With Conservatories, Orangery’s and Conservatory Verandahs continuing to increase in popularity they are being increasingly used as an extension to the kitchen.  We’re all finding it a little more difficult to move and if you are lucky enough to have an Anglian conservatory or similar attached to your kitchen, why not make the most of a fun filled pancake making session with your family and friends.

If you’ve been thinking about additional dining or kitchen space, have you ever considered an Orangery or bespoke designer conservatory?

Here’s a recipe for a great pancake mix :-

-  110g/4oz, plain flour, sifted,

-  pinch of salt,

-  2 eggs, -  200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water,

-  50g/2oz butterHow to prepare the mixture

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whilst the eggs and flour together – you can use any kind of whisk or even a fork will do.

3. Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water still whisking.  When all the liquid has been added, whisk until the batter is smooth, It should be the consistency of thin cream.

4. Melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl.   Lubricate the pan well to make sure the pancakes don’t stick. Before you make each pancake.

5. Get the frying pan really hot, careful not to burn yourself and then turn the heat down to medium. You can do a test pancake before you start to ensure the amount you use and the consistency is correct.  Why not use a ladle to transfer the batter to the pan, this will be easier than using a spoon.

6. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the pan evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

If you’re making a stack of pancakes put sheets of greaseproof paper between them to stop them sticking to each other, it’ll also help to keep them warm while you use the remaining batter.

To serve, either leave them open and flat on the plate or fold in half enclosing your chosen topping. Here are some suggestions for fillings and toppings:-   Caster sugar or brown sugar and lemon juice, Chocolate sauce, Maple syrup, Baked bananas and brown sugar, Ice-cream, Fruit Coulis/compote and cream or ice-cream

If you’re planning on celebrating Pancake Day, why not host a competition of who can throw their pancake the highest and send us your pictures. We’ll pick the best ones and feature them on our next blog!

We thought it would be nice to tell you about all of the teams entering and to see if there were any strategies already set and rivalries rekindled after the last event.  We were so pleased to hear from a number of you that its “Game On”

For my first report I contacted one of our Anglian Home Improvement teams, Aston Villa managed by  Nick Eddington and asked him for his thoughts on the lead up to the event:-

What is your Team? ASTON VILLA

Who is the Captain? Nick Eddington

What do your team member do for Anglian Home Improvements?
The team will be made up of Sales and marketing staff from the Sutton Coldfield and Promar Offices and a Surveyor from the Central region.

How are you going to rotate the squad? A series of old games, musical chairs and ring-a-ring a roses

Who is your key player? Anyone that can run 5 yards

Do you have tactics or a plan for the day? Survival only, average age 40

Why do you think you’ll be the winners? Who said anything about winning LOL J

What are the similarities between you and the real Aston Villa? Yes, overpaid, used to be good, image is everything!

Do you have a Mascot? RADOX!

If  you would like to donate to this great cause please click here.

Good Luck to you all for the great day!

Specialising in wooden products, such as double glazed windows, conservatories and flooring, there are plenty of ways to make your home even more stylish. Their wooden windows can transform the aesthetics of any home and a classic wooden conservatory will add an elegant and exclusive room, giving divine views of your garden.

So, keep an eye out for these vans that could be a part of a massive transformation of somebody’s home near you; maybe even give them a beep if you are driving past.

According to Sage Construction, the government is planning on bringing in a new scheme called ‘Get Britain Building’ to help rekindle the council house right-to-buy scheme so it can generate extra cash to build more homes. Luckily this scheme has seen an overwhelming demand from construction contractors looking for funding.

The scheme was first mooted in March by housing minister Grant Shapps in the hope of overcoming banks’ reluctance to lend for speculative housing projects and is now three times oversubscribed, with 176 expressions of interest, which I think you will all agree is amazing!

Mr Shapps commented “We are pulling out all the stops to get the jobs created and the red tape cut to ensure we get homes this country needs built.”

The £420 million fund is expected to create up to 30,000 jobs which will reactivate the building of 16,000 houses on sites where activity has unfortunately come to a standstill.

The Get Britain Building website claims that every £1 that is invested into the construction will create £2.84 in the economic activity, which will make the sector become a significant driver of the UK’s wealth.

With driving rain providing the worst playing conditions of the season, both sides had severe handling and ball retention problems.

After four minutes Norwich took the lead with a penalty from Micklethwaite, but ten minutes later Ball scored a try for the visitors after an overlap had been created on the right hand side of a ruck.  In the second quarter Micklethwaite slotted another penalty and at half time the home side were ahead 6-5.

During half-time the wind, which had been blowing into the Norwich players faces reversed, and they found themselves playing into the wind again at the start of the second half.

The visitors dominated the early exchanges in the second half, scoring converted tries by Ball and Watling giving them a 19-6 lead. They then missed a penalty and Norwich started to play their best rugby of the match with O’Brien kicking two penalties after promising attacking moves broke down, reducing the visitors lead to seven points.

The rain stopped for the last quarter and with six minutes to go O’Brien scored from another penalty. Norwich tried hard to score a try, but at the end of the game it was the visitors who were attacking the Norwich try-line.

This defeat drops Norwich to fourth place in the league and effectively ends their challenge for promotion this season.

The event started with a cuddle and warm welcome from the NCFC mascot, Sportasaurus, shortly followed by a hearty welcome from the CSF team to The Norfolk Lounge. The events purpose was for members of the local community, businesses, local dignitaries and a number of footballers past and present to hear the foundation’s proposition for the upcoming year.

The event was hosted by BBC presenter Jake Humphrey usually seen just before a Formula One race, and just happens to be a Community Sports Foundation Ambassador for the charity.

