Winter Wonderland, Christmas Hampers and Problem Presents

Little did I know when I decorated Garden Cafe for Christmas this week that on Saturday morning we would wake to a landscape cloaked in powdery snow and lit up by brilliant sunshine. Many of you have taken advantage of the crisp bright weather to walk the paths around the Village and to end up in the Cafe for a warming cup of coffee and one of our toasted tea cakes. Thank you all for venturing out to us and especially to the County Council for gritting the main road through the village so that you could get to us safely.

We still have two tables for four free on the evening of Saturday 4th. December should you wish to come and sample Martin's new Lamb Shank recipe. My White Chocolate and Passion Fruit Verrine with Hazelnut biscuits is worth a try too! The Cafe is decked with twinkly lights, frosty allium heads and pink baubles and looks lovely in the candlelight.

We are running out of space in the Store for all our Christmas goodies. We have baskets and hessian bags that you can fill with our jams and chutneys and make an instant present. The Sloe Gin is back in! And our chocolates are a bit different from those you can buy in the Supermarket. For the first time we are able to offer a 'Vale of Belvoir' Hamper...well, almost. It contains a Belvoir Cordial, a wedge of our own unbeatable Stilton, a Mrs King's Pork Pie, 1/2lb. jar of Hickling Honey, Sophie and Boo's delicious chutney or marmalade and a decorated Christmas Cake from The Mixing Bowl. At £25 this makes a cracking gift for a family. Order now on 01949 81321 to collect Christmas Week.

Another local supplier, Brewsters, have re-introduced their Pale Ale and Porter in bottled form in time for the festive season and we are busy working on a Lad's Hamper as we speak!

Many of you say that you always find unusual things to buy in the Store and that we are particularly good at solving that awkward present for you. We have our Tootal Vintage scarves again this year for men, fun bottle stoppers and Simon Drew puzzle books. For the older person there are miniature pots of Fallot mustard, marmalade and chutney. And for that 9 year old granddaughter (going on 19) there has just been a delivery of fabulous appliqued and stitched purses, keyrings and compact mirrors which are really irresistible. If you want to be unique, then The Jewel Box's vintage jewellery display will get your heart racing!

Less than four weeks to Christmas and counting. Don't forget to order your Turkey from us. For those of you who missed out on our Wine Tasting, come and see our new range of well priced wines. Visit us first and find something different to wow your friends. It only remains to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year from all us at the Store. We'll be back with the Blog in February. Meanwhile, stay well and warm.

Jan

Christmas Turkey, Girls and Boys Night Out and the Sound of Laughter

The light is fast fading at 5.00pm as I write to you on the first Sunday that the clocks go back heralding our descent into Winter slumber! We have had some glorious sunshine this week and the trees and hedges have shimmered with their brilliant autumn colours before all the leaves are lost and the landscape looks wintery indeed. This week we will be reverting to winter hours in the cafe and closing at 3.30pm (last orders 3.15pm) on Tuesday to Thursday. We have found in the past that once the evenings draw in our customers are not keen to venture out in the dark or in poor weather. However on Fridays and Saturdays when our hours will be normal (closing at 4.30pm) we will be serving Hambleton Toasted Teacakes with butter along with our scones and selection of cakes. We have been asked by many of you to have teacakes on the Cafe menu but have not found any which we felt were special enough. Plump with dried fruit and infused with spices, these are really yummy and not too sweet.

Now that we are motoring rapidly towards Christmas, I must remind you of Chris Hortor's Turkeys which we have been buying every year as a family for nearly a quarter of a century! They are truly fantastic. Succulent and full of flavour, the meat is as good eaten cold as straight from the oven. We will be taking orders for them from now onwards and they will be ready for collection from the Store on Christmas Eve before 12.00 noon (cash or cheques only please). We will also be able to supply free range streaky bacon and chipolata sausages from Redhill Farm to accompany them. All these animals and birds have led happy lives before gracing our table and that is something to celebrate.

