Provenance

Yes, provenance, not Provence, although I'd quite like to chat about Provence if I had the time. Anyway, sorry, where was I? Oh yes, provenance. We all like to know where our food comes from these days, has it been well looked after? Has it had plenty of acres for free-ranging in? Has another been planted in its place etc. etc.

Last weekend I was asked quite possibly the strangest question I've ever been asked... "Is the watercress local?" The lady in question actually was purchasing a free-range egg mayonnaise and cress sandwich so I was unsure as to where the watercress came into the equation. My response? I had to admit I had no idea where the watercress came from. This did, however get me thinking! I could grow cress. It's easy, I did it with the children when they were little. They wouldn't eat it of course because it was green. I laughed out loud this evening as I walked into Morrisons, immediately in front of the door was a stand of seeds and at eye level was, yes you guessed it, cress. So, slightly tongue in cheek, I have purchased some cress seeds with a view to growing it in weekly sowings and using it in the cafe for the egg mayonnaise sandwiches.

I had a lovely walk round the garden earlier this week. It still seems slightly confused with peonies in flower alongside roses. On bottom terrace there are some outrageously beautiful pale pink peonies. I was very taken with Rosa Comte de Chambord in the swimming pool garden. With your back to the house it is on the left hand side, deep cerise pink, very beautiful and smells just like a rose should. Also just starting to look wonderful is the Buttress Border, the delphiniums never fail to delight and it seems I see a new one every year.

That's the beauty of a garden, always something new to see.

Flaming June

Finally, the weather has got its act together and we are enjoying wall to wall sunshine (ssh, no one say it out loud). May was really busy for us all, the Bluebells never fail to attract people and its not difficult to see why is it? This year, as in previous years, for Bluebell Fortnight I wanted to put up my Osbert Sitwell quote about the beauty of Bluebells.  Could I find it? Could I heck. Of course, June 1st comes along, I pick up a notebook and on the first page what is there but the blooming quote. So just so a year doesn't go by with it not being used here it is "To my knowledge their [bluebells] beauty has no rival elsewhere."  I quite agree.

May is now a distant memory and we are well into June which is quite literally bursting out all over in the garden. I don't know what David does to his Alliums but they always stand taller and straighter than mine at home, mind you I reckon my Agapanthus could take his (although not in quantity).


This month to celebrate the arrival of summer we will be serving jugs of Pimms in the cafe, if it proves a hit then it will stay otherwise we'll move it off in favour of something else. The Bradfield Brewery Beers, Farmers Blonde and Brown Cow, are proving popular and I'm pleased to report not only with me! It was a bit of worry that we wouldn't sell any as I have been known to be slightly partial to a Farmers Blonde but I've resisted the temptation.

Renishaw is appearing on Country House Sunday again this morning, ITV at 8.30am or get it on the ITV player at a much more reasonable hour.

Life on the lake

I do love walking round the lake at Renishaw. There is always something to see. Today I've seen the 2 swans a-nesting, seven goslings swimming, 3 lots of fungi, lots of wild flowers and a heron chick sat in a tree.

The speed of growth at the moment is quite breathtaking, suddenly the bluebells are fading and being dwarfed by the beautiful wild garlic that is in flower. I love this time of year, wild garlic dip with everything. Equal parts of natural yoghurt and mayonnaise with a splash of lemon juice and seasoning to taste with finely chopped wild garlic leaves - divine. There are also a pair of Nuthatches dotting around.

Really looking forward to the cygnets hatching particularly after one of the nests was raided earlier this month, presumably by a fox. So watch this space.

Gluten Free Social Media

We are trying to get to grips with the current Century (er, exactly which one are we in?) so we have the Facebook page and we have the Twitter account and now.... drum roll please... we have the website. Its all well and good but in a little company like we are its another full time job. I find myself daily (possibly twice daily if I'm honest) looking at FB to see if we've got more likes. Checking to see if Nigel Slater has replied to my tweets (he does you know) and wondering if there is anything else I can do to the website. Its madness this obsession with social media, but apparently (and I think I've said this before) you are only as good as the number of likes and followers and visitors your social media sites have. Needless to say we're struggling - lol.

