The Secret Garden

Let’s take the party outside. It’s a continental pleasure, with dubious original Italian meaning. Did it really mean ‘in prison’? A fresco – ‘a painting on a fresh, moist, plaster surface with colours ground up in water’, entered the English language at the end of the 16th century. In contemporary Italian slang, al fresco means ‘in prison’.

I have to admit, I’ve been to parties that felt like that!But I have been to and hosted far more where good friends, great food and sharing, play the ‘get out of jail free card‘, all washed down with fizz and fun.

Take a look at our Recipes Pages – HERE – and you will find lots of tasty ideas to add to delicious sharing platters.These Cauliflower Wings with Habanero Chilli Mayonnaise make a fabulous starter or nibbles.Don’t miss your own party.

A traybake of Summer vegetables, drizzled with cider and rapeseed oil, and chicken coated in our Cider & Horseradish Wholegrain Mustard can be made in advance, and served with Jersey Royal New Potatoes dowsed in butter and a little Stokes sweet garden Mint Sauce.…or keep it really simple with a seafood platter drizzled with our Sweet Chilli Sauce, and prawns with a selection from Stokes Mayonnaise Family.

Enjoy!

‘Sangria‘ is a Spanish cocktail that mixes wine, fruit (lots of fruit), and sugar for a sweet, refreshing, and decidedly moreish drink.Macerate the Fruit:

2 hours before the guests arrive, slice and dice an assortment of fruit – pears, apples, oranges (2 of each per litre pitcher) and soft fruits (200g per pitcher).

Stir in 3 heaped tablespoons of caster sugar and a shake of ground cinnamon. TIP: add a splash of gin, stir, cover and leave it to macerate for 2 hours in a cool room.This ‘sharing cocktail’ dates back to 200 B.C. when the Roman’s conquered Spain. They planted red grape vineyards that produced the red wine used for the drink.Mix the Cocktail:

You will need a 1 litre jug or pitcher. Spoon in most of the macerated fruit and the same amount of ice. Add 100ml (per pitcher) of brandy and a bottle of soft red wine (Blossom Hill Soft & Fruity is just the job).

Top the pitcher up with sparkling water, stir thoroughly and enjoy.Don’t skimp on the wine, but keep the best to enjoy with your favourite cheese and Stokes chutney when the guests have gone!!!

Shopping. No, no, wait a minute … no trolley dodgems in the supermarket, or waiting for a member of staff to eventually notice you waiting to prove you’re over 18 at the self-checkout.No, this is the voyage of discovery offered by your nearest Farm Shop.

Here, you’ll find something different, fresh, local, unusual, exciting.Cheeses galore, and often more British cheeses than you thought possible. The deli counters are bursting with cured meats, olives, pickles, pâté – such choice.

It’s a one-stop-shop for a feast to entertain friends.And the best news, most of them stock a good range of Stokes Sauces.

You know? Stokes, Sauces for Food Lovers.

“Playwrights are like men who have been dining for a month in an Indian restaurant. After eating curry every night, they deny the existence of asparagus.”Peter Ustinov

“Schizophrenia – it beats dining alone!”Oscar Levant

“Ping-pong was invented on the 19^th century dining tables of England and was called wiff-waff! And there I think you have the difference between us and the rest of the world. Other nations, the French, looked at the dining table and saw the opportunity to have dinner; we looked at it and saw an opportunity to play Wiff-waff.”Boris Johnson