howies®

One of Wales’s most sexy men, Wil Gritten has flown back from his Bondi Beach pad for a whirlwind UK tour. Wil, who has modelled all over the world for some of the biggest fashion houses, was once voted Wales’ 13th sexiest man by the Western Mail. But all that posing is behind him. Now he grows organic vegetables, surfs and makes weird music. He also writes books, in which he talks about his travels and confesses his secrets. Letting Go is one of the first four titles in an exciting new series…

Wil says goodbye to his family and friends in North Wales, and hello to adventure in South America, heading into the unknown, away from comfort and predictability in a bid to ‘let go’. From the beach he lives on with only a stray dog for company, to his final destination with its tearful goodbyes, Wil shares the joys and the trials of his search for freedom of the soul. He talks candidly of friendships, drugs, sex, politics, of the fear and elation he experiences along the way, of how dangerously close ‘letting go’ can come to ‘losing it’ when the boundary between exploration and hedonism becomes blurred. 

This is no ordinary series of books. To start with, all four authors are pretty damn young (and also, possibly, pretty, young, and damned). Before they’d turned thirty, they had each approached Parthian with their manuscripts, which varied in style and genre, but were all examples of exceptional literary talent. The Bright Young Things series was born.

7.30 pm Tuesday 21st of September, howies Carnaby Street.. pop down to hear Wil talk of his travels and adventures, we have organic beer and juices, and plenty of chairs to perch on. Tickets are free as usual but give us a ring on 0207 287 2345 or drop us an email CarnabySt@howies.co.uk to reserve your place.

We had a full house last night for The Ride Journal’s Wee Do talk. Lots of people…

Lots of bikes…

Lots of fun. A big thank you to everyone who came to see it, and of course the Diprose brothers (The Ride Journal creators) for a really good talk. And an extra thank you to Innocent Drinks and Pitfield Beers (we had a fair few) for keeping us hydrated.

It was inspirational stuff. See you at the next one!

hello to everyone who is planning to come along to tonight’s talk, if you are needing a place to park your bikes then could you get down a little earlier approx 7:15pm?  just so we can find places to squeeze them all in.

thanks,

see you later on!

this Tuesday, 7th September we have the creators of  ‘the ride journal’ joining us at Carnaby Street to do a Wee Do Lecture.

they will be here to tell us all about the inspiration behind the books, how they put their ideas into reality, the huge success they have now become and what’s going to be happening from here. 

if you missed your chance to get hold of the first 3 they are available to download from the website and are well worth it, issue 4 is still currently available to buy but be quick because i doubt they will hang around for long.

the lecture will begin at 7:30pm, if you would like to come down or know anyone else who may like to come then just drop us an email at carnabyst@howies.co.uk or ring us on 0207 287 2345 and reserve your free tickets.

the usual beers and juices will be available to quench your thirsts.

we hope to hear from you all soon!

REAL BREAD

1.Local, stoneground flour

2.Water (more if its wholemeal flour – wholemeal keeps absorbing water after its made into dough)

3.Seasalt (has the potassium, magnesium and other trace minerals lacking in table salt)

4.Yeast (fresh or a sourdough starter)

5.Time & patience (rise once in warm area, re-shape, then leave to rise overnight – slowly risen bread is reportedly more easily digested)

6.Bake in a very hot oven and moisten with a spray of water.

That’s it – Tom enjoys keeping things simple.

Thank you to everyone who turned up to Tom Herbert’s Wee Do last night at the Bristol shop, and to Bristol Beer Factory for providing the beer that helped all the bread go down so well.

Tom gave away lots of bread baking tips and tales and I’m going to try and share the highlights with you now.

If anyone is reading this who attended the talk and feels I have neglected to mention a useful titbit of information, please feel free to comment.

We discovered that the history of civilisation is all about growing the grains that make the bread – flat bread to start with , then the canny Egytians sealed grains away for storage and accidentally invented sour dough.

Wealthy people always had white bread because it was harder to produce white flour.

‘The upper crust’ was eaten by the wealthier ‘upper classes’ because the bottom of the bread always got burnt.

My favourite tale from Tom’s family baking heritage is that his grandad used to sleep on top of a huge container of raising dough, and would get woken as it tipped him of in the morning, all risen and ready to be baked!

Tom is involved with the Real Bread Campaign who have home baking advice and tips on how to source ‘real bread’ from local bakers.

If you check out the Bristol Local Food Directory you can find where to source fresh yeast and local flours.

After many bread baking dilemma questions were answered we got down to the business of sharing the bread. It was a fun evening so thanks to everyone who made it.  We’d love to hear how people have got on with their new bread baking knowledge so do let us know.  If you haven’t given it a go yet here is the recipe Tom was using to make the dough last night.

Next Thursday, Tom Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery is going to be talking about all things baking and artisan bread.

As usual there will be free drinks on offer and maybe this time even some nibbles.

If you would like to reserve your place please tweet us @howiesbristol, email bristolshop@howies.co.uk, call 01179298928 or pop into the shop and pick up a ticket, you could also accept our invitation on facebook.

Its the last Wee Do whilst I’m still working at the Bristol shop so I hope to see all my favourite Bristol customers in attendance to say farewell. See you there, Amy :o)

                                       On July 29th we have our second Wee Do of the year. As usual there will be free drink and good conversation on offer.

Come along and listen to a woman who has been changing lives for the better since she began the Deki project whilst still at University in Bristol. Find out what motivated her to not just chatter about the state of the world, but do something to make a difference.

Pop into the shop to get your ticket or reserve your place via email at bristolshop@howies.co.uk or call on 0117 929 8928.

Our Wee Dos are always a relaxed,  inspiring way to spend an hour or  two on Thursday evening, whatever the weather, so see you there.

we still have a few places left so get in touch if you would like to come along!

On July 29th we have our second Wee Do of the year. As usual there will be free drink and good conversation on offer.

Come along and listen to a woman who has been changing lives for the better since she began the Deki project whilst still at University in Bristol. Find out what motivated her to not just chatter about the state of the world, but do something to make a difference.

Pop into the shop to get your ticket or reserve your place via email at bristolshop@howies.co.uk or call on 0117 929 8928.

Our Wee Dos are always a relaxed,  inspiring way to spend an hour or  two on Thursday evening, whatever the weather, so see you there.

Good news, after a short break we have the Wee Do’s back  up and running once again.

Sofia Hagberg co founder of ‘End of the Road’ music festival will be coming along to tell us her stories of how she turned her dream festival into a reality. She will be sharing with us her reasons for doing it, where her ideas came from, how it got off the ground, the high and low’s and all the behind the scenes happenings of a festival that you normally never get to hear about, it’s going to be a really interesting talk. (click on the ‘End of the Road’ link above to find out more about the festival).

if you would like to come along for a drink and a listen then please email us at carnabyst@howies.co.uk or give us a ring on 02072872345 and reserve you seat.

the talk will take place at 7:30pm on Tuesday 20th July here at the shop and we will be supplying the usual range of beer and juices so go don’t go home after work, bring your friends and come join us!