Another new cake coming this week, following hot on the heels of Costa Rican Bread Pudding which we discovered in well... Costa Rica, San Jose to be exact in a little cafe in the central market. Budin is its official name and we now sell my take on this lovely cinnamon flavoured sweet thing. The newby is Chocolate Beetroot Cake and its gluten free! I wanted to add a gluten free cake to the 'main' cake range rather than have a little offering on a cake stand in a corner and this is what is coming. We are going to try it out and see what the response is. It didn't last long at home when I tested it out on my willing volunteers so I await the feedback in whatever form it comes, Facebook twitter etc.etc.

The bluebells have been stunning this year and we were all ready to see a promise of summer after the really cold weather we've been having. The garden is generally looking fantastic and I for one am really looking forward to the new few weeks when summer finally arrives.

See you soon.
Lou x

The whirlwind fortnight

It has been all go at the Café for the last fortnight.  Finally the sun came out and caught us all unawares. The bluebells got their act together and are currently looking divine and we've had hundreds of visitors.

 Bank holiday weekend was a pleasant surprise to all, wall to wall sunshine, not quite what we've become accustomed to. We had a fabulous weekend, Saturday saw the Wolseley Owners Club visit. Some absolute stunning cars all driven by lovely people. One car had only had 2 owners (father and son) from new, quite some provenance. On Sunday we had the Lord Conyers Morris Men dancing in both the courtyard and the garden. Morris and his mates (all called Morris) came to the café for a cream scone and a cup of tea after the event. Lovely people and we're hoping to host their dawn May Day dancing next year.

Last weekend we hosted the Food & Craft Fair on Saturday and the Plant Fair on Sunday. Both days were really busy in spite of the very cool temperatures. Every other drink order was hot chocolate. I don't get hot chocolate as a drink - if I want hot I drink coffee, if I want chocolate I eat well... chocolate. Although I do admit that the big mugs of chocolate topped with cream and marshmallows do look gorgeous.

Renishaw is becoming something of a TV star with recent parts in Countryfile (28th April), Escape to the Country (7th May) and, of course, a starring role in Country House Sunday. Renishaw next features on CHS on 26th May, with David in the wonderful greenhouses in the kitchen garden. Details of when Renishaw is appearing are on the noticeboards.

"All right, Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my closeup"

Ok, so everybody now knows about Renishaw Hall & Gardens part in the new ITV series 'Country House Sunday'. If you don't you obviously haven't liked our Facebook page (see me later!). The series is 21 episodes featuring 3 country houses. Renishaw is to to be the highlight of 7 of these programmes. The first episode aired on Sunday, 21st April so if you missed it, it was a Renishaw programme and its available on the ITV player for 28 days from broadcast.

The filming took place over 2 separate weeks. The first filming in the cafe happened about 3 days after we got back from holiday and boy were we jet-lagged. It was made really easy by the crew from TwoFour Productions who were fabulous. Very laid back and friendly. Of course it helped that we were feeding them all week.

On the Monday of the second week of filming Lynda Bellingham, the show's presenter, arrived. She is lovely and very good at her job. From the moment we met her she was friendly and reassuring which all went towards making the filming so much easier to do.

When I was young I really thought that Mrs James Herriot had the perfect life and that's what I wanted to be, a vets wife, just like Lynda Bellingham! Strange isn't it how things turn out.

Needless to say we are at work when the show is aired and do not have recording facilities at home. The thing is, I don't need to know how many pounds the camera adds, I can guess - so please be gentle with me.

Here we go again

Hi all, we're back! We opened yesterday for the start of the new season, with the garden opening officially on Saturday, 30th March. It has to be said this is the first time we have been open in Spring with snow on the ground. I had a walk around the garden today and it is looking very beautiful with snow caps on the yew hedges, Hellebores in abundance and some serious winter pruning in evidence on Bottom Terrace.

Do come and visit us soon, we've some delicious new dishes on the menu and we are looking forward to seeing you all.

Its the final countdown

The temperature, whilst never achieving any dizzying heights this summer, has taken a decided turn down the thermometer. Yesterday morning saw a light frost on the yew hedges (which are currently undergoing their annual trim). The sky was as azure as it could be and the light perfectly dappled through the trees. I love the early morning light at this time of the year and in Spring, so took the opportunity to have a walk round the garden and take some photographs. I have over the years taken so many pictures of Renishaw Hall and Gardens, when I look through them they bring back such lovely memories.

