles Metcalfe and Neil Phillips who will guide you through this summer’s best bubblies and wines in the new Champagne, Wine and Craft Beer Theatre. Beer expert and writer Melissa Cole is also on-hand, sharing her tips on matching summer flavours with locally brewed craft beers. 

Oyster Shucking, Bee Keeping, Vegan Recipes and Sushi Rolling are just some of the masterclasses you can join in the new Tasting Theatre. You can also learn how to forage for herbs to make healthy herb cocktails and booze infused canapés! 

If you’re a chocolate addict then head to the Chocolate Theatre for an instant hit of coco in ‘How to Sniff Chocolate like a Rockstar’ masterclasses with Coeur de Xocolat. You can also take masterclasses in 3D cake modelling, Pastry Making and Sugar-Craft Skills with the North West’s best bakers and pâtissiers in the Cake & Bake Theatre. A complementing Chocolate, Cake and Bake Village sells bakes, jams, gadgets and baking essentials – a haven for home bakers.  

Hungry? Feast on delicious flavours and foods from around the world on the Street Food Avenue, which serves a huge selection of hot and cold dishes including Japanese, Thai, Brazilian, Argentinian, Mexican, French and African for you to tuck into in the Feasting Tenting. 

With over 200 producers in the Artisan Producers Market selling award winning wines and chesses, jams and sauces, bakes and confectionary, cured meats and more; you’ll be spoilt for choice for what to buy to take home and enjoy. 

Pick up taste bud tantalising outdoor cooking recipes from the grilling experts at the BBQ Arena and enter the daily King of the Grill challenge. For those brave, or foolish enough, there’s a Chill Eating Challenge record to break to lift the chilli-eating crown. 

Little foodies can explore their taste buds and learn basic skills with Picnic in the Park themed masterclasses in the Childrens Cookery Theatre, where Kiddy Cook will show them how to make finger sandwiches, jellies and chocolate bugs!

After a day of feasting and fun, relax with a spot on the grass and soak in the atmosphere with live music from the entertainment stage and a refreshing cocktail, glass of bubbly or a Pimm’s from the Giant Pimm’s Teapot and Captain Morgan Mojito Galleon.

Tickets:

Tickets are on sale now at www.foodiesfestival.com or by calling 0844 995 1111 but here's your chance to WIN tickets.

We have 1 family VIP ticket and two ordinary family tickets for Foodies Festival 2012 at Tatton Park. To win, follow @jmyorks and retweet any of our #FoodiesVIP tweets, full terms and conditions here or email here with your name ad subject #FoodieVIP

Competition closes 10 May 2015.

Seasick Steve - Sonic Soul Surfer Review - life in the old dog yet

Sonic Soul Surfer Album by Seasick Steve

It's difficult not to like an album that crackles into life with instruments that sound like a rattlesnake preparing to pounce. That is how Steven Wold, better known to the world as Seasick Steve, has chosen to introduce his seventh studio offering 'Sonic Soul Surfer'. For a septuagenarian with a predilection for homemade guitars, he's also pretty prolific. His debut was released a little over a decade ago, but this new record seems to present a more polished and more confident Seasick Steve. Wold has really hit his stride here and seems happy to let his band do some of the heavy lifting. If the Seasick Steve manifesto presented here is: "We'll do our best to rock your socks", then I'm pleased to say it's job done.

'Sonic Soul Surfer' does little to move Wold away from Blues Rock, but it feels accomplished because it seems to streamline his approach. The campfire intimacy and storytelling of earlier recordings is replaced with a desire to jam as a band. The material is no less gritty, but is infused with a newfound vigour that relies less on the gimmick of homemade instruments and more on the song writing itself. There's a retro feel as demonstrated by the album cover, but these songs aren't chained to the past, Wold presents them with the hunger of a musician half his age. Take opener 'Roy's Gang' as an example and you'll find lyrics that celebrate his success of recent years: "I wanna get on that stage. I wanna play you my very best show". This isn't a man looking to the past as his glory days, rather he's looking to the future, and that's what makes this material so appealing.