We want to make your Christmas purchasing fun this year and have laid on a 'Girls and Boys Night Out' for you on Thursday, 18th. November starting at 7.00pm when there will be a wine tasting to introduce a new wine supplier, Hallgarten, a long established importer with a particular emphasis on the restaurant trade, in fact a winner of numerous awards in this category. Our son Dan buys many quality wines from them for the table at World Service, and Phil Brodie from Hallgarten will be on hand at our tasting to introduce you to at least ten new wines we will be offering in the Store. You won't find these in the supermarkets! To clear the palate you will be able to sample a range of breads from Hambleton Bakery - an offshoot of the prestigious Hambleton Hall. Some of you may not be aware that we stock these fabulous slow release yeast breads on a Friday and Saturday in the Store and they have quite a following especially from those customers who find them more digestible than the normal quick rising doughs. Tickets priced £7.50 to cover up to ten wines on taste are available at the Store. The advantage of picking them up before the event is that you can waltz straight in!

We will also be decking out the Store with our full range of Christmas stock so you will have first pick of everything on the night. Faux suede bags, sari silk scarves, beautifully packaged jams and chutneys, unusual and well priced jewellery, fun purses and stunning soaps and candles...we hope you will find something for everybody and solve those peculiarly awkward presents.

If I could have a pound for every customer who has laughed at our humorous greeting cards in the hallway of the Store, I would be rich indeed! The quirky humour of Simon Drew, Matt, Spike Milligan and Spring Chicken has had many of you sharing a laugh and a moment of happiness. And it makes the staff smile when they hear you! Look out for calendars, coasters, playing cards and tea towels with some of the funniest phrases on them. They'll make good gifts for a whole variety of people.

Our Saturday evening openings at the Cafe are filling up fast so we are adding SATURDAY, 11th. DECEMBER to the list. Do book. We'd love to see you.

On a completely different note. Do you know about TROT (Toll Rides Off-Road) Trust. There is a new toll ride providing just under four miles of off-road paths for horse riders which links in with bridleways around Kinoulton. You can join for £65 a year which is £1.25 a week. That has to be good value and keeps you safer on a horse than riding on narrow lanes, particularly in poor light or bad weather. (contact Catherine Ellis on 07976 154952)

And finally, I am asking for your involvement once again as our loyal customers. The Daily Telegraph along with Mary Portas (Queen of Shops) is running a competition for the Best Small Independent Shop. It is split up into different categories and the ones which apply to us are BEST FOR FOOD and BEST CORNER SHOP/VILLAGE SHOP. We are very keen to take part in this because we feel that our trade is constantly being eroded as customers book online for home deliveries and supermarkets start to cater for every aspect of our retail needs. We have tried here to turn our corner shop into a destination store where customers can buy not only food, but greeting cards, gifts, wine and hopefully enjoy the experience of stepping over our threshold. To end up savouring an excellent cup of coffee in our Cafe looking out across our garden to the fields beyond takes some beating. If you agree with this, PLEASE VOTE FOR US by visting telegraph.co.uk/shopawards.

See you all on 18th. November

Jan

Easy Cooking, Vintage Handbags and Too Many Apples!

Well, no Indian Summer for us this year. Instead some rather miserable, dull, wet days with the odd afternoon of golden light. Many customers are already suffering with the usual coughs and colds and the doom and gloom of economic warnings from the Government do not help one's feeling of optimism!

We do have, however, a glut of apples at the Store and, try as we might, we cannot make use of them all. They are called Keswick and fluff up in a similar way to a Bramley although they don't keep as well. We have baskets of windfalls in the Store and are asking customers to take some and make a donation to our Water Aid tin. I have been lent The Brogdale Apple & Pear Recipe Book (ISBN 1 873953 21 6) by a friend and there are some unusual ideas to try out. Our Scandinavian Apple Charlotte derives from this book and combines smooth apple puree and a crispy light breadcrumb topping.

