Crazy & Co.

Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events

Blast From The Past, A Look Back At Our Old Blog

5 June 2021

I was using the wayback machine recently to look up an old website. In case you don’t know it is a site that has indexed and stored past examples of peoples web pages so you can go back and look them up years later.

Looking around at some of our original blog posts that disappeared when our original blog software stopped working. In the old days we didn’t have Word Press and Blogger. Blogs were either hand built, or created using desktop software. We used a program called Tangelo, quite happily for a number of years. Anyway, I am going to reprint a few of the more humorous posts. Sadly on many of them the original images have not been stored, so they might be text only.

Bimbo’s Last Stand 2008

History is littered with tales of heroic last stands, usually against forces much bigger than the defenders, there was Rorkes drift, The Battle of Gandamak and The Battle of the Imjin River all fought by British troops, the Alamo and Battle of the Little Bighorn by our American cousins and the immortal Camarón which established the Foreign Legion as one of the world’s elite fighting forces.

Predating all of these was the Battle of Thermopylae in Greece when King Leonidas and his Spartan soldiers, accompanied by a force of allied Greek city states, held back a much larger Persian force under Xerxes for three days in one of the most memorable and eulogized last stands in classical antiquity. Well now we have another last stand on the island of Greece to rank up there with the battles of antiquity.

Bimbo Bishton

Bimbo Bishton, who we occasionally work with, has for a number of years provided Victorian carousels for the Christmas event in Athens. A venture which has proven both lucrative and enjoyable over the years. This year however there was the little problem of a major riot taking place after the shooting dead of a young Greek boy.

The rioters went berserk in the city square and flattened pretty much everything, setting fire to hotels, shops, cars and anything else that took their fancy. Slap bang in the middle of this stood alone the slightly portly figure of Bimbo armed only with 3 fire extinguishers, facing a crowd which Bimbo estimated at 100,000, but the BBC world service claimed to be around the 10,000 mark (I suppose when you are facing them alone it looks more like 100,000).

Petrol Bombs And Arsonists

I spoke to Bimbo about the events and he explained one particularly tense moment. It seems a young Greek man was holding a petrol bomb in one hand and trying unsuccessfully to strike his lighter in the other, all the time Bimbo was trying to convince him not to set fire to his ride, (Bimbo told me at this point he was debating whether or not to kick the said young man in the testicles), the potential arsonist appeared to be taking no notice of Bimbo when his lighter suddenly flared to life, he looked at Bimbo, shrugged his shoulders and promptly threw the bomb at the giant Christmas tree, so really it is Bimbo’s fault that the Athenians lost their famous tree. As the night wore on our intrepid hero was stoically holding his ground when a cloud of teargas drifted his way and proved to him why it was so named,

Bimbo said that at this point he was more interested in water for his eyes than in guarding the carousel, but luckily for him one of the rioters explained that water is no good for tear gas, you need lemon juice to neutralise the chemicals and obliged by providing some I can categorically state however that rumours Bimbo is thinking of setting up a Jif lemon stall at future events are untrue.

Thankfully both Bimbo and the Carousel survived the evening. Bimbo even remarked at how civilised the rioters were, as he put it, there were very few injuries and signs of violence against people, it all seemed to be directed at property, indeed one vendor in a street kiosk remained open throughout the riots and wasn’t molested in any way.

Oops 2009

Arthur almost struck again last weekend. What happened was this, we were contracted to supply 4 games units to an event in the North East. One of these games was our striker (test your strength machine) which is 13ft high. On arrival we were shown the room which would accommodate these games, including the high roofed part of the building where the striker was to be positioned. Due to the fact that once erected the striker would block the door, we were told that we couldn’t erect it until after all of the guests had arrived. This isn’t a problem as it takes a matter of seconds to assemble the device.

