The Urban Hen - for the growing number of people wanting to keep poultry, this course tells you all you need to know. Cost £25 or two places £30.

Introduction to Beekeeping – this course will not make you into a beekeeper, but will give you a chance to decide if bees are for you. Gain knowledge of how to care for them and what type of bees are suited to your circumstances. Cost £25 or two places £30

If you are interested in either of these courses please contact (01604) 404550. Or email billing@thegardenstore.ltd.uk

Paul and Dianna Peacock can be found at www.paulcock.net

Taking place on 31July at Northampton College. We will show him how to prepare and tasty sausages. Dad just has to turn up at 10am wearing his favorite BBQ pinny!

This two hour course costs on £35 – book now

On Saturday 22 May we will be staging our World Cup Curry challenge 

Taking place at Northampton College, this three hour course is  for all you football fans who thought curries magically arrived fully formed in tin foil containers from your local takeaway.

We’ll show you how to source ingredients yourself, use authentic spices to create the ultimate chicken tikka masala. Make tasty onion bhaji’s and cook perfect pilau rice. All through easy, step-by-step, hands-on demonstration lessons with our expert chef.

And to complement the exotic flavours we’ll even select some specialist lagers and ciders for you to try, included in the price of the course – all part of your introduction to the true taste of India in your own living room.

Cost is only £38 per person – book your place now

If there is one culinary challenge that sends shivers down the spine it is making pastry. However practice does make perfect.

There is definitely a knack to it - you may be lucky and get it right first time, but for many people it takes a few attempts before they master the technique.

On Saturday 12 June we will be running a perfect pastry course, to help you make and bake perfect pastry. You will learn how to produce fabulous puff pastry, crisp light sweet pastry, choux pastry and easy short crust pastry.

In the meantime, if  you are baking at home, here are a five top tips to get you started.

1.The basic principle to making pastry is a ratio of half fat (butter) to flour, with just enough water to bind it together. However, the more fat you can work into your pastry the richer and flakier it becomes.
2. Ensure your hands are not too warm – rinse under cold water if necessary. 
3.Try to lift the flour and butter up out of the bowl as you work, allowing the air to get in to the pastry. It is important to do this quickly and thoroughly. If you “work” the pastry too much it will cause the gluten strands in the flour to toughen and this in turn will cause the pastry to shrink during cooking.
4. Try to keep this dusting light, too much flour will affect the quality of the pastry.
5. Every time the pastry is handled allow it rest for at least an hour, after making, rolling etc. This
allows the gluten strands to relax again, as each time you handle the pastry you stretch them out.

Alternatively if you would like to purchase a gift voucher they start from £25 up to £100, are packaged with a beautiful greeting card and can be mailed direct to your special Mum or relative.
Email info@shirescookeryschool.com and we will contact you to discuss your requirements.

Following its Caribbean feast and Italian Christmas cookery classes, Shires is announcing a new menu for the New Year. More Italian follows with Mangiamo! – a celebration of the warm Mediterranean on February 27.  This is followed by a spicy twist from Thailand, on 24 April.

Shires founder Wendy Carter said: ‘We set out to make good food accessible to everyone, and our first year of classes has exceeded all expectations.

‘We were overwhelmed by the response from the classes – everyone really enjoyed themselves, but most importantly they took away lots of new foodie skills.’ We are also delighted to announce that we are teaming up with Tipu Rahman awarding winning chef from The Tamarind restaurant to  run a series of two hour workshops giving an insight to the fabulous flavour of Indian cookery. 

Like all the world’s great cuisines, Thai food is a conglomerate of several distinct regional traditions. But one thing they all have in common is a passion for fresh ingredients and the subtle blending of spices and aromatics.

This indigenous heritage is enriched by Thailand’s tropical neighbours – each bringing its own addition to the rich, spicy mix.

So you get lots of Malaysian-style coconut milk and turmeric dishes in the south, with the Lao-reminiscent lime flavours of the north-east. Predominant is the influence of China – especially in the use of the wok with its deep and shallow frying dishes based on rice and noodles.