If you're feeling out of sorts or short on time, try the Gustosecco range that has just come in. The porcini risotto is dead easy and makes a base for adding other ingredients if you want to. We were very impressed with the Pear and Cherry Compote. Delicious with yoghurt or creme fraiche. The Seggiano risottos are also worth trying and the jar they are in acts as a measuring jug as well so what could be simpler than that?! Lots of you are great fans of our Clarkes frozen meals already but for those of you who have yet to be converted these are excellent. They are homemade on the premises at Clarkes, have no nasty additives that leave an unpleasant aftertaste and are not far off what you can make yourself. Chicken in Stilton and Celery Sauce is my favourite, while Sue ferrets away Lamb Casserole with Minted Dumpling on a regular basis. We send 20 of these meals to my Mum in Surrey every month and she says that no supermarket meal compares. She loves the fish pie!

We are gradually changing our Saturday evening menu to Autumn favourites and are open on 9th. and 23rd. October. More and more people are getting to know about our evening dates, so do book early.

Our stock for the Store is coming in fast now and we have lots of new things to tempt you. Apart from packs of Christmas cards displayed on one of our card fixtures, there will not be a Santa in sight until November! Instead feast your eyes on lovely padded vintage print coat hangers and toilet bags. Or scented sachets in muslin and calico. Or giant bags of lavender bath salts.....

For those of you who have just invested in a 'must -have' winter coat or jacket, you have to see the new classic Vintage handbags Jan from Bags of Style has just delivered. In beautiful crocodile or snakeskin, they are the perfect ladylike shape and most are under £100. What's more, you're not likely to meet someone coming round the corner carrying one the same as yours!

Finally, I want to ask for your help. Eighteen months ago, the Parish Council published a Traffic Report outlining the concern the residents of Colston Bassett had for the safety of our motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and horseriders and this was presented to the Highways Department. As our customers, you will know that there are several blind bends and narrowing of the road as you travel through the village. One of the sections of the Report asked residents to fill in an Incident Report if they had had a near miss or accident or any concern while passing through. Two particular areas where minor accidents occur are on Church Gate where the road and pavement are very narrow. These incidents are not serious enough to report to the Police BUT they are happening frequently and we are trying to collect evidence. Have you experienced anything that concerned you? If so, please fill in one of our Incident Reports kept at the Store Counter and help us to make some changes.

See you soon.

Jan

p.s. The fungus I mentioned last month is called Chicken in the Wood and is edible!!

Misty Moisty Mornings, Deli Platters and Things To Do

How dramatic the mornings have been this week with the fields and woods shrouded in mist and the sun struggling to break through. All that abundance of blossom earlier in the year has now produced bumper crops of fruit, both cultivated and wild and we are all into jam and preserving mode. The birds, too, are already laying into the rowan berries and the hedgerow blackberries.

What do you think of this beauty? Anyone know its name? As I approached the fungus, it looked like a carved wooden sculpture of a bird with its wings outstretched. It was growing on the stump of a newly felled tree on the footpath to St. Mary's Church and its perfect form was breathtaking. I think it may be a good season for fungi with customers reporting frequent sightings of field mushrooms in damp grass and different fungi clustered in the crevices of dead wood. All that wet weather in August and the sudden warmth this month must have created ideal conditions.

In the Garden Cafe, our crab and smoked salmon salads have been a hit. We have also re-designed our deli platter on a huge white dinner plate. Served with mixed Italian olives, Sour Dough bread and Seggiano virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar it may include Toscana Porchetta, Mortadella, Serrano or Parma ham, Wild Boar Prosciutto, Milano, Napoli or Finnochiona Salamis. Quite a feast! Our Saturday Evenings are really taking off now and September 25th. is already fully booked. We are receiving such encouraging feedback from you all and one couple have been four times! We thought we had better give you all our dates until the end of the year as many of you have asked for more notice. so here they are:

OCTOBER 9TH & 23RD.

NOVEMBER 6TH., 20TH. & 27TH.

DECEMBER 4TH. & 18TH.