Some of the familiar Seasick Steve hallmarks are present here; 'Dog Gonna Play' is one example. However, Wold galvanises his band around a traditional Blues riff, and ends up giving his younger contemporaries, like The Black Keys, a run for their money with the menace and swagger of the resulting track. Even the quirky use of the jaw harp on single 'Summertime Boy' doesn't feel like Wold is relying on little used instruments to make his work stand out. Instead, it's used to elevate the Blues jam to match the carefree sentiment of the lyrics.


It's not all upbeat though, there's still the obligatory bone chilling slower and quieter moments, but they don't seem to cast long shadows over the other songs as had sometimes happened in the past. There's a real momentum as the album races from track to track, and much of that is provided by the inclusion of a full band on most of the material. It may seem rather contraire, then, when I tell you the stand-out moment is the quiet solo performance that closes the album. 'Heart Full Of Scars' really does pull on the heartstrings. Wold sings with a weariness that's hard to fake, and he removes his usual gruff delivery to leave a voice that's reminiscent of early Tom Waits. It works because it serves as a lullaby to what's come before, without the boisterous guitars of the earlier songs this epitaph wouldn't draw your attention in the same way. It's a tender send off to an album that's surprisingly well equipped to bring a smile to your face.

'Sonic Soul Surfer' is perhaps not the album that I would have expected Wold to make at this stage in his career, it's a pleasant and welcome surprise that he has. Whereas many artists would be looking to consolidate their reputation and rely on past success if they were in Seasick Steve's position, Wold instead chooses to boldly move forward with a confident and very enjoyable set of songs. He's proved there's plenty of life left in the old dog yet.

Fast and Furious 8: You better believe it

The Fast & Furious Train Keeps Chugging Along With Eighth Movie

If you thought the Fast & Furious franchise was on its way out, you clearly are not familiar with the dynamics of Hollywood franchises. As the F&F, Spider-Man, Star Wars and numerous other series have proved, you don't just enjoy success, you ride its coattails until they're so warn and ragged that the money stream starts to thin out. 



Yes, there will be a Fast & Furious 8 (or some variation upon that name). Vin Diesel announced on Thursday that there will be an eight installment of the muscle car franchise released on April 14, 2017.


"We're going to make the best movie you've ever seen," the actor said at Universal's CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas on Thursday, according to the New York Daily News. 

Getting back o the earlier point about success and its money-lined coattails, Furious 7 debuted earlier this month. Since then, it has reached and passed the $1 billion worldwide gross benchmark. But it's been an emotional journey for the cast and production team.

"The last time I was on this stage I was with my brother Pablo," Diesel said. "It's hard for me to even watch that clip and then come out here without being emotional. But most importantly, I mean it from the bottom of my heart, that you guys, you help us make this special."

So hold on to your underwear, people, the ride isn't over yet. 

Rules for Foodies VIP Competition.

• Entry to the competition is restricted to one entry per person per channel (facebook or email) although any tweet from @jmyorks with the hashtag #FoodieVIP may be retweeted and all such retweets will count.
• You may enter via any or all of the channels.
• Automated entries, bulk entries or third party entries will be disqualified!
• Competitions are open to UK residents only unless otherwise stated
• Prizes can only be sent to a valid UK address unless otherwise stated.
• Winners will be chosen at random from all valid entries.
• Winners will be contacted via email address or twitter handles as appropriate
• Winners will have 7 days from date of contact to reply with full postal addresses.
• The Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered in to.
• The competition will run from 25/04/2015 until 18.00hrs 10/5/2015.
• This blog and our newsletter are both compliant with the data protection act. Our policy is such that we will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent.

The Polyphonic Spree celebrate 15th anniversary

The Polyphonic Spree will be celebrating their 15th anniversary with an eight day tour of the UK in September 2015, where they will be performing material from their debut album - 'The Beginning Stages of the Polyphonic Spree' - in full plus a few extra surprises. 

