With the Christmas party season rapidly approaching, here are some of our best Christmas treats for your events.
Hot Roast Chestnut Cart
Hot chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Memories of childhood, when Britannia ruled the waves, politicians were honest and kids respected their elders. Well perhaps not that far back, and I doubt politicians were ever honest. But the aroma of freshly roasting chestnuts is still a memory of Christmas in many parts of the country. Available on a range of carts for both indoor and outdoor use.
Chestnut Cart For Hire
Spicy Mulled Wine
The perfect complement to chestnuts, hot spicy wine. Originally adding spices and heating the wine was a way to keep drinking wine that had spoiled, to save wasting it. But over the years it has become a classic favourite at Christmas time. Known in other countries as Glögg and gluhwein, this is the perfect reception drink for those cold winter months. We can also provide a fabulous non alcoholic version.
Mulled Wine Cart Hire For Weddings And Events
Minced Pies
A great accompaniment to mulled wine, the classic mince pie. Ever so funny when foreign guests are present as they try to reconcile Christmas with eating a pie full of minced meat. We have provided a mixed mulled wine and minced pies cart to many shopping centres and indeed supermarkets such as Tesco’s.
Minced Pie
We have a selection of stalls available for chestnuts or mulled wine, from our classic engine cart, to the rustic bar we use for the Mailbox Shopping Centre In Birmingham.
Whichever Christmas treats you choose for your events, they are sure to be a hit with your guests on.
With a scientific name translating as ‘Food Of The Gods’, having been eaten for centuries and a taste loved by most people, chocolate is actually a fascinating substance.
1 Its First Shipment Was Mistaken For Sheep Poo
We might well have enjoyed the delights of chocolate earlier in this country, if it wasn’t for a case of mistaken identity. A Spanish shipment of goods was seized off the coast in the 16th century. But when they opened the sacks of cocoa beans they were mistaken for sheep poo and destroyed.
2 Chocolate, Along With Coffee, Was Once Associated With Rebellion
King Charles felt threatened by the coffee and chocolate shops in 1660’s England. It had became a drink of the intellectuals and radicals, and he felt they would be meeting to plan subversion. Spain and France didn’t have this problem as there it was reserved as a drink for the privileged.
The insurance house Lloyd’s of London, actually started in a coffee shop.
Lloyd’s Of London Started In A Coffee Shop
3 Many Of Our Favourite Chocolate Bars Are 100 Years Old
Cadbury’s Flake, Fruit and Nut, and the crunchy bar date from the 1920’s. Mars Bar, Milky Way, KitKat, Maltesers, Aero and Smarties from the 1930’s. This was the golden era of chocolate creativity.
An interesting fact, is that the much loved Cadbury’s Cream egg, was actually a J.S. Fry’s product. It wasn’t branded Cadbury until much later.
Did You Know These Were Actually A J.S. Fry Confectionery.
4 Chocolate Consumption Dates Back 5000 Years
Archaeological evidence suggests that people from the Mayo-Chinchipe civilisation were ingestion cacao based products some 3000 years B.C. The Maya poeple were evidently consuming it as a drink between 250 and 850A.D. And it was very popular with the legendary Aztecs.
I suppose it was their version of quaffing champagne whilst on a day out at the races. A good cup of cocoa and a few human hearts being cut out.
Like A Day Out At The Races For The Aztecs
5 White Chocolate Was Actually A Children’s Medicine
In Switzerland in the 1930’s, doctors tried to improve the health of young patients by giving them vitamin enriched milk. But the older kids thought milk babyish. The addition of cocoa butter resulted in the accidental invention of white chocolate.
6 The Claim That Chocolate Is An Aphrodisiac Is False
Damn, I always liked this one.
The Aztecs may have been the first on record to draw a link between the cocoa bean and an increase in sexual desire. Montezuma was reputed to have consumed the bean in large amounts to fuel his romantic trysts.
There are actually two chemicals in chocolate that do have an effect on sexual desire, tryptophan and phenylethylamine. The first is a building block of serotonin that sexual arousal chemical. The second a stimulant released when people fall in love.
Sadly scientists reckon that the amount in chocolate is so low as to have no discernible impact.