Call me mean but you cannot resist the tempting range of toiletries that are displayed on the dresser before you walk into the Cafe. Alongside our lovely Nesti soaps we now have another Italian range with dry oils and room diffusers. The packaging is all hand finished and the scents are divine. These ranges are unusual and so they make interesting and 'talked about' gifts for friends and family. Watch as we get more stock in for the run up to Christmas...I am always looking for something that will surprise you!

This month I thought we would step outside the shop and tell you a little about what is happening in Colston Bassett and nearby. We have an excellent Village Hall which is clean and warm and even has a sprung floor. So it makes the perfect venue for exercise classes of all descriptions. There's Total Body Workout with Katherine Gordon on Tuesdays 7.30 til 8.30pm, Tai-Chi with Lisa (01949 860013) from 10.00 til 11.00 on Thursday mornings and Yoga with Angela & Roger Tuck (01159 335719) on Thursday evening 7.30 til 9.00pm. Further afield, Toot Hill Academy have an exciting new range of evening classes including Jewellery Making, Italian Cookery and Latin Dancing on Tuesdays and Thursdays 7.00 til 9.00pm(01949 863044) So now the kids are back to school and the summer is over, sign up for a new challenge and say hello to Autumn!

When you next come into Colston Bassett you will be greeted by our new Boundary Signs. These have been funded by the Local Improvement Scheme run by the County Council and depict some of the landmarks of the Village. They are different at each end of Colston and we hope you will feel welcomed by them. At the same time we will be unveiling a new Village sign which will be erected outside the village hall. It has historical images which display the amazing pedigree of Colston Bassett and allude to the long reign of the Basset family from Norman times onward. Look out for it...it is unique!

See you soon

Jan

Award Winning Producers, Summer Scents and Nectarine Tart

Where are you all? We seem to have been abandoned since the start of the school holidays while you pack your bags and head off for a change of scene. It is fabulous to have some consistent warm and sunny weather... a real Summer at last. Don't forget that both our Store and Cafe are fully air conditioned and, in July, gave some welcome respite to those of you who dined with us.

We had an enjoyable time picking fruit for our desserts and cream teas last month and now have a freezer full of redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries ready for the winter months when we could do with a pick-me-up and a splash of colour. The year goes steadily by and today we baked our first Nectarine Tart of the season heralding the arrival of peaches, plums and all the late summer produce. This tart is very popular and a slice goes well with a cappuchino in the afternoon.

Our Evening openings are catching on. July 31st. was fully booked with a waiting list and we are already half full for both Saturday 14th. and 21st. August. You seem to love the menu and the cafe space creates a great ambiance. So do come and try us out. Dishes include Crab and Avocado Cocktail to start, followed by Lamb Rump with a Port and Redcurrant Sauce and Raspberry and Lavender Tart to finish. We would like to think that we could get enough support from you to open every Saturday night and to achieve this goal we will be closing the Store and Cafe on Sundays from Sunday 5th. September. Apologies to everyone especially our regulars who love to visit us and enjoy reading the Sunday papers with an espresso and a buttered scone. We hope you will manage to come on Saturdays instead and recover from shopping in Town or accompanied by friends staying for the weekend.

We are going to blow the trumpet on behalf of two of our suppliers! Vera Oxby who, as you know, provides us with all our eggs both for sale in the Store and to use in our baking and Brunches, has just won the Runner Up Prize in the Small Farm Category of the Wilkinson Environment Awards for Nottinghamshire 2010. Her conscientious approach to her animal husbandry extends to the maintenance of the woodland and pond margins of her farm and was duly recognised by the judges. Vera works tirelessly to give us the freshest eggs and throughly deserves this award.

In the same month, Shirevale Creamery in Cropwell Bishop won Silver and Bronze Medals at the Nantwich Show for their Traditional White Stilton which we stock on our cheese counter. Shirevale was set up by some of the employees when the Millway Dairy closed in Harby ten years ago and it is satisfying to see them succeed at this prestigious show. There has also been a spawning of another small producer set up by two of our ex employees, Ally Harper and Annette Shelton, called Youdessertit. Some of you may have enjoyed the exquisite cupcakes we sometimes had in the Cafe while Annette worked for us. Now she supplies these through the new company along with such delights as White Chocolate Cheesecake, Fruit Bundts and Blackberry and Coconut Slices.