We carried it into the room and left it on the floor near to where it had to go. Almost everyone had arrived when we were told to put the striker up. As we pushed it skyward we discovered to our horror that the room was about 6 inches to low! As we stood there wondering where to go, one of the guys who had hired us told us to push the plastic roof tile out of place and let the striker poke into the attic.

We did this, but try as we might the tile remained wobbling in position. Arthur decided to go to the pool room and bring back a long extension bar to dislodge the tile, which he promptly did just as the managing director’s wife walked through the door. If she had been two steps quicker, Arthur would have subjected her to a drastic reshaping of her nose, something along the lines of amputation without a general anaesthetic!

Luckily everyone present had a sense of humour.

Flash Bang 2009

Coming back to the yard last week I notice a large stretch of the adjoining field being dug up. After investigating I discovered that the electricity company are removing the overhead power lines (which run over the middle of our property) and re routing them underground. This is an extremely good idea, especially considering what happened a few years back.

To protect those involved, I won’t name any names John Henry, but I was sat eating breakfast early one morning, contemplating starting to load everything up ready for the move to northallerton. At the time it was absolutely throwing it down with rain, and I didn’t really fancy making a start. Anyway, whilst I was psyching myself up, I suddenly heard a yell, followed by a crash, more yelling and some Anglo Saxon language. Coming out to investigate, I came across the unnamed person (John Henry) who was hobbling about with smoke coming from one of his boots.

What had happened was that he had an aerial mounted on a long pole, fastened to the drawbar of his trailer (caravan). To remove this ready for hitting the road he had to lift it up a couple of foot higher , the power cables ran directly overhead, and with the amount of moisture in the air, a spark of electricity had jumped from the power lines, into the Aerial, down the pole into his knee where the pole was resting and out through his boot to earth!, luckily when he dropped the pole he missed my car which was parked next to him so it could have been much worse.

The Really Really Great Garage Sale

we recently supplied a mulled wine and hot dog cart to an event in London. This was organised by a bunch of celebrity mums including Yasmin Le Bon and Louise Redknapp. I started the day by nearly walking into Yasmin Le Bon, and ended it by her just stopping short of driving into me.

One of our new recruits, Ray, pictured below(in his apron and plastic antenna) spotted someone he recognised part way through the day, “Look Oliver Lance”, he exclaimed.
“Who the heck is he”, I said, thinking it was some rugby player or sports personality.
“She’s off one of them Australian soaps”, said Ray
I wondered why she had a blokes name and asked Ray, “she hasn’t”, was the reply, “She’s called Oliver Lance”

Turned out he was talking about Holly Valance! You can take the guy out of Barnsley, but you can’t take Barnsley out of the guy.

It turned out a quite enjoyable day with amongst others Melanie Blatt, Trinny Woodhall, Christina Estrada all making an appearance.

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Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides

Newcastle Hoppings, A Major Fair

1 June 2021

Newcastle Hoppings is the largest travelling funfair in Europe (though both Nottingham Goose fair and Hull Fair also claim the title). A major fixture in the funfair calendar. Held in the North East city of Newcastle Upon Tyne over 9 days in June.

With over 300,000 visitors a year, and featuring over 60 major adult rides, and a plethora of children’s rides, games and catering to match. The event is held in June to coincide with the Northumberland Plate. Part of the flat season races for horses of three years or older.

It is situated on the Town Moor, a large grazing land just outside the city centre (during the first world war it was held in Jesmond). The showmen commonly refer to the event as the Town moor, or even just ‘The Moor’, rather than the hoppings name used by the locals.

Temperance Festival Association

The driving force behind the establishment of the hoppings, was Alderman William Davies Stephens, chairman of the Temperance Festival Association. The association, typical of the Victorian era do gooders, felt that the horse race would attract drinking and gambling. They wanted to provide a temperance festival for the miners and other workers as an alternative, to save them from the fires of damnation.

I suppose in a way it was a better idea than the Americans had. Our abstinence gave us a major funfair, the American prohibition gave them Al Capone.