 Fish and all kinds of seafood appear everywhere – usually freshly caught but also in the universally famous Thai fermented fish sauce which adds a piquant twist to favourite dishes. Add to this lemon grass, galangal and ginger, kaffir lime leaves and coriander, and you have the authentic taste of Thailand in a nutmeg shell.

 But to many in the west Thai food has a harmonious freshness, lightness and integrity of flavour unequalled in other eastern culinary traditions. These days it is eaten with a spoon and fork rather than the fingers – chopsticks have never been part of its etiquette – and generous hospitality is the name of the game.

 Dishes are designed to be shared, so when you plan your Thai meal bring out all your biggest platters and serving dishes – more is definitely more here. You will also need lots of little dishes for the sauces and spicy condiments that are an essential accompaniment. Fish and sweet chilli sauces, sugar, peppers, cucumbers and garlic are all staples of the dinner table, along with the essential sticky rice and noodles of every shape and style.

 The flavours, textures and aromas of Thai cookery have a timeless appeal – and with its heavy-on-fresh, light-on-fat ingredients, full of vegetables, fish and fruit you can’t go wrong.

Come along and join us for what promises to be a healthy, flavoursome and aromatic day.

One simple word that encapsulates all that we love about the Italian way of life. ‘Let’s eat’ – how better to experience this generous-hearted and hospitable country’s heritage than through the rich diversity of its food.

Italy is a country of many distinct communities, each with its own culinary traditions based on the seasonal produce of the local land and sea. But when you see that the whole country sticks out into the middle of the Mediterranean – and enjoys its enviable year-round climate – you realise this diversity comes from its unique and ancient mix of sun, sea, mountains and sweet-scented, herb-strewn, fertile land.

Italians take huge pride in their local traditions – the wines, the cheeses, breads, sausages and pastas which vary from region to region, even village to village. Recipes are jealously guarded and handed down through the generations.

Staples such as pasta and rice appear in a multitude of taste-tingling combinations – flavoured with mushrooms, seafood, onions, garlic, olive oil or butter, tomatoes, herbs, smoked, fresh or dried meats and a cornucopia of fresh vegetables. Regionally, you can go from the rich, buttery cooking of northern Italy with its boiled meats, soft egg noodles and creamy risotto to Neapolitan mozzarella pizzas and the hard spaghetti and spicy north African influences of Sicily and the southern lands of Reggio Calabria and Apulia.

Italian cookery is universally loved and revered among the great cuisines of the world. To learn more about the exciting flavours and recipes come along and join us on Saturday 27 February for our Italian Cookery course. During the day you will experience a taste of the real Italy and take away with you some of the skills you need to recreate it at home.

We are delighted to announce our fabulous new Italian Christmas Cookery course
taking place on Saturday 12 December. If you are looking for something different for your Christmas Day
celebrations this year then come along and join us.

Lunch, il pranzo, on Christmas Day is the most important of all the Christmas feasts and is a lengthy affair. 

The menu we have put together is a mixture of Christmas Eve and Christmas day. It is designed so that you can prepare much of the in advance, so you have time to relax and enjoy Christmas day.

Your menu
Risotto ai Funghi e Prezzemolo (Roasted mushroom risotto) 
Insalata Tipica delle Sagre (Festival mixed salad)
Salmone scottato con cozze e Tagliatelle (Seared salmon with tagliatelle

Tiramisu  (traditional delicious sweet)

We are limbering up for our Caribbean class taking place this coming Saturday, if you haven’t booked your place yet, you are going to miss out on a great day

Your chef will be taking you through  some fabulous Caribbean recipes. You will prepare and cook jerk chicken, tasty spicy ribs and to round up the main course , authentic rice and peas.

With lots of Caribbean cooking tips and recipe ideas thrown in – this will be a day to remember.

There are just two spaces left on the course – so please click through and reserve your place now.

In the meantime just to get you in the mood -

RUM PUNCH
Splash of lemon juice
2 measures of light rum
2 liters ginger ale
1 qt. fruit punch
1 qt. orange juice or pineapple juice
Ice cubes
Pour into punch bowl. Stir well. To serve: pour over one ice cube in each glass.