Look on the website www.youdessertit.co.uk and be tempted. You may have a function coming up when you would like them to cater for you!

The long balmy summer evenings have enabled us to sit outside and enjoy all the fragrances of our summer gardens and plants such as honeysuckle and roses smell especially heady in the last hours of daylight. We have just received some wonderful candles at the Store which conjure up all these smells. True Grace candles include scents such as Meadow, Seashore and Soothing while Archipelago Botanics have mixtures of Sweet Basil with Rosemary or Rose and Bergamot, to name a few. They are both made of natural Soya Wax which is much more pleasant to burn and not harmful. They are selling fast . Come and have a sniff and extend your Summer into Autumn.

See you soon

Jan

Elderflower Cocktails, Strawberry Scones and Summer Abundance

Don't give a thought to the fact that the longest day is past and that bit by bit the evenings are drawing in. Instead enjoy the moment in this most prolific and exuberant of months... JULY! After such miserable and chilly weather we have finally been able to enjoy three weeks with hardly a shower and more significantly without a breath of wind! It makes the Brits a different race of people. We see it all the time in the Store. Customers are cheerful, talkative

and happy to hang around.

I mentioned in June that the blossom this year had been amazing and no more so than these elderflower blooms the size of dinner plates! Belvoir Fruit Farms at the foot of our famous Castle makes the Elderflower Presse and Cordial that flies off the shelves in the Store and is a firm favourite in Garden Cafe. They grow a lot of the elderflowers themselves but enough have to be collected to last the year and so they advertise for pickers to scour the hedgrows and bring the blooms to their bottling plant in June and July. So you see, we are still hunter-gatherers, after all. World Service Restaurant includes it in their cocktail Sangria Bianca because its intense flavour and aroma summons up all things summery and Belvoir Fruit have their own Cocktail which we would like to share with you:

White Flower Martini

15ml. Elderflower Cordial
35ml. Vodka
15ml. Limoncello
50ml. Lychee juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with floating rose petal

For something simpler : 2 x 25ml shots Bombay Sapphire or Absolut Gin and 2 shots Elderflower Cordial shaken with ice and served in a cocktail glass with a lime and sugar rim and a wedge.

We have been less than enamoured with the quality and type of soft fruit available to us from our fruit wholesalers over the years. The supermarkets dictate the variety that will stand well on their shelves and it is not always the one that has the best texture, flavour and aroma. So this year we have decided to pick our own strawberries for you at Wymeswold (just off the A46) and the best variety they have is Symphony which conjures up all those memories of scent, hot afternoons and red stained cheeks and makes you realise what we have been missing. Our customers with noses in the air like Bisto kids follow the scent around the Store and have been snapping up our fruit punnets like hungry blackbirds! In the Garden Cafe we will be offering a strawberry scone with cream and a pot of tea for £5.95 in the afternoon during July.

To update you on our Evening openings at the Cafe:

Next evening Saturday 10th JULY A few tables left. We'd love to see you. And then Saturday 31st. JULY. Our summer menu is in full swing and the Crab Cocktail is proving a winner!

Can I also remind you that the Cafe on Friday 9th. July is closed for a wedding and that in the middle of the month there will be a couple of days when we will not be offering a full lunch time menu due to staff holidays. Best to ring first and apologies for any inconvenience.

Sophie Allsopp who's Mum is a very supportive customer of ours has set up a new local business making jams, chutneys and Jellies in Flawborough. It is called Sophie & Boo (who is the pet Jack Russell). The packaging is fabulous. And so is the product. We are already getting rave comments like "the marmalade is the best I've tasted apart from my own!" and "so much fruit in the raspberry jam and the colour is so clear". Sophie is adding to the range all the time and is intent on maintaining the quality by producing in small batches. We think this range has a great future.

Finally, we are still keen to buy any good quality surplus fruit and vegetables from you and would like to thank the customer from Owthorpe who brought us blackcurrants and redcurrants today. There must be more of you out there!

