Chickens Galore

Well it seems the whole World is going Chicken crazy. So here is a picture of some of ours taken recently. This is really just a test post after an absence of ove 18 months to check everything still works

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Satinwood Crescent,Liverpool,United Kingdom

2010 Mascot Grand National Gets a Pizza The Action

The Mascot Grand National – hosted every autumn by Huntingdon Racecourse in Cambridgeshire – is entering its third decade with an exciting new sponsor.

The original and best mascot race in the world, which began in 1999 and is now poised for its 12th running, is to be supported by Domino’s Pizza.

The event attracts a worldwide television and online audience for the crazy antics of the participants, and it’s the highlight of every year for Britain’s mascots.

Mascots the length and breadth of the country step up their training as they prepare for the big day.

It’s an hilarious occasion when lots of mascots run, walk, stagger and stumble over obstacles on a gruelling 220 yards course.

There’s been mayhem, controversy, accusations of gamesmanship, and claims of ‘ringers’ over the years since this madcap race was first run, but strict rules ensure good clean fun.

Georgina Wald, Corporate Communications Manager at Domino’s Pizza, said: “The Mascot Grand National is a fantastic event at Huntingdon Racecourse that represents exactly what Domino’s Pizza is all about - spending special time with friends and family, laughing, smiling and having great fun. We hope that sponsoring the race will inspire our own mascot – Danny Domino – to do better than he did last year!”

Sophie Hodgkinson, managing director of Huntingdon Racecourse, said: “The Mascot Grand National has grown in size and popularity year after year, and we are delighted to welcome such a fantastic brand as Domino’s Pizza as our new sponsor for the 2010 race.”

The Mascot Grand National kicks off an afternoon of jump racing at the Cambridgeshire racecourse on Sunday 3 October.

*Domino's Pizza is recognised as the world's leading pizza delivery company. The first UK store opened in 1985. More than 20,000 staff are employed in Britain and Ireland. There are more than 620 Domino's Pizza stores throughout the British Isles, including the Huntingdon restaurant at 1 Grammar School Walk - 01480 454700.


MASCOT GRAND NATIONAL HISTORY

1999: The Mascot Grand National was born as 17 mascots took part in one of the most unusual sights ever seen on a racecourse. Beau Brummie Bulldog, of Birmingham City FC, won.

2000: Word spread, and 49 mascots lined up, with Watford FC's Harry the Hornet stinging the bookmakers in a flying finish.

2001: Controversy as Freddie the Fox was first past the post, but turned out to be an Olympic athlete. Uproar ensued, and Dazzler the Lion (Rushden & Diamonds FC) roared as he was proclaimed the new winner.

2002: Chaddy the Owl (Oldham Athletic FC) flew to victory amidst claims that he was another ‘ringer’. The accusations were unfounded – it had been Chaddy’s vigorous training routine that enabled him to wing it.

2003: For the second year Chaddy the Owl was crowned victor, but only after several rivals were distracted by a female streaker. An attempted £10,000 betting coup using a Commonwealth Games gold medallist as Sedge the Field Mouse failed when one of the rodent’s feet fell off.

2004: The year of Graham the Gorilla, the mascot of local football club Finedon Volta FC, who sent the crowd bananas.

2005: The bookies expected Chaddy and Graham to dominate, but the Sun newspaper’s Scoop 6 Squirrel drove everyone nuts with a stunning turn of foot.

2006: Football charity Kick 4 Life’s mascot Mickey The Monkey proved he was the business despite an attempted ‘rugby’ tackle on him in the closing stages. Sammy Saint was second for the second year.

2007: Wacky Macky Bear saw off the 2006 winner Mickey the Monkey to win for Saffron Walden FC on his Grand National debut.

2008: The tenth running of the mascot race sees Wacky Macky Bear win for the second year in a row, with Cambridgeshire-based mascots filling second, third and fourth spots.

2009: At last a local winner, as Stag from Huntingdon Rugby Club triumphed. Inside the costume was Heath Crawford, a New Zealand-born rugby player.


RACECOURSE ADMISSION DETAILS

Admission on Sunday 3 October: Main Enclosure £15; Picnic Enclosure £8. Accompanied children under 18 – free. Tickets for the Main Enclosure can be purchased in advance, either online at www.huntingdon-racecourse.co.uk or via the ticket hotline on 0844 579 3007.

Parking: Free.

Times: Gates open at 12.10pm. Mascot Grand National at 1.10pm. First horse race 2.10pm.

Contact information: telephone 01480 453373

Domino's Pizza - Any Pizza Any Size Only £9.99

To celebrate its 25th UK Anniversary Domino's Pizza is running it's very popular £9.99 promotion from Wednesday September 8th 2010 to Sunday 12th September.

It's available for delivery or collection and you can order it online, over the phone or in person.

To order it online you need to go to the Meal Deal tab. One nice feature of using the website is that you can select a pizza from the menu, like a Pepperoni Passion, and then add 2 extra toppings at no charge. You won't be able to do this over the phone as the staff will correctly charge you for the toppings, but it is a feature, or bug depending on how you look at it, of fixed price meal deals on the Domino's website.

