We Need your Vote!
The pancakes have been flipped, the photos have been sent in, and now it's down to you to decide the winner of our Eggstreme Pancake Flipping Competition 2011! We have whittled it down to three entries (unfortunately none of which are from Omlet HQ – we just weren't good enough!) and we think all of them are fantastic, but there can only be one winner. So if you want to help decide who deserves to win a year's supply of chicken feed, just click on the image on the right to be taken to the three photos, then simply email stephanie@omlet.co.uk with either 'Motorbikes', 'Trampoline' or 'Unicycle' as the subject line. Voting will be closed at midnight on Friday 1st April.
Caption Competition
Time for another competition and this time you could win a £20 voucher to spend in the Omlet shop. It doesn't require anything extreme, just a bit of thought using the old noggin. You see our King of Captions is on holiday at the moment, so this brilliant photo has been left with no comedy one-liner. Emily and her Pekin Maisy deserve a cracking caption so it's over to you to help. And we've got no worries because year after year you have demonstrated your ways with words!
So for your chance to win just send your caption to stephanie@omlet.co.uk by Sunday 17th April. Good luck!
Lady Gaga Loves Her Eggs!
It looks like Lady Gaga has gone a little bit more gaga this week, having ordered a giant egg. No, we're not talking about the egg she sang in at the Grammy's, though that was slightly odd, she has just taken her appreciation for eggs to a whole new level by ordering an egg bed to sleep in. The singer is in the middle of a very eggspensive renovation of her New York home, and she is having a giant padded egg especially made for her to sleep in. So, why the egg obsession? Apparantly she felt very comfortable and at peace in the stage egg, spending hours meditating inside.
If this craze catches on we know what Omlet's next project will be!
Easter Chicks
Easter time is great! There are daffodils everywhere, little lambs in the fields and lots of chocolate to be eaten...but can you imagine having some fluffy chicks hopping around too? You can't get more seasonal than that! If you have been thinking about hatching chicks now could be just the right time to start, because you really could have them in time for Easter. Chicken eggs take eggsactly 21 days to hatch from the date they are started incubating, so if you start this week you could have the best Easter gift ever!
If you want to give incubation a go there is a great guide on the forum for hatching and rearing chicks. Click here – it's well worth a read! We have a great range of incubators and other incubation and chick rearing equipment available in the shop to help you every step of the way. Click here to see the range. And remember, if you do have success with hatching chicks, please send us a photo – we love going gooey in the office!
Ideal Home Show
Got any plans for this weekend? Why not take a trip to the Ideal Home Show in London? Perfect for a lavish lunch, a spot of shopping and a beauty treatment or two. (We hear there's even a stand where you can get your feet nibbled by fish.) Get inspiration for your home and garden and come and see the Eglu and Beehaus in the flesh – it might be just what you're after to bring life and colour to your outdoor space.
This year we've got a great selection of our small shop items on sale too, so you might just pick up that quirky gift you were hunting for, or a little something special for yourself. You could even refresh your egg cup collection just in time for Easter!
The show finishes this Sunday so if you want to book tickets or find out more visit the website!
The Omlet Team
Can you write a cracking caption?
No one's as Gaga about eggs as this pop star!
All together now... "Awww"
Visit us at the Ideal Home Show!
(...and get your feet nibbled by fish next door!)
Lemon Curd
With the lovely weather we've had for the past two weeks, Barbara and I have spent all our time in the garden/down at the allotment. Broad beans and onion sets are in the ground and the first sowings of tomatoes are done. The daffodils are out, sounds of new born lambs in the fields and all our hens are finally laying after their winter break. Their appetites have quadrupled, so we are filling up the grubs every couple of days and ordering more layers pellets, but in return, we have so many eggs! The 'fresh eggs for sale' sign on the gate is back! Perfect. Come April, the ramblers will be knocking on the door and our cottage industry will be up and running again. How I've missed them and their pennies.
Whenever we have extra eggs, one of the all time favourite things to make is lemon curd. It uses quite a few eggs, but when they are in plentiful supply, you don't mind sacrificing a few for the sake of this delicious curd.
This recipe was discovered by Barbara a few years ago on the Omlet forum. It is by far the easiest and quickest we have found.
