Date for your diary: 10th Sting in the Tale Festival 17th – 27 August 2013

Wonderful stories and traditional tales in inspiring places throughout East Dorset and surrounding areas…. Bringing stories to life in some of East Dorset’s most resplendent and atmospheric settings: an Iron age Earthouse, stately homes and castles, a 1950s Model Town and many more, even story walks through the historic streets of Wimborne and Poole. Storytellers come from far and wide for with tall tales and short stories for all ages: families, teenagers, adults, plus interactive storytelling for children and toddlers. stinginthetale.org.uk

Wine events promise perfect accompaniment to food theatre in new Festival partnership

The finest wine will be complementing the best food at the 2012 Wimborne Food Festival, with the announcement of a new local partnership that brings an exciting new dimension to this great Dorset event. The festival’s popular Cookery Theatre, which has hosted star names like Jun Tanaka, Sophie Grigson and Dean Edwards, will this year be sponsored by Wimborne wealth management experts Andrew David Associates, in conjunction with the Wimborne Wine Society. And as part of this new alliance there will be a series of entertaining wine events to accompany the popular cooking demonstrations, which will be held right next to the Cookery Theatre at Andrew David Associates offices in the Cornmarket. "We all know that the right bottle of wine can turn great food into the perfect meal and this brand new partnership will celebrate that age-old partnership!" said Festival organizer Clare Kavanagh. "We’re always looking to bring new elements to the Festival and I’m thrilled that we’re teaming up with a Wimborne business and a popular local group to bring this latest innovation to the event. We’ll be looking to explore the relationship between food and wine and there’ll no doubt be plenty of opportunities to sample some of the finest vintages!" Andrew Start, Director at Andrew David Associates, said: "For the local community and businesses alike, the Festival offers a great platform to show off the town and we are delighted to support it." "I’m sure that the Wine Theatre will take its place among the impressive list of events and activities already arranged for this high quality Wimborne event." The Wimborne Wine Society has been part of the town’s social life for more than 40 years and member Linda Dugdale said: "We are delighted to be taking part in the Wimborne Food Festival for the first time this year. We will be offering wine tastings which complement the dishes made during demonstrations." "We are looking forward to sharing our knowledge and passion for wine in a fun and informal way and hope to become a regular fixture at this fantastic local event in the future." The event, held this year over the weekend of October 27 and 28, will be the sixth Wimborne Food Festival.

Talented young chefs wanted to cook up a storm!

Does your family clamour for your curry or go ga-ga for your goulash? Will your friends do anything for a slice of your homemade pie? If you're always in the kitchen and you want to show the world how good you are then this competition was made for you.

Following the success of last year's competition, the 2012 Hotel du Vin Young Chef competition, in conjunction with Wimborne Food Festival, launches again to find the next young rising star.

Budding chefs, aged 8 to 16, are invited to enter and the competition, aiming to encourage and inspire young people to get into the kitchen and get cooking, is open to pupils of local schools.
Wimborne Food Festival organiser Clare Kavanagh said she was delighted to be working in partnership with Hotel du Vin. "This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get involved in creating delicious dishes from the best of Dorset produce," she said.

Hotel Head Chef Darren Rockett said "Last years competition was a great success and Gemma Hart, our winner, was fantastic on stage at the Wimborne Food Festival cooking her winning dish. We are now looking to find our next young cooking star. The aim is to encourage young members of the community to have the confidence to create healthy, balanced meals using local, seasonal produce. We would also like to raise the profile of our local heroes who are striving to make Dorset a foodie's heaven."

Participants must enter an original recipe for a starter or a main course and all produce used in all rounds of the competition must be seasonal and locally sourced in Dorset. A shortlist of entrants will then be invited to a cook-off where they will be asked to cook their chosen recipe. Following the cook-off, two finalists will be selected.

The two finalists will take part in a live cook-off at Hotel du Vin & Bistro Poole in September where they will prepare and present a dish of their choice to Darren Rockett and a team of expert judges.

The runner up will receive a voucher to invite their family in for Afternoon Tea at Hotel du Vin & Bistro, Poole.