The Polyphonic Spree hit the UK this September With their latest high profile show having been the last Dallas NYE party, a free concert at the American Airlines Center, the Texas alternative orchestra will arrive at London's Electric Ballroom on September 3rd, before wrapping up their brief excursion in Sheffield at the O2 Academy 2. They'll be celebrating the signing of their very first album release, which was taken on by Dallas' Good Records in 2002 after the band was formed by frontman Tim DeLaughter in 2000 from the ashes of his ill-fated previous band Tripping Daisy. 

Members of The Polyphonic Spree currently stand at twenty plus and they have released a further four albums since their debut. Their last album, 'Yes, It's True', was launched in 2013 following the previous year's Christmas collection 'HolidayDream: Sounds of the Holidays Vol. One'. 

Watch the live video of The Polyphonic Spree's track 'Soldier Girl'  

Not only will the band be performing 'The Beginning Stages of...' in full, but they'll also be throwing in a few of their best tracks from other releases too, which should provide even more nostalgia for the hordes of British fans that will no doubt flock to their shows in the Autumn. 

Also performing in Brighton, Oxford, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, tickets for the tour will be available to buy tomorrow (April 17th 2015). 

Tour dates: 
03 September - London, Electric Ballroom 
04 September - Brighton, Concorde 2 
05 September - Oxford, O2 Academy 
07 September - Bristol, Motion 
09 September - Manchester, Club Academy 
10 September - Edinburgh, Liquid Room 
11 September - Glasgow, Oran Mor 
16 September - Sheffield, O2 Academy 2

Josh Warrington – We Are Leeds – Leeds First Direct Arena 11/04/15 Review

After this convincing though not overwhelming win, Josh is headed for a summer 2016 Elland Road world title showdown with Lee Selby. Selby was in the Arena on Saturday night and was quoted as saying he would love to silence the crowd, good luck with that Lee.

At near capacity -  just consider that fact for a moment, there is no other boxer around at the moment who could pull these sort of crowds in – the arena was bouncing, literally. A canny soundtrack built up the atmosphere as the support for local lad Josh almost literally spilled out. Certainly the beer did but it was all good natured and very focused on helping to deliver the win and international belt for Josh. 11,000 people belting out Leeds songs, Joshs name, Sweet Caroline…the noise was as loud and raucous as you can get. At Elland Road it will be 40,000+, what a night that will be, I’m buzzing already. From the opening notes of LUFC anthem Marching On Together it was the loudest I have heard, former Leeds legend and movie hardman Vinnie Jones carrying his domestic belt aloft followed Warrington to the ring though a total melee, the football anthem now having given way to the Kaiser chiefs beery classic I Predict A Riot

Watch: my video of the crowd and Sweet Caroline



There has been criticism from some that Josh’s crowd is just football fans. That’s meant presumably as some kind of slur. I, like Josh and many people in the crowd am a passionate Leeds United fan. The two sports aren’t mutually exclusive, I like and watch Rugby League, Cricket, this weekend it seems Golf too and I like my boxing. I am fiercely patriotic and even more so when it comes to Yorkshire and its fine sports men and women.

Lee Selby fights Evgeny Gradovich next month for the world title in London and if he wins has said he will offer Josh a tilt. But there is at least one more fight in Warrington before he gets to that big day and it’s true that this wasn’t his finest performance. The point decision against Dennis Tubieron was convincing though Selby was unlikely to be fazed by what he saw in the ring. Josh admitted as much in post fight conference, he had to learn to finish fighter off. To my eyes there were several points where he landed several successive blows and Tubieron was reeling, the killer bows never arrived. Warrington never looked troubled and admitted he got bored.

Eddie Hearns spoke after the fight about how Josh needs a good quality fighter next time, a name, somebody who people know and someone who will put Josh through the mill, a real test of his power, something we know Selby has. That said a tough 12 rounds will serve Warrington well as he heads back into the gym after plenty of fish and chips and a trip to Scarborough, where after this pay day he concedes he may be able to afford a b&b rather that then tent he used to take.