Speak to you soon

Jan

Queen Anne's Lace, Blush Wines and the Longest Day

I have been told that trees love a cold winter when they can sink dormant under a blanket of snow and ice and then spring back to life with energy and new growth. Have you noticed this year how the blossoms are spectacular? Our apple trees are covered in flowers, the horse chestnuts around the village are bowed down with their pyramid spikes and the cow parsley on the footpath from St. Mary's Church is blowsy with white sprays.

Its other name is Queen Anne's Lace which is much nicer and so romantic. The froth and delicacy of its structure conjures up for me weddings and lightness of spirit and sets the tone for the month of June.

The Asparagus this year from Abbey Parks in Boston has been very,very good. The spears have been succulent and plump and we would expect to have deliveries until the longest day which is the 21st. of this month. We have also been roasting seasonal rhubarb to accompany our Lemon Posset on the cafe menu. Try cutting up the stems into centimetre cubes (the really red rhubarb is the best because it holds it colour) and put them into a roasting pan...not too crowded. Chop up 2-3 pieces of stem ginger in syrup into tiny bits and sprinkle over the rhubarb with some unrefined caster sugar. Lastly some zest from an orange and lay a vanilla pod across the fruit. Cover with foil tightly and bake for 15 - 20 minutes in a hot oven. Some flavour combinations are just made in heaven and rhubarb and ginger is one of them! Serve with ice cream.

We have a great range of Rose Wines in the off licence ranging from the rich ruby colours of the New World vineyards to the gentle dusky pink of the Provencal grapes. If you really want to treat yourself, try the Sancerre Rose!

They all have a distinct flavour and smell and come into their own on a still summer evening. We will have our bottle chiller on at the weekends so we can chill any wine for you in a matter of minutes. Take advantage of the long evenings while you can and savour these special wines with a few seasonal berries in your own garden.

Our seasonal summer menu was received well when we opened our cafe in the evening at the end of May. Cod with a herb crust and the proscuitto wrapped asparagus were particularly popular. We have several more dates lined up for you on a Saturday: 4th. June, 26th. June and 10th. July.

Just want to give you notice that the cafe will not be open in the daytime on Friday 9th. July. Jayne Blakeman who used to work for us is getting married and has chosen to have her family wedding reception in the Garden Cafe. Our first catering for a Wedding. It will be so exciting and we are hoping for fine weather and a happy day.

Let's not forget Dad! Father's Day is on June 20th. and we have some unusual gifts to tempt you. Fun things like jokey coasters and chocolate playing cards. Or baskets that hold a trio of jams or chutneys. Choose from the wide range on our shelves...has he got a sweet tooth or is he a savoury man?! Then there are our speciality beers. Dorothy Goodbody usually gets a laugh! Buy six assorted and present them in a neat carrier. And finally we have something really special and unique. Carol Webb from the Jewel Box has brought us some fantastic cufflinks and vintage Tootal scarves. The patterns on them are so beautiful and a customer told me that they were featured in the Guardian or Observer last weekend so come and see them. At £24.00 I suspect they are an investment!

I can't believe that the next time I write to you we will be over half way through the year. We are going to be looking to freeze some seasonal fruit. So if you have a glut of gooseberries, currants or raspberries in good condition, come and see us and we'll strike a deal!

See you soon

Jan

Asparagus, Wilted Greens and Alfresco Living

I feel alive! What about you? This weather has been so fantastic. When we get brilliant sunshine in April or May and hardly a breeze in the air, you couldn't wish to be anywhere else on this planet but HERE! Who else has enjoyed a glass of chilled white wine or prosecco on returning home from work these past few days? Or rushed out into the garden to tidy up after the winter, assess the damage from snow and frost and get in the first vegetable seeds?

Customers to Garden Cafe have sat out on the patio for the first time in the last fortnight basking like lizards in the sun while they enjoy an alfresco lunch or tea and a slice of Victoria Sandwich. Just to remind you that all our cakes are made on the premises or by Annette (those stunning muffins) or Sue (you love those bakewell tarts and sticky toffee puds). The flour used is organic, the sugar unrefined and the eggs from Vera's free range hens in Kinoulton.

