Hallo,

We’re decking the halls with boughs of Holly & attempting to make Freddie the Shetland pony’s white patches white again in readiness for this Saturday’s Bee Shack Christmas special. Pls see www.honeybuns.co.uk/beeshack for info or call us on 01963 23597. Freddie (the little  scamp) is due to meet & greet our visitors this Saturday. We have a slight issue in the fact that he has been a proper mudlark these last few days, so we need to dry him out & give him a good wash & blowdry before his big “Ta-Dah” moment.

Freddie our Mudlark Scamp

We hope you might join us at the Bee Shack? We’ve got Christmas Carols at 2pm plus mulled wine and tables groaning with gluten free goodies. If you are popping in for coffee, lunch or just a browse you’ll be warmly welcomed- you might want to try out our new cosy knitting corner too.

The Bee Shack looking lovely

Our Christmas gluten fee gifts are becoming ever more popular. Why not load up in the Bee Shack with gorgeous stocking fillers? Our rinky -dink “Tea parties in a Purse” are utterly delicious & are selling like proverbial hot cakes. If you can’t make the Bee Shack, our scrumptious online gluten free gift selection can be ordered on www.honeybuns.co.uk/shop. If you need guidance, Sally is always happy to help on 01963 23597. Orders do need to be taken online, but Sally can talk you through any queries you might have.

Honeybuns at Christmas

For any orders of £30 & above we’re giving away a cute as a button fridge magnet featuring one of our beloved rescue animals.

Asides from our Bee Shack preparations, we’ve been busy in the nature reserve, planting out yet more conservation hedging. The bird life has been phenomenal. We wonder whether our dogs in deterring wandering cats from getting too far up our drive, are doing the birds a bit of a favour?…..We’ve got finches, tits, thrushes, sparrows & even the usually very territorial robins & wrens in abundance. We’ve upped the feeds for them & also pop out plenty of water in shallow dishes. Seeing them dart in and out of Naish  Farm’s hedgerows has underlined the need to keep these leafy wildlife corridors in good health- they provide essential cover & food for lots of species of birds & mammals. For more info on our nature reserve pls see www.honeybuns.co.uk/beegreen

Our orchard project is also coming along- the trees are due to be planted when (if!?!) the ground drys out slightly. Our bantams, Posh, Pecks & Elton will then be able to scratch around free range during the day in and amongst the trees. We’re also on the look out for a gurt old cider press.

Elton & Posh- I think Pecks is still in bed...

that’s all for now-

hope you’ve all got a super relaxing & happy weekend coming up and that we might see some of you on Sat.

Em x

Hallo,

We’re over the moon with our delightful “Tea Party in a Purses”- finally they’re ready to order from our Honeybuns online shop- they are surely amongst the cutest of stocking fillers around this year. I’m hoping that there’ll be spares for us in the office….My one and only posh lipstick will fit into the purse once the cakes have been snaffled; and let’s be frank- that won’t take long.

Gorgeous stocking filler

Our fridge clips are also super cute & ideal as Little Office/Secret Santa pressies.

Gorgeous Fridge Clips

I promised a great friend Beverley (She off The Muddy Dog Company)  that I would do my best to spread the word about her delightful Patterdale puppies too. Kind, committed, knowledgeable homes are sought. Please drop me a line via thebee@honeybuns.co.uk & if you are interested I can pass you on to Beverley herself. She is very keen to find country homes- as Patterdales are energetic little souls who love to rootle in the undergrowth and they thrive on being busy.

Poppy's I Pad

As well as our own on line stocking fillers, tins of cake etc I’ll be heading over to The Somerst Cider Brandy Company for some of their sensational “Kingston Black” as described on their website-

“The Kingston Black Apple Aperitif 18% is made by blending the famed juice from the legendary Kingston Black apple with Somerset Cider Brandy. It is full of apple flavours and leaves the palate with an intriguing dry finish – a bit like a white port or a Pineau de Charentes.”

We’ll be enjoying this poured over a home made Christmas pud.

We’re just a bit in love with this Somerset artisan company of great reknown. Having been to their recent apple Day & having also toured the orchards & Distillery we were all delighted by the full velocity passion for food,drink & rural traditions.Awesome. www.ciderbrandy.co.uk

Finally, with absolutely nothing to do with food nor drink I just wanted to say how brilliant the Swan Theatre’s recent production of Tess of the D’Ubervilles was. I ventured out with a neighbour one wet & windy evening & we were enchanted,  along with the rest of the audience. Fab- u -lous!!! www.swan-theatre.co.uk the two leads were both under 20 years of age too.

Wishing everyone a very lovely weekend to come,

Em x

Hallo,

It’s been a busy little week here at Naish Farm. We’ve been working on a new recipe for melt in the mouth, gluten free  millionaire’s shortbreads. Very naughty, but naturally so- and you could always make them in teeny sizes…..to spread the naughtiness out a little…? I find this works in theory but it’s a little harder to practice restraint when these little scamps are fresh out of the oven…

The recipe will be appearing in the “Oxfordshire Bake Off” recipe book- all raising funds for Oxfam. The actual “Oxfordshire Bake (fake off) event will be taking place on International Women’s Day on March 10th next year. As soon as the web address for the event is live we’ll mention it on Facebook.

Here is our Honeybuns Millionaire’s shortbread recipe-

Gorgeous gluten free shortbreads

Cooking Temperature: 180 deg c

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Quantities – 20 round shortbreads using a 3 inch cutter

Method-

Prepare a large baking sheet by covering with a piece of silicone paper (baking parchment) cut to size.

