July Mailer - Summer Stock Up

It may not look like it, but it is actually summer! When the sun comes out, what better treat is there than some delicious ice-cream. We have great deals on ice cream that you can sit in and eat, or you can pick up one of the three flavours we have in the grocery store. All of which are made for us by Rizzas of Huntly using local ingredients including Scottish berries which are in season just now.

Diane, one of our cooks, is known as being the Queen of Soups and she makes the most amazing soups using fresh ingredients. Below is a recipe for Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash soup with all of the ingredients available in our shop.

Sweat 2 diced butternut squash & 1 kg sweet potato with 3 cloves garlic & 1 chopped red chilli (optional) in a drop of veg oil. Add a teaspoon of smoked paprika (optional) and cook for a minute, stirring to blend the flavours.

Add water to cover and simmer till the vegetables are soft. Add a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard, 2oz of grated parmesan cheese and a tablespoon of vegetable bullion. Blend till smooth. Stir in a “glug” of cream and serve hot.

Soup is perfectly accompanied by some Mitchells oatcakes!!!

The UK bee population is in decline and it is getting harder to get locally sourced honey these days, but we have our hands on a few jars so grab them before they have disappeared. Local honey has lots of health benefits including prevention of hayfever. Although it isn't scientifically proven, it seems to work for lots of people. And, it goes really well with our handmade oatcakes! Which are made from Aberdeenshire grown oats which also have fantastic health benefits!

Summer salads are in season, and salads are never complete without a bit of dressing expecially when it is made by Little Doone which we have a wide range of in store. They make fabulous dressings for salads - just mix with a little oil. Balsamic vinegar is also great drizzled over strawberries. We also stock Ola and Mackintosh of Glendaveny rapeseed oils and local salad leaves which are all available in our shop.

Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells, we’d love to hear how the gift was received! For more news from Mitchells, Mooorial and Inverurie, subscribe to our mailing list.

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Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father’s Day is coming up in a couple of weeks and it is probably time you start thinking about a wee gift for him, if you haven’t already. We have a great selection of presents that would be perfect for Father’s Day, including a great selection of hampers that can be customised to your needs and liking, and we can courier to mainland UK addresses.

Also, for all you cheese lovers out there, we have a great selection of these cheese kits from The Big Cheese Making Kit. The Queen awarded the owner of this company an MBE, so you know that they must be pretty good! A popular cheese we have in and is a great combination with our home-made Oatcakes is the Black Bomber or Red Devil from Snowdonia Cheeses. As always, if you have a favourite you’d like us to stock please just ask at the deli counter and we can order it in especially for you. We also have a bunch of great local cheeses to choose from so stop in and see which takes your fancy.

Another popular Father’s Day gift is one of our great selection of beers and whiskies. You can see more of our selection here.

We have just stocked up on a range from Glencairn in time for Father’s Day. Choose from whisky glasses (including an engraved “Grandpaw Broon” design), mixer glasses, water jugs and gift sets. These perfectly accompany any of the whiskies available in our shop, or you can order as a bespoke hamper made to order.

And don’t forget, we will be at The Taste Of Grampian food festival and we will be sharing our stall with the fantastic folks over at Cambus O’May Cheese.

Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells, we’d love to hear how the gift was received! For more news from Mitchells, Mooorial and Inverurie, subscribe to our mailing list.

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Summer is almost here, and that means that summer fruits are in season!

We will be back at this year’s Taste of Grampian food festival on June 6th and this year we are sharing a stand with Cambus o’ May cheeses to complement our handmade oatcakes which is what we’ll be focussing on sampling and selling on the day.

For those who don't know what the Taste of Grampian festival is, it is a one-day food and drink festival is a great day out for all the family. This popular annual event allows visitors to discover and sample the wide range of high quality food and drink products from Grampian in the North East of Scotland to visitors from throughout Scotland.

It's official, summer is on it's way!

What better fruits are best suited for summer than strawberries? So we have sourced some of the best strawbs in Scotland from Castleton Farm Shop and Barra Berries. As of May 1st, it is strawberry season so now is the best time to grab some whilst they are juicy and delicious!

We now have lovely meringues in stock now ready for the local soft fruit season.

These meringues from Walkers shortbread and Border Meringues are the perfect partners for the bouquet of summer fruits that is now available in our store.

The meringues below from Meringue Magic will be the perfect accompaniment for an ice cream sundae using our crannachan ice cream.

Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells, we’d love to hear how the gift was received! For more news from Mitchells, Mooorial and Inverurie, subscribe to our mailing list.

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Prepare for the Summer months at Mitchells!

The recent heat wave that swept across Scotland gave us a taste for summer. If, like us, you dug the barbecue out of the shed or have plans to clean it up ready for the next warm front you’ll be looking for inspiration to hone your outdoor culinary skills. We have the perfect products in stock to make life easy for you. Presly Butchers Oldmeldrum have been supplying our shop daily for over 40 years with a fantastic range of local meats. Choose from the range on display in our butchery section or place an order for your specific requirements with the staff on our deli counter.

Also at the deli you will find a selection of locally landed fresh fish from Downies of Whitehills which cook so quickly and easily on the barbecue.

A range of new sauce products guaranteed to jazz up your barbecue cooking is now in stock from fledgling Aberdeen company Angus and Oink. With names like Pitboss BBQ, Rampant Angus, Voodoo Mango and Red Dawg Apache your cooking is destined to impress.

Sharing platters are popular for entertaining. Our son Hamish of @handcraftedbyhamish makes wooden serving boards which are available to purchase from in our shop. Each one is unique in shape, wood grain and size and makes a great base on which to serve breads, cheeses and cold meats.