Last weekend we hosted a 50th Wedding Anniversary lunch for Guy and Doris. Guy has been a volunteer here ever since the doors were first opened and has many a tale to tell. Guy very kindly gave us a bottle of his homemade wine which was delicious. He and Sir Reresby used to trade bottles annually and Lady Sitwell even once suggested it could be sold in the shop it was so nice. Guy enters his wine into Froggatt Show and regularly gets placed. If you ever see a drop of Watson's Winery I recommend it to you. Pictured is the table set with Dame Edith watching over proceedings, anyone got a birthday or anniversary they'd like to celebrate with us just get in touch - gallerycaterers@hotmail.co.uk

It's the time of year when there is a glut of lovely homegrown fruit and veg, this last fortnight I have been making runner bean chutney which I think is quite yummy. I've also made some runner bean piccalilli which I shall subject Adrian to over the winter, as I said there's a lot of them around and he did once mention he liked piccalilli!

Yorkshire parkin, that's a cake that brings back loads of childhood memories for me. I remember my mum baking it, generally around Halloween, it was sticky and dark and delicious. As the weather has cooled I thought it would make a nice warming addition to the cake range so a slightly less sticky version is adorning the cake stands and selling well. Could become a regular feature next year. I might subject Adrian to gluten free testing on it. He always says he's in charge of quality control!

Anyway, it's our penultimate weekend and as always it is very sad. This weekend and next all our lovely regular customers appear to say goodbye and wish us Merry Christmas. I'm often asked what I do over the winter - housework should be the answer. There is a need to reclaim the house from the spiders who have slowly moved in over the summer. This year I've asked the question back of those people whose faces we see at the same time on the same day each week - one or two have asked for our address!! Do sign up to the blog by email and we'll be in touch over the winter. You never know we might just open up one Sunday morning - by invitation only of course!

Take care all, do call and see us before the 30th September.

Lou & Adrian

Caution: Man at work

What a lovely month August has been, unless my memory is failing me it seemed to be pretty much wall to wall sunshine. Here's hoping the lovely weather continues well into October. The heavy rain early in the season has done wonders for the garden although its not all good news, my pear tree hasn't got a single fruit on it which I am assuming is due to the rain. I do so love pear and chocolate sponge too. Oh well, there's always next year.

As with all small businesses, it tends to be the case that everyone has to muck in and just do what needs doing. Of course there are certain jobs that we just leave to Adrian mainly cooking (best plan all round) and emptying the bins at the end of the day, conversely there are jobs that Adrian leaves to the rest of us however, I caught him the other day definitely doing one of 'our' jobs, perhaps he is a 'new' man after all despite his years!

Its hard to believe we've only got 3 weekends left of the season. I had a customer wish me 'Happy Christmas' as she left yesterday in case she didn't see me again. How lovely, but makes you realise how quickly time passes, and nudge nudge, you've only got 3 weekends left to visit.

Over the winter break, I hope to develop a full website for the cafe, I'll have the blog on there, recipes and information for individual visitors and groups and goodness only knows what else. Once it is up and running I'll post the address here. So, as the saying goes, watch this space.

Bye for now.
Lou x

Supermarket Tarts

Tuesday evening saw Morrisons closing at 6.00pm to reopen on Thursday morning at 7.00am. Shoppers in Christmas proportions were out and about panic buying and stocking up on those essentials you can't manage one day without - joints of beef and lamb mainly I think.  I couldn't face it "I'm off to Sainsbury" I tell Adrian. "Sainsbury, but we're a Morrisons family", he replies. "I've got a voucher" I mutter. That afternoon Adrian announces he needs Champagne for work but can't face Morrisons. "Go to Tesco" says I, "I've got a voucher". Adrian returns brandishing Champagne, rib-eye steaks and a jolly nice bottle of red wine. "All this for £20" he crows. Yesterday morning I received my nectar rewards from Saisnbury, "You're a bit of a supermarket tart really aren't you" Adrian said as he snatched the vouchers from my hands. Talking of tarts, he does say the sweetest things.

Chocolate Brownie Slice hit the cake stands this week but didn't hang around long enough to be photographed, although I did make another on Friday evening for Dave K (Head Gardener) and his missus oh, and his Lordship of course. Think it might become a regular feature next season along with my mate Dave's gluten free honeycake which is simply to die for. Anyway, back to the here and now I'm wishing my life away.