The prize for the overall winner will be the opportunity to cook their dish live on stage at the Wimborne Food Festival with Darren Rockett and also to assist a Celebrity Chef with their preparations at the Festival. Not forgetting, Sunday Lunch for the winner’s family at Hotel du Vin & Bistro Poole and their very own Hotel du Vin chef whites! This prize will be presented at the Wimborne Food Festival Launch Evening in October.

Please send your recipes including your name, age, address and school by email to michelle.henry@hotelduvin.com
Entries can also be submitted by post to:
Michelle Henry, Hotel du Vin & Bistro Poole, The Mansion House, Thames Street, Poole Quay, Dorset. BH15 1JN
The deadline for entries is 6th April 2012.

Waitrose joins the Wimborne Food Festival family!

Waitrose has become the biggest sponsor in the history of the Wimborne Food Festival after signing up to be the main supporter of the 2010 event.
With a new store opening in the town in July, Waitrose’s backing for the Festival, which will run over the weekend of 23-24 October and launches Dorset Food Week, shows their commitment to the local community.
Festival organiser Clare Kavanagh said: “This is great news for the Festival and shows Waitrose’s determination to support the local economy and the way of life in our area.
“Waitrose has an ethos that the Festival can identify with. They want to support local suppliers and do something positive for the community and their customer focus is unmatched within the industry.”
Waitrose has already developed a strong relationship with the Festival, sponsoring the launch event last year, and its support this year will tie in with the opening of their new store in the town on 8 July, five months ahead of the original schedule.
Waitrose Branch Manager, Ian Burdekin, said: "The Wimborne Food Festival shares our passion for celebrating quality local food and ensuring producers are given every opportunity to develop their business. The festival plays an important role in achieving this, providing a platform to showcase these local treasures and giving people, including our own local food buyer, the chance to discover more about them.
“Our aim is to build on more than 2,500 local and regional lines we currently offer in Waitrose branches throughout the UK with our new store in Wimborne."
With Waitrose now on board as the main sponsor, Clare believes this year’s event will be the biggest and best since the Festival began three years ago. Preparations are already well under way for the two-day event, which will have ‘sustainability’ as its main theme.
“Every year we have grown and I am delighted that Waitrose have joined us on our journey – I am sure it will be a long and happy partnership,” said Clare. “It’s great that we are becoming more and more popular but I’m also committed to keeping our focus on making the Festival an event which showcases all that is best about this area – the people, the culture and the food.”
Entry to the Wimborne Food Festival is free and it takes over the whole town for the weekend, featuring local independent food producers, brewers, winemakers and chefs, who are dedicated to nurturing, preserving and highlighting the very best in local food and drink.
Last year more than 8,000 people coming to the town despite some inclement weather. This year there will be photographic and art competitions in the build-up and on the day there will be lots of delicious things to eat and drink and many exciting events, including:
• Food market tent
• Country craft demonstration area
• Tastings galore
• Demonstration tent
• Chefs’ showcase
• Kids food factory zones
• Book signings
• Story-telling tee-pee
• Music recitals
• Street performers
• More than 50 town events
Clare said: “We’re at a really exciting period in the organisation of the event, with new producers and exhibitors coming on board all the time. People can keep up with all the latest news on our website – www.wimbornefoodfestival.co.uk – and can join up to our Facebook page.
“The Festival is all about people getting involved and taking an interest in food – so if people want to get the ball rolling at this early stage and suggest ideas and express their views, then that would be great.”

Focus on photography

This is going to be an interesting year for CKE as we have some fantastic new contracts underway and are working with some great suppliers. One that is worthy of a name check is David Jenkins Photography, we have been using his services for a number of years now, however his work is just getting better and better so if you get the chance check out his site http://www.davidjenkinsphotography.com

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to all of you that are now back at work after the Christmas break and snow madness that the UK has been experiencing. Here's hoping you are all well rested and ready to go for 2010!!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Whatever you do this Christmas, here's wishing you all a happy and peaceful festive season.

With love,

Clare xx