New kitchen ideas for the New Year

We all do it, don’t we? As the year draws to a close and we look forward to Christmas and New Year celebrations we start to think about changing things around for the coming year. If you’re anything like us, you might be thinking about redecorating, buying new furniture or – changing the kitchen.

The kitchen is the hub of the house isn’t it? So, it’s the one space in the house that gets the most use – and as a result can start to look tired quite quickly.

Kitchen tech, designs and trends are changing all the time.

We have pulled together a few tips for things to think about if you’re thinking about a new kitchen with a few ideas for things you can add to it to spice things up a bit.

Design trends
The current trends for kitchen centre on industrial chic, exposed surfaces and cool blues. Natural materials are still a favourite, think wood and granite. The rustic look is in. Make your colour palette rich and moody if you a looking for a cosy space – otherwise open your space out using creamy white or pastel colour ways for an airy and fresh feel.

Small kitchens
If you have a small kitchen you need to maximise the space. Use light colours and glossy surfaces to reflect light and create the illusion of space. Search out clever storage and waste ideas to make the most of the space. Add a little pastel colour and illuminate well with white lighting.

Family kitchen
In many homes the kitchen is the family hub. If you have the space, create an open plan space and break it up into zones with islands, breakfast bars and dining areas with tables and seating. And if you have a pet, consider easy-to-clean but hard-wearing floor surfaces in designs and colours that won’t look tired. Use secure waste disposal and secure storage to keep your furry friend out of danger.

Technology in the kitchen
We’re all mobile these days. To keep your technology fully charged include wireless charging points and USB plug sockets in your kitchen designs. Consider using smart heating and lighting solutions like MiGenie, Hive and Devolo to control your energy use from your phone while you are out and about. Wifi connected devices like smart fridges allow you to track your groceries and order in food and drink that you are short of.

Cooking
There is a vast range of cooking solutions available from pyrolytic, steam cleaning and self-cleaning ovens to ceramic hobs and the latest energy-efficient induction cooking solutions.

Worktops
There is a wide variety of materials that can be used for worktop surfaces. You can choose laminates, natural wood, solid composite, quartz or granite. The choice of surface will be dictated by your colour designs, the toughness you need, your budget and ease of maintenance.

Some of the bigger DIY retailers have great ranges of kitchens, both 'off the shelf' and bespoke. Why not check them out for more ideas? Have a look at B&Q, Home Base  or Wickes. There are plenty of other options available online – just ask Google.

Stir it up!

This Sunday is known as ‘Stir Up Sunday’. There are two reasons. It is the last Sunday before Advent. During Anglican Sunday services there is a prescribed Collect reading from the Book of Common Prayer which contains the line: “Stir up, we beseech thee O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people”. It’s also a signal that Christmas is coming. Now is the time to start making the matured Christmas puds and cakes.

Traditionally, Stir Up Sunday is the time when the family gets together in the kitchen and mixes up the pudding. Everyone has a stir of the mixture and makes a wish for the coming season. The kitchen fills up with the smells of Christmas as the pudding is steamed.

Not everyone is a fan but Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a figgy pudding.

There are numerous recipes out there for Christmas puddings. We like this one from Mary Berry, which can be found here.

Of course, we don’t all have time, or the inclination, to cook a Christmas pudding. This is when shop-bought puddings come into their own.

All the major supermarkets will have their own versions of the classic pud. Here’s a list of the main ones;

• Aldi Specially Selected Golden Topped Christmas Pudding, 907g: £7.99*, Aldi (Serves 8)
• Iceland Luxury Christmas Pudding with a Brandy Sauce Centre, 907g: £6, Iceland (Serves 8)
• Lidl Deluxe 24 Month Matured Christmas Pudding, 907g: £11.99, Lidl (Serves 8)
• Morrisons The Best Pear and Pedro Ximenez Sherry Christmas Pudding, 800g: £8, Morrisons (Serves 8)
• Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Cognac Laced 18 Month Matured Christmas Pudding, 450g: £5, Sainsbury’s (Serves 4)
• Heston from Waitrose Persian Spiced Christmas Pudding, 800g: £14, Waitrose (Serves 8)

Whether you make your own pudding or buy one we hope you have a great time this Christmas.

*Prices may vary.

Allison Homes tips for a happy Hygge life

Hygge – pronounced (who-ga) – is a Danish lifestyle concept that is becoming popular in the UK. It’s a great way to make the melancholic late autumn and winter months more bearable.

