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Hotpod News in 2011
Keep up to date with the news and press on Hotpod.
Click on the month to find out more:
No news so far in 2011.
We all had a lovely Christmas/ New Year break and enjoyed living, walking surfing and mine exploring?? (Dans new interest) in this beautifull part of the world.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Oh, and lucys "Prepod" the stove which all the Hotpods are modeled on celebrates its 10th Birthday this January. So watch this space while we work out how we are going to celebrate 10 years of the Hotpod.
Hotpod is awarded “The Most Wanted Green Product of 2009” by readers of Kitchen's & Bathrooms news – we're really proud! Thank you guys, we really appreciate the recognition.
Our network of retailers continues to grow, making it easier and much more fun for people to see and play with a Hotpod ‘in the metal'. But we're still looking for more retailers to join the Hotpod family...
And, in this traditionally quiet time in the world of home heating, we are investing in our infrastructure to make our customer service more seamless – Dan and Lucy are great at communicating with each other, but then when you throw in the mix a pesky Phoebe and loads of enquiries it can all get a bit out of hand. Not afraid of a bit of IT geeking, we have asked our IT/Telephony-wizard mate Greg (who, Dan named his first VW bus after – the one with the Beetle stuck to the roof) to help us set up a better telephone and contact management system – we're going to be efficient, but, don't worry, still a little daft (or is it just creativity?).
Try giving us a call! (01736 797285) We're that proud of our new telephone system – now you'll nearly always get through to us rather than an answer-phone. Sounds an obviously good idea, but it has taken a little while for us to get it sorted – thank you for bearing with us. And thank you Greg for whipping us into shape. OK, so now you have to go through a bit of a recorded “press 1 for....” system, but it means you'll get to the right person straight away (Dial 1 for Phoebe, 2 for Lucy, 3 for Dan). We actually sound a bit big and efficient now, but please be assured it is the same old us – small and efficient. We hope you like our waiting music to... honestly!
Full of the joys of spring, we're more prone to jumping in the sea these days, and with that clock change the after-work surf is back – can't wait.
We were the smug ones who drove to Switzerland rather than flying to our Easter break. Of course our motivation was lower environmental impact and taking Dan's van to play in the snow rather than volcanic fall-out. Our friends Hugo & Anoushka have just finished building their awesome chalet in Switzerland, and we were the luckiest mates to be invited out for a few days holiday in the snow. Sadly, Lucy was away in warmer climes teaching Yoga (international Yoga teacher extraordinaire), so it was Dan, Phoebe, Angelo and Julius in the van for the epic road-trip South East. The van did amazingly, and we made it there and back without a hitch, (come on, that's amazing for a 20 year old VW!!) and some happy memories. Have a look at Hugo & Anoushka's amazing chalet: it is truly beautiful, with stunning 200+ degree views of the Swiss Alps in all their glory. Not to mention the Hot-tub... sauna... relaxing heaven. Of course, we certainly deserved all that luxury with all the hard-core snowboarding and skiing during the day – we were blessed with lots of snow, and lots of sunshine, so a happy time was had by all. We'll be uploading some fun clips of the trip on our YouTube channel shortly... http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHotpod watch this space.
This time of year is a great time to do some work on the foundations of the Hotpod business – while no one is really thinking of heating their homes (summer's feeling like it's here already!), we have a bit of breathing space to do things like developing the website, working on a new instruction booklet, setting up contact management systems, new telephone system, and generally making sure things are tickety-boo behind the scenes. It sounds as though we should all be incredibly efficient now, but it's still the same old bunch of mates using the tools – so we'll see!
Dan and Phoebe have joined a band (Dan on bass, Phoebe on Hammond), and the first gig, which was at a bar on the beach in Perranporth, went really well – more gigs lined up for the summer. Lucy is number one groupie, and the best dancer, we still think we need Lucy as backing singer / tambourine player?? Lead singer is Chris, who helps Dan out with Hotpod creations in the winter, so it really should be called the Hotpod band... but it aint!
