It was knitted by Dorine Berks, who is a member of the Contact the Elderly group in Aylesbury. She is a big fan of our tea parties and of SuperJam and knitted this wonderful tea cosy for us.
It is in the style of a 'Lyon's Nippy' - a waitress from the Lyons Corner Houses of the 1950's.
Jolly good.
If you'd like to see your tea cosy featured on the SuperJam blog - please get your needles out and send one in. All the tea cosies that we get sent in are used at the tea parties and the knitters are given a selection of our SuperJams.
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For the past four days, we've been handing out samples and telling everyone about SuperJam at the Royal Highland Show.
The Show is Scotland's largest public event, attracting hundreds of thousands of people. It is a sort of celebration of food and agriculture, with tractors, sheep and whisky.
We went through over fifteen thousand oatcakes and two thousand jars of SuperJam and we're definitely all exhausted.
The Queen even visited the hall we were in, which was very exciting. I didn't get a chance to take a decent photograph of our stall in between handing out samples, signing autographs for over-excited school kids and talking to the thousands of people who stopped by to say hi.
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SuperJam a Finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Awards..
Last night, I fed my face in the salubrious surroundings of Gleneagles (Scotland's top hotel, where the G8 was held and Madonna married), at the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
These are absolutely the most prestigious worldwide awards for entrepreneurs, with past winners including the founders of companies whose products we use every day. Last year, I was a guest at the EOY Awards in Palm Springs, California and met some incredible entrepreneurs who inspired me to keep doing what i'm doing.
This year I was a finalist for the Scottish level of the competition and, according to Ernst and Young am the youngest ever finalist in the UK. That's quite cool I guess but most exciting for me was that I got to meet some really interesting people. They were from companies like the Bethany Trust, which is a massive social enterprise that benefits thousands of homeless people in Scotland and the guys behind BrewDog, a Scottish microbrewery that markets a range of trendy ales all over the world.
A few years ago, when I was trying to get SuperJam off the ground, Channel 4 followed me around to make a 30-minute program about what I was doing.
As part of the program, I was given advice from the hugely successful Scottish entrepreneur, John Boyle, who built and sold Direct Holidays and then later set up Zoom airlines.
In the program, his advice was not to try to supply SuperJam to supermarkets. Of course, I ended up going against his advice and following my dreams.
The program was repeated on Channel 4 this morning and you can watch the entire program on 4oD online, here.
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On Sunday, as part of our sponsorship of The SuperJam Great British Race Day at Brighton Racecourse, we served up cream teas to the crowds.
We used Rodda's clotted cream and freshly baked scones and it went down a treat. The races on the day, which you might have seen on Sky Sports or elsewhere, were named after the flavours of our jams.
Over the Summer, we'll be serving up cream teas at events all over the country, so please do pop along and say hello. Next up is the Cockington Proms on 12th July, in Torquay, which we're also a major sponsor of.
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On Wednesday, I had the privilege of meeting HRH Prince Charles. He was a very charming man, as you would probably expect.
The event was a conference run by the Scottish arm of The Princes Trust, which is of course his charity that helps young people set up companies by giving them grants, loans and great advice.
I was supported by them when I was starting out and was invited to give the keynote speech, alongside Michelle Mone.
SuperJam Great British Race day at Brighton Racecourse!
Nice weather we've been having lately, eh?
We will be serving cream teas at all kinds of events over the Summer. The first event this year is at Brighton Racecourse this Sunday, the 7th June.
SuperJam is the headline sponsor of the SuperJam Great British Race Day at Brighton Racecourse this Sunday.
There will be six SuperJam races, Proms in The Paddock with The Sussex Band of the Royal British Legion, a 'Best Banger competition' and traditional seaside entertainment.
We will also be serving thousands of cream teas to the 8,000 people who're coming along, so come and say hi if you're in town!
If you'd like to come, you can buy tickets and find out more info here.
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If you happen to follow my Twitter, you'll know that a couple of weeks ago I was followed around for a whole day by a film crew from BBC Alba, the Gaelic channel.
We had a lovely day filming for 'Cuide Ri Cathy', with Cathy McDonald. We tried out a new jam recipe in the morning, visited the local Waitrose supermarket to see the products on the shelves and then had a massive tea party in the afternoon.
Don't worry; it is mostly in English and the Gaelic parts have subtitles.
You can watch the program on BBC iPlayer here, for the next week.
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Booker has just launched SuperJam in their 28 Scottish cash and carries. Convenience stores across Scotland can now stock up and give their customers the best jam there is.
You'll also be delighted to know that our range is currently on promotion in Morrisons, for 99p a jar for the next few weeks.
We've been running a 'knitathon' for some time and have now picked a winning tea party group, from Wales. They knitted an incredible four hundred or so squares.
You may have read in a previous post that these squares, and the thousands of others that have been knitted at the tea parties, have all been sewn together to make hundreds of blankets for Indian orphans.