The concept is ingrained in Danish culture. Hygge boils down to happiness and well-being - feeling comfortable and content, taking pleasure in the simple things that life has to offer.

In a book published earlier this year called the Little Book of Hyyge, author and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute of Copenhagen Meik Wiking defined Hygge as an atmosphere and experience. It’s about being with loved ones, feeling at home and feeling safe.

Sounds simple and wonderful doesn’t it? But how do we achieve Hygge in our busy modern lives?

Here a few tips we have gleaned;

• Natural lighting – turn off the electric lights and get out the candles.
• Have fireplace or wood burner? Light up and bathe in the warmth and light of a real fire.
• Get comfy. Take a break.
• Be here now. Put down your phones and turn off your internet connected devices and ignore social media for a while.
• Build relationships. Spend time with your family and closest friends. How about inviting them around for a night of board games and home-made treats?
• Take a break from the demands of healthy living. Cake is most definitely Hygge. Get into home-cooked comfort foods.
• Live life today, like there is no coffee tomorrow.
• Dress up in your most comfortable clothes, curl up in your favourite chair with a hot drink and read a good book.

 Whatever you do, be happy.

Allison Homes planning for living communities at Oakley Rise

The joint venture between the Larkfleet Group and the Great Oakley Group to deliver the Oakley Rise development in Corby is an exciting one for the team here at Allison Homes.

The latest Allison Homes development at Oakley Rise demonstrates our commitment to helping to deliver a development at Oakley Vale which caters for a full range of housing needs.

New homes in Oakley Rise will enable first time buyers to join the housing market while growing families are catered for with 3, 4 and 5-bedroom homes on offer.

Overarching the development is the desire of the joint venture partners to deliver a well-thought out development that people will want to live in for years to come.

To highlight the importance of the joint venture and what it means for the delivery of high quality housing in East Northamptonshire, Allison Homes shot a short video interview with Larkfleet CEO Karl Hick and Great Oakley Group head Alexander de Capell Brooke.

Allison Homes has joined the original joint venture between Great Oakley Group and Corby Borough Council to deliver the final phase of Oakley Rise as part of the wider Oakley vale development. Alex de Capell Brooke foresees a long-lasting relationship with Allison Homes to deliver further developments in Great Oakley.

It’s all about place-making, site layout, house design, how it is placed in a street and how people live in that street. Alex said: “It is of fundamental importance that people are going to enjoy the house they are going to live in.

“From day one Karl and the Allison Homes team took all that on board with the design of the 170 houses that make up this Allison Homes development. They looked at the designs and planned how they are laid out in the street.”

Karl Hick said that the association of two established names with long-standing reputations for creating vibrant communities will enable the delivery of high-quality housing for years to come. He said: “Oakley Vale is a great place to live that perfectly combines town and country living and the Oakley Rise development is a very appealing area of this community.”

Watch the video here.

Reputation is key to Allison Homes’ success

When we opened our new show home at Oakley Rise near Corby, customers were full of praise for the development. To mark the opening event, we produced a short video featuring customers and staff talking about the show home and the development.

This is what one of our customers had to say about Allison Homes at Oakley Rise: “I decided to purchase a home in Oakley Rise because of the long-standing reputation that Allison Homes has in the area I live. It is that reputation that drew me to Allison Homes.

“The sales team was fantastic from the moment I walked in to the show home to exchange. They made the process simple and were very helpful throughout.”

The show home gives prospective new buyers the opportunity to experience a ‘real life’ version of their new home and includes features such as family rooms, open plan living areas, luxury dining together, bathrooms and spacious bedrooms.

Oakley Rise is a new development of 2, 3, 4 and 5-bedroom houses in Oakley Vale, Corby – a growing community combining the charm of rural living with all the amenities that the vibrant town of Corby has to offer. New Allison Homes properties in Oakley Rise are built to last using traditional brick and block construction.

Oakley Vale is located on the south west side of Corby, Northamptonshire, close to some of the best schools in Northamptonshire. There are rural trails, woodland parks, traditional rural pubs and restaurants and tranquil lakes right on the doorstep.

Residents can enjoy the rural lifestyle and the superb arts, entertainment and shopping facilities of Corby. To discover more about this vibrant new community visit www.oakleyvale.com.

The new show home is now open seven days a week between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Before your visit to show home have a look at the video here for a flavour of what you can expect.