It is called the "Sandy Acre 7" and you can see live videos on the Hotpod YouTube channel.
Phoebe came home!
After 9 amazing months travelling around the globe, Phoebe has come back home to Cornwall, and back to her friends and the Hotpod team – refreshed and ready to work! Phoebe will be busy helping with marketing, sales and communications, enabling Dan to concentrate on being creative and Lucy to focus on her Yoga. Hopefully making every one happy!
Dan & Lucy’s mission to Switzerland
Friends, Hugo & Anoushka, have recently completed an impressive chalet build in Switzerland. Dan & Lucy offered to help out by driving a van full of kit to furnish the new home from London to the mountainside resort of Thyon (near Sion). It was an exhausting weekend, but spending time at the luxurious chalet with Hugo & Anoushka was worth it. Go to http://www.bestique.co.uk/chaletfeiler.htm for more information.
Oh so Scilly
Dan, Lucy and the boys have just got back from their summer holidays - a week in the Scillies spending time with Dan's parents, completely relaxing and eating lots of fish (this is Dan's new hobby - fishing!). Phoebe is also back from her adventures around the globe, and David back from his annual visit to Finland so the whole Hotpod team is back! Refreshed! And raring to go!
We hope that you, too, have had a chance to relax for a week or two over the summer at some point - perhaps you joined the throngs of other holiday makers here in Cornwall -we find it beautiful here, even in the rain. Lucky us to live here!
Down at the veg patch
Things grew...
And they're feeding the entire Hotpod crew fantastically (Phoebe loves going to dinner with Lucy's ace cooking).
A couple of weeks ago, Ewon commented on all the beautiful butterflies on the veg patch, when Lucy told him they were cabbage whites, he wasn't sure if it was OK to still like them - of course you are! But the caterpillars have done a fair bit of damage to the cabbages and brussel sprouts since the gardeners have been away on the Scillies.
Fortunately, no one will starve because of the hungry caterpillars - the home-grown veg is topped up with a locally grown veg box, which Lucy writes recipes for - here's one for the enormous amount of Super-food Curly Kale around at this time of year...
Deep fried curly kale
ingredients:
1kg curly kale
1 tsp Salt (opt) - Dan likes salt
2 tsp sugar (opt) - The Boys like sugar
Sunflower oil, for deep frying
method:
1. Using a sharp knife, remove the thick stalks from the kale, and any snails and any other crawly creatures. If you don't want extra crunch when you are munching - here's this totally unhealthy tasty way to get your greens sorted - leave to soak in salted water, most of the bugs float to the top
2. Remember to rinse well
3. Dry the kale (this step is vitally important to ensure that it remains crisp when deep-fried)
4. Finely shred the leaves
5. Heat the oil in a wok or deep fat fryer until slightly smoking. Deep-fry the shredded greens (this is best done in batches), for about 30 seconds until they turn a slightly darker green and begin to crisp. Remove them immediately using a slotted spoon, drain well on kitchen paper and leave to cool
6. Transfer the kale to a bowl and sprinkle with salt and sugar to taste.
Enjoy!
Busy in the forge
As we head towards the 2009 winter season, the Hotpod team have been busy preparing for the long-awaited launch of Hotpod Unlimited into stove showrooms around the country. Dan has been working hard finalising casting specifications, and also developing the Limited Edition design still further refining the new liner and baffle.
Lucy had a fantastic weekend teaching yoga at the Island Hotel on Tresco in the Scillies – could life get much better? The next Yoga weekend on Tresco is in May 2010, go to www.lucyaldridge.co.uk for more information.
Of course, it hasn’t been all work, so with all the beautiful autumn sunshine and September swell, we’ve managed to squeeze in an end of summer beach Barbeque with friends, and a few sunny surfs and walks – just what Cornwall’s all about.
Hotpod features in the Telegraph Magazine
(Dan was stoked as he got to drive his camper on the cliffs...)
The response has been amazing so thank you to everyone who got in touch and big thanks to Angela Wintle for writing the article, Michelle Sank for taking the photos and of course the Telegraph Magazine.