The knitathon has also raised over £600 for the orphanage, which will be spent on much needed supplies. If you'd like to, you can donate to the orphanage here.
The winning group, pictured here, were very generously sent an amazing chocolate hamper from our friends at Kshocolat.
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On Monday, I was interviewed by Declan and Naga on BBC2's Working Lunch program.
I was the 'main guest' on the show and the interview was, according to some of my followers on Twitter, the best i've had in a long time.
You can check out the interview on BBC iPlayer here, if you wish.
There has been a flurry of orders on the website since the interview so it has been all hands on deck in Jam Land - which is why it has taken me so long to blog about it!
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I spotted this at a friend's flat and though it was definitely worthy of taking this week's crown.
It is a sort of rubbery tea cosy and looks funkier in real life than it does in this picture I took.
Of course, if you would like to knit a tea cosy to help support our SuperJam Tea Parties project, which is growing fast and really needs more cosies, feel free to knit one and send it in. We'll send you some jam to say thanks and feature your work on the blog.
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Recently, Eteaket tea boutique opened its doors on Frederick street in Edinburgh. They serve a range of wonderful teas, cream teas, afternoon teas and home baking, soon to include our jam! You should definitely pop in for a cuppa if you're in town.
Eteaket have very generously agreed to support the regular SuperJam Tea Parties in Edinburgh and will be serving their wonderful teas, alongside the scones and SuperJam. With their help and support, we are hoping to make the events even bigger and better. The guests at last week's tea party (picture here) thoroughly enjoyed Eteaket's teas. You can check out their website, order some of their products or learn more about their philosophy here.
As you know, as part of The SuperJam Tea Parties, we have been running a massive nationwide 'knitathon'. The elderly guests of our tea parties have been very kindly knitting thousands of squares, which we've sewn together to make blankets for these orphans in Gwalior, central India.
Every child at the orphanage, about seventy, have already got a blanket each and we still have more than four hundred squares to be sewn together - which will be sent to other orphans in India.
The orphanage, SuperJam and everyone who has been involved in putting everything together really wants to thank everyone who took the time to knit squares. The kids are over the moon with their blankets and the Sponsor a Square fundraiser (feel free to click here and sponsor the squares for £1 to help raise much needed money for supplies for the orphanage) has so far raised over £600.
You can see some more photographs of the kids with their blankets here.
The next SuperJam Tea Party is this Thursday, 2nd April 2pm-4pm at Meadowbank Sports Centre, London Road, Edinburgh. Please do come along and feel free to bring some home baking!
What's more, our FaceBook fan page crossed the 200 fans mark today. To celebrate, we're having a some scones and tea this evening and probably some bubbly.
We have teamed up with our friends at VisitShetland, Flybe and Northlink to offer a pretty amazing competition.
We're offering the chance to celebrate Spring in the Shetland Islands with a unique 7-night get-away for 2 with Shetland Lighthouse Holidays. Experience the fascinating and unique natural environment, an unrivalled cultural heritage and the friendliest locals you're ever likely to meet.
Travel to Shetland in style with a return journey for 2 from Aberdeen with a cabin and car, onboard one of NorthLink Ferries' beautiful cruise-style ships. Spend 7 nights self-catering in the Bressay lighthouse keeper's cottage, compliments of Shetland Lighthouse Holidays, and explore the beautiful island, just five minutes by ferry from Shetland’s capital, Lerwick.
Join Island Trails' for an "In Aboot da Night" evening of spellbinding storytelling and fantastic fiddle music; discover Shetland’s fantastic wildlife on a trip to the island of Mousa with Mousa Boat Trips; and enjoy a "Top of Britain" day trip to the island of Unst, the most northerly point in Britain, with Shetland Nature Cruises and Tours.
And with £200 spending money included, you'll be simply spoilt for choice!
For the chance to win this fantastic prize, click here to enter. We will also be sending a great Shetland Accommodation and Visitor Guide to every entrant.
SuperJam Gift Boxes available from NotOnTheHighStreet.com
Some of you may have already bought one of the great gift boxes made by our chums at FoodieBoxes.
The hampers contain a selection of Scottish products for various occasions, including 'Coffee Lover's Foodiebox', 'Wee Scottish Foodiebox' and 'Wee Porridge Foodiebox'.
You can select from any of the SuperJam products to add them to the hamper.
Not on The High Street is a great site that has all kinds of gift ideas from small producers, you can check it out here.
This week, we made the rather exciting step of opening the first SuperJam retail outlet, in the Union Street Mall in Aberdeen. We are selling the full range of products, as well as oatcakes from our friends Nairn's and perhaps some other products later down the line.
This is a bit of an experiment at the moment; if it goes well, we may open extra outlets in other malls. It is a great way of giving people the opportunity to try the products and if it proves successful, will mean that we are going to have to take on permanent staff.
