It was a great achievement last Tuesday when Welbeck farm shop was awarded the trophy for ‘Best Own & Local’

We are very proud of the products that we make in store. The producers at Welbeck and the community of local producers that supply us are excellent!

I wish the whole team could have been at the awards. The farm shop is a team effort and always will be.

We are still a young business compared to some of the great farm shops that enter these awards. I remember attending this FARMA conference before the shop opened its doors in 2006 and to be even nominated as a finalist is a great achievement.

One thing I love about the farm shop industry is how nice the people are. Everyone is always willing to offer advice. We don’t see each other as competition, in fact we are all standing together against the larger chains.

Congratulations to Blacker Hall Farm Shop for winning the Best Retailer award. We were runners up in this category but Blacker Hall have a fantastic business and really deserved the award.

I had my photo taken with the award at the ceremony but I will be taking one of the team this week. None of this would have been possible without them!

I have counted both votes for those of you that sneakily voted for two recipes as I wasn’t sure which one to count.

The votes were very wide spread, which is good as it means I can bake a few of the recipes over the coming weeks and please many of you. The winner, by 1 vote was the Balkan Cheese Cake so this weekend I will be sieving cottage cheese! Oh dear! I feel more sorry for Michael though as he will be forced to taste it!

I will attempt the recipe and post the results soon.

Also, I have to say congratulations again to the farm shop! Tuesday evening saw the 2014 FARMA awards. Welbeck Farm Shop was a finalist in the Retailer Of The Year and Best Own & Local categories and I am pleased to tell you that they won Best Own & Local!

The shop is so lucky to have so many fabulous Welbeck producers supplying them and this award is also a big credit to them!

When they announced the winner of Retailer Of The Year the presenter said that all the judges that had visited Welbeck Farm Shop thought that it was what a farm shop should be and it had a great team of people.

Well done everyone!

I came across some fabulous magazine pull outs from Woman. One was from 1956 and one was from 1960. I really enjoyed looking through them.

The advertisements and the slogans made me smile and although they were very dated and a little sexist I thought that I would share one of them with you. How times have changed!

There were many recipes in them which I would like to try. I had a tough time deciding which one to make so I decided to allow you to make the decision.

Which recipe shall I bake first?

Yorkshire Farmhouse Cake
Orange Star Biscuits
Mayfair Crunchies
Chocolate Chip Gateau
Apple & Ginger Buns
Strawberry Shortcakes
Balkan Cheese Cake (This contains sieved cottage cheese which worries me slightly but I’m curious.)
Fluffy Lemon Pie
Lincolnshire Scones
Ginger Nuts
Orange Fairies
Fudge Buns

Using the comments section below, tell me which one you would like me to bake. I will then make it and share the recipe with you. I am looking forward to seeing which one you choose!

Michael says that he goes to Stichelton to choose the best cheeses but I think that he enjoys the tasting!

Joe ironed a selection of Stichelton for Michael to try. He also recommended his favourite batches.

Having the new cheese room at the shop allows more storage and the cheese that Michael selected is already on display and available to purchase.

It is the perfect place to pick up some special Christmas gifts or a wonderful pre Christmas treat for yourself.

Here are some of the photos that I took at last year’s event.

Photographs

1) Apple juice & compote by John Starkey. 2) Boutique Aromatique‘s handmade marshmallows. 3) Dotty About Jam 4) Tuxford Windmill. 5) Welbeck Farm Shop making hot roast pork sandwiches. 6) The Welbeck Restaurant at Dukeries Garden Centre. 7) Dukeries Brass Band 8) Trinity Forge. 9) Ellie Evans. 10) Elizabeth Terzza‘s jewellery inspired by things found on woodland walks. 11) Pottery Postcards by Charlotte E Dredge. 12) Contemporary Ceramics from Jesicca Steel. 13 & 14) Pieces by Waller Hewett, including their wobbly wall art. 15) Diddly Doodles, lovely work of a 5 year old girl raising money for The Children’s Hospital Charity. 16 & 17) Paperwork by Hannah Lobley developed after she accidentally left a book out in the rain. 18 & 19) Wapentac. 20) Hattie Startin.

