Nick’s Music and Ramblings

Its almost Easter how did we get here so quick? I must say don’t eat too much chocolate as you may get sick, but with all the kids off school, do enjoy yourselves please.

How awful has the weather been? I am freezing here as I type this, as like so many others I can’t afford to put the heating on. You may now have experienced some snow too by the time you read this. We are all expecting the start of springtime now and the weather to be getting warmer, not colder!

A new thing that has come into force is that we all now have to prebook a slot to go to the tip to get rid of any rubbish - so don’t just turn up as you will not get in! I have heard whispers about some of our street collections as well, but will wait to see if anything occurs before saying anything.

Some people have suggested I should write something about alcohol-free beer or very low alcohol beers. I have been drinking such beverages for over three years now since l gave up alcohol and l like the taste. I will not name particular ones, but it is good to see that so many breweries are brewing such beers now - even Guinness, as well as most of the German and Belgian breweries. I have also noticed that many of the wine and spirit companies have joined in and are even advertising these choices on TV. A couple I know did a test for fun; she poured two gin and tonics and asked her partner which he preferred and it was the zero alcohol one - he was astounded!

I find the benefits from not drinking are good: l wake up with a clear head and sober; I do not have sugar problems due to the lack of alcohol and the calories are very low - and I can drive without being worried about being pulled over for drink driving. I also like water which is good for me. I do like the flavour of beer and I find many of these low alcohol varieties satisfy my taste buds. Some people have commented that some of them have 0.5% alcohol in them - well, I say so do some fruits! I must say that I feel better for not drinking or smoking, but I need to get more exercise - hence I have now got myself a bike.

Besides Easter, we have spring to look forward to, and my granddaughter has her exams this year and I wish her luck with them all. She studies so hard and deserves to do well and to get to where she wants to be, as does my grandson who is a bit younger but is a great studier as well. I never did any good at school - in fact I hated it; they did not understand things like dyslexia back then which I suffer with (if this was not proof read you would notice it!) thanks Sean for correcting all my mistakes!

We also have 3foot People and Fling events happening around the time this edition comes out, and of course we have local elections coming up - so please do make sure you vote: it is very important to express your voice and to have your say on who you think best represents you.

Colchester is a little out of our area but I think it’s worth a mention, as Colchester has just been visited by King Charles and the Queen Consort, due to Colchester being the UK’s newest city. I am listening to it on the radio and there is a lot of excitement for people seeing and meeting them. They have also named the baby white rhino that was recently born in Colchester Zoo - Dara; a name for both male and female, meaning ‘Pearl Of Wisdom’ and ‘Beautiful’.

Music

It has been as busy as it always is for me. We had to postpone Hamish Stuart as he currently has some voice problems and felt he would not be well enough for the 17th March, so he is now playing on

Friday 14th July - and all tickets that have been purchased already are valid for the new date. We have also confirmed Katy for Kings from Chelmsford to open the show.

You will of course see that we have many more great shows coming up this month at the Chelmsford Social Club. We are soon to be starting up again with some more shows at Hot Box, where on Tuesday 11th April we have two top folk acts from Finland who will be playing here for the first time. See the listings in this edition for any relevant links and more information.

We have a great show just confirmed for Hot Box - Robbie McIntosh will be playing a rare special Saturday afternoon acoustic show with his best buddy Steve on Saturday 22nd April; this is the day after the full band show. The acoustic shows are rare events here and the gig will be from 2pm to 4pm and just £10 a ticket. Tickets are limited due to venue capacity, so book soon! We have also confirmed Rhino’s Revenge, which is John ‘Rhino’ Edwards of Status Quo performing with his own band, which includes his Quo bandmate Leon Cave on drums. This show will be on Thursday 12th October, and once again entry is limited due to the venue capacity being just 80 people.

I am just awaiting a couple of confirmations for acts to play this year to fill up the last few slots left now. I do have a few support openings still to add and have just added The Next Agenda to the Noasis show.