Chocolate As An Aphrodisiac. Or Not As It Turns Out
7 The Largest Cup Of Hot Chocolate Ever Made Was 1059.4 Gallons
It was produced to celebrate Three Kings Day and was achieved by the Municipio de Uruapan (Mexico), in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico. It contained 600kg of locally grown chocolate.
I bet that had enough tryptophan in to gets things rising.
8 The Most Expensive Chocolate Dessert
The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate, which costs an eye watering £12,000, was added to the menu New Yorks Serendipity 3 restaurant. Made in partnership with a luxury jeweller, the sundae uses a fine blend of 28 cocoas. Including 14 of the world’s most expensive. It is then decorated with 5 g of edible 23-carat gold, served in a goblet lined with edible gold. The base of the goblet is an 18-carat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds.
The dessert is eaten with a gold and diamond spoon, which they graciously allow you to take home.
I should bloody well think they do at the price of a small car. I would want to be spoon fed it by Heidi Klum for that price.
Worlds Most Expensive Chocolate Dessert
9 Melts In The Mouth
Chocolate is the only edible substance to melt around 32°C , just below normal human body temperature. That’s the reason chocolate melts in your mouth.
The scientific name given to the tree that chocolate comes from is Theobroma cacao, means “food of the gods.”
Thesmell of chocolate supposedly increases theta brain waves, which triggers relaxation.
Chocolate has over 600 flavor compounds, while red wine has 200, it is actually quite a complex substance.
It takes approximately 400 beans to make a single pound of chocolate.
10 We Offer A Range Of Hot Chocolate Carts For Your Event
From our Victorian themed wedding carts, to a horse box for those outdoor events, you can have a range of themed offerings. All with our range of delicious drinking chocolate. Choose from everyone’s favourite Cadbury’s to the upmarket Charbonnel Et Walker.
All served with cream, marshmallows, sprinkles and a range of syrups to add extra flavour.
As the full effects of the ‘Rona’ started to become apparent, we pretty much decided to write 2020 off, and expect to lose a god chunk of 2021. August surprised us when out of nowhere we suddenly picked up a number of bookings, about 12 in total. Well down on the usual 60 or so w would do that month, but still a nice surprise.
Sadly we were excited for all of a week, by which time we started losing events, ending up back down to 5, as they were steadily cancelled. Oh well, thats 5 more than we had expected.
One event which did actually take place was a closing down party for Superflora. Part of a giant Dutch conglomerate, the factory at Holbeach in Lincolnshire was closing and production being moved to Hull. Quite possibly to take advantage of the Hull-Rotterdam ferry services, seeing as the business brought flowers from Holland to be repackaged for sale in garages, supermarkets etc.
Catering Lines
A line of catering carts
They were very keen to have a selection of catering options, so after a bit of discussion we settled upon mini doughnuts, French fries, candy floss and popcorn, churros and frankfurters. Catering for 200 to allow plenty of spare if necessary.
Personalisation
Branded Doughnut Flags
Playing around with our branding tools we supplied personalised napkins, little flags in the doughnuts and branded each cart front up.
More Branding
Thrill Rides
They also wanted some traditional funfair rides, so we supplied a nice dodgem track and twister thrill ride.
Twister RideDodgems
Covid Secure
Like all events at the moment we took great care with our covid precautions. The catering units all had full length sneeze guards. Our staff treated the surfaces and touch points with Zoono 30 day anti microbial. Hand sanitisation stations were provided at each attraction.
Our Boris Said, Social Distancing Jackets
The event went off without a hitch. Becoming however rather poignant. Many of the staff breaking in down in tears as it drew to a close, some of them had been there 15 years. Their friendship circles and daily lives being built around it. It’s also not the best time to be looking for a new job, with the virus and all.
The term Milkshake was first created in the 1880’s. They started out as an alcoholic beverage, similar to an eggnog type of drink with added whisky to the mix, this was served as both a treat and a strong adult tonic! Not quite the child friendly Milkshakes Galore we’re used to from McDonalds.
