FIVE GO MAD : Quintessentially British

Sunday, 19 December 2010

Christmas Closes In

Right, Christmas is getting close; let’s get down to brass tacks… You want great gifts? we’ve got great products. You want to avoid the Christmas rush? We deliver straight to your door! It’s a combination made in heaven… well England actually.

Here’s how we here at FiveGoMad are going to cheat this Christmas:

Made In England

We love this ‘Made In England’ rolling pin by Kathleen Hills, because it leaves the words ‘Made in England’ on what ever it rolls out. When you produce your Christmas Pie (which must exist, it’s probably got sausages wrapped in bacon in it (we love sausages wrapped in bacon), everyone will see exactly which country it was made in, unless you made it outside of England’s borders, in which case it is a lie… a beautiful lie. It will also leave the words “Made in England” on the forehead of anyone who gets in the way.

Snowden Flood

If you are one of the few people who see Christmas as a time to drink, here are the ultimate winter whiskey holders, the ‘Glasses’ by Snowden Flood. They don’t just hold whiskey, they can also hold brandy, Baileys, Drambuie … or if you fancy a bit of a break from all that, mulled wine. The list is endless.

Make Them Happy

We here at FiveGoMad are spending Christmas with our families this year. If you’ve got a family Christmas and you really can’t afford to turn up with loads of booze, cheat, and what is the secret of cheating? Make sure you cheat well. Order the Cupcakes by Lilly Vanilli to be delivered to their house but under your name. So when you turn up, there will be a dozen of the fanciest looking cupcakes anyone has ever seen, waiting for the family to tuck into… “Yum! Thank you, you’re our hero!!”
“Not a problem everyone, now let’s crack open a bottle of Christmas cheer and really get this day underway.”

We hope this helps!

From all of us here at FiveGoMad, have a Quintessentially English Christmas!! See you in the New Year!!

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Five Go Mad Head Up North

A Quintessentially English Winter

One of the intrepid, travelling FiveGoMadders took a Virgin train, never again, to the Peak District last weekend.What a Winter Wonderland it turned out to be.After resting up on Friday night, Saturday morning saw a trip to Hathersage, the home of the famous cuttlerist David Mellor.

GoMadder paid a visit to his factory and shop. It turns out he designed plenty of things, not only cutlery, but also traffic lights! Who knew? After a coffee and mince pie in the café it was off to Bakewell for a tart.

Home of the True Bakewell Tart

How wrong can you be? Within 5 minutes GM learnt that the tart is an “American imposter.” The real deal is actually called a Bakewell Pudding, or so the lady at the beautiful ‘Bloomers – The First and Only Bakewell Pudding Shop’ shop told us, and she makes the best Bakewell Puddings in the business.

Not A Tart in Sight

The story goes that the original was actually created in error sometime in the mid 19th century. Apparently a busy cook in the White Horse Inn (Now the Rutland Arms Hotel) was tasked with making a strawberry tart, but instead misunderstood the instructions and poured an egg mix onto the strawberry jam (instead of mixing it in) and at a stroke created a pudding, not a tart. Fascinating. A story she must have told hundreds of times.

Pork and Blood Pudding

Sunday was a day of walks over the fields and along the canals of the Peak district, working up an appetite for Roast Pork and Black Pudding. Which is a local delicacy, or so we were told.

GM capped off the weekend with his Virgin train being cancelled, something to do with signal failure… they should have brought them at David Mellor’s shop.

A David Mellor Masterpiece

British Cream Tea sell beautiful Bakewell Tarts, that are hand made from recycled felt. Apparently they were trying to make a felt strawberry flan. But, as fate would have it, they accidently filled the brown felt base with pollyfil, instead of polly-cotton, and in a stroke, created the Cherry Bakewell Tart Recycled Felt Food Sculpture... which is now a favorite of ours back here at FiveGoMad HQ.

British Cream Tea

Check it out here.

Friday, 3 December 2010

Almost good enough to eat!

We at FiveGoMad are simply loving British Cream Tea's christmas felt food sculpture.. Especially the christmas pud. They have just been uploaded on our site so take a peek....Price from £25...Genius!