So if you failed to keep your New Years Resolutions (we did) or this year has generally been a bit crap so far (well it has really), don't fret my lovelies because in China the year's only just begun! Waheeeyyyyy!
And, surprise surprise, we've come up with a sandwich to celebrate. Now I don't know about you, but here at Sillis we feel that it's not a party without a sandwich. We've done the leg work for you so you don't have to triad (get it?!) to welcome in the Year of the Snake...
The Chinese Triad
Confit crispy duck slow roasted with chillis and spring onion and served with chilli mayo and cheese on a tasty-nice baguette (as per!)
So get down to Sillis for a chat and a lovely sarnie, or we'll set this young whippersnapper on you.
Considering that the sun’s been cracking the flags so much
recently we thought we’d give you all a summery treat here at Sillis HQ. Soooo
this week it’s the pretty random and not even vaguely relevant sandwich of the
week:
The Spanish Senorita!
Ole! It’s freshly roast chicken with chorizo served hotttt
with cheese and homemade BBQ sauce.
So even when the weather’s blummin’ miserable outside, you
can turn up Jazzy Jeff, close your eyes and tuck into your Sillis. We can't promise it will actually magically stop raining/snowing, but what we do know is that you might look a bit mental at work. Great stuff.
As you may or may not (probably not...) already know, today is legendary
Scottish poet (of Auld Lang’s Syne fame, no less!) Robert Burns’ 254th
birthday. Old git. Little bit random, buuuut any excuse to celebrate here at Sillis so
we’ve come up with an extra-mega-super-special Scots sarnie for you this week!
"Git down ta Sillis ya wee scoundrels!"
Rabbie Burns (available Monday-Saturday)
Baked haggis served hot with cheese, apricot relish, fresh
salad and gorgeously creamy black pepper mayonnaise. Now traditionally, before you tuck in we ought to say: Some hae meat and canna eat and some wad eat that want it but we hae meat and we can eat and sae let the Lord be thankit But since we have absolutely no idea what that means, you
just go aheed and nosh yir haggis.
The lovely and very talented James Christy took a bit of time out from his busy gigging schedule to answer a few questions for us this week! James and Adam Williams, 22 and 16 respectively, have just released their first album together. James has Asperger's Syndrome and all the proceeds from their album 'Ambitious' go to Ambitious about Autism.
Hi James! So how did you get into the music industry - where did it all begin?
It started when I was at school. My music teacher heard me sing and said I had to do the next school production. I did it and loved every minute so put all my effort into finding places to perform, contacted a few agents and got loads of work. A year later I was playing guitar and writing songs.
Was it always your dream to make music?
I didn't know what I wanted to do for a long while. I flirted with being a cartographer (someone who makes maps) for a while! Ha! When I discovered I could sing it was all that I wanted to do and I focused on that.
Who have been your biggest influences, both musicians that inspire you and people that have helped you realise your dreams?
To be honest my biggest influence has got to be my dad. When I got diagnosed with Aspergers and Epilepsy he gave up his job to be my full time carer. My love of music came from my dad; he was playing in a country rock band when I was growing up so strangely enough I now love 3 or 4 part harmonies and storytelling lyrics- I try to encorporate both into my song writing now.
How has your Aspergers influenced you in terms of music - has having a condition like that made you feel you should fight even harder for what you want?
The Aspergers has made me more focused on music and has given me the wonderful ability to learn songs quickly. Most Aspergers tend to get really stuck into certain subjects, throughout my life I've been incredibly interested in dinosaurs, seals and music so I'm glad I finally chose to work in music.
We've listened to your album preview on YouTube and we're loving the sound (I can hear bits of a Santana influence in there) - your album with Adam Williams came out last month, I guess that got you pretty excited?
I'm incredibly excited, this is my first real release. We co-wrote and I produced/recorded the album in my home studio. This is just the start, I've got lot of solo recordings coming out in the next month, this next year is going to be incredible!
What's been the best gig you've ever done? Or a defining moment that made you think 'yes! This is what it's all about!'
That's a hard one. I've gigged all over the country in lots of amazing venues but I have to say playing at the Guild Hall in Preston to 1000 people tops the lot.
Any diva traits you can confess to?
Ooo that's a difficult one I'm a little OCD don't know if that counts but hey! I like to be organised and try to be professional at all times. I haven't asked for only blue m&ms yet!
What's coming up in the future for you?
I've got a single with Adam out in a couple of weeks called 'Runaway' and my own solo album out this month. Just in the process of organising some gigs for the New Year. Sign up to my mailing list on my website and I'll let you all know about any gigs in Manchester and the surrounding area that come up.
What does music mean to you?
Music is my life and I can't imagine myself without it, I will do this all my life, no doubt.
Do you have an all-time favourite song?
I like loads of different stuff but my favourite song has to be The Beatles - In My Life; the song is just incredible.
We love The Beatles too! So, where can we buy your album?
iTunes, Amazon and direct on my website. I must say on my website as it's cheaper than the other two so grab a bargain - it's all for charity.
Aaaand finally, what's your favourite sandwich?
Anything with chicken, I love chicken! Well, we suggest James gets his bum down to Sillis pronto to try our famous jerk chicken! So we'd just like to say a huuuge thank you to James for taking the time to chat with us. You can check out his website here to sign up to the mailing list, or like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter. Lovely stuff. Keep listening guys! Sillis xxx
Perhaps you forgot her birthday, maybe you got a little bit too tipsy last Christmas and have been avoiding her ever since... well, you could do a lot worse than to turn up with an enormously gorgeous Sillis cake on Christmas Day. Guaranteed to get you back in the good books!
