With a shock today Country Kitchen realised that the ‘use by’ date on milk was in December. That definitely means Christmas can’t be far away! Which, of course, brings us to the big ‘T’… Turkey… If you’ve bought your turkey from Knibbs in the past, you’ll have had a ‘Black Barn turkey’, based in Meldreth. This is also the same supplier we’ve been using for turkey escalopes. We’re now taking turkey orders for Black Barn turkeys ranging from 3 – 9 kgs – both barn reared hens (£6.50 / kg) and Bronze free range turkeys (£10.50/kg). Other turkey options such as crowns, saddles, butterfly breasts and turkey rolls are available as well (and prices are the same as Waitrose).
We also have pies, cocktail sausages, cheeses and vegetables on our pre-order list, so you can beat that supermarket rush 😉 We’re already taking orders for joints of meat from Barkers brothers, who are also supplying Debden Green duck and geese. Pop into the shop, or give us a call (07954 669 874) or email l.galpin@btinternet.com to get that Christmas ball rolling.
Tessa has made several batches of delicious Christmas puddings, available in 2 sizes, and we’ll also be making some ‘Squash Wellingtons’ as a Christmas vegetarian option. Over the next few weeks we’ll be taking delivery of our special cheese orders (which we had to place back in October – scary stuff), so there should be some interesting and different items in our deli counter. Our wine supplier is putting together some suggestions for mixed cases of Christmas wines – details to be available shortly. We have a new Xmas display area open (photo enclosed), and rumour has it that we may be serving mulled wine in the lead-up to Christmas, to make shopping for those last minute presents a bit more fun. Do pop in and have a look.
No update would be complete without a mention of our sausage rolls, so we’re pleased to report that these are selling even better than ever, and that we’ve introduced some new variations. Apart from plain and mustard flavoured sausage rolls, we’ve been selling apple, sage & onion sausage rolls, with plans afoot for festive sausage rolls in December. Also now available in a slightly larger size, given that the colder weather inevitably seems to increase the appetite.
Daily specials and info on what’s cooking in the kitchen are written up on our boards outside the shop, and posted on twitter. Follow us (@ckhaslingfield) for all our news and updates.
I think that concludes this update, other than to thank everyone for support and custom these past 8 months, and for bearing with us while we found our feet. We love the fact that we’re so much busier now than when we opened, especially at lunch-times and on Saturdays. Please don’t forget that we’re opening on Sundays from 10h30 – 14h00 in the run-up to Christmas (Sunday opening to be reviewed in the new year). We hope to see you in the next few weeks, and if you can’t see what you want in the shop, please do ask. Chances are we can order what you’re looking for. For any meat orders, as long as you place the order the day before, Barkers (Shelford) can fulfil orders for special cuts of meat.