Finding Balance: Life Lessons and Weekend Specials
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
I think this week’s email is going to be a brief one. There are several reasons for this. As I write this on Wednesday morning, Jeanne and I are about to leave to go to Linda’s funeral* down in Sussex, just outside Petersfield. Thursday Andi, Paul and I are going to an E Commerce exhibition, and I’ve got friends coming to stay that night. So, all in all, I will be short two days this week.
However, I have got two very different offers that may be of interest to you, either the ‘you’, with your cook/baker hat on, or perhaps as a wine drinker.
 | *Linda (I wrote to you about her on 17th August) worked with us in Cobham for almost 16 years and was 83 when she died, having only stopped work a month or so before. |
Tala Specials
Nick Squire rang me the other day and said that he had some ends of lines and wondered if I’d be interested in them. There were three that caught my eye, and the prices were so good that even I didn’t have the temerity to ask “if I bought a quantity of them, would you give me a better price?”
I just took it on trust that this bargain was the best price I was going to get.
Tala Anodised Heavy Duty Baking Sheet.
This is, to all intents and purposes, a copy of Silverwood’s bomb-proof baking sheet. It must be 3mm thick, all bar the shouting, it’s large 34cm x 44cm (13” x 15” approx.), it’s silver anodised (semi-nonstick), it will fit an Aga oven and is just the most beautiful baking sheet that you will ever buy.
We were selling them at a slightly eye watering price of £69, but they are now discounted to £39.00, which seems to be, by far, the cheapest around.
On top of that, for this weekend you may use code TALA24 to reduce it by another £10.00 to £29.00.
This is a baking sheet to pass on to your children, and possibly your children’s children. BUT DO NOT PUT IT IN A DISHWASHER, this will remove the anodising.
Tala Anodised 2lb Loaf Tin
This is just a very nice quality loaf tin that spreads the heat well and will give years and years of reliable service, actually getting better at releasing the bread, as you build up a patina.
So don’t wash it up too thoroughly (preferably not at all) and definitely, DO NOT PUT IN A DISHWASHER this will not only remove the anodised surface, but also the patina!
It was £19.95 down to £9.95.
Tala Performance Roaster and Rack
Like the previous two products this is a discontinued line that just seemed like very good value. We’ve not stocked this item before, so I don’t have an original price, but at £19.95 it seems to be very competitive and it has the Tala Performance nonstick coating on it, that all their nonstick bakeware has. A range of quality and weight (1mm thick body) that we have stocked for a good number of years. This is dishwasher safe, so my only note of caution here is, DON’T USE IT ON THE HOB to make gravy or anything else (on the hob) as the nonstick will not be able to take that level of heat.
Ok, so that’s it on bakeware related stuff. It only remains for me to tempt you to spend even more of your money on Pinot Noir Glasses. Our Riedel account manager, Martin, sent me a list of over stocks the other day, and these were amongst them. Finding it difficult to resist a bargain I ordered in a largish quantity.
Riedel Vinum Pinot Noir (Red Burgundy) glasses (pairs) RRP £55.00
You may switch off if you’re a Bordeaux enthusiast, or in fact, really the vast majority of other red wines, because these glasses show off the characteristics of the Pinot grape superbly, but not much else in reality. Unless, that is, your wine tastes are somewhat esoteric.
So should you be one of this elite band of people then you should not hesitate either to:
1. Try them out at this price if you haven’t before.
2. Restock your cupboard if you already have some, against breakages.
3. Or, if you feel you that one day you want to persuade others of the delectability of this wine.
4. If I thought about it for long enough, doubtless I could think of other reasons for you, but you’re spared that due to time pressures.
Actually, I’ve already thought of another reason …. if you know someone else who is partial to a Pinot, this would make an excellent gift, and additionally make you feel very smug that you’ve already sorted at least one Christmas gift as early as September. It comes in the usual attractive Riedel box that makes receiving Riedel glassware quite special.
The RRP on these glasses are £55. We usually have a discount of about 20% bringing them down to £43.95, but whilst we have the specials in stock, they are down even further to £39.50.
BUT …. for you, this weekend, as a reader of my emails, you can buy a pair, or even multiple pairs, for only £33.00. Which even my maths tells me is 40% off the RRP.
Use code PINOT24 if shopping on the website, or tell us who you are if coming into Cobham or Reigate.
Remember if you don’t like the result, you are very welcome to bring them back having used them (and washed them up please!) and we’ll refund you (if returning through the post, this is at your expense though).
Final thoughts
That’s it for this week, but if I may, I’ll return to the subject I started with. The ever present reality of death. This may sound like a bit of a flat note on which to end. But if you’ve got this far, indulge me for a sentence or two more. Going back to the interview with Arianna Huffington (she of the Huffington Post) that I mentioned last week, when asked about the death of her mother, she reflected on it with these words.
“Socrates said ‘Practice death daily.’ By which he didn’t mean it in a morbid way, no. But for example, the Romans would carve MM (Memento Mori - Remember Death) on statues and trees. And this was not in order to be obsessed with death, but in order to put life in perspective.” She continued, “So often we are worried about trivial things, but if we remember that life is a terminal condition, and that death is the one certainty, it changes how we perceive what happens in our lives”.
In fact, writing this as I sit here this morning, it immediately makes me feel calmer and more grateful for what I’ve had so far in life. Because for me, I’ve had two parents and a brother who love(d) me, a wife who I loved and loved me, plus three children, ditto. I also have a company of people whom I lead and love, plus an ever closer bunch of friends who I love and show me love.
Ok, put like that, it sounds like I’ve led a charmed life, and there’s a lot of truth in that, but it hasn’t been without suffering, and I think that this may be my point, or rather Arianna’s point. It’s really important to try to keep things in balance. Death, love, joy and our worries should all, ideally, be included in this balance.
I hope you have a pleasant and reasonably worry free weekend.
Warm regards
Andrew
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
P.S. I’ve been persuaded to cover Jeanne, in the Cobham shop this afternoon. She’s off to a French family party, in France! So, if you’re out and about in Cobham, do come and say hello, but bear in mind I haven’t worked in a shop for 25 years, don’t know how to work the till and don’t know where anything is. So please be kind!
Leave a comment