Adrian on a recent day off

We only have 4 weekends left of this season, I do not know where this year has gone. We've had a good season in spite of the weather, thanks as much as anything to our regular customers. We are very grateful for your patronage particularly when we see so many business premises up for sale and to let. The garden also has benefited from all the rain we've had and is looking lush and lovely. It has to be said though we are very ready for a rest and starting to have some thoughts about a holiday.

Do come and see us before the end of the season, hopefully we're going to have an Indian summer and September will be glorious.

Take care all.
Lou x

Imagine...

Imagine driving up the drive to Renishaw Hall, crossing the cattle grid and being met by the sight of 6 fire engines, a control tent, several smaller vehicles and numerous firemen! Oh imagine.  That is exactly the sight that greeted me on Tuesday morning. Momentarily I was freaked as I could see water pouring from hoses at an angle that looked like it was aimed at the roof, however I was soon pacified by a lovely young fireman who showed me where to park the car and assured me it was just a training exercise.

Imagine the Mercian Vineyards Association hold their Annual Wine Challenge at Renishaw Hall, where they are tasting over 80 wines and on departure leave you a dozen bottles to sample. We were lucky enough to be the recipients of such a gesture of the MVA on Sunday last. We're having enormous fun sniffing, sipping and swirling but, no spitting out. I'm a bit of a wine snob really, believing quite firmly when it comes to wine and food nobody does it better than the French however, one or two of the English wines have surprised me. For example this evening with our cheese we have sampled the Penny Red from the Halfpenny Green Vineyard, it wasn't pleasing my taste buds but add some Camembert and it was rocking. Interestingly Kieron Atkinson, The Vineyard Manager at Renishaw, recently won a Bronze Medal for his still white wine at the UK Vineyards Association Wine Awards - big up to Kieron. This award-winning wine is available to buy in the cafe or the shop at Renishaw.

Imagine living in a country that in the year its Queen celebrates 60 years on the throne it also hosts the best ever Olympic games. Well, no imagining necessary - we do! I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the Olympics even stopping up to watch both the opening and closing ceremonies, which for someone who goes to bed at 9pm most nights is pretty unbelievable.

Imagine the dark days of winter when Renishaw is not open, it's only 6 weeks away - come on, come visit before we close up for winter. I can't promise firemen, but I can promise a warm welcome.

Be good to see you
Lou x

Falling in love again

For the last three years the garden has, to me, felt a little melancholy, almost as if it was missing Sir Reresby - I'm a little fanciful like that - however, I managed a quick walk around the garden this week. Wow! Whether it is the weather or whether the garden is coming out of mourning I don't know, but it really took my breath away and I fell in love with it all over again. I love the opening up of the entry to the garden and there are some beautiful plants in this area, the changes on top lawn give a feeling of a few more acres and the lowering of the hedge in the secret garden to give the view down to the lakes is fantastic and, I have a whole new 'must have' list of plants for my own already overstocked garden. Of course, reality is, that a new owner is breathing new life into her garden and it is wonderful.

A few years ago I went on 5 days of customer awareness training. One day of the course was dedicated to trying to understand why a customer might be a little grumpy. This involved having split peas in your shoes, wearing sunglasses smeared with vaseline, earplugs and rubber gloves with the fingers stuff with cotton wool. The aim of the exercise was to give you some idea of what some of your customers, unbeknownst to you, might be experiencing, which may in turn explain their 'mood'. I think I can say we (and speak for all of us in the café) have had to draw on this training several times in the last few weeks. There have been a number of people with split peas in their shoes. Like the woman who wanted Pheasant Pithivier but didn't want to wait! In the past I have heard people remark in different settings that service in shops/restaurants in the UK is not as good as on the continent, knowing that we all try really hard in the café I would counter that and suggest that maybe as customers we have a lot to learn, staff can have split pea filled shoes too. The customer isn't necessarily always right but customer service training dictates that you can't tell the customer what you're really thinking ergo the customer gets the last word.

The sunshine yesterday brought out lots of familiar faces which was lovely. What a shame the summer is not quite barbecue hot. Fingers crossed we'll have an Indian summer to make up for it. I'm having a day off today and on the top of my 'to do list' is mow the lawn.  Not this week!