We know you come back again and again to savour these and it so gratifying to have our regulars visiting in sun and in rain... you can even tell the day of the week when some of you walk through the door!

Come and see us while our front garden is at its very best. We have narcissi taking over from daffodils, blue and white anemones, parrot tulips and polyanthus. Richard has even managed to get stripes on our lawn.. well sort of!

Later in the year, it is harder to get such a good display as the trees take up all the moisture and everything becomes very dry. If anyone knows of mid summer plants that can survive dry shade, let me know.

I am desperate to get out the May blog as soon as possible because we have a real treat for you. Arriving this Friday we will have bunches of WILD GARLIC. We tried it last year and it is truly delicious. It takes a quick wilting in olive oil in a wok or a couple of minutes in boiling water. A bit like spinach it is brilliant with poached or fried eggs or crispy bacon or pancetta. The season is very short so we would expect to have it in every Friday for maybe the next three weeks.

With such cold night temperatures the ASPARAGUS season was due to start late but we have heard that the recent warmth has brought the crop back on trend and we hope to have our first bunches this weekend. There is nothing better than simply cooked spears with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce. We are getting the latter in from Ouse Valley next week and it will be freshly made for us. When you want something a bit different then try this excellent recipe from Gordon!

Serves 4

700gms Asparagus Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to drizzle Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper, 8-10 slices of Parma Ham, a block of Parmesan Reggiano for slicing good, quality Balsamic Vinegar

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Snap off the coarser part of each stalk and blanch the rest of the spears in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in a bowl of iced water and drain again. (This keeps them brilliantly green and stops them from overcooking). Heat a griddle pan until hot (I think you could do this on the bar-b-que as well). Toss the asparagus gently in a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper until coated evenly. In several batches, griddle the spears for 1 - 2 minutes on each side until they have seared stripes. Pile the griddled asparagus on to a platter and arrange the Parma Ham slices round it. Shave the parmesan over the asparagus with a vegetable peeler, drizzle with the balsamic and tuck in. Needless to say, all these ingredients are available at the Store!

There's not a week goes by that we don't have new deliveries of jewellery and gifts to tempt you. A lot of you will be familiar with our Nesti Danti soaps from Italy. All the scents are irresistible so it's very hard to choose. However, at £4.25 for a bath size, they are a snip and make lovely presents. Many of you have asked for notecards and gift bags and we have got charming ones in from Roger la Borde, bright and summery. We find it hard to keep our greeting card section stocked up and many of you have said how good our selection is. Thank you! We are always looking for something new and some of our customers come armed with their birthday calenders and stock up for next few months!

Within these paragraphs, I have mentioned some of the people who help to make Colston Bassett Store what it is. It is a fine balance to keep up the standards and we couldn't do it without dedicated staff who all share our enthusiasm and commitment. Sue who keeps our cheese counter pristine, the front of house cafe staff who always welcome you, the weekend sixth formers who keep us entertained (and up to date!)

Come and pay us another visit soon

Jan

PS. The Garden Cafe will be taking bookings for the evening of Saturday May 22nd. We'd love to see you.

Chicken or Egg?

We have rushed to get the April blog out in time for Easter. Let's hope we have a lovely weekend with all thoughts of frosts and dreary days long gone. Putting the clocks forward always puts a spring in our steps and we will be extending the cafe hours on Tuesday to Friday to 4.30pm (last orders 4.10pm) from 6th. April. Mothers Day was a stunning day and we put our first table and chairs out to welcome the sun. Brian came with some irresistble hellebores including a primrose yellow one and you were all very smitten! Fully booked for most of the day, we apologise to customers who had to be turned away.

Evening openings for the month are planned for Friday 2nd. April, which falls on the Easter weekend, depending on takeup. Also Friday 16th. April. Do book now. We are also being asked whether Garden Cafe is available to book as a whole. We have done this once or twice before and would be happy to discuss options. It makes a lovely venue. We are traditionally closed on Easter Sunday.