Early Years

In the beginning, the event will have been typical of fairs of that era, stalls, games and sideshows would have formed the bulk of the event. Indeed in the North East, funfairs are often referred to as ‘The shows’ in allusion to the preponderance of that type of attraction.

These tended to be animal managaries, or the popular at the time human freak shows. Large steam powered rides were appearing on funfairs by then, and quite possibly would have attended the hoppings, but at that time they were still a supporting act.

Over the next 50 years the event began to resemble what we would recognise today. With some of the early thrill rides appearing, Octopus, dive bomber, waltzers, all designed to fly you higher, spin you faster and scare witless.

A well known ride, the Moonrocket of Shaws, built in 1939. This was typical of the early rides that would have appeared at the Town Moor.

The Modern Era

Nowadays, well not 2020, and possibly not 2021 due to the little matter of a global pandemic, most of the top rides from around the UK appear at the event. Immaculate examples of the old favourites such as dodgems and Waltzers still jostle with the thrill rides for customers. There are fabulous examples of all the current funfair games, children’s rides and food stalls.

A look at the fair from the air shows the sheer scale of the event. Hull and Nottingham might possibly have more rides in attendance, or be classed as bigger due to some other statistic. But for sheer acreage, there isn’t anything else in the UK that comes near.

2013 was notable for the fair being cancelled due to the severe weather leaving the ground in a poor state. Work has since been carried out to improve drainage and add a metalled road to prevent a recurrence.

Charity

The event was always noted for the free riding the showmen provided for a number of charities, the Variety club would bus as estimated 3000 children in to enjoy the showmen’s efforts, usually on the first evening of the event.

Indeed records indicate that the very first year of the festival saw a tea provided for 1000 of the cities poorest children.

The Name Hoppings

When we used to attend the event, I often wondered about just why it was called the Hoppings. I presumed it was one of those stories lost in time. However recently I came across the official website for the event, maintained by the Freeman of the City/Newcastle Council. They offered two possible explanations for the name. One is that hopping was a very old name for a dance.

The other explanation the offer, is that the showmen used to wear sacks as cloths. These would become infested with fleas and the showmen being bitten would ‘hop’ about. Hmm, the photo below is a typical old image of showmen. Actually one of our earliest corporate entertainment crew who provided a show for Queen Victoria. Take a look, although it is in a poor state, it sure looks to me like they were wearing regular type cloths. Nary a cloth sack in sight.

Sources;

Wiki Hoppings

Hoppings Funfairs

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Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story

13 Weird Hot Dogs From Around The World

27 May 2021

One of our most popular lines happens to be hot dogs. The standard hot dog, with mustard and ketchup has been a staple fast food, forever. When we decided to move it up a gear and offer hot dogs from around the world, with fillings such as sushi, nachos, even candy floss, we thought we were being a bit edgy.

Out of interest we started looking at what other countries actually offer in their dogs, boy were we surprised, what we thought was edgy was nothing compared to some of the crazy stuff you can eat in other parts of the world.

Here are a few of our favourites;

Tokkebi From South Korea, The Deep-fried Delight

Take one plain ole wiener, coat it in batter, deep fry it, then cover it in diced French fries. This is one crazy combo that could almost be a complete meal. Found mainly from street food vendors, the chips are sometimes replaced by ramen.

Choripan, Argentina’s Upgraded Dog

Argentina, famous for invading mall South Atlantic Islands, footballers who score goals with their hands, and Gabriela Sabatini. To be fair the footballer in question was also fabulous when he wasn’t cheating.

They also produce one heck of an hot dog. Not for them the usual mystery meat concoction of left over parts of various animals. No, they use a high quality Chorizo sausage, that is is seared to make it crispy, then slotted into a toasted bun. Add chimichurri sauce or tomato salsa and you have the final evolution of the hot dog.

Tunnbrödsrulle, The Crazy Swedes Entry Into The Hall Of Fame

This is what you get if you take a hot dog, stick mix it with onions, shrimp salad, lettuce, mashed taters, mayonnaise and stick it inside a tortilla. Oh and don’t forget to add the requisite mustard and ketchup.

