Howdy Partner

If you’ve read any trade press in the last year, you’ll know the tide is turning. I’m seeing the re-emergence of a sellers’ market, a sharp reduction in UK print capacity, not forgetting the regular paper price increases that have knocked on our door every quarter.

Prices have been driven down to an unsustainable level, increasing input costs show no sign of abating, and some very well-respected factories have already been forced to close.

I think it’s fair to say things have got to change.  But how?  Higher demand would suggest suppliers will seek higher production prices in 2012. Publishers will not like this – our budgets are stretched as it is. We’ve seen paginations reduce, print runs decline and titles close already this year so I am not sure who will be able to cope with higher print costs. Coupled with the increase of online content, traditional print media will need to play their cards very carefully to achieve a profitable business model.

Not every title can print overseas , especially those with short lead-times. And with the currency fluctuations, it’s not always cost-effective either.

So what are us beleaguered buyers to do? My approach will be to form even closer relationships with my key suppliers. They do a wonderful job for us currently; my task is to ensure that the agreements in place work for both parties. I’ll be securing the capacity I need well in advance, especially during the peaks of the printing year. And I’ll stick to those schedules, god willing. 

I’ll be looking at cost-effective ways to maintain my costs – printing earlier in the month for example and looking at comparative paper grades to minimise increases.

My negotiating stance is more about the overall package of price, quality and service, rather than purely fighting over hard cash. I’ve always played (and paid) fairly, and this approach has afforded us lots of win-win situations with our suppliers.

A fantastic example of this happened last month. A supplier had made a mistake, and refreshingly, admitted full liability. We had an open discussion about the problem, and I went away to think of a solution.  My proposed solution did not cause my company an issue and it helped out my supplier enormously. I saved them a great deal of money, no stinging credit notes were raised and my product hit the shelves on time.

It was my turn to have a problem which needed to be sorted the following week.  The same supplier listened to the issue, and came up with a solution. Their solution did not cost them anything but it saved me lots.  A true win-win.

What pleased me most about this situation was the honest communication the two parties shared, the pooling of resources, and the fact that neither one of us suffered financially.  My supplier has gained even more loyalty from me, my reputation as a “fair” customer has increased, and the partnership has solidified to a greater level. This can only stand me in good stead for next year when the fun will really begin!

I feel like chicken tonight....

Continue to feel bleurgh. There was only one thing for it last night... suet, and lots of it! Chicken and vegetable stew. This one can be tweaked to include whatever's in the fridge. I would normally make this on a Monday to use up the Sunday roast leftovers.

And here's how I did it.  Preheated oven to 180c. Boneless chicken thighs (about 900g) rolled in seasoned flour and browned off in schmaltz (cures all ills, trust me!) along with a large chopped onion.  Deglazed the pan with some chicken stock and added a herb combo of parley, sage, thyme and bay leaves.

I'd visited "Cheapo Corner" in Tesco's earlier, so I had a nice array of vegetables to include.  I chopped half a swede (15p bargain!), parsnips, chantenay carrots, potatoes and a few stray mushrooms. Like to aim for five-a-day and this is a great way of making sure Lou gets everything he needs, whether he knows it or not! Every little helps, eh *with an affectionate nod to my Catmag colleagues*.

Put everything into a large casserole dish along with 75g of pearl barley. Added around two pints of chicken stock (if I have to use a cube, I normally use the Telma range) but please keep an eye on the liquid as you may wish to adapt. I tend to find the barley really soaks up the stock so recommend checking at regular intervals, especially at the latter cooking stage.

Everything mixed and seasoned, popped into the oven for an hour and a half. And then off to suet-heaven.

I combined 75g reduced-fat suet, 150g self-raising flour, chopped flat-leaf parsley, pinch of salt and two teaspoons of Colman's mustard powder, then slowly added enough water to make a slightly sticky dough. Should make around 16 dumplings. Must be Lou's Polish heritage - it's a struggle to stop him eating just dumplings and no stew. Same for me, actually.

Buzzer gone, I checked the chicken was cooked, topped up with some extra stock, and added the dumplings. After approx 25 minutes, we had crusty dumplings, tender pearl barley and more vegetables than you could shake a stick at. The sauce should be fairly thick at this stage but if you find the sauce a little thin, I'd add a cornflour/water mix and reduce down.

A no-frills family favourite. A warming, nutritious stew which is perfect for these dark autumnal nights...

Happy Friday x

Just eat dust

"So how did you do?"

Hmm....do you have to ask me that? In a loud voice. In full view. Other people might hear. "Oh ok then...I'll tell you". Quickly. Quietly.

Familiar scene to any members of a slimming club? Or is it just my club where the members are fascinated by other people's progress (or lack of)? I find the weekly ritual difficult enough without multiple observers.

I'm probably being mean. It's probably a team thang. Most definitely a girl thing. Sharing a great week, lamenting a bad one. But after the whole rigmarole of picking the lightest possible outfit to wear and visiting the bathroom as often as possible beforehand, I just want to sneak in, weigh and go. Just weigh and go.

I'm an open kinda person. Happy to share most things. But not really this. The cynic in me wonders if I'm being asked through genuine consideration or one-upmanship. I find I play down a good weight loss, and over-emphasise a gain. I should have the confidence to be loud and proud, but I'm not there quite yet.

I suppose deep down, I don't want to delve too deeply into why I've had a bad week. Where I've opened Lou's sweets before he's even had a chance. When I've kidded myself that one more biscuit won't make that much difference. That there aren't too many calories in a vodka & diet coke, even when I've drunk a vat of it.