See you soon

Lou x

Keep the faith

Several coach parties aside, the next few weeks at Renishaw are relatively quiet with the exception of the launch of Lorraine Botterill's sculpture exhibition in the gardens. The exhibition launches on Sunday 1st July with Lorraine doing demonstrations and talks about her work. for further information contact the office on 01246 432310.

A quick update for those who were informed by Adrian about 'Jar Gate', a package arrived today addressed to The Manageress, Gallery Cafe etc. etc., seems I've had a promotion as Adrian gave it to me to open. Inside were my jars along with an anonymous note saying the contents had been so nice and in such large proportions they had decided to finish them at home. No names no apologies. How very bizarre! This little act has restored my faith in human nature once more and I am again at one with the world.

Cheesecake this weeks is Rhubarb & Ginger and it's selling fast. It is a classic combination, the chutney I made earlier this season has flown out. I've a little more Rhubarb in the garden to go at so might make another batch.

On Monday we celebrated Adrian's 50th birthday with a little trip into Sheffield to see the Olympic torch followed by a few beers and a meal with friends. We were a merry party of 14 and it was lovely to meet up with some customers out for the experience too. We rarely venture into the big city but always bump into customers which is really lovely particularly in the depths of winter.

 Finally, my planned red, white and blue front garden has finally flowered, yes I know the jubilee is now a distant memory but here it is anyway.

Come and say hello, it would be lovely to see you.
 Lou x

That was the week that was

What a week this has been, finally the very daunting task of feeding 85 members of the Historic Houses Association has been and gone and we were/are happy with the final result. We started with coffee in the main hall of the house (which, incidentally is looking lovely following a few changes by Alexandra), Louise spotted a 'chap' having problems with his name badge and in true Lou can fix it fashion bobbed over and offered to assist whilst simultaneously putting her hand down his jumper to guide the pin through it, never thinking to check out what the name tag said, he smiled sweetly and said he always had trouble with name tags, however it was only at the end of the day that she found out she had been very over-familiar with the Duke of Rutland.


Eighty-five people in two rooms was a first for us, carefully thought-out menu; Pâté de campagne, Salmon with caper crumble and Honeycomb cheesecake. No special dietary requirements we were advised. During the course of the meal we came across, and dealt with, a celiac, a vegetarian and a diabetic, thankfully there wasn't a vegan present!


We've reinvented our apple pie this week, it is now apple pie with a crumble top and is lovely (even if I do say so myself) 10 portions disappeared in less than 5 minutes when it was presented to a lovely group from Macclesfield on Thursday, so could be a new regular.

Have you seen these jars?

Yesterday saw Louise incandescent with rage when a couple in their 70's helped (allegedly) themselves to two of her mini kilner jars from a Ploughmans Lunch. It wasn't the taking of the jars that particularly ruffled her feathers, it was the fact that they denied having any jars on their ploughmans that caused her so much annoyance. "The youth of today, that's absolute hogwash, if this is the example that's being set, there's no hope for society, never mind the youth." Anyone who knows Louise can picture the scene. Trust me naming and shaming would have occurred if names had been known. Louise is currently to be seen walking round muttering the 6 of the 10 commandments she can remember!


Hope the weather doesn't put you off calling to see us.
Adrian

The New Kid on the Block

I thought I'd waffle on about dogs today, man's best friend and all that.  We love dogs and do try to be welcoming to all our four-legged visitors although we do ask they remain outside whilst we are serving lunches (12 noon till 2.30pm) with, of course, the exception of assistance dogs. Minky from the big house knows where the treats are kept (in my pocket) and she's not afraid to ask for one.

Lexie

Butler (left) and Mazey

Lexie (our youngest and most demanding) would, if she could speak, tell everyone her dad has got a cafe.  She loves it at Renishaw, she snuffles round under the tables outside looking for the smallest dropped crumb - doggy heaven.  She's known to us as the Lexie Ness Monster as she often will swim the length of the big lake at Renishaw, for some perverse reason known only to herself, she loves to swim through water lilies and will often swim round in circles in a patch of them. Very odd! Mazey has been on duty at the kennel seen from the cafe window for 14 seasons (just as many as Adrian), she's 14 today, old, senile and extremely smelly. Even Butler, our occasional house guest, loves it at Renishaw.