It hard to tell if this is a hot dog or a sandwich wrap. Either way it ranks up their alongside Abba and Volvo in things to love from Sweden.

TBH it looks like the culinary version of a split personality, some sort of existential crisis wrapped in a flat bread.

Taiwanese Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang

The name of this fairly uneventful looking dog, translates as big sausage wrap small sausage. The bun you see in the picture isn’t. It is actually another sausage made from sticky rice. Add in sauces including black pepper and our favourite wasabi, and you have something unlike any other hot dog you will meet.

Chinese Pastry Hot Dog

If the Swedish entry is an existential crisis, this one is a full on split personality. Is it a dessert or is it a main. Take your bog standard frankfurter and wrap it in sweet pastry. Its so obvious, you wonder why no one else is doing it.

They also come coated with different topping such as cheese, icing frosting, egg dough. Its as if you have been talking in your sleep about your favourite foods, and an alien has decided to make them for you, having never actually seen them before.

Khanom Tokyo, Is It A Hot Dog Or A Breakfast Roll

Thailand takes the existential crises of the Taiwanese hot dog and takes it to the stage of certifiably insane. Of all the things you would naturally think to stick a hot dog in, a pancake would surely be the first thing that comes to mind.

Made from flat pancakes that have a mixture of savoury and sweet ingredients such as quail eggs, sugar ,cream, Someone in Thailand came up with the idea of sticking a sausage in. The dish is said to hail from around 1960 and was served at the opening of a Japanese department store (which could explain the craziness), its now a staple of Thai street food.

Czech Párek V Rohlíku Hot Dog

Compared to the oriental offerings this one is plain simple. A hot dog in a bun. Where it does differ slightly from what you are used to, is that this is pretty much like the roller dogs you sometimes see in service stations. A crusty bun that has had the middle cut out and the sausage inserted. Quite neat really, though you need to add your toppings before you had the dog.

Brazil’s Completo Hot Dog

This one is less of a fast food snack and more of a meal for 2, Take a hot dog sausage, stick it in a large flattened bun, add ground beef, peas, corn niblets, bell peppers, onions, potato sticks, parmesan cheese, carrots, diced ham or bacon, cilantro, and top it off with a hard boiled quail egg. It is a wonder the Brazilians aren’t all the size of the Americans.

Peru’s Salchipapas Hot Dogs

A weird one this, there is no bun and the hot dog is sliced. Placed on a bed of fries and garnished with the usual mustard and ketchup, then chilli sauce and mayo for added tang. You can also throw in salad, fried egg and cheese. A staple street food found in various South American countries this ain’t what springs to mind when you say hot dogs.

Puka Dog Hawaii

A mish mash of hot dog traditions this one. A Polish sausage, grilled then slipped into a sweet bun. Dress with relishes, garnishes and tropical mustards and voila, another entry into the hot dog hall of fame.

Norwegian Pølse Hot Dogs

You don’t get much simpler than this, well there are some single celled organisms I suppose, and that lad I once sat next to at school, but in the hot dog world this is bare bones. Sort of the Trabant of dogs. Simple, easy to make, no frills and it just works.

A tortilla, with a sausage in and a dollop of condiments. Enough said about Norwegian dogs.

Denmark’s Pølser

Though it shares a name with it’s Norwegian neighbour, the Danish version is a whole different beast. The sausage spills out of the bun, both ends, its filled with Danish remoulade, sliced pickles and onions and tends to be served on special occasions. The one stand out feature is the sausage which is a vibrant red colour, reminiscent of the British saveloy. It originates from bygone times, when vendors would dip their poor quality sausages in red dye to ‘spruce’ them up.

New Zealand Hot Dog

Our cousins across the Ocean’s take on a hot dog is very similar to what our other cousins across a different ocean (the Yanks) would term a corn dog. Basically a battered sausage, deep fried and served on a stick, with ketchup.