On the downside, half and half pizzas cannot be ordered as meal deals. This is just due to technical reasons, though I believe a workaround is being sought.

Happy Birthday Domino's Pizza!

Domino's UK Launches Lunch With youTube Takeover

Our friends from Domino's Pizza UK have asked us to help launch their new lunch campaign by promoting their brand on our blog and other platforms. PizzasandStuff is happy to help them gain market penetration of this exciting initiative.

Here's the release.

Pizza delivery expert, Domino’s Pizza, is set to launch an advertising takeover on top video website – YouTube. The takeover is running on Friday [September 3, 2010] to mark the launch of Domino’s new lunch campaign.

The takeover sees Domino’s becoming the first brand in Europe to use YouTube’s new Quick Launch template. The template enables companies to cost effectively develop an ad from their existing images, videos and links and run it directly on the YouTube masthead.

Domino’s will be taking over the YouTube homepage to promote the company’s new UK-wide lunch menu, which includes six new oven-baked subs. The advertisement on the website masthead will include a 20 second lunch video, as well as an image gallery of the new menu and a Google Maps search listing to enable users to locate their nearest Domino’s store. A direct link to Domino’s Facebook page will also appear on YouTube to help generate click throughs and more fans.

The YouTube takeover will be running in the lead-up to lunchtime on Friday and appear on the website until 3pm. The takeover is taking place alongside a range of other media, including TV, radio and press advertising, to help promote Domino’s lunch campaign.

Simon Wallis, sales and marketing director for Domino’s Pizza, said: “We wanted to do something bold and a bit different to help promote our new lunch menu and we’re delighted to be the first in Europe to use YouTube’s new Quick Launch template. What better way to announce that Domino’s is not just for dinner than with our own lunchtime video on the world’s most popular video site. We hope this will liven up the lunchtimes of UK YouTube users and encourage them to get their teeth into our great new menu.”

Domino’s new lunchtime menu features six new oven-baked subs. The range features a number of Domino’s top pizza toppings, plus a host of new filling choices, in a freshly baked ciabatta. Each sub is made to order in-store using fresh ingredients.

Grandma, Grandma Look In The Coop. The Chicken Just Laid her First Egg.

There was much excitement earlier this afternoon at The Liverpool Micro Chicken Farm as we discovered that our little white Amber Star pullet had laid her first egg - and in the right place too!

We first got her back in the middle of May, when, we were told, she was about 9-10 weeks old. She was a lovely looking little thing, tho' when you picked her up she seemed about the size of a small dove.

For the first week or so, she, and the other new arrival, were terrorised by our last remaining Warren, but things soon calmed down and the girls have been getting along OK, but not without the occasional squabble.

The Warren stopped laying almost immediately the others arrived, probably induced by the stress, while the Speckeldy one, which looks like a Cuckoo Maran, promptly began laying lovely chocolate-coloured eggs that were rather small considering her size.

The three hens struggled through the heatwave in June, but at the start of July Speckeldy went broody, which we thought rather strange due to her young age. She was about 30 weeks old, and refused to move off the nesting box except under the most extreme provocation.

The internet proved invaluable as we tried all manner of things to bring her out of it and return things to normality, the most bizarre of which was giving her a bag of frozen peas to sit on. She turned her beak up at these, and just moved elsewhere in the coop.


As neither of the other chickens were laying, we decided to lock her out of the coop during the day time. She was out of sorts for a couple of days, but it seemed to do the trick and things have been fine for the last couple of weeks.

As the weather cooled down and all the three hens were looking a lot happier, the Amber Star had a growing spurt, developed a full comb and wattles, and we kept our fingers crossed that she was approaching Point of Lay.

As can be seen from the video above, she has now moved from being a juvenile to an adult and we wish her a long, happy and productive laying career as part of The Liverpool Micro Chicken Farm Ltd.

Please subscribe to our youTube channel, where you can keep up to date with our Tales From The Chicken Coop" or follow Trisha, the Warren on Facebook - yes our chicken does indeed have her own Facebook Profile.

Peppadew Bread for Beginners

Here's another recipe from Stacey at Peppadew, but we reckon it would also be great flattened out and used as a pizza base.

What do you think?

Domino's Does Lunch! - See the new TV Advert Here

Lots of Domino's Pizza outlets in the UK have traditionally only opened at the weekend for lunch, but now they are all open 7 days a week from 11am.

Pizza is a great lunchtime treat and is perfect for sharing with your work colleagues.

There is also a new range of oven-baked sandwiches which Domino's are pinning their hopes on, though I doubt Subway or McDonald's will be quaking in their boots.

But perhaps they should be, as Domino's are "The Pizza Delivery Experts" and lots of people are tied to their desks during their all-too-short lunch breaks and will really appreciate having their lunch without having to walk half a mile down the road.

"Not just another bloody panini" could prove to be a great strapline.