Last March we were lucky enough to be asked to work in the hall for a weekend when the staff were on holiday. It was great fun, a little 'Upstairs Downstairs' but thankfully we had the guidance of the Caretaker/Butler. The dogs love to lay in front of the range in the kitchen and are very reluctant to move. Pictured is Adrian cooking dinner for 6 without disturbing the residents (front to back: Humphrey, Hector who sadly died last month and Minky).

When Lady Sitwell acquired Sophie I didn't think little dogs could get much cuter, but it turns out I was wrong.  On Sunday I was introduced to what has to be the cutest little dog EVER. Alexandra appeared in the cafe with a wire-haired daschund sat in her handbag. Only 11 weeks old and at the time without a name, the new kid on the block even managed an "aah" and a smile from Adrian.  Of course when I asked for one, the answer was a resounding "NO". No amount of "please can I, please can I, please can I" would melt him.

Of course not everyone is a doggy fan so I apologise to those amongst you and thank you for your forebearance.

Hope to see you soon.
Lou x

A Quick Catch Up

Phew, time to sit down, relax and have a cup of tea. The long awaited (and much feared by myself) Jubilee weekend has been and gone and we survived.  As ever, the weather wasn't on the side of anyone who had an outside event organised but thankfully for us a very early start, much brain power and a bit of muscle saw us ready and able to seat 71 people in a room we usually use for 48. Talk about love thy neighbour. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the food was well received, with lots of lovely compliments.

On Saturday Night Jo Davison from The Sheffield Star was invited to the outdoor screening of the film The Queen.  She decided to take the opportunity to do a Dining Out Review of the cafe (which we didn't know until she paid). The photographer came yesterday and Jo will be doing an interview with Adrian before the review appears in The Sheffield Star, we believe a week on Saturday (16th June) lets hope she had a lovely evening.

Last week I visited a lovely customer of ours, it was the the only time last week I was really able to sit down and relax. We sat in his lovely garden and I was able to sample his much talked about feta cheese and mint scones.  Talk about heavenly! Dave's garden was designed by his Grandad between the wars, it is open to the public this Saturday and Sunday (12 Ansell Road, Ecclesall, Sheffield) and I happen to know he will be selling his beautiful scones and homemade cakes for charity. I enjoyed the scones so much I have made some this morning for the cafe (with Daves permission of course) I'm not sure the scones quite measure up to Dave's but they're a bit gorgeous. 

Life will return to relative normality for the next few weeks here at Renishaw. The roses are all in full bud ready to burst into flower and the garden is generally looking beautiful.  I had a little chat with Alexandra last week about some of the changes that have been made in the garden and I was really impressed by the way she is taking control of her garden and the thought processes that have gone into the changes. Its an exciting time for Renishaw but she doesn't seem at all daunted by it. Me, I'd be terrified.

See you soon.

Lou x

This, that and the Other

I can't believe it's been nearly a fortnight since I last divulged a little piece of my mind. Since then, there's been quite a bit going on in our little world. Firstly, it transpires our most distant blog watcher (I'm sure there is a proper term) is in Durban, South Africa. Hello Margaret if you're reading this, it's lovely to have you along for the ride. Secondly, according to an item I heard on Radio 4, your popularity is now proven by the number of left clicks you get. can you believe this? To be credible in anything, apparently, you need to have thousands of likes - Houston, we have a problem, we only have 15! It seems the hundreds of lovely customers we have each week don't count - well in our world they do and we're really happy to see you all.

Preparations are well under way for the big Jubilee weekend. I love the Queen, she looks like my grandma used to when she'd just had her hair done, but I've got to say I'm a bit overdone now with Union Jacks, I seem to have been seeing them since last summer. All those people who went mad on the interior design Union Jack inspiration (cushions, cups, teapots etc. etc.) you not going to be fashionable again for a while, in fact not until 2027 when the Queen could celebrate her Platinum jubilee. I think I might book that weekend off, in the meantime, for this one I've had a bit of a cookie fest.

 Very excitedly, this week Renishaw has been used as a location for a photography shoot for a magazine for a French shop. We've had all manner of gorgeous artistes and models wandering round. We were asked to produce some cakes for the shoot, think Marie Antoinette's tea party, was the brief. How scary? Didn't these people know whey we're coming to the farthest corner of Derbyshire from London? Anyway I did my best and it gave me an excuse to make pink macaroons too. The cakes were used and this is a picture of some of the remaining ones. I now need to persuade Adrian to take me to Paris for when the magazine is published so I can pick up a copy. How cool!