Watch the press conference, Radio Leeds asking the questions

On the undercard, mention due to Huddersfield s Tyrone Nurse who took his record to 31-2 with a sold victory over previously undefeated Liam Taylor. This fight was intended as a British title fight with Chris Jenkins however a serious bout of food poisoning put paid to that. We last saw Nurse on Warrington’s last undercard, losing disappointingly to Chris Ryan. The 2015 Nurse seems tougher and more mobile and damaged Taylor several time, ultimately going the distance. Nurse is expected to get his domestic title shot this summer.

A nod also to Pontefract’s Maxi Hughes who despite some good local support failed to add the super featherweight title against Leeds fighter Martin Ward. The Leeds accreditation raising some eyebrows though as last time we looked he was from Essex. Wherever he was actually hails, he was too strong for Maxi who was pulled out in the fifth round.

Once again a fantastic night boxing and there can be few better venues in which to host it, the delight was clear on Hearns face after the event, even revelling in the fact that a beach ball temporarily halted Warringtons fight in the 5th as it landed in the ring. Not something you have seen before…ahem but not something to be repeated.

The next big fight night on the Matchroom Boxing calendar is the Rule Britannia event at Londons O2, Kevin Mitchell and Lee Selby will fight for World titles on May 30, with Anthony Joshua MBE taking on Kevin Johnson on a massive night for British boxing.

Tickets are priced at £40, £60, £80, £100 and £200 with VIP packages at £400

Tickets are on sale to Matchroom Fight Pass NOW! Join Fight Pass (just £29.95 per year)

The general sale begins at 9am on Tuesday March 31 with tickets priced £40- £200 available from www.theO2.co.uk and on 0844 856 0202.

The £400 VIP packages are exclusively available through www.matchroomboxing.com.

Josh Warrington..We are Leeds live blog

Tonight we are at Leeds Arena to see Josh Warrington take hopefully another step towards a world title. As long as the wifi hold up we will be blogging live from ringside..and I do mean ringside.

So sorry but the wifi died at this point and we couldnt load this page again... expect full review with pics and vid plus vid from the press conference too.

20.57 Tyrone wins

20.55 points decision but reckon this is Nurses fight...97 to 92

20.52. Tenth and final round,,still Tyrones,,just.. Liam is fighting back good combos but now Ty is giving it back..a momentary slug fest..

20.47 the eighth a more even affair..more clued up boxing people than I currently have this fight nurses by between 5 and 6 points.

20.41 Liam is down takes a count of 7 after a good cut from Tyrone

20.40 the sixth...ty certainly pulled out a few and seems to have hurt Liam..time will tell

20.35 round 5 sees a slight revival from the Huddersfield lad though he just got pulled for a low blow

20.31 end of round 4 And you do get the feeling Tyrone isn't ready for this...it is a late notice fight.. We do have him winning the first just but since then it's been downhill

20.21 early in round two and again Tyrone seems unable to get into his rythmn whilst taking some heavy though not damaging blows

20.15 Hudderisfields light welterweight Tyrone Nurse hopes for a better result than his last outing here when he lost, fairly on points . Liam Taylor is tonight's opponent in an 10 round bout.

20.07 victorious Jono talks to sky sports

20.04 Jono wins 60 to 54

20.03 Jono goes for. Broke but it's not enough for a long...points decision to follow. Must be Jono....

19.57 Approaching the end of round 5 and Carlos is increasingly clinging on. Growing feeling that this is Jonos fight though Carlos did land a couple of heavy blows. Final round,,

19.48 end of round two and we have Jono taking both rounds though Carlos looks to have something in him. The arena is far from full at the moment..most of the crowd seemingly in the nearby pubs.

Up at the moment 19.41 is Dublins Jono Caroll vs Carlos Perez of Spain.