By the 1900’s milkshakes were being made the way we know today, a wholesome calcium drink with added chocolate, strawberry or vanilla syrups. People then started having the dessert drink with a side of added ice cream, and fast forward to 1930’s the drink was the ‘in thing’ to the students of the day and the milkshake galore era took off.
Mega Galore Milkshakes
Milkshakes are a very popular drink bursting with flavour. Many dessert places have now created fancy Mega Milkshakes . Full of chocolate bars and whipped cream, and other high calorie additions. I have to say it’s a lovely dessert but oh so many calories. Many popular flavors incorporate other desserts such as bananas, donuts and waffles a far cry from the first eggnog alcohol versions of condensed milk drinks.
Freakshake Milk Shake
Happily, our milkshakes are a fabulous treat, but far healthier than these mega shakes.
When making our milkshakes we use ice cold milk, a dollop or two of ice cream. Blended with flavored powder and a selection of treats such as a skittles, Oreo, twixs, areos and so much more!. Our blenders create the perfect texture without loosing the thick taste of an iconic milkshake.
Like most of the rest of the events industry, our previously full order book for 2020 disappeared literally overnight due to the pesky little microbe doing the rounds. Like all of our compatriots in the industry we sat and wondered if we would ever work again, and if so when. So when we suddenly started picking up bookings for August it was both a godsend and a worry.
A godsend obviously as we would be earning again. A worry about how things were going to be under the ‘new normal’ as it is being called. The first of the jobs to arrive was for a previously regular client, Amazon. Usually through the year we do a mixture of work ranging from handing out catering goodies during Prime and peak periods, to providing a full fairground for their summer barbeque.
The first job was giving popcorn out at one of the Northern fulfillment centres. We had done the same thing a number of times over the years at the same centre so usually this would be a nice easy repeat job. However after talking with the client and doing our own research we put together a package of anti Covid-19 measures.
Catering Carts
Covid-19 Screening
The first change was to install clear polycarbonate screening on the carts we use to separate our staff from the guests. Although we could still interact with them to a degree, it did feel weird and somehow strangely disconnecting. Usually we engage in a bit of banter and joking, but this felt more ‘institutionalised.’
Zoono Anti Microbial
Zoono 30 day surface treatment
After researching most of the sanitisation options, we settled on Zoono. Not a cheap option, this bonds a film to the surface of whatever you spray it on that lasts for upto 30 days. The product actively kills virus molecules after application, rather than just during the cleaning process. For complete safety our standard operating procedure is to apply it at the start of each job. We also use their hand sanitiser, which creates a similar barrier on your hands, this time lasting for 24 hours.
Boris Says, Hands – Face – Space
Sanitisation Stations
The carts have a hand sanitiser mounted for the guests to use. We also built a number of portable units that can attach to hand rails, counters, carts, rides etc. This means that even when we are using sub contractors we can ensure that all the attractions we supply come with approved sanitisation facilities for the guests and staff.
Personal Protective Equipment
To round off our anti Covid activities, we supply all of our staff with full face shields to help protect them and the guests from each other. These are far more comfortable to wear for extended periods of working than the little face masks that we tried. Well and truly back in the saddle
A few years ago I bought an impressive ornate drinks fountain from a guy in Norfolk. I went down in person to pick it up. After I had loaded it in my van I got talking to him and he suddenly burst into tears. Now comforting heartbroken men isn’t really my forte. But eventually through his sobs I made out that his wife was having an affair, and that she had left him with his four kids.
I was by this point looking for an exit strategy as I had a long drive home. I did however pause when he told me he wanted to sell the rest of the business, which consisted of two chocolate fountains, a popcorn machine, a large number of chair covers, and a large number of bookings.
“Oh I’ll keep my eye out on eBay for one of the fountains”I said.
“No, I want to sell the business as a going concern and I want £3000.”
“Done”, said I as I opened the back of the van to start loading my new business up.
I remember getting home and carrying everything into the kitchen. My wife came in and burst into tears looking at the mass of stuff.
The First Job
As we got used to operating the fountains, we eventually bought soup soup kettles, these were great for melting the chocolate, you could fill them up leave them on and they wouldn’t burn or thicken the chocolate too much. But on the first job we took a microwave to melt it in batches.