Family Favourite: Chocolate Fudge Cake
Sillis' Christmas Chocolate Fudge cake... 18 generous portions of super chocolatey, melt-in-the-mouth fudge cake topped with tasty handmade bourbon creams. All for just £25!
Santa's Favourite: Chocolate Yule Log
Well over a foot of chocolatey, caramely goodness: it's the Sillis' Yule Log! A Christmas favourite every time, this cake is just £16.50 and serves 18 but don't forget to leave a slice for Santa!
Rudolph's Favourite: Festive Carrot and Gingernut Cake
A new take on Rudolph's favourite, Sillis' carrot cake is topped with crumblicious gingernut creams, with a few more round the edge for more spicy deliciousness this Christmas. This cake is just £23 and serves an indulgent 18 party guests.
Everyone's Favourite: Homemade Jammy Dodger Victoria Sponge
If you fancy a British classic with a twist this Crimbo, you'd better opt for our gorgeously soft Victoria Sponge topped with handmade Jammy Dodgers. Serving 18 festive friends, this cake is just £18 and is guaranteed to go down a treat with your Bucks Fizz this Christmas for classic British Christmassy loveliness. Yum yum.
So if you want this Christmas to really go off with a bang, make sure you treat the nearest 'n dearest to one of our scrumptious cakes.
If you want a different size or something special making just for you, just get in touch either on Facebook or Twitter, or of course our baking elves are just a phone call away on: 0161 947 9928
The nights are drawing in and we're a mere 21 days from Christmas... to celebrate here at Sillis we've created a super special seasonal sandwich that's a bit different to your average Christmas fayre!
It's Scrooge! All this for just £4...
Fresh thyme and garlic roasted pork served with apricot-stuffed sausage meat jampacked onto a toasted, freshly baked salt 'n pepper stick with crispy salad and gorgeous cranberry mayo.
And if that doesn't get your juices flowing, well Bah Humbug! to you.
And make sure you keep checking back because Sillis elves are gonna be especially busy making lots of gorgeous Christmassy cakes for you. Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
As we're sure you're all aware by now, music plays a big part in everything we do here at Sillis! This week we're paying a sandwich-shaped tribute to the legendary New York Club Studio 54.
Studio 54 opened its doors as a nightclub in 1977 and transformed New York's nightlife, known during the late 70s to be the best nightclub in the world. Although Studio 54 was first known as a pioneer in the disco world, it later became famous for its deep house influence.
What the queue for Sillis' sandwich of the week might look like this week.
So come on down and celebrate a love and passion for music and food at Sillis!
New York Club 54, £4.00
Crispy bacon, funky chorizo and gorgeously roasted chicken served with wholegrain mustard, mayo, tomato relish and salad all on a freshly baked salt 'n pepper stick.
It's that time again! Sillis' fabulous sandwich of the week...
As
popular now as it was on release forty years ago, The Godfather is one of our
all-time fave films here at Sillis. This week’s ruthlessly delicious sandwich
of the week is an offer you can’t refuse, in tribute to Francis Ford Coppola’s
masterpiece:
Sicilian
Godfather
12oz
steak burger with crispy bacon, melted cheese, gorgeously tangy balsamic onions
and salad served hot hot hot on a freshly-baked salt ‘n pepper stick.
"What I want - what's most important to me - is that I have a guarantee: that this will be the tastiest sandwich I've had in forty years."
So don't break our hearts, get down to Sillis and get Don Corleone's favourite sarnie (probably) down your gullets.
And Tweet us your favourite Godfather quotes, pronto!
Last
week we had the chance to chat to Unity Radio drivetime DJ and all-round lovely
local lad Aaron Roberts about his love of music, the inspirations that drive
him and, naturally, sandwiches (what do you expect?!).
Hi Aaron! So, how did you
get into what you’re doing now?
Well
four years ago a friend of mine had a show on local community radio station All
FM, so I helped him out with a small sports section and I got the bug. I’d
always had an interest but I never really knew how to get into it. I trained at
All FM and ended up doing a degree in Radio Production at SSR. I worked at a
few different radio stations across Manchester, and started to do the drivetime
slot on All FM with Yasmin [Evans, of 1Xtra and Sillis Sandwich Blog fame] and
now I’m working at Unity Radio on the drivetime slot!
Who’s influenced you to
pursue your career in radio presenting and DJing?
Firstly,
Jason Cook from All FM. He helped me to realise that this can be a career
rather than a hobby. Then there’s Pete Reeves, who started Piccadilly Radio which
is now the huge Key 103. And last but not least, Yasmin – she made me take it
seriously.
All-time favourite radio
DJ?
Chris
Moyles. I listened to him all the way through, from start to finish. No one
comes close.
So what are your plans for
the future?
To
keep doing what I’m doing! To try to get as far as I can in presenting, but a
national show is the dream.
The star question: what
does music mean to you?
Music
is everything! The first thing I do when I wake up is put the radio on! It’s
definitely the highlight of my job, I love discovering the new but I also love
the classics. When you hear a certain song it takes you back to a special
moment in your life. For remembering stuff, music is better than photographs.
What’s your all-time
favourite song?
I worked
this out recently! It’s ‘Electric Relaxation’ by A Tribe Called Quest.
Aaaaand, what’s your favourite Sillis sandwich?
Well
I love them all [we didn’t make him say that] but if I have to choose, it’s
gotta be the Texan Crunch but with the encona mayo.
Thanks
so much for coming by Aaron! You can hear Aaron on Unity Radio 92.8 FM 4-7pm
Monday through to Thursday.
.JPG)