Allison congratulates Grantham Business Awards winner Farrow Friends

The team at Allison Homes was pleased to support one of the region’s most prestigious business Awards. We were proud to sponsor the Customer Care category at the Grantham Journal Business Awards.

Congratulations to the winners, community services provider Farrow Friends. It’s always great when a business that provides essential services to the community is recognised for all the hard work it does.

Host Melvyn Prior, of BBC Radio Lincolnshire, was joined on stage by Helen Jones of Allison Homes for the big reveal and to congratulate Farrow Friends on its fantastic achievements. As an added surprise, they returned to their table to find a congratulatory bottle of bubbly awaiting them.

Gardening in November with Allison Homes

As winter comes on you might think that there is not much to be getting on with in the garden. Well, you would be wrong. November can prove to be a busy month in the garden and on the vegetable plot.

Here, courtesy of the Royal Horticultural Society, is a list of some of the things you could be doing to keep your garden in tip-top condition and ready for the next growing season:

• Clear up fallen leaves – especially from lawns, sheds, ponds and flower beds.
• Raise containers on to pot feet to prevent water-logging.
• Plant out tulip bulbs for next spring’s floral display.
• Prune roses.
• Plant out winter bedding plants.
• Cover any brassicas to protect them against birds – particularly if pigeons are a problem where you live.
• Insulate containers to protect them from frost.
• Put grease bands around the trunks of your fruit trees to stop winter moth damage.
• If you have one, make sure your bird table is in good repair and put out bird feed to encourage winter birds into the garden.

Looking ahead to the festive season, if you have holly gather a few stems with berries to use for Christmas garlands – before the birds eat all the berries. Stand the cut stems in a bucket of water in a sheltered spot where the birds can’t get at them.

Here a few other practical things you do in the garden in November:

• Reuse spent compost from container displays as a mulch on the garden.
• Make compost bins for collecting fallen leaves and dead plant material.
• Build a cold frame to protect plants from the winter weather.
• Collect leaves up for making leaf mould as a soil conditioner. Oak, alder and hornbeam will rot down in a year but beech, sycamore, horse chestnut and sweet chestnut will take a couple of years to compost.
• Clean out water butts and let the autumn rains refill them. Install a new water butt ready for next year.
• If the soil is dry, give your garden one last good watering before the ground freezes.
• Check stored onions and garlic and remove any rotting bulbs immediately. The neck of the bulb is usually the first area to rot. Try using onion bags to improve air flow.
• Check stored potatoes and remove any that are rotting. Use hessian sacks to store your potatoes as this will allow the crop to breathe.
• Once plants are dormant, it is a good time to lift and relocate any plant that you want to move.

For more details of jobs to do in the garden this month visit the RHS website

Allison Homes helps couple take next step of their life journey

We have sold another plot at our popular Pinchbeck Fields development.

Chelsea Tomlin and Martin Spencer are starting out on the next step of their life journey together. The couple have purchased Plot 123 on the Allison Homes development at Pinchbeck Fields off plan.

This will be the couple’s first shared home after having been together for six years. Chelsea has just completed a university degree and is now working as a nurse. Martin is a debt recovery assistant.

The couple currently live with their respective parents and are keen to take the next step together.

They plan to move in when the home is completed in March 2018.

Chelsea said: “We are both working full-time now so we have been able to save for a deposit. We are now looking forward to planning the interior and choosing decoration, furniture and appliances.”

Make sloe gin – a seasonal country lifestyle tip from Allison Homes

Gin is becoming increasingly popular as the tipple of choice among the young and the hip. Artisan distillers are popping up all over the country. Trendy brands like Sipsmith, Alkkemist, Monkey 47 and Bloom are filling the supermarket shelves.

This resurgence in the popularity of ‘Genever’ or ‘Mother’s Ruin’, once the mainstay of Victorian drinking culture (think Hogarth’s Gin Lane print), has seen growth in the countryman’s craft of sloe gin making.

Sloes are a small bitter cousin of the plum. They are the fruit of the blackthorn (prunus spinose), which grows wild throughout the UK. At this time of year, the hedgerows are dripping with the satin, deep purple fruit. They make you wince when eaten but they make an excellent flavouring for gin. It takes a little patience to make it properly but sloe gin is a great Christmas liqueur.

Here’s how to make it.

Go for a nice long walk in the countryside. Collect 1lb of sloes – traditionally this was done after the first frosts of the autumn had fallen, allowing the skins to split and sugars to form in the fruit. These days pick the fruit as soon as its ripe and pop in the freezer for a day or so before you’re ready to use it.