Anyway at the venue, the speeches etc were over running as these things tend to do. I was getting a bit anxious as never having done a chocolate fountain job before, I wanted the spare time in case of any problems. Eventually the manager told me I could set up. I whipped the fountain up in no time then started melting the chocolate.
As I finished the last batch I shoved the jug I had been using into the microwave. Unfortunately the jug still had a couple of napkins and a spoon in. As I closed the door the microwave sprang to life. I didn’t notice, but the spoon was creating sparks which set fire to the napkins.
Towering Inferno’s Little Brother
When I did notice, I grabbed it with the intention of running outside to dispose of it. As I picked it up and hugged it to myself, the hotel manager came into the room to talk to me about doing another event. So there I was stood, holding a sodding microwave that inside was rapidly turning into a mini towering inferno, whilst praying that smoke didn’t start coming out of the top whilst in front of the manager.
Eventually he finished and left me alone, I ran outside to empty the burning crap out only to see the entire wedding party stood outside whilst the main room was turned around.
FFS, I ended up opening the back of the van up and jumping in there, emptying the fire out on the floor and dancing around to stamp it out, a bit like the twisted firestarter song really.
In My Recollections It Was Just Like This
I think time I stumbled out the van I was coughing from the smoke but otherwise fine. The manger and the guests never tumbled and we did a number of jobs in the same hotel.
The moral of the story is, its awfully easy to become the twisted firestarter, totally innocently lol.
Its 23rd July National Hot Dog Day. Hot diggety dog, or should we say dogs. That staple of fast food, beloved at stadiums around the world.
Our American cousins eat an estimated 20 billion a year. Whilst we don’t eat anywhere near that, they are an increasingly popular option on menu’s throughout the UK.
Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany is traditionally credited with originating the Frankfurter. Though this is in contention, by the claim that the “little-dog” sausage was invented by a certain Johann Georghehner, a butcher from Coberg in Germany. Whatever the true origin, in 1893 they became standard fare at baseball stadiums in the States. This tradition is believed to have been started by a St. Louis bar owner, Chris Von de Ahe, who was a German immigrant and owner of the St. Louis Browns major league baseball team.
Like the humble burger before it, frankfurters are undergoing something of a Renaissance over here, being elevated to gourmet fare with upmarket ingredients and toppings.
We offer a range of hot dog cart hire for your events. With basic hot dogs, chilli dogs, and even the American corn dogs, which are basically hot dog sausages inside a waffle on a stick.
However you like your, happy national hot dog day!
The large corporate clients we have, tend to have very little loyalty. If you can’t do precisely what they want, they have no qualms about dropping you and using the next events company on their list.
Over time this has given us the mindset of Yosser Hughes in boys from the black stuff. He was desperate for a job and any job that popped up he would proclaim “gizza job, I can do that.” Anytime a major client asks if we can do something the answer is always “Of course, been doing that for years, piece of cake”. Once we get off the phone it then becomes, “How the hell are we going to do this?”
Espresso Coffee Cart
My wife walked into the office one Monday morning, and picked up an email printed out on my desk. It was the contract for providing an espresso coffee cart to HSBC’s headquarters for an event on the Wednesday, two days hence.
She looked at me inquiringly and asked “Who is doing that job for us?”
“No one, we are doing it ourselves”
She raised an eyebrow and replied “We don’t have an effing espresso coffee cart!”
“Ha”, says I, “Not a problem, Ian is out building the cart now, the coffee machine and equipment is being delivered in the morning, and I am on a Barista training course tomorrow evening”
On the day the first customer was like, “A cappuccino, two lattes, an espresso and a Machiato please”. WTF, help, I can’t do this.
When I had calmed down, I realised that every drink started with an espresso, you just added different amounts of steamed milk and foam. They wanted 5 drinks, you made 5 espressos, steamed a large jug of milk, then poured to suit. Easy peasy. In fact they were so impressed that they had us back on a number of occasions. The espresso cart is now a firm favourite amongst many of our staff.