 This week has also seen the demise of the bee hives at Renishaw. unfortunately one of the hives swarmed for a second time and the bees were particularly aggressive. Adrian got stung twice and unfortunately three people from the farm got stung too. I was terrified even in a full bee suit. The guard bees we just doing their job a bit too well, they chased me and Lizzie B a good 300 metres away from the hive (and I do mean chased in my case) and were still attacking us. Liz took the decision to destroy one hive and has relocated the other. It isn't necessarily the end of that little project but a location rethink (could Phil and Kirsty help us out here?) and some nicer bees will be required. Honey will still be available via the cafe a little later in the summer.

Hope to see you this weekend, if not, whatever you're doing I hope you have a fabulous time.

Take care, Lou x

Que Sera Sera

The thought for the day comes from any number of places, I'm often seen scribbling on receipts out of my purse having heard a bit of something on the radio, I even copied down something off a wall in a garden centre once. Often the pieces of paper get lost (if you've ever seen the inside of a typical woman's handbag you'll understand), sometimes they make it to the notice hoard and then the debate begins. I like life lessons, "twee" Adrian would say, "You just want to be Doris Day" accuses Kathy. probably true on both counts, although I would just like to be able to sing like Doris Day rather than actually BE Doris Day.

There are panic moments; Wednesday morning dawns and nothing has struck home, no words worthy of going on the blackboard. How do these column writers do it? They have to produce hundreds, even thousands of words, weekly and I struggle to come up with one little thought. "Humour", Adrian says "we need funny things", my personal favourite is 'If it's the tourist season, why can't we shoot them?' He says I can't use it however, you've got to admit, it's funny!

Any words of wisdom you would like to share send them to us on gallerycaterers@hotmail.co.uk you could save me another grey hair.

See you soon.
Lou x

ps Poptastic D, if you're reading this I've had a serious cheese scone malfunction this morning, they've gone sideways instead of up!

Something for everyone this weekend

This weekend is packed full of things happening at Renishaw Hall & Gardens. On Saturday we have a Food Fair with stalls selling local produce from10.30am to 4.00pm.  There are also two Vineyard Tour & Tastes at 11.30am and 2.00pm.

Saturday also sees the opening of the Royalty & Renishaw Exhibition. The exhibition celebrates the relationship between Renishaw and the Royals of Britain and Europe. The exhibition was previewed yesterday by The Times and a review will feature on Saturday, with the exhibition also appearing in the Independent on Sunday. Woman and Home Magazine have listed it as the 2nd best Jubilee exhibition to see, second only to Buckingham Palace.

The exhibition is open 10.30am to 4.30pm, Wednesday to Sunday and will be open until the close of the season.

On Sunday the Plant Fair opens at 10.30am with specialist nurseries selling a range of lovely plants and offering advice. There are also another two more Vineyard Tour & Tastes at 11.30am and 2.00pm.

Don't forget there's also all the usual loveliness in the Cafe. Hope to see you soon.
Louise x

Last week it was Francophile, this week it's Countryfile

The BIG news this week is that a couple of Saturdays ago we had the pleasure of hosting the crew from the BBCs Countryfile programme. They were in the area filming for a programme about Derbyshire, obviously they didn't just call in for tea it was all planned and they spent an entire day here filming in the Vineyard, the Hall and the garden. Matt Baker was ill so we had to put up with Adam the farmer (what a shame!). It is planned that the programme will be broadcast on Sunday, 6th May so hopefully you'll catch it on the Beeb.

There's been a few changes to the menu so I thought I'd put the whole thing here in the hopes of tickling some taste buds:


Farmers Pie, Goats Cheese & Caramelised Red Onion Tart, Gammon Salad, Salmon Salad, Ploughmans Lunch, Onion & Leek Tart, Pheasant Pithivier, Roast Partridge, Rabbit in Mustard Sauce, Chicken Breast in Bacon and Mushroom Sauce, Daube de Provence, Pork Loin in Prunes.

If Adrian asks if you'd like his autograph just ignore him, he used to be on the stage you know and likes nothing better than to regale a willing audience with tales of when he 'trod the boards' and he even still remembers all his lines!

Hope to see you soon.
Louise x