Yorkshire Gold teabags

By ‘eck, ‘appen I’ve only bin sent 80 teabags from the reet nice folks at Yorkshire Tea.

Yes, it is true, last week Freeloader House took delivery of a consignment of Taylors of Harrogate’s finest – Yorkshire Gold.

And what a cuppa it is, but I’ll come to that in good time, consider the next few paragraphs as a metaphorical bag-brewing.

Firstly the packaging transports one to a world of rolling hills, playful sheep and dry-stone walls, flinty folk drinking ale, and obviously tea, and if one cocks one’s ear in a particular direction; the sound of leather on willow wisps on the wind, as another hardy gentlemen thwacks a six over the bowler’s head.

It is like Emmerdale, but with all sexual deviancy taken out.

Or like Midsomer Murders minus the murders – a Hobbit-like realm of simplicity and joy.

Ah, I think our metaphorical teabag has been submerged long enough.

The dark reddish liquid in my mug is now begging, gasping for the last ingredient – milk – I don’t take sugar, as I’m sweet enough.

I add a small amount of semi-skimmed to the cup and after stirring am left with a fine, balanced and beautifully-brewed mug of nut-brown tea.

And the complex rich cuppa certainly hit the spot, I had it with a nice slice of ginger cake… here’s to the other 79 bags!

• For more information go to http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/
• Do you have something I can freeload? Email me shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk
  
  

Ring of fire meltdown pizza from Domino's Pizza

With hated January nearly at an end and diets and detoxes running out of steam as the frost bites, why not warm up with something spicy?

And you don’t get much spicier than a stuffed crust ring of fire meltdown pizza from Domino’s.

This bad boy was seemingly crafted from molten lava!

Toppings on this hot tamale include meatballs, jalapenos, and English mustard.

I was challenged to eat one of the beasts, and being a fan of fiery foodstuffs I was only to happy to accept.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: “Fancy a challenge? How are you with hot food? “Perhaps you’d like to try our Meltdown pizza – it’s our hottest yet.”

And I can attest it was a spicy one, but being iron-gutted and asbestos-mouthed I managed it, and it was delicious.

So, if you can’t be bothered to cook and fancy pepping up your evening, the ring of fire meltdown pizza is a must!

 Visit www.dominos.co.uk for more details

• Do you have something I can freeload? Email me: shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk

ASK Italian - numero due

This is my second review of ASK Italian.

But my view is; if you don’t ASK Italian, you don’t get, er Italian.

My dining partner and I sauntered into the modern surroundings of the Welwyn Garden City branch of the popular chain of ristaurante Italianos.

Asked what name to book our table under I used the nom de guerre ‘Tim Bryce’, for anonymity is the way of the freeloader.

Anyway, on to the food.

We began with a generous bowl of olives and Italian bread – the perfect appetisers.

They were rapidly followed by my starter (my partner in dine eschewed the entrees, saving space for the mains).

I chose Prosciutto e Rucola – a superb salad, replete with fresh, sliced mushrooms, prosciutto ham, wedge of lemon and crisp rocket.

Onwards and outwards (waistline-wise), I went for a gorgeous calzone next, and my companion chose the largest lasagne I’ve ever clapped eyes on!

Needless to say it wasn’t finished – I defy anyone to polish off the tasty looking beast.

Dessert was next up, and the butterscotch cheesecake caught my eye immediately. Beautifully presented by the always attentive and courteous staff, it was a treat.

My smaller-appetited companion opted simply for a dark and rich hot chocolate.

Eager to make my meal complete I also ordered a livening double espresso to round off the feast.

And, after we bade our hosts farewell and headed out into the cold night air,  

I resolved to recommend ASK Italian all over again. 

• Do you have something I can freeload? Email me: shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk

Finlandia grapefruit vodka

Anyone who knows me, which may well be a fairly limited list of close confidantes considering my cloak of anonymity, will know that I’m partial to a drop of booze from time to time.

And so it is my gleeful duty to report that those nice people at Finlandia despatched a 35cl bottle of smooth grapefruit vodka to Freeloader House.

I stored the liquor in the freezer and decided to try it both neat over ice as those crazy Finns would neck it, plus I was told it went well with cranberry juice so tried it that way too.

1. Neat: Strong, smooth and satisfying… a real winter warmer.
2. With cranberry juice: Multi-layered, complex and refreshing.