Choose from the wide selection of cut to order cold meats and Scottish cheeses from our deli counter or try some fabulous Scottish venison charcuterie from Great Glen Game shown on the photo above on a Handcrafted By Hamish board.

Here’s to a long and enjoyable barbecue season!

Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells, we’d love to hear about your barbecues! For more news from Mitchells, Mooorial and Inverurie, subscribe to our mailing list.

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Have a Happy Mitchells Mother’s Day

Your mother is the most important woman in your life, no matter what your wife says!

Show your mum what she really means to you this Mother’s Day because she has helped you through a lot, got you out of trouble and given you into trouble - all because she loves you.

We have a wide selection of food and drink related Mother’s Day gift ideas to show your mum that she is DEFINITELY the best mum in the whole world on Sunday, March 15th.

Champagne Hamper

A selection of flowers

Fruit Basket

Gin

We also have a fantastic selection of pre-made hampers, and we can create you a bespoke hamper too if you give us an idea of the contents you'd like in your hamper and whether you'd prefer a wicker basket or cardboard pantry box.

We will take care of the rest including delivery to mainland UK addresses if required. If you'd prefer to collect your hamper from our shop we will include more products in lieu of delivery costs.

Orders for fruit baskets and bespoke gift hampers can be placed now for collection from our shop by 5.30pm on Saturday 14 march or visit our shop in Inverurie.

Gift vouchers are also available in store and if you can’t make it into us, visit our online hamper shop to arrange delivery of a bespoke gift hamper to the special lady in your life.

Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells, we’d love to hear how the gift was received! For more news from Mitchells, Mooorial and Inverurie, subscribe to our mailing list.

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Valetine’s Day

As Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, and you will be looking for a special gift for your even more special someone, we thought we’d give you a hand with the chance to win this fantastic gift bundle!

However we want something from you in return, we need you to tell us why you love Mitchells. Easy peasy!

The competition starts on Thursday 5th February and will finish on Thursday the 12th February at 12pm.

You can enter here: http://on.fb.me/1CycxzR

The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on Facebook. If the winner fails to respond within three days of being informed of their win, their prize will be forfeited and a new winner will be selected. The prize will be posted out to the winner. The prize bundle includes the following love based, heart-shaped items:

• A heart shaped board by Handcrafted by Hamish 
• Godminster heart shaped cheese 
• Special Edition heart shaped Mitchells oatcakes
• A packet of Love Hearts to top off the love theme.

This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Facebook and entrants agree to release Facebook from any and all liabilities in connection to the competition.
All our decisions relating to the competition are final. No discussions or correspondence with entrants or any other person will be entered into. Management’s decision is final.

By entering this competition you confirm you have read and accepted the terms above.

Good Luck!

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Burn's Night

2015 is the year of Scottish Food and Drink which means that it’s a great year to be Scottish, contrary to Ewan McGregor’s belief in Trainspotting.

It’s also nearing Burn’s night so that means lots of food, drink and poetry, and so we’ve brought it upon ourselves to provide you with our favourite recipes for the perfect Burn’s night supper to give you an idea of what you can make.

Don’t worry about trying to find all of these ingredients because we stock them all at Mitchells!

What you’ll need
- 900g haggis (vegetarian or otherwise)
- 1kg Turnips
- 1 large carrot
- 1kg potatoes
- 100ml milk, warmed in the microwave
- 80g butter
- salt and pepper to taste

How to make it
1. Heat the haggis following the instructions, meanwhile peel the potatoes and turnips, then dice the turnips and carrot into 1cm cubes and cut the potatoes into quarters.
2. Gently boil the potatoes in a pan of salted water and the carrot and turnip in a separate pan of salted water for 20-25 minutes until soft.
3. Drain each pan separately and allow all the steam and moisture to evaporate. This will ensure creamy potatoes and turnips that are not watery.
4. To the potatoes, add 40g butter, the hot milk, salt and pepper to taste and mash well until creamy. To the turnips and carrots, add 40g butter, salt and pepper to taste and mash, retaining some texture.
5. Serve altogether with the hot haggis.

This recipe, using Macsween’s, Presly’s or Scotts’ haggis, will pay true homage to the “chieftain o the puddin’-race”, and you can purchase all of these ingredients in store for your Burns’ celebrations.

The most Scottish way to wash all of this food down is with a dram of malt whisky. We have an extensive range in stock at very keen prices including locally distilled Glen Garioch Founders Reserve (currently at £32.99) and their 12 Year old (on a special price of £37.99). If you are looking for something in particular, please just ask as we can order in individual bottles by special request.

Next there should be a spot of dessert because what meal is complete without a wee sweet addition? Keep with the scottish theme and indulge in Mitchells crannachan ice cream made especially for us by Rizza’s of Huntly. Or you could make your own traditional crannachan pudding. Here’s our twist on it using our delicious oatcakes in as an ingredient.

What you’ll need
- 750ml double cream
- 4 tablespoons of runny honey
- A handful of crushed Mitchells oatcakes
- A splash of whisky (optional)
- A handful of raspberries (frozen are ideal)

How to make it
1. Whip the cream carefully to ribbon stage and chill for a while.
2. Add a splash of whisky (or your chosen liquor) to the raspberries and allow to soften for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the cream from the fridge and add the honey, retaining a little for garnish. Then fold in the crushed oatcakes and boozy berries to the cream.
4. To serve, either spoon into a glass and decorate with a drizzle of honey, or place in one large serving bowl and leave in the fridge for an hour or two until your guests arrive.

If you try any of our recipes, why not share any photos or any stories with us we would to hear how it went!

Get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or upload your photo to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #LoveMitchells and we will share our favourites online.

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