You will also need 8ozs of sugar and 1 litre of gin. Any will do, but the better the gin the better your sloe gin will be.

Wash the sloes, prick the skins and put a layer in the bottom of a parfait or Kilner jar. Cover the sloes with sugar. Alternate layers of fruit and sugar until you’ve used all the fruit and sugar.

Pour in the gin and seal the jar. Give it a good shake and put the jar in a dark cupboard.

Turn the jar every day for a week. Then turn the jar once a week for at least two months until all the sugar is dissolved. The gin should be ready to drink after 10 weeks or so. But remember, the longer you leave it the better it will be.

Decant the gin through muslin into bottles and store.

Save the gin soaked fruit. Take the stones out. Put the fruit into a bowl and stir in melted dark chocolate. Put greaseproof paper onto a baking tray. Pour out the chocolate and sloe mixture and level out. Put the tray into the fridge and allow the chocolate to set.

When it’s set cut the chocolate into pieces and you have sloe gin liqueur chocolates, which make a great Christmas treat to go along with your festive sloe gin-based champagne cocktails.

Cheers!

Hearty autumn recipes, comfort guaranteed

As the November nights darken and the year gets older what better time to get into the kitchen and whip up some hearty autumn fare that will really warm the cockles of your heart? There’s nothing better than coming home after a long walk in the countryside to a comforting and steaming bowl of spicy pea and ham soup with buttered freshly baked bread.

Here are a few of our favourite seasonal recipe ideas to inspire you to create cosy, comforting suppers.

Spicy pea and ham soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 glove garlic, finely minced
1 large carrot, diced
400 g green split peas, rinsed
1 tsp turmeric
1½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of ground cloves
200 g chopped ham or ham hock
1-1.5 ltrs ham stock (or chicken stock or water)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and place the lid on and cook until the onion begins to soften. Don’t let it start to brown. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute or so before adding the carrot. Keeping the lid on, cook until the carrot begins to soften – another 4-5 minutes.

Add the spices and stir to coat the vegetables. Add the split peas, ham or ham hock and the stock. The stock should fully cover the peas.

Bring to the boil and skim any scum that forms. Lower the heat, place the lid on and simmer gently for about an hour until the peas are done. Check occasionally as the peas will absorb a lot of liquid. Top up with more stock as needed. Serve hot with chopped chives or parsley to garnish if desired.

Sausage casserole

6 Cumberland sausages – or other 'herby' sausages
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon plain flour
175 ml red wine
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1 bay leaf
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
300 ml vegetable stock (hot)

Separate the sausages and slice them.

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the sausages for five minutes until browned. Put the sausages into a flameproof casserole.

Drain most of the oil from the pan then add the onion and cook for five minutes. Add the carrots, leek and garlic and cook for a further five to 10 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.

Stir in the flour and red wine, scraping at the bottom of the pan. Stir in the tomato puree, then transfer the mixture to the casserole.

Add the herbs, bay leaf, seasoning and stock to the casserole and stir thoroughly. Bring to the boil then cover and reduce the temperature and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve mash potato.

Shepherd’s Pie

25 g dripping
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
500 g minced lamb
1 tbsp plain flour
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
450 ml chicken, beef or lamb stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the mash

700g potatoes, peeled and cut into halves or quarters
55ml milk
75g butter
1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

Heat the dripping in a large saucepan then add the onion and cook for five minutes until soft.

Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the mince, stirring, until browned all over. While the meat is frying, break up any lumps with the back of the spoon.

Stir the onions and add the flour (this helps to thicken the juices) and stir. Mix well and add the bay leaves, and thyme and stir. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock (keep a little aside, for putting into the mince pan to de-glaze the pan) and Worcestershire sauce.

Add the cooked mince and then pour the stock mixture into empty mince pan, scraping off any bits of mince left in the pan. Pour the remaining stock into the pan containing the sauce mixture. Bring the mixture to the boil, adding a pinch of salt and pepper and let it simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring regularly.

For the mash, boil the potatoes until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain, add the milk, butter and egg yolk, then mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the meat into a 1.4 litre ovenproof dish and spread the mash on top, smooth over and mark with a spatula. Put the dish into the oven and cook until the surface is golden-brown.

This is a versatile recipe. Substitute minced lamb for minced beef and you have Cottage Pie. If you grate cheese over the top before baking you have Cumberland Pie.

Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/seasons for more ideas for Autumnal comfort food that will keep you warm this November.