However you look at it, the humble hot dog is as near to a universal food as you will find. Sure, some cultures take it in a weird (to us) direction, but at the heart of them is usually the hot dog sausage.

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Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events

Our 10 Favourite Jacket Potato Fillings

28 April 2021

Jacket spuds, baked taters, call them what you will. Definitely one of our favourite catering options. Especially as in the current quest for healthier options these are quite easy to use. We take a look at some of our most popular jacket potato filling, as well as some others available throughout the world.

1 Beans and Cheese

This one is oh so simple, and oh so delicious. Heinz beans of course with a nice mature cheddar. Not high on the excitement stakes, but easily our most requested filling. Unless we are dealing with Eastern Europeans. It seems that this isn’t a natural combination for them. And we have heard that the Yanks don’t go a bundle for it either, but looking at their cuisine we aren’t too upset by that.

2 Chilli Con Carne

Our MD’s favourite. Ground beef chilli, with plenty of peppers topped with avocado, sour cream and chives. Almost as popular with our clients, again excluding the Eastern Europeans who are worried by the word chilli, they expect it to blow your head off.

3 Tuna And Sweetcorn

Our top rated cold filling. Juicy tuna, sweetcorn all mixed in a mayonnaise base. A pinch of radish for seasoning and a little side salad. Much healthier than the usual burger and chips.

4 Vegetable Curry

This is one that the Eastern European guests actually enjoy. In fact on the recent series of jobs we did where the bulk of the staff were from that part of the world we couldn’t make it fast enough. So now we know their favourite jacket potato filling. Only mild, but with a nice range of veggie ingredients.

5 Chicken Curry

One for the carnivores this time, another fairly mild curry, but with juicy tender chicken pieces. Add a little coleslaw and a side salad and you have a nice balanced meal.

6 Bacon and Cheese

Bacon and cheese, two of our favourite things. What’s not to like. Nice smoked bacon, mature cheddar, mixed up and lightly roasted a second time to melt the cheese. Yum.

7 Prawns

Prawns in a prawn mayo sauce. Another cold topping that it healthy and delicious. Add the obligatory side salad and you have a winner. Unless of course you don’t like prawns.

8 Cottage Cheese And Pineapple

A fusion of tastes here, sweet chunks of pineapple, with lashings of cottage cheese. A milder flavour than our use mature cheddar this one is high in proteins and essential nutrients.

9 World’s Most Expensive Jacket Potato

Not one of ours, though we would be quite happy to add it to your menu if you are happy to pay the premium. This one was created by the chef at the Cary Arms in Babbacombe Devon. Most of the potato is spooned out and replaced with a mixture of creme fraiche, lemon, chives and spring onions topped by Italian Calvisius caviar. Served with balsamic roasted vine tomatoes and a glass of champagne. £40 lets you try this culinary masterpiece.

10 Sweet Jacket Potato With Roast Grape, Goats Cheese and Honey

Again not one of ours, but this in definitely on the list to try at the next event. Sweet potato with a mixture of roast grapes honey and goats cheese.

These are only a sample of what is available. If you are holding an event and require a jacket potato stall we can work with you on a customised menu just for you.

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Catering, Fun Story

Hot Chocolate, Our Two Challengers

20 April 2021

One of our most popular options, especially in the winter months, is hot chocolate. Drinking chocolate, cocoa, call it what you will. That lovely dark smooth chocolate drink. We offer two options for the type of chocolate we use so we are going to look at the choices. First thought lets take a quick look at the history of the drink.

History

Evidence suggests that the Mayan civilisation was consuming chocolate as far back as 500B.C., and may well have predated that. The drink of that time was served cold, by grounding cocoa seeds into a paste and mixing it with water, cornmeal, chilli peppers and other ingredients. It would be poured back and forwards between containers to develop a thick foam.