No sooner is Mothers Day over, then we turn our thoughts to Easter. The Store is looking very Spring-like with sherbet colours, unusual Easter eggs and bright foil chickens. Why not buy some of Vera's eggs, hard boil them and decorate with edible food colouring? Or have an Easter Egg hunt in the garden? Our kids used to love this....and so did the dog!

We are now looking forward to getting the first Spring vegetables and fruit into the Store. Before we know it we will have asparagus and rhubarb and new sprouting broccoli. We'll keep you posted.

Bev Beattie is returning by popular demand. This time she is holding a workshop called Knit and Embellish Books on Monday 19th. April 9.30 until 3.30pm. It is designed to allow you to experiment with lots of interesting yarns and to produce several samples. These are then decorated with buttons and stitchery and stuck onto Indian paper notebooks. More ideas for presents? The course will cost £45.00 including lunch and all refreshments. Materials will be extra so that you can buy as little or as much as you want. Book now with a deposit of £20.00.

All I need to do now is wish all our customers a very happy Easter. Now that Lent is over, come and indulge yourself with us!

See you soon

Jan

Birdsong, Muffins and Hellebores

I am writing to you in glorious sunshine. What a tonic! Our resident robin at the Store sings from morning to night, the rooks are squabbling over nest sites in the village and here are the first of the species crocus visible from the Cafe windows.

Brunch continues to be a great success. We seem to have hit the spot with your weekend requirements. Martin is now making herby sausage and bacon patties served with scrambled eggs and mushrooms or vine tomatoes. Yum! And we have found that little creamy French Onion Tarts go well with a couple of slices of grilled Free Range Bacon. Its very hectic in the kitchen so do remember to book your table.

The weekend of March. 13th & 14th. is Mothers Day weekend and Nettie is working on some extra special muffins with hand made flower decorations. Have you tried her Rosewater and Pistachio ones, or Orange Curd, or Apple Crumble? We can't keep up with her inspirational cooking. We don't usually take table bookings for tea and cakes but Mothers Day is different. Book to avoid disappointment.

An extra treat on Sunday 14th. March is our annual Hellebore Sale. Perfect for Mothers Day. Brian Robinson will have a stand outside the Cafe from 11.00 until 1.00 pm. He grows all the plants himself with his wife Sharon and there are some gorgeous colours...pure white, speckled and blotchy pinks and dark burgundys. They get snapped up, so come early. This hellebore is growing in the cafe garden and we bought it from Brian two years ago. Its not the most hospitable of locations but it struggles along delighting us with its delicate blooms

Eight students had a ball at our Knit and Felt Workshop! Bev Beattie brought a fantastic range of yarns and got everyone knitting furiously. The afternoon was spent mastering knitted flowers which are felted onto the body of the bag and everyone went home full of enthusiasm and brimming with ideas. Several of the students have been back to show us all the finished product. We have now decided to encourage knitters to get together at a Knit & Natter session

every Wednesday morning in the Cafe 10.30 until 11.45 (unless staying for lunch). Come and share ideas and show us what you've done. The purchase of a cappuchino or a pot of tea will oil the vocal cords!

Also from this month onwards we will be stocking some of the yarns used in the making of the bags. Many of you have said how hard it is to find good fibres and we could have sold the balls of yarn used to advertise the course last month ten times over! You will find them in the glass cabinet in the off-licence (no connection, of course!)

Our next Workshop is on Monday 19th. April when you can try your hand at Needle Felting and Embellishment. More in the April Blog and in the Store.

Whoever forecast the colours for Spring/Summer 2010 must have known that we would be emerging from one of the hardest winters for decades. Soft lavenders, shell pinks, sorbet lemon and lime are all shades that have been selling well in the Store and the delicacy of the jewellery and laciness of the new Spring scarves have struck a cord with you all. We are now adding stronger accents of turquoise and magenta...dare you not to be tempted by the new woven straw handbags in ice cream stripes!

See you soon.