Ian Thornton, CSF Director welcomed everyone to the event and explained that the charity had helped more than 50,000 people last year to achieve their personal goals through sport.  As a direct result of their funding, the charity has been able to help disabled, disadvantaged and talented people right across Norfolk.  Following the highlights of their many achievements Ian went on to set out the12 goals for the coming year through the following headings, these include, Quality, Charity – the Sporting Light Appeal, Sustainability, Facility, NCFC/Partners, Health, Disability, Dance, Community Cohesion, Schools and Education, Sport and of course Football.

Following Ian’s informative presentation, Darren Eadie the newest Ambassador for the charity, Craig Fleming and Adam Drury were all welcomed on to the stage and spoke about their individual experiences and involvement with the charity. They entertained the audience with their recollections of how they were able to offer support back to the community through events, be they big or small.

One of the events planned for later in this year is to raise money for the Sporting Light Appeal by supporting a team of 10 eager people who will be running in the London Marathon.  The team will include Iwan Roberts who is running for the first time and worried about “hitting the wall” which everyone talks about and Ian McNally, Chief Executive of NCFC who ran the marathon last year and was also supported by Anglian,  offered a little bit of advise about “hitting the wall”. They both spoke of the amazing impact and change that raising money has on the communities that it goes on to ultimately help.

Chloe Smith, unfortunately still on crutches due to her non sporting related foot injury, and Norman Lamb who recently tweeted recently that he “loved Grant Holt” following scoring a goal at a recent game. Both were invited onto the stage to give their views on how the work benefits those in the county and communities that need it most, along with an explanation of their involvement also with the charity.

Two new junior Ambassadors were also acknowledged, Jamie Abbott who is 14 years old and was presented with his certificate by his hero, Grant Holt and Pippa Horn, a Norfolk tennis prospect, who couldn’t unfortunately attend as she was at a Tennis championship in Moldavia.  Both of these junior Ambassadors will be able to share their experiences and help those looking for leadership and guidance from a younger perspective.

The event culminated with the Storm Dance Company giving a great display.  They are the latest addition under the community sports foundation heading. (www.stormdance.org.uk)
The afternoon’s presentation gave guests an in site into what goes on with the CSF and left everyone feeling very positive for the future of the charity.

The event is taking place at the Norfolk FA’s Football Development Centre in Norwich on March 17th, where 20 teams will represent all of the Premier League teams competing to win the league. Should they be successful they will have bragging rights over their friends and will have raised money for Sport Relief and awareness for the less fortunate, which makes it all the more worthwhile.

Two years ago this superb event raised just over £20,000 for Sport Relief, all thanks to the support of the teams that entered, the Premier League Clubs that got behind the event and the charity auction that was held at Anglian too. The Premier League trophy was one of the highlights of the tournament as members of the public and the teams participating got to have pictures taken with the legendary trophy. For some people I am sure that was a dream come true!

Over the weeks building up to this event, we will be blogging about who is representing each Premier League team, introducing you to the club captain, finding out where they are travelling from and what their professions are.

Make sure you show your support to the people participating and donate to this wonderful cause by going to our Sport Relief donation page.

If you want to restore character, style and beauty to your home, why not see what Anglian and Timberland can do for your home? Timberland has been a leading manufacturer of wood products for the last 10 years, working with Anglian, the leading company in supply and production of home improvement products to over a million customers in the UK.

This mighty alliance allows us to combine Timberlands quality in joinery manufacture with Anglian’s customer service, installation expertise and after sales service.

No matter what product it is you are after, each one is designed by us and manufactured specifically to your requirements, meaning your new wooden product will be unique to your home.

These new wooden home improvements combine traditional craftsmanship with modern manufacturing and quality control processes, giving you peace of mind that your home will undergo an incredible transformation. A highly experienced installation team from Anglian will come to makeover your home, utilising their years of experience, their back-up and customer support, they will pay attention to every miniscule detail when fitting the joinery made bespoke just for you. With Anglian you can rest assured that not only will they carry out the whole job with the utmost care and attention, when they have finished the job, your home’s makeover will be complete and it will be left looking every bit as wonderful as you dreamed it would be.

If you want to see all of these beautifully crafted products and find out more about them too, there is now a dedicated section on the Anglian website. It has more information on each Timberland product and is sure to give you food for thought.

Anglian Home Improvements very own distribution scheduler, Dean Elliott, managed to spare a couple of minutes of his time to speak to me about himself, the team’s captain Michael Johnson (LGV Shunter) and the rest of the team’s excitement for the upcoming event.

Dean lives in Cromer with his wife and two step children, and is also the proud grandfather of a gorgeous 21 month old girl. He is also the Vice Captain of Cromer’s first team in cricket during the summer months.

Dean started working for Anglian in 2001 as a distribution co-ordinator and then moved to his current role which mainly consists of scheduling all the deliveries for the Anglian fleet.

“I decided to take part in this years’ Premier League In A Day after our team captain, Michael Johnson, said what a great day it was two years ago, and that he got such a buzz from the whole event. We would love to win the tournament but we will take every game as it comes (rather quickly) but most of all we will enjoy the day and hopefully raise a lot of money for Sports Relief.” said Dean.

The whole team will consist of Anglian employees ranging from Transport Fleet Manager (Michael Shepard) to Kierstan Foreman (Buisness Analyst).

(IMAGE TAKEN FROM 2010 PLIAD)

If you would like to donate to this great cause click here; all donations go to Sport Relief, which does great work helping those who live incredibly tough lives, from children battling waterborn diseases, living in squalid conditions in Sierra Leone, to dementia sufferers in the UK.