At that time, sugar wasn’t present in the Americas, so the drink would have been rather bitter. Vanilla and other spices were added to offset this.

Europeans didn’t come into contact with the drink until 1502, on the fourth voyage of columbus. When Cortes defeated the Aztecs he demanded their valuables. These included cocoa beans and the equipment to make drinking chocolate, bringing them back to Spain in 1528. The drink gained popularity, with cocoa even being given as part of the cowry when members of the Spanish Royal family married other European royals.

Sweet Chocolate

When sugar was eventually added it created the drink we know today. It became a luxury item with the first chocolate houses (like a modern day coffee shop) charging upto 75 pence in 1657. The equivalent of upto £65 a cup nowadays. The great Samuel Pepys wrote about consuming drinking chocolate after the coronation of Charles II in 1661. Ostensibly to settle his stomach.

Coenraad Johannes van Houten

This Dutch gentleman developed a cocoa powder producing machine in the Netherlands. It separated the greasy cocoa butter from the seeds, leaving a pure chocolate powder behind. This was much easier to stir into hot milk or water. It also led to the discovery of solid chocolate.

Nowadays it is widely consumed throughout the world. The Americans drinking a rather thin instant version compared to the thicker European brew. Spain and Italy are noteworthy in adding cornstarch to produce an extremely thick drink. It is a traditional accompaniment to the SPanish dessert of Churros.

So what hot chocolate’s do we use?

Cadbury’s Hot Chocolate

Easily the U.K.’s most popular drinking chocolate, and for good reason, it just tastes so good. John Cadbury opened a grocers store in Birmingham in 1824. A Quaker, he felt that tea, coffee and drinking chocolate’s were a healthy alternative to alcohol.

By 1824, he was producing 16 different varieties of hot chocolate, available as both a powder or a pressed cake.

1906 saw the creation of Bournville Cocoa, made from adding carbonate of potash to the cocoa mix, it created a slightly less bitter drink.

Today we use the classic Cadburys drinking chocolate, made with hot milk (the water version just doesn’t do it for us), and it is easily our most booked service. For weddings and other special events we add Baileys Cream, creating a delightful alcoholic concoction that is oh so smooth.

Charbonnel Et Walker

A certain Mme Virginie Eugenie Charbonnel, from the esteemed Maison Boissier chocolate house in Paris. Set up shop with Mrs Minnie Walker to open a shop in Bond Street Mayfair in 1875 with the encouragement of Edward VII. Their original shop was branded Parisian Confectioners and Bon Bon Manufacturers.

Their drinking chocolate is sold as chocolate flakes rather than powder. It doesn’t mix into milk as well as the Cadbury’s offering, so we tend to use hot water to create a thick chocolate sludge then mix this into the hot milk.

It is a fabulous chocolate, but more of an acquired taste containing a darker chocolate than others. Almost everyone has drunk and enjoyed Cadburys hot chocolate, and the different taste can throw their taste buds a little. Truth be told most of the people who book this option are doing so to add a touch of perceived luxury to their event.

So what would we recommend ?

Smoothness

Cadburys *****5

Charbonnel *****5

They are both smooth, top class options with nothing to choose between them.

Taste

Cadburys *****5

Charbonnel ****4

There isn’t anything wrong with the Charbonnel, and no doubt some will prefer it, but Cadbury’s is the classic taste that most people recognise as THE hot chocolate.

Ease Of Use

Cadburys *****5

Charbonnel ****4

Cadburys mixes into the hot milk with ease. Charbonnel flakes need to be mixed with hot water to create a paste that is mixed into the milk.

Overall

Cadburys 15/15

Charbonnel 13/15

They are both great drinking chocolate. Rich, creamy and smooth. But honestly, if we had to choose one it would be the classic Cadburys offering. It tastes easily as good as any other chocolate out there, and it is still what most people expect hot chocolate to taste like.

Sources;

Cadburys

Charbonnel Et Walker

Spruce Eats

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