Espresso Cart For All, That’s What We Say
Sony And Nissan Walk Into A Bar
A couple of years later I got a call from a long term client, an events company we worked with quite often. “Jason, do you do mobile bars, we have a massive job on offer from Sony and Nissan, they need a bar to celebrate the end of a worldwide competition they have been running.”, basically players on the Sony GT racing game could compete to win a place on the actual Nissan racing driver development program.
“Yep, we can do that, when is it?”
Lol, “A week today”, gulp. “Er yeh no problem”.
When I told my wife she said that this time I was on my own, she wasn’t coming to that event as I was going to fall flat on my face in front of a major corporate client.
I spent the day feverishly ordering equipment we would need. Luckily a mate of mine Dean, owned a local pub, and he wrote me a list of what I needed. We sourced a company that supplied portable bar sections and set off the next morning to collect them. I took my staff down to Dean’s pub to treat them to a night out, on the condition that Dean let them pull their own pints. And we managed to hire a kid that had worked in a cocktail bar, so we had at least one member of staff who had some idea of what he was doing.
Our New Bar
Our New Bar Up And Running
On the day everything went off perfectly. Well almost, I had ran water through the Jagermeister dispenser to clean it, and hadn’t gotten all of it out, with the result that it froze solid and wouldn’t dispense. But apart from that it was a fabulous night. Especially when Sabine Schmitz on a segway managed to run Martin Brundle over lol, what a booze monster she was. By the nights end she was demanding we just pour whatever shots were left into a glass and she would drink that.
After that one I think we can safely borrow the S.A.S. motto of “Who Dares Wins”.
Since then we have successfully acquired various bits of kit at short notice, crepe machines, Dutch Poffertjes and with a couple hours practice managed to provide a professional service, looking like we had done it all of our lives.
Corporate clients want the impossible, we are happy to oblige.
National French Fries Day. Another on our list of national food days. This time it is the turn of the French Fries, or chips as we would know them as. To be sure this confuses any American visitors to these green and pleasant lands, as they think chips are crisps.
The origin of the humble chip or French fry is another of those lost in the mists of time things. But references in English literature go back as far as 1660.
Teamed up with battered fish, they form a classic British dish. The trouble is finding nice ones. We flew into Skegness recently, and decided to walk from the airstrip into town for fish and chips. On the walk back we binned them they were that bad. There is a small fish and chip shop near Sturgate aerodrome that is reputed to have the best in Yorkshire. Evidently they cook them in beef dripping on a coal fired range the same as they have done for the last 80 years.
However you like your fries, we can provide a range of French Fries carts for your event. Whether its a small party of 50 or a major college ball we have the carts to suit. All supplied with a range of condiments, HP and Heinz, none of that cheap no name rubbish.
We hope you like our new customisable carts range.
Few people can claim that this Covid lockdown has been good. Well, I know a handful whose business has gone through the roof. We have suffered financially, but on another level it has helped us.
Because we have been so busy for so long we have pretty much cruised along. During the lockdown we have taken a long look at everything we do. In many cases we have realised we could be doing things better. Or building more into our services.
We have taken this and decided to do something about it. We are revamping and rebuilding our range of carts and attractions. Adding in house branding services to most of what we do. Generally doing things that at one time we would have been at the forefront in.
Custom Themed Carts
The first result of this has been to adapt our little Alpine huts to take a new interchangeable panel system that allows us to theme them up. We have always been willing to add flowers and ribbons or the occasional sign. The new system allows us to alter the character of the cart to suit the clients event.
Pictured below are the initial batch of options for our new customisable carts. These are being added to as we come up with new ideas. Additionally we can very quickly design and manufacture a custom panel to suit a clients needs.
Christmas Themed Alpine CartChalkboard Wedding Cart HireEmoji LIghtboard CartFlashing Light Cart HireGrassed Drinks Cart HireOur Little Dutch Windmill-CartScrabble Wedding Cart HireLittle Tiki BarPimms Cart For Hire
We are in the process of building a 50 inch video screen, a new pixel art screen and a VW camper themed front. As our staff come up with more ideas they will be added to the lineup.
These are intended to be a starting point, additional decor and customisation can be added quickly, and in many cases at smaller events such as weddings, free of charge.