Having tried grapefruit vodka both ways I have to say I preferred it neat.

I was transported to one of those ice bars, and in my mind’s eye could see polar bears wandering on a giant glacier mint and igloos on an ice flat, although maybe that was the vodka

talking!

• For more information go to: http://www.finlandia.com/flavour.aspx?id=81
• Do you have something I can freeload? Email me: shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk

Frankie & Benny's

Whoever the probably fictitious ‘Frankie’ and ‘Benny’ are, after whom the eponymous chain of restaurants is named, I’d like to heartily thank them for a fantastic freebie.

My dining partner and I chowed down on a superb meal at one of their eateries the other week.

The grim grey car park at the ‘leisure complex’ quickly gave way to an inviting eaterie, so much so that the ugliness of this particular town (Stevenage), was forgotten amid the heady aromas of pizza, steaks and pasta.

We began with tomato and nut pesto breads and tasty calamari.

I enjoyed a monster 16oz rump steak which sat invitingly across the entire breadth of the plate, while my fellow diner opted for pasta arrabiata.

Naturally I enjoyed a large glass of pinot noir to wash down the enormous slab of beef, cooked medium rare just the way I like it.

It was accompanied by mushrooms, chips and cherry tomatoes.

But, if I’m honest, the additional gubbins were forgotten as I sliced into the delicious steak, which was so tender it fell apart.

There was (just about) room for dessert, so I opted for a light sorbet.

My dining partner had an ice cream sundae.

The meal was rounded off perfectly with a double espresso.

I’ll certainly be going back to Frankie & Benny’s (especially if they send me another voucher!).

• For more information go to www.frankieandbennys.com


• Do you have anything I can freeload? Email me at shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk

My MesmerEyez Halloween horror story

The fundamental tenets of this blog are and always will be freeloading and honesty.

With that in mind I can tell you that I managed to freeload some MesmerEyez contact lenses and that I didn't think they were very good.

I wanted this post to be a 'Hey, are you stuck for Halloween ideas? Try these' kind of caper.

But, after spending an increasingly frustrating 20 minutes trying to append the 'Xtreme Twilight' three-month disposable contacts to my eyeballs, I was forced to give up.

At this juncture it would probably be a good idea to state that I do not wear contact lenses.

 

 

But, I have worn novelty Halloween contact lenses before, and I found them a lot easier to install than these flimsy examples.

Also, presumably MesmerEyez is targeting these at other non-contactoids too.

I must admit that the designs themselves are stunning and was mightily disappointed not to be able to goggle at my own werewolfed or zombiefied reflection.

The packaging (for what it's worth) is also a very eye-catching and attractive black/gold combo.

 

But I suppose the adage that all that glitters is is not gold applies here.

If anyone else has better luck with these, please let me know or comment below.

To get the lenses go to www.mesmereyez.com/

• Do you have something I can freeload? Email me: shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk

Plasa 2012 - Trade show freeloading

Throughout my career as a shameless freeloader I have come to realise that some of the best places to acquire gratis goods are trade shows.

The token trinkets are often fairly dull, like branded pencils/pens, lanyards or keyrings.

But more exciting quarry can be had too as I found at this year’s Plasa event, held a couple of weeks ago at London’s Earl’s Court.

Stalls at Plasa, which is an exhibition of music equipment, concert rigging and other such stuff, were stacked with free bags and complimentary cookies.

Not very interesting you may think.  

And you’d be right.

But with a little research there is gold to be found amid the mud.

I found out that by attending two mind-meltingly dull demos at the show I could get a pair of £35 Sennheiser/Adidas earphones.

Prior to this the best freebies I’d snaffled had been free ice cream and a glass of Diet Coke.

But, as the afternoon wore on the big potatoes were wheeled out, namely a free bar.

As I quaffed glass after glass of free indeterminate lager with Jaegermeister chasers I inspected my (obviously branded) bag of goodies.

The haul included, four lanyards, a car air freshener, a pencil, a pen, two bags, the aforementioned earphones and, bizarrely, a packet of Cadbury’s Chocolate Buttons.

As I sat there I silently toasted another successful freeloading expedition – cheers!

• Do you have something I can freeload? Email me shamelessfreeloader@hotmail.co.uk