A little late, but last weekend we had a stand at the Netley Marsh Steam Rally in Hampshire. The weather looked as though it was not going to be kind to us but Saturday and Sunday turned out to be OK.
The steam rally started in 1971 when they needed to raise funds for urgent repairs to St Matthews church. Among the attractions was Billy the owl, start of the latest Harry Potter film. The steam rally has up to 10,000 visitors and many of them stay the weekend in their caravans or motor homes.
We had a 30 foot stand and the Thermos Shuttle Chef was our main item for sale. Just before the show we received our first shipment of pots from Australia. These hang from the top of the Shuttle Chef inner pot and means that you can cook accompaniments such as rice or vegetables in this pot while cooking the main meal underneath. This make the whole cooker so much more versatile. We were selling it for £24.99 or £20.00 if you buy it with a Shuttle Chef.
We had a lots of interest, and questions over the weekend. As usual the cake was the biggest talking point. We had made a lemon drizzle cake for Saturday and this was very popular. Each day I demonstrated the making of chilli con carne with rice. I used minced beef, a large onion, a packet of "Discovery" Mexican wicked chilli spice mix, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of red kidney beans. I like to add a little chopped lemon (with skin) to give that slightly tart taste that contrasts with the heat of the chilli.
By the end of the weekend we had sold a number of Shuttle Chefs and all but one had included the new extra pot.
We will certainly be doing this show again next year.
Dave
