We know we are very lucky living in Scotland but sometimes you really hit it very lucky.   We have the perfect combination of other great Scottish produce (venison) crying out for Rowan Berry Jelly and the berries being available in the countryside for free.    So Mrs ATN has recently been seen out and about getting hold of as many berries as possible and concerting it into delicious jelly.  Mrs ANT is not normally a big fan of jelly, her favourite quote being 'life is too short for straining jam', but in this case she made an exception

We only have limited supplies and when it is gone it is gone for

2015 was quite a year for 'All Things Nice Food'.    We doubled our number of sales, we launched the full web shop and we exhibited at the SECC Good Food Show (amongst other shows).    However, most importantly to us we also kept the important things the same.   Our produce is still made in small batches, using the finest ingredients we can get our hands using the best recipe.    We've not changed because of the feedback from our customers, you like the way we do things and appreciate what we do.   As producers there is nothing better than having happy customers come back and order more from us.   

Do what will change in 2016?     Well, we are going to try and get our produce more widely available.   We love the markets and shows and meeting our customers will always be important, but we can only be in so many places at once.   So as well as enhancing our website we will also try to get more stockists of our products, so please get in touch if you are interested.   

We are also always interested in new flavours.  We already produce nearly 50 so a few might get dropped but we always get requests for ones that we don't make.   So any requests are welcome and if we can find and develop a good recipe we will add it to our portfolio .... and of course we can always do one-offs if you want a full batch.

Also wedding favours are a popular request, we already have had a few happy customers and we can work with you to design exactly what you like to make your special day just that bit more special for your guests.   As we always work in small batches we can be very flexible to meet your needs.

So thanks to all our customers during 2015 for your support and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2016.

Elizabeth and Paul

It's been a long time since the last entry in the blog and that is mainly because we have been very busy.   Thanks to our wonderful customers who really appreciate what we do, we have been struggling to keep up with demand.   Our sales this year are more than twice what they were last year.   This is great but has meant we have needed extra production.    We are now also in three stockists: Treasured in Gourock, Black Poppy in Rutherglen and Maggies Cosy Cottage in Baillieston.    All three have many other tasty treats on top of our products.  

So we would just like to wish all of our customers a very Happy Christmas and thanks for your custom through the year.   We will be back in 2016 with more delicious, homemade, produce

All of our chutney are based around traditional recipes.   This means that, despite not using artificial preservatives in our produce, they are designed to naturally preserve the ingredients.   For this reason they will keep a long time unopened (and even open in the fridge).   The other benefit this brings is that they mature with age.  Although most are perfectly good straight after production, the flavours do improve with some age.  

To save you the trouble, we therefore store them before we sell them for a period of time.   This is most critical with our Christmas Chutney which we want to be perfect for the big day.   So we make it in the sweltering heat (unlikely) of a Glaswegian summer so it has time to mature.     If you've not tried it then it is tomato-based but includes some Christmas spices and a little bit of heat which is absolutely perfect for meat leftovers (especially roast beef and lamb) and also cheese.  Even if you've over indulged over the period the flavour and smell will work perfectly.

No, I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas, for us August is one of the best months of the year.    Although this year the weather has been terrible, at least for us up in Scotland, August is when the bulk of fruit reaches it's perfection.     So the kitchen is full of delicious smells and the store of jam is full to bursting, with enough supplies to get us through the winter.    We get our fruit from many sources but at this time of year it is 'pick your own', friends and family and also our own garden.   This year we managed a reasonable crop of both blackberries and gooseberries with brambles coming along nicely.  Not quite enough to make a batch of jam but it's great to know that our own fruit is in some of the production.

Of course the other advantage of August is that there is a reasonable chance that the outside markets will be less affected by the weather.   This year has been mixed at Partick, my shorts have yet to make an appearance, but we have missed the worst weekends.   Hopefully we get a decent Autumn and upcomign events at Loch Lomond Shores and Erskine are lucky.

Thanks as always to our customers and watch out for exciting news about our website

One of the most frequent questions we are asked is which of our chutney go best with particular foods.   Ultimately it comes down to personal taste but here are some suggestions.

• Beefburgers           - our 'Slow Roasted Chutney' has a lovely ,smoky taste that will bring out the barbeque flavours in any meat.   
• Hot Dogs               -  'Caramelised Onion' would be a great match, adding some traditional sweet onion into the mix
• Sausages               -  depending on the type of sausage maybe something with a bit of fruit to it.   'Caramelised Pear' would be one option
• Pork                       - again maybe something with a slightly fruity taste.      'Apricot Chutney'  could be a good complement
• Lamb                     - 'Nectarine and Rosemary' is my normal suggestion and customers keep coming back for more
• Chicken                  - our 'Chilli Jam' can be used as a marinade before you cook the chicken (and also tastes great if added after.)   'Red Pepper Reiish' can be a used as a pasta sauce with chicken chopped up in it
• Vegetables              - 'Onion Marmalade' could complement these well or you could try using any of our 'Gourmet Wholegrain Mustard' range and 'PlanBee Honey' as a marinade, mixed up with some oil
  

If you prefer to add a bit of spice then our 'Tomato and Chilli' can complement almost anything and 'Fiery Bengal' adds a savoury spiciness to anything as well.

Whatever you choose we hope the weather is kind to you !