I had to wear a very fetching outfit before I was allowed in as they follow very strict hygiene controls.

I have never seen so much cheese in my life! The cheese doesn’t leave the diary until at least 12 weeks after it has been made. It is stored according to age and it was amazing to see!

Whilst we were there the staff were busy wrapping the cheese. They worked so quickly! I am thinking of asking them to come and help me with my Christmas wrapping!

Approximately 2000 cheeses will leave the dairy for Christmas orders. That’s a lot of wrapping and a lot of cheese!

Michael attempted to help but it was much harder than they made it look!

Joe made him stick to passing the boxes.

It was great to finally see behind the scenes! I am planning another post about the making of Stichelton. It is a long, interesting process which I thought would be great to share. Watch this space!

It is awards season again and this year they have been overwhelmed by the nominations and the awards that they have received.

Today the winners of the Observer Food Monthly awards have been announced and Welbeck Farm Shop is a runner up in the best independent retailer category. Everyone is thrilled! It was overwhelming for them to be in the shortlist as this is a huge award judged by experts of the food and drink industry. The winners were presented with edible trophies at a ceremony in London. Maybe next year.

The shop has been nominated for a Nottinghamshire Stars Award for excellence in customer service. It is great for the team to be recognised for their fabulous customer service! The awards ceremony takes place in Nottingham on Thursday night.

They are also finalists in 2 categories of next years Farma awards, the farm retailer of the year and the own and local categories.

It is a very exciting time at the shop and everyone is very grateful for the nominations, the awards and their fabulous customers! I told you that their customer service was excellent.

Being installed in the entrance area are two maturation rooms, one for the curing of bacon and hams and the other for maturing cheese.

The bacon that is cured on the premises has become very popular and has outgrown the butchery fridge. The maturation room will provide more space and it will also allow the butchers to vary the humidity to achieve the best bacon possible.

The cheese maturation room will allow the shop to store more Stichelton to keep up with demand. It will also allow us to be able to buy younger Stichelton and mature it to perfection for our customers.

The rooms will be made of glass to enable customers to see the process. They will be in place from the 31st of this month.

The shop has recently started having a tasting panel to taste any new products. The panel tried some new preserves recently and thought they were delicious! This seemed like a good reason to have an indoor picnic.

We bought some Hafod Cheddar and some Cornish Yarg (my favourite) and a ciabatta loaf made by The Welbeck Bakehouse. We also purchased a pork pie, some cooked meats and the new preserves.

I made a strawberry and cream cake using Starkey’s delicious strawberries.

We set out our picnic and had a lovely evening.

The preserves were very tasty! I could not stop eating the beetroot chutney and although I didn’t try the cucumber pickle my husband ate half a jar of it so I think that is a good sign.

The preserves are made in Yorkshire by The Harrogate Preserves Company and although that is further afield than many of the shops products the taste makes stocking them worthwhile. The company began because someone was unable to find a delicious red onion marmalade. They decided to make their own and things progressed from there.

I think that the preserves would also make a lovely gift as they are beautifully packaged. They are available in the shop now and would be lovely for a picnic, indoor or out!

Welbeck Bakehouse, Stichelton, Annette’s Cakes and Dukeries Garden Centre were there selling their fabulous products and there was a bar serving Welbeck Abbey Brewery‘s real ales. There was also a BBQ provided by the Limehouse Cafe.

The Harley Gallery Artist Studios were open to the public and The Bodging Project held furniture making workshops in the courtyard. Creswell Crags showed a selection of some of the artefacts that have been found at the crags inside a 12 foot yurt and The School Artisan Food held butter making demonstrations.

The Guitar Bar (which sell beer from the brewery) were there throughout the day providing music which really added to the atmosphere.

Welbeck Archers, Welbeck Sailing Club & Welbeck Tennis Club all attended the event. You could try your hand at archery or look around a sailing boat.

Saturday also saw the launch of the Made At Welbeck branding in store. Now all the products that are made on the estate carry the Made At Welbeck sticker.

Despite the weather, everyone had a lovely day! Inside the shop was very busy. The butchery department made some extra special items (including some new trinkets) and Boutique Aromatique had many delicious treats available. Many regular customers as well as some new faces came to see what Welbeck has to offer.