Different story on a week where I've stuck to the plan. I'm practically skipping to club to see the girls (and token man) and the wealth of characters there. The motivational leader, the stalwarts for whom the meeting is a chance to catch up with their friends, the big losers, the carefree "on targets", the "must-try-harder-next-weeks". Luckily, no Marjorie Dawes. Our commonality is that whatever stage we're at, we're all still going. Paying our fivers. Still working at it. Might take us one year, in my case ten years! But we're all still trying.

I'm going to the Christmas Party in a few weeks' time. We're going to a kebab restaurant for dinner. Strange choice for a slimming club party, but hey-ho. Maybe a bit of bonding over houmous will find me a diet buddy.  Someone who I can whisper to, who will share my confidences, who won't pass judgement when I've broken the rules.

I leave you with Slimming World's Slimmer of the Year, Carole Wright who lost nearly 20 stone in two years. Yep, 20 stone. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150397090909483.369993.180102619482&type=3

Way to go Carole! And a big "way to go" to all my prospective diet buddies.

Happy Wednesday x

#meatfreemonday the results are in

Had one of those days yesterday. No time for breakfast, no time for lunch, barely enough time to think. You know the kind of day when the phone doesn't stop ringing, and you can't even keep up with the voicemail messages. That kind of day.

Knew I'd ran out of time to prepare our first meat-free feast before a meeting at 6.30. Plied Lou with snacks and prepared the jasmine rice in advance. One job out of the way. Left it to cool and off we went. 

Meeting overran so at 7.45 I had a hungry child, the onset of a headache and the stress of knowing that dinner would be even later now. 

Walked in the door to find Husband eating beef & ale stew accompanied by my lovely prepared jasmine rice. Started to harangue him for a) poor combination choice and b) the fact that we had no rice now for our Thai Butternut Squash curry but thought better of it, and grabbed the rice noodles instead. And breathe, Emma.

Stir-fried some red onion with SprayLight (and yes, I did want sesame oil but....), then added a couple of tablespoons of red thai curry paste and one tablespoon of peanut butter. Once cooked through, added 400ml of reduced fat coconut milk (on special at Tesco's currently, 50p bargain), 250ml of chicken stock and left to simmer. 200g each of cubed butternut squash, baby corn, red pepper, homegrown cherry tomatoes and button mushrooms completed our vegetable quota. 

After 10 minutes of a pretty vigorous simmer ("Dinner won't be long, Lou"), I used the back of my wooden spoon to test how tender the squash was. And splashed the simmering stock all over my chest. Ouch. And breathe, Emma.

Served dinner and waited for the verdict. Silence in a good way. Went back to the kitchen to get mine ready. And then I heard "Mum". It was the kind of "Mum" that every parent will recognise. "Mum, something's broken, but I didn't touch it", "Mum, I've just wiped all your Midsomer Murder V+ recordings; you know the good ones with Tom Barnarby, not John." That kind of "Mum". 

He'd spilled his drink everywhere, and yes, it had gone into his dinner. Now orange-squash butternut squash curry didn't taste so good. And breathe, Emma.

Choc ice dispensed (don't judge me!), The Great Escape playing, I finally sat down to eat. Lovely flavours, nice combination of textures, and I didn't miss the meat at all. Feeling virtuous, I sat down to watch Masterchef and for the first time that day, could finally breathe normally.

Happy Tuesday x

It's all for charidee....

I get lots of them. I try to give to all of them. I'm talking of the ever-increasing Just Giving requests I receive from my friends and family. I just can't afford to do them all. So I decided last year to give my time and dubious talent to the charity of my family's choice instead, Marie Curie Cancer Care.
I started with the Daffodil Campaign last year, standing outside a supermarket for a couple of hours. Dipping my toe into the water as it were.
A little apprehensive...would I collect enough, would people ignore me, are people just too charity-fatigued nowadays for face-to-face collections?
I need not have worried. The people of Essex rose up. The two hours flew by, the collection tin grew heavier, and the smile on my face increased minute-by-minute. I met young and old, cancer sufferers and cancer survivors. People that needed guidance, advice and others who just needed a friendly ear.
As a family, we'd been lucky enough to have a Marie Curie nurse care for our loved ones, but due to the demands on the charity's funds, this isn't an automatic option for some families. It costs £20 to fund one hour of a nurse's care in a patient's home. The charity helped 23,406 patients last year, and provided 1.2million hours of care.
And they want to do even more. But here's their challenge ... Marie Curie need to raise £10,000 every hour of every day to carry on their work.
Seems an awfully high target doesn't it.... but it is achievable. Across the country, there are fundraising groups who need our support. You can find your local one at http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/en-gb/fundraising-volunteering/volunteer/ways-to-volunteer/volunteer-local-fundraising-groups/
Take a look at the wonderful work these volunteers are doing and see if you could be involved in some way. Since becoming Group Secretary of the Upminster Fundraising Group, I've met some lovely people, been in print (fame at last!), had the local MP open our first event, ate far too many cupcakes and raised vital funds for the charity.
And I've had FUN. Value-creating, rewarding, heartfelt fun.

Happy Monday x

Hello Monday, hello brand new week

Like on most Monday mornings, I have my list. I have my plans, I know my objectives for the week. Achieving all of these goals is the challenge.
My first challenge of this week is to convince my family that Monday's will now be more commonly known as #meatfreemondays. Son, wanting to please Mummy, seems interested and will give it a go. Husband acts like I've just sworn at him. #Meatfree has offended his Kiwi sensibilities. No matter, he can have leftovers from yesterday's beef and ale pie, courtesy of Angela Boggiano's wonderful book Pie http://www.foodepedia.co.uk/books/2009/feb/pies_angela_boggiano.htm
We'll be mostly having a Thai Butternut Squash curry. Easing Lou in gently, can tweak to my Slimming World requirements, and easy on the purse. Three out of three, back of the net....