Harrods o'clockAt Lisbon airport there was a little bit of home feeling from the Harrods shop and cafe. The one thing though was that the sandwiches looked dire as they were in a glass case with no refrigeration and at 7pm they looked a bit droopy and sweaty!

At the cafe we had some pastel - the pics is mine, unlike the one from yesterday's post and after that I searched the whole airport for something proper to eat, I had had a few days of way too many sweets. The only thing I could find that wasn't a sweaty 12hour old salami sandwich was...a salad from McDonalds - gasp! Yes I had 6 Euro tuna salad from Mc.Dees with a nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing and it was good. I didnt even know they did salads? Not bad for a starving traveller about to board a plane by an airline (TAP Portugal) that serves bad food - my colleagues all warned me.

Bread for charity
If you head over to Mr. Fayed’s home (remember to skip the tacky Diana and Dodi memorial) you can get a little bit of home baked goodness starting in September. Hovis are going to be producing some authentic loaves, 1886 style. They will cost 1.05 but I think they should charge the 1886 prices, maybe 2p? (The Hard Rock Café did this one year and there were queues out the door! Great idea)

The name Hovis comes from a shortened version of the Latin ‘hominis vis’ meaning strength of man. Apparently there are many more health benefits in bread than we think, for all of you on those no carb diets.

Harrods will also be selling a little ‘Bake your Own Little Brown Loaf’ kit where you will get an original style baking tin, with some Hovis flour – you can then make these cute mini loaves wearing an old fashioned apron, just like your gran or great gran used to. How many of you have made home made bread lately – or ever? I tried in New Zealand, to impress the man, but it turned into a terrible disaster and we could’ve used it to fend off intruders.

A nice part of this Harrods activity is that all profits form these limited edition kits will go to Cancer Research UK. Go on, get to Harrods with your touristy friends and get a loaf and a limited edition kit.

A gift for a celeb who has it all - an edible mansion

An 'edible sculpture' of Highbury for Prince Charles

What to give to the superstar who has everything? A reproduction in chocolate of their mansion may be just the thing. Prince Charles, Sting and Nicolas Cage are among those who have commissioned confectionery replicas of their homes - at £2,000 a throw - from a chocolatier in Bath. Kerr Dunlop and Flo Broughton take two to three weeks to create the "edible architecture", and begin by photographing the buildings. Machines spin gallons of chocolate, which is then poured into moulds. Dunlop said: "It's difficult. We build the [homes] in stages, as you would a model.

You can buy these chocolates at Harrods and Prince Charles also agreed to sell them at the Highgrove House gift shop.

Source: Steven Morris, Guardian.co.uk 25 July, 2008

& Daily Mail article with more pics.

Windows to Christmas
(Fortnum and Mason Christmas windows, 2007)

Food styling can be so interesting. Fortnum and Mason, fine food retailers to the Queen and general public have the sweetest window displays this year. How do you promote your fine caviar, champagne, sweets and more??

As my old boss said, 'it is all about creating theatre my dear' (said with a posh British accent).(Nine Ladies Dancing & Ten Lords a Leaping, from The 12 days of Christmas)

People love going to the theatre to be entertained and awed. And when they are looking to buy stuff, especially luxury goods - a product sold with a little theatre does better than those that don't. We all want to feel spoiled a little sometime, non?

The boss also said, every time saw me eat something fattening, 'a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!' he was a weird bugger.(Eight Maids a Milking, from The 12 days of Christmas)

Established in 1705 and still operating today Fortnum and Mason is always great to wander around in - their online site is very classy and you can browse through all the amazing foods they sell. It is also the place to buy a luxurious hamper for someone. They even have children's Christmas story telling in their restaurants but you need tickets as after 300years of doing it - it is very popular!

This holiday season, get down to the retailers who know how to do window theatre; Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Harrods and Harvey Nichols in the UK and Holt Renfrew in Canada. Smaller shops like Ralph Lauren are also great for their window theatre. Paolo used to be the creative genius behind the one in London. The whole NY team of Ralph Lauren squealed over and over 'I love those eggs!' when he hand painted some wonderful Faberge-esque eggs for last Easter's window display. Magnicifco il Paolo di Milano!

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