A Happy New Year!

To all our family, friends and followers............we wish a wonderful New Year full of health, happiness, amazing food and extraordinary flowers!!!
Love from Sarah and Carolyn

Fridays demonstration.

We again set ourselves up for another demonstration where we were welcomed so warmly on a chilly Friday evening. We were both quite nervous and waited our entrance with jelly legs!
 We worked together on each others creations and it became entwined which created a smoother operation. The audience were very kind and responsive and we delivered are repartee on good form . Our creations were Christmas oriented and Carolyn's ttipsy tart was a big hit..............everyone wanted the recipe! The table center and door wreaths were auctioned off and a nice sum of money was raised for Tirley village hall.
 We are gradually finding our feet and finding our comfort zone whilst delivering our performance. TasteBud is evolving and we are very excited as we see what was initially just a germ of an idea develop into something that we can take furfher and further..............................
We are now having a short break but all the while creating and devising new ideas to take on the road.
 I am feeling glum and a little under par..............my mincemeat will have to wait! 

Demo in Paul Cornwall

Battling with the elements we arrived in Paul almost 2am on Saturday morning! Foarageing around in the van we managed to set up our demonstration and present it to a really wonderful group of local people . We were really well recieved consideing our novice state! Lots of people bought our products from the shop and we had some really good feedback from theeveryone. We managed to create a few smiles with overrfllowing mulled apple juice and wayword wires in fruits and bulbs.
 We now are getting ready for our Tirley demonstration on Friday if the weather is kind to us . At the moment it is -10 degrees and a heavy frost has consummed the countryside with its amazing beauty. Watch the weeks events as they unfold. Making fudge today, must try not to nibble too much ...............difficult it smells divine and tastes so delicious.

Sitll the frost and cold keeps us wrapped in many layers.  How cosy it was to make wonderful christmas wreaths with a group of ladies in Bisley at the weekend.Following a short demonstration the creative juices began to flow and wonderful creations were constructed whilst an icing suagr of snow cast its magic on the landscape outside. We all felt so christmassy , our spirits soared as we laughed and shared in each others inspiration. Weeach left with a beautiful decoration for our front doors but also a marvellous sense if achieveement . Well done ladies.....................you should  be very proud o your selves. I am so proud of you all.

preserving violets

A beautiful landscape outside this morning , cool, crisp and glazed with winter sunshine. Similar to my kitchen that has now been transformed into an apothecaries den, complete with spirits and frostings of sugar.
With a delivery of beautiful Cornish violets the task of crystallizing has consumed my kitchen. Blending equal parts of vodka and gum tragacanth I carefully painted the flowers  and with help from my darling friend Pam we liberally shook caster sugar over each bloom and lay them out on racks in the airing cupboard. This was rather time consuming as each bunch held twenty stems and their were 60 bunches! Some Violas were all so incarcerated in this intoxicating sugary potion. With huge success, their little faces clearly incased. Now to be used as decoration on Carolyn's delicious fudge along with the preserved violets. So delightfully pretty .

Quince

Having found the Quince tree I planted more than ten years ago in a now deserted garden, imagine finding it loaded with golden orbs of delicious fragrant fruit. I filled my trugs and have a major task ahead transforming the fruit into jelly.
Any helpful hints on how to make it crystal clear???

TasteBud opens the door to autumn.

Its dull outside and the windows steamy, another sign that autumn is visiting us once again.I have a huge tub of quince and some fallen apples that  I am going to include in an autumnal door wreath to greet my B and B guests at Le Mesuage this weekend. Carolyn is about to bring out her largest pan to create a rose gold quince jelly. A labour of love with divine results.............Mmmmmmmm  the scent lingers!