I have also been to see some great bands as well as booking acts. One of which was Clearwater Creedence Revival with my buddies playing - I got our very own Trevor Gentry and Phil Powell to support and they wooed the audience and were just perfect openers for this sell-out show in Colchester. I also went to Barleylands to see Innes Sibun with his band Malone Sibun - they just blew the place apart! What an afternoon to remember.

I will be going to the Fling Cabaret Extravagasam on Saturday 18th March, which I am looking to - the show is already a sell-out.

I have also been asked to book some acts for this year’s Chelmsford Summer Beer Festival which is returning to Chelmsford this year, although a little smaller than before. I am sure it will be just as much fun though. This will be from Tuesday 11th July to Saturday 15th July.

Do remember to keep your eyes and ears open for what is happening, as I do not have enough space to mention it all. One thing worth remembering is the Chelmsford Carnival on Sunday 2nd July. They still want people to join in and take part, so if you know of any groups or clubs or the likes, do please contact them - you can also do this by going to the Art Place in the Meadows in Chelmsford.

Remember, if you have anything you think would be of interest to our readers, including events of all types, then please email editorial@ itsyourmedia.co.uk. If you just want to comment about anything please do email us as well.

It would be fantastic if you could share our magazines The City Times and Moulsham Times for us; we continue to publish both magazines in print and online at www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia. If you are interested in advertising your business or event, then please contact us at ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk, or if you have an event you want listed, or have an article that could be interest, then please send to editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk and we will reply to you as soon as we can.

For all updates and information for Black Frog Presents shows at the Chelmsford Social Club and other venues, go to www.linktr. ee/BlackFrogPresents or scan the QR code on our advert in this magazine. You can also pre-book for the paid show with a text or call to 07508 496 411 and then pay cash or card at the door at the advance price without commission.

Hello and welcome to the March issue of my food column. Another month has passed and how nice is it that the days are getting longer and lighter - however, as I write this it’s definitely not warm yet; it’s been so cold this week! I don’t know about you, but when it’s cold I want to eat warming, comfort food.

Following on from my article last month about eating out in the local area, I spoke about a new restaurant in Maldon called Paparazzi that we were visiting and my gosh it didn’t disappoint. The steak was amazing, the menu beautiful and it’s well worth a visit. I’m looking forward to trying some more local restaurants this month and reporting back!

It’s been so cold that I’ve gone back to basics with my cooking. This month I wanted to talk about store cupboard stock. In my house we can pretty much make most meals from our store cupboard.

If you have a well stocked cupboard it makes cooking so much easier. I’m not saying go out and spend a fortune in one go, but keeping it well stocked up with essentials really does keep that weekly shopping bill down as you can buy in bulk.

If you are just starting out cooking from scratch, then these are my essentials that we always have stocked: Tinned tomatoes, kidney beans, chickpeas, coconut milk, rice, pasta, honey, soy sauce, herbs and spices, stock cubes and flour.

My top spices that I use are oregano, paprika, basil, chilli, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, curry powder and salt and pepper. I find cooking for the family so much easier having all these things in the cupboard.

My recipe of the month is a good old fashioned chilli con carne which is made mostly out of ingredients from my store cupboard. This should serve 4 people.

Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped. 500g lean mince.

2 garlic cloves chopped.

1 tsp chilli.

2 tsp cumin.

1 tsp coriander.

1 tsp paprika.

1 green pepper chopped. into cubes.

1 tin chopped tomatoes. Beef stock.

1 tin of kidney beans. Fromage frais. Fresh coriander.

Method

1. Chop onion and garlic and fry in Fry Light or vegetable oil with the mince for about 5 minutes until all the meat is browned and the onions are soft.

2. Add all your spices and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add green pepper, tin of tomatoes and stock cube along with 300ml of water and bring to the boil.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Add kidney beans (I like the tins that come in chilli sauce to add a bit more spice) and cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Serve with the fromage frais and chopped fresh coriander on top.