BBC Good Food Spring Show 2015 Review

Its spring which means that the BBC Good Food show comes to Harrogate with its accompanying celeb chefs, its baffling guide dog and save cats stalls. The inevitable whisky cheeses and rapeseed oil stands too...they are so 2009, 

With so much exciting stuff going on with street foods its odd that nobody has translated this into home cooking as the genre, and I hate that word, is so under represented.

This year it seems note has been made of a regular complaint from previous years, the show has expanded and aisles are wider. We visited on Friday 10/4 as the doors opened so it was quiet.

Todays main celeb draw are the Hairy Bikers and unfortunately we missed our slot to see them cook as were deep discussing curries or gin or something. We did catch up with them for a chat but that has been offered elsewhere as an exclusive currently.

The show was quiet, we expect higher degrees of madness tomorrow (saturday) and also sunday as Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, James Martin and John Torode take to the stages.

So for now we would like to introduce you to some of our favourite people we met today..


Punjaban Curry Bases 
http://www.punjaban.co.uk/ Twitter: @punjabancurry

Their philosophy is simple; No compromises on authenticity. It was these principals that were at the heart of the company when Charanjit Sapal (also know as Charlie) started the business in 2010. She still runs the company with her two children Gurjeet and Ria, and its was Gurjeet we had the pelasure of meeting today.

When he went to university he missed her home cooked food so much that Charlie sent her sauce up for him to use. This become a regular occurrence and she began to cook a batch every day! Little did she know that Gurjeet had enormous demand for the delicious sauce from his friends and he had started selling it around the campus for beer money. Sounds like a belting plan.

When the truth finally revealed itself the family knew there was a demand for something more traditional and that is how Punjaban was born.

We tried several varieties and were very impressed, the tastes and textures reminded us of currys had on our travels across Kerala in South West India. A real authentic flavour in your home, none of this synthetic curry english currys, and we will be sure to order more!

Urban Herbs 
http://www.urban-herbs.co.uk/ Twitter @urban_herbs

Urban Herbs is a small family run business set up in 2012 to grow and produce a wide variety of culinary and unusual herbs and spices.  They dont grow in bulk but pride ourselves on a constantly changing product and availability range.  

Whilst their polytunnels produce classic culinary herbs such as Basil, Thyme and Tarragon – what really interests us is the unusual and exciting varieties such as Chocolate Mint, Pineapple Sage and Vietnamese Coriander that are on offer.  Particular faves amongst the good wife and I were the hot n spicy oregano, the orange thyme and the regular Rocket which seemed to be especially peppery to us.

Unfortunately they cannot offer mail order and are in the West Midlands, well that's unfortunate for us as we are in West Yorkshire and forgot to call back to pick up a tray full of stuff. Anyhow, see their website for forthcoming appearances at shows and markets. And if you happen to be visiting this weekend let us know as we want some stuff!!

Portobello Road Gin
http://www.portobelloroadgin.com/ Twitter @portobello_gin

This year there were probably more Gin botherers than last and having heavily backed Yorkshire very own Masons gin last time out, we were on the look out for something different. Hmm..these guys dont use lime or lemon but actually use grapefruit...okay, lets look further.. 

I wont go all gin snobby on you so this is how they describe it...it has a generous slug of juniper and a sustained fresh citrus charachter, developing with the use of nutmeg into a warm peppery finish. Have spent the intervening hours between returning home and writing this engaging in said gin with endless twists of grapefruit al fresco we can say we love it and its warm peppery finish.

Suffice to say our plans for a lads London pale ale tour this August are under review with a visit to the ginstitute distinctly in the offing.



BBC Good Food Spring Show continues this weekend 11/12 April 2015, tickets and more details here

Josh Warrington - We Are Leeds - Last min ticket details

Leeds featherweight fighter, Josh Warrington returns to Leeds First Direct Arena for a world title eliminator this Saturday. Rapidly approaching a sell-out, Josh will also be fighting for the international belt and continuing the theme of being walked to the ring by Leeds legends, on Saturday, Leeds United legend and Film star Vinnie Jones will carry Joshs’ belt.