2 lemons
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
100g butter
150g caster sugar (I use golden caster sugar)
1. Zest and juice the lemons (finely).
2 Beat eggs, yolks and sugar together in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved (note this recipe doesn't use a double boiler and it works fine).
3. Add butter, lemon juice and zest and heat gently until thickened, stirring all the time - if the mixture curdles, plunge the pan immediately into a sink full of icy cold water and beat like mad. It should come back without any problems.
4. Place the curd into sterilized jars, seal and leave to cool.
Makes 3 small jars.
The curd will keep well in a fridge for up to 4 weeks. I challenge you to not eat it before then!
A lot of lovely lemon curd!
Your name: Clive Coker
Where and with who do you live?
I live with my wife and two teenagers in South London.
How many chickens do you have and what are their names?
Our hens are: Betsy, Bertha, Blossom, Dotty, Ginger, Honey, Layla, Maizy, Wanda, Xena.
What is their favourite food? Spinach and garlic porridge.
What's your favourite thing about the Eglu?
The Eglu has a collection of good design features. The material is sturdy but best of all it is easy to keep clean. The side opening to the nesting area is a pleasure to use, and the way the back is removable enables easy access to the roosting bars for cleaning.
Why did you decide to become a hen party host?
We were surprised that we had to travel some distance to reach hen parties from Croydon. We went to a hen party before we got our chickens, and the hosts seemed to find it enjoyable. Once our hens had settled in to a regular laying routine, then we realised that we knew what we were doing, and were ready to hand on enough tips to help others to overcome any uncertainty they had about keeping chickens. We now regularly host people from across South London, Sussex and Kent. We do enjoy meeting people and hosting hen parties has given us that opportunity.
What do your courses include?
Details on how to get started with hens, the best places to get supplies, how to look after chickens. Tips on how not to make the same mistakes as we did, and home made cake! Unusually for a chicken, Layla seems happy to show off at the end of our course, that she will pose on my arm, a bit like a bird of prey.
Why should people attend a course?
There is a lot of information available but nothing is quite the same as seeing how it all works practically. People are interested to know how they react to holding a chicken, and our Hen Parties are a good opportunity for this. A course gives you the opportunity to ask about the exact problems that worry you and to get suggestions that you wouldn't have thought to ask for! You can also make friends and contacts that could help your new venture well into the future.
Example Review
“Dear Rosie & Clive, Just wanted to say a big thank you for today's course. Your passion for chicken keeping shone through and is very infectious! You covered all the aspects I wanted to know about and a whole load of things I hadn't even thought of! I definitely feel better prepared to take the next step now. Thank you again and your cake was divine!” By Kate
Upcoming Course:
Hen Party for Beginners
Saturday 23rd April, 2:00-3:30, South London
Layla performs her bird of prey impression.
The Coker clan love to be in front of the camera!
Poultry Plod patrol the purple palace so Mr Fox has no chance of getting near!
Star Products!
Egg Cup VW Camper Vans
Breakfast is such a groovy time of day baby! Well alright most of us aren't quite up to full speed at 7am but this retro egg cup will raise a smile when it pulls up in front of you. This is also the much sought after split screen version of the famous VW camper van that is the vehicle of choice for every beach loving surfboiled egg.
Choice of four colours, and matching Salt & pepper Shakers also available!
Pink Egg Skelter
Now in brand new bright pink!
This egg skelter is a brilliant way of storing and displaying your fresh eggs in date order. Every time your hens lay a lovely egg simply add it to the skelter, and when it comes to eating them you will know to use the one at the front, which will always be the oldest. Your eggs will be proudly on display and you will never have to waste one again! Suitable for 20 medium to large sized eggs.
Dried Mealworms - 100g
Dried mealworms are the less wiggly alternative to live mealworms but will still go down a treat with your chickens. They are the larvae of the Flour Beetle, a native British insect which eats flour, meal, grain and other crops. They are made up of over 48% protein and 40% fat, making them tasty to eat and in their dried state very unlikely to escape a hungy chicken.
The Poultry Answer 50g
This organic poultry feed supplement helps hens to absorb more minerals and nutrients from their daily food. It promotes good health in chickens, improving their gut condition and general wellbeing. The Poultry Answer contains Fulvic Acid, Probiotics, Digestive Enzymes, Brewers Yeast, Trace Mineral Electrolytes and Bakers Yeast. You should add 1 tsp per 1kg of feed..