Of course, if you live in Aberdeen, please do feel free to stop by and say hello.
Today I came across a rather remarkable story. As you know, knitting is something that I write about a lot and we have a Tea Cosy of The Week competition.
You may already be familiar with Jo Eglen, who has been in the media a bit recently. She runs the 'Little Hen Rescue Centre', a home for 5,750 ex-battery hens.
A lot of the hens are bald when they get to her, so she came up with a novel and frankly brilliant solution; knit jumpers for all the hens!
The article in the Telegraph says: "The response was incredible and she has now kitted out 1,500 birds with woolly jumpers to keep the warm in the winter months.
"Some battery farms have up to 10,000 hens of the same age. They get quite thin and bald because of the stress and heat. About 60 per cent of the hens that come through are bald."
"We have patterns on our website that are straight-forward and simple. We've had 1,500 jumpers come through in just the past two months. So many different kinds - Christmas-themed jumpers, multi-coloured ones, some with bows and stripes."
Pancake day is, of course, one of the best celebrations of the year. I remember always watching The Blue Peter Pancake Day Special as a kid, with various celebrities unsuccessfully trying to flip uncooked batter, making a big mess and having a jolly wholesome laugh about it all.
Anyway, pancakes are of course wonderful with a good blob of SuperJam so I thought i'd share a recipe with with you to help you make some great pancakes next week..
Blueberry Pancakes.
Ingredients: 200g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, an egg, 300ml milk, 150g blueberries, a knob of butter.
Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl. Beat the egg and milk together, then add to a well in the flour and whisk until smooth. Beat in the melted butter and half the blueberries.
Heat the oil, add a large spoonful of batter, cook for about 3 minutes on each side.
Serve with the rest of the blueberries and a dollop of Blueberry & Blackcurrant SuperJam. You can also add some maple syrup.
How to make Tea (Public Education Film, Circa 1941)..
I love vintage public information films, like this one from 1941, promoting good tea making practices.
"Tea carts are on standby ready to be sent off at a moments notice."
There's something for everyone in this movie from the BFI archives. Tea connoisseurs will benefit from the six golden tips for making the perfect cuppa, as well as countless other handy hints (never store your tea next to cheese, for example).
Linguists will marvel at the way they say "orf" rather than "off" and if you're someone who likes a man with eyebrows then we've got just the one!
I found this video thanks to a link in the Today Was Fun newsletter.
Twitter is becoming something of a phenomenon and has been on the news a lot over the past few weeks.
One of the most famous 'tweeters' in the UK is Stephen Fry, of Qi fame. I've been following his tweets for some time and find it very amusing. You might have read a few weeks ago that he was stuck in a lift and his 'followers' were able to live the experience with him, through his regular up-to-160-character posts.
For those of you who don't know what Twitter is; it allows users to post about what they are doing, reading and thinking in real time, in short posts, sort of like text-messages. If you like, you can follow my updates by signing up to my tweets here.
SuperJam is placed 18 out of 100, which I think is quite cool. Other entrepreneurial companies on the list are Tossed, the chain of London salad bars, Plum Baby, the fast-growing brand of healthy Super Food baby food and notonthehighstreet.com, a portal for buying quirky and unique products from hundreds of small companies across the country.
It is inspiring and very interesting reading about all of the 100 entrepreneurial companies on this list.
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For the past couple of months, i've been writing about a variety of useful and interesting websites that I have come across online. Previous posts were about Graze, the online healthy snack delivery company and A Quarter Of..., the old-fashioned sweet shop on the internet, where you can buy all of the sweets you used to fight over in the playground.
This week, I came across a website called mySupermarket.co.uk. This site allows you to compare the price of your online grocery shopping from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Ocado. You are able to import your favorites from your existing supermarket's online shop, to compare how much it would cost elsewhere. It also displays the offers that each supermarket has, which means you can take advantage of the best prices at all the supermarkets, while only doing your shopping through one site.
You can also calculate how many calories are in your basket and compare the calorific content of different products, which would probably be quite a handy function if you are watching what you're eating.
As you know, I write quite a lot about the world of knitting. The guests often knit at our Tea Parties and we encourage readers of the blog and subscribers of the email newsletter to send in hand-knitted Tea Cosies, as part of our 'Tea Cosy of The Week Competition'.
Today, I found out about a very cool knitting shop in London, called I Knit, that is hosting 'The Knitting in Film and Television Awards'. The awards were set up to celebrate knitting, crochet and needlecraft in film and television.
From the site:
"The first ever KNIFTAs will be announced at our party on Sunday 22nd February 2009 at The Crown and Two Chairmen, Dean Street, Soho, W1D 3RZ (upstairs bar). From 4pm to 10pm. Only one thing is certain...Kate Winslet won't win one."
This week's Tea Cosy of The Week is one of the most elaborate we've had so far. 