Josh told the press recently he was very confident of emerging victorious, no doubt spurred on by another noisy and supportive crowd, doing Leeds and Matchroom boxing proud live on Sky Sports. He recently told them “it does feel like the whole city has got behind us, there is something special about Leeds” A recent bout in Berlin was a great exercise for the Yorkshire favourite and he enters Saturdays fight in great shape. Also on the bill is Huddersfield boxer Tyrone Nurse hoping there is no repeat of his last appearance here when he hit the deck twice, Tyrone will be bidding to bring a vacant British Light Welterweight title back to Yorkshire.
Another hometown favourite Bob Ajisafe features on the undercard for a vacant Commonwealth Light Middleweight title.

A very limited number of tickets are available matchroomboxing.com/tickets/ do not miss this, it will be a night like no other but if you can’t be there then the fights are live on Sky Sports. A reminder that our exclusive hotel deal sold out long since.

Just Music will be again ringside on Saturday by kind cooperation of Matchroom boxing. Wifi permitting we will attempt live blogging during the evening and from the post-fight press conference. The link will be posted here and to our subscribers during Saturday afternoon.

Cellino - A Man With No Ambition For Leeds

First things first, anyone who cares to look back through this sites posting will see that I did not want Cellino at this club. What is less apparent but nonetheless there is that once installed I backed him. Better to back him and give him a chance.

That chance has had plenty of opportunities to appear but today's events prove once and for all that Cellino et all do no want a successful Leeds, not in any way shape over form.

Now unless Steve Thompson has done something wildly outrageous and damaging at Leeds - and I have heard some amazing theories today - his sacking today was unwarranted and on the whim of Salerno, at the behest we must assume of Cellino.

Here's an interesting point though, its widely reported that Thommo is sacked. The pathetic official statement says suspended. Now I have been suspended at work before, I hadnt done anything wrong and it was purely to take me out of a situation while (in my case) someone else was investigated. The point being that a suspension has no finality about it. Sacking does, so which is it.

The comments from ER say its an internal matter which is a roundabout way of saying that Thommo did something. Hopefully he chinned Salerno and kicked him in the knackers when he got the mistake riddled letter. I think it is a spineless comment from a spineless club.

Under Redders and Thompson we have rediscovered pride in the shirt and have played with real gritty bollocks when needed, grinding our results. They have introduced a raft of real talent and have more knocking on the door Those talented kids respect Thommo and especially Redders and will stay at Leeds given the chance to develop under him. No doubt. For many the coming 2015/16 season held much promise, we had grounds for optimism, a rare commodity.

The fact that neither of them had been offered a new contract was shockingly poor. As was the unaddressed contracts of those who had done so much for this club this year.

So anyone undoing that partnership without very good reason has much less that the success of this club at heart

Make no mistake, with Thommo seemingly gone, its in the lap of the gods as to whether Redders stays, If he goes then make no mistake Cook and one or two other will be so disenchanted as to court interest from bigger and more aspirational clubs.

The final nail. the revelation of continued intervention in the team with the news of Antenucci. Given an incentivised contract but then stopped from achieving it. This tells you that Cellino brought Mirco here believing he wasn't good enough and couldn't achieve what was on the table. Again a contract devised by someone who doesnt have success for the club as his main aim.

Todays two stories prove that Cellino does not want us to succeed. How can he?...stop our leading scorer from adding to his tally and break up the partnership that had clicked into place and made the second half of the season a relative joy.  God only knows what he would have done had we been seriously pushing for the play offs....

My personal belief is that Tommo is sacked in the hope of prompting Neil to quit..thus clearing the decks for whatever set of inbred selfcentred non achievers he is selling to.

So tonight I am emailing the football league imploring them to investigate which puny white flagged italian hand is still calling the shots. To slightly misquote the Pet Shop Boys, What have we done to deserve this...