Bloggers Please?

We our proud of the fact that Dorset Flapjacks, unlike some other products are actually produced where the name suggests. Deep in the heart of Dorset, just outside Lulworth, among the fields and hedgerows and local to attractions such as Lulworth Cove and Bovington.

What we would like is for some keen bloggers out there to write a short piece about Dorset. Approx 250 words, and it can be about anything. The beaches, attractions, history, villages, people, anything that is Dorset related. Even flapjacks.For some inspiration please visit our website www.dorsetflapjacks.com

Create your blog and send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and after a little proof read we will submit it on our tumblr site and on our, soon to arrive Dorset Flapjack ‘Dorset Blog’ page on our main site. We will also give you a taster box of our flapjacks for those that are just so brilliant we have to reward them.

We look forward to reading your blogs and strories.

The Dorset Flapjack Team

2nd Blog from our good friend the 'foodandwinediarist'

On a glorious Saturday morning earlier this month, we travelled from one end of Dorset to the other to sample the delights of the Dorset Seafood Festival in Weymouth.  What a sight to behold it was too with attractive stalls lined up on either side of the harbour in the sunshine and wonderful, fishy aromas permeating the air.

I can’t do justice to the whole array of exhibitors and workshops on offer here so I will concentrate on a few that caught my eye.  Visit www.dorsetseafood.co.uk to find out more.  The event was sponsored by Pommery champagne and we propped ourselves up at one of their stands with a glass of their ‘light, fresh, vivacious, creamy and elegant’ non-vintage fizz and a plate of luscious oysters while we perused the programme.  We were ideally situated for a Pommery tasting workshop that was about to start, presented by Sarah Hix from Pommery and wine expert and TV presenter, Joe Wadsack.  When I asked what dishes they liked to pair with Pommery champagne, I thought I might collapse from hunger, and although I had already eyed up squid stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and pinenuts on Perry’s stall, there was more exploring to do before it was time for lunch.

The menu at Perry's stand

I shall name just a few of the stalls we enjoyed but there were many more on offer:  we tried chilled, refreshing gazpacho from the Blue Fish Café and Restaurant on Portland; we bought elephant garlic from the Isle of  Wight based Garlic Farm; we nosed around the delights on offer on Loch Fyne’s stall (smoked fish and pâtés) and my 7-year-old son even joined the RSPB who were running a stall.  Dorset Oysters had on offer some fascinating information about the flavour of oysters including some sample tasting notes outlining the differing balance of flavours to be found depending on where the oysters come from in the UK. These tasting notes gave points for flavour, saltiness, sweetness and umami and described nuances such as nuttiness, cut grass, white sugar, avocado and  cucumber!

Returning to the food stall set up by local restaurant, Perry’s, for my stuffed squid lunch, I was disappointed to find that I’d been beaten to it by many others who’d also thought this to be the ideal choice for lunch.  Sold out!  So we opted for seafood paella from Basilica, The Mediterranean Grill, and this was superb especially as we devoured it on the harbourside amongst the hubbub of the festival which, by now, was in full flow.

Paella for lunch

Having the children with us, and it being such a gorgeous day, we were then obliged to spend a post-lunch interlude on Weymouth Beach, but we returned to the harbour before heading home and stocked up on local scallops oysters for supper.

All in all, this was a great day out helped, quite clearly, by the weather but, nonetheless, I can heartily recommend the festival to anyone but particularly for fish lovers who will be in their element and at a loss to choose between cooking demonstrations by top chefs (Mark Hix, Giles Thompson and 2009 MasterChef winner Mat Follas this year), filleting demonstrations, champagne and wine matching sessions, fresh fish auctions, and book signings by famous chef authors. In such a stunning setting, with over 50 stalls selling seafood, a range of associated products and much more besides, there is a definite return visit marked in my diary for 2011.

 1st Guest Blog. 

Many Thanks go out to Jane and Simon Colston from Updown cottage on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury for this delightful micro blog. Please Enjoy reading it and then visit them at www.updowncottage.co.uk/

Dorset...out of this world?

You only have to say the word ‘Dorset’ for my mind to instantly fill with pictures and my heart to feel the pull……but how to put all that down on paper?

We only ‘found’ Dorset four years ago when a picture appeared in The Sunday Times, of a cottage for sale on Gold Hill. We visited two days later, fell in love and with some extraordinarily creative accountancy, begged and borrowed our way to running it as a holiday cottage.

In Shaftesbury that day, people stopped to chat, the air was clear and the views over Blackmore Vale stretched for miles. Over the next 6 months of renovation we visited most weekends and resented anything that kept us away. Each stay felt like a holiday as we explored the lanes and discovered more and more hidden places that gave every impression of being ‘our’ secrets…..astonishingly beautiful views, villages, cottages, shops, people and possibly above all else, the food! A revelation!

There can be nowhere else on earth where the local produce is presented with such passion and with so much style and pride as in Dorset. It is perfectly possible to breakfast, coffee, lunch, tea and dine in a different superb spot every day of the week. It’s tempting to hope that Dorset remains hidden but equally wonderful to see all such businesses thrive.

We have finally done it!!

We are officially part of the blogging community. Please visit our blog to read our first and eventually forthcoming blogs. Please feel free to comment and let us know what you think.