Place all of the shortbread ingredients into the food processor and blitz until a soft, pliable dough is formed. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for  at least 30 minutes to reduce spreading when baked.

The dough can be a little sticky, so ensure that your hands, work surface and rolling pin are liberally dusted with tapioca flour.

Roll out the dough to a little over one cm thick. Dip the pastry cutter in tapioca flour and cut out your rounds (or other fabulous shapes). Sometimes you need to nudge the dough free of the cutter using the end of a cake skewer or similar.

Place the shapes, well spaced out, onto the baking sheet. These little biscuits will spread a bit when baked and have a slightly uneven edge.

The cookies will be a light golden colour underneath- you can gently lift an edge up using a fish slice…

If using topping 1- allow the cookies to cool slight before sprinkling with sugar.

For topping 2- allow to cool completely.

Spread the dulce de leche liberally over each cookie using a palette knife.

Melt the chocolate & oil using the bain marie method or in the microwave.

Spread this molten mixture over the caramel.

Allow to set for at least 2 hours at room temperature.

Lottie  & Sally have also been busy making up lots of our Rinky-Dink Teaparty in a purse gift sets. At just £5.95 from our online shop they are a fabulous stocking filler. Each handmade Honeybuns purse comes loaded with two mini cakes, two teabags & doilie- all set for a mini teaparty to share. The purses are perfecto for lipstick/coin storage once you’ve eaten the cakes.

Tea Party in a Purse

Our Scone testing & tasting went well this week. We had to present them to some key customers & it looks promising….we should be able to launch them for the Spring of next year. They have a wonderful blend of chestnut flour, ground almonds & a teensy bit of sorghum flour- an Asiatic grass seed that we’ve rather fallen in love with lately…plus a dash of the best vanilla. Very moist & utterly moreish when served with a properly delicious strawberry “Half Jam” where most of the fruit is still whole…Mmmmmm. The demo packaging looks kookily lovely too…

Wishing everyone a delightful, fun filled weekend. Let’s hope this late November sunshine holds out.

PS- The nature reserve is a buzzing with all sorts of bird life right now- robins, Jays, wrens, Goldcrests-I’ll leave Charlotte to update you on all things orchardey- naturewise on her brilliant bee green blog.

Em x

Hallo,

Thank you to everyone for such a brilliant Bee Shack Saturday. Charlotte was chuffed to bits to see it so busy especially as all the monies get fed into her BeeGreen kitty. We’re currently spending the funds on as many fruit trees as we can afford for the Orhcard Project – ie replanting the grubbed up cider orchard here at our nature reserve surrounding the bakery.

The aim is to invite visitors to enjoy the orchard on Bee Shack Days & we’ll be making cider in our press as well as creating apple chips to use in the Bakery – visitors on Bee Shack Days will be welcome to come & investigate.We’re loving this newly published book on all things Orchardey – “The Fruit Tree Handbook” by Ben Pike www.amazon.co.uk/Fruit-Tree-Handbook-Ben-Pike/dp/1900322749

O

Sunny Bee Shack Wall

Our gluten free scone testing is still ongoing – we need them to be just that extra bit plumptious… we’re very happy but we will be tinkering for just a little while longer until they are spot on. Scone samples will be available to try at our final Bee Shack  Saturday of this year – Saturday, 3rd December.

‘Twould be lovely to see you there. We’ve got some gorgeous Christmas stocking filler ideas ready too, or just pop on anytime to www.honeybuns.co.uk/shop, our gift wrap is simply charming. For Bee Shack info pls see www.honeybuns.co.uk/beeshack. Apparently Freddie the pony will be festively attired too.

Freddie in the scout tent

We’ll be popping some new videos (home made & therefore might just be a bit “Blair Witch Project” shaky) from the test kitchen up onto You Tube – this will be happening in the next couple of weeks. We’ll show you how we approach New Product Development – including how messy I am in the kitchen compared to the super calm & collected  Charlotte.

Our Tinker Tuesdays have been growing steadily more & more popular. If you’ve not come across them before – we give away a gorgeous Honeybuns tin full of gluten free Triple Chocolate Tinkers every Tuesday to the lucky winner www.honeybuns.co.uk/competition. We’re providing an even better incentive to enter – starting in January (to add a bit of Va Va Vroom to a potentially testing month) we’ll be teaming up with very lovely artisan companies for a double whammy giveaway. You could win a hand made Jammy Dodger necklace as well as your Tin of Tinkers… our main criterion is that any guest Tinker company has to offer sth lovely & genuinely made here in the UK with care & attention. We’ve got some fab companies in the pipeline including Jonny’s Sister, The Muddy Dog Company & Dorset Tea.

Thanks for reading ,

Em x

Hallo,

We had a lovely bimble through Dorset & the Somerset Levels last weekend. We took 5 guests on one of our “Off the Beaten Track Foodie Safaris”. Thank you so much to the magnificent Somerset Cider Brandy Company & its inspiring founder, Julian Temperley for showing us behind the scenes.We’d highly recommend a visit. You are positively encouraged to follow the white arrows (all quite Alice in Wonderland) through the apple orchards to read the various descriptions of tree varieties & the ongoing history of this magical place.Tastings are frequent- just head for the ancient, oak beamed cider shop on site. www.ciderbrandy.co.uk. As an aperitif, we think the Kingston Black is heavenly. I’ve squirrelled a couple of bottles in my Christmas  cupboard.

Honeybuns & Somerset Cider Brandy

Our Safari explorers were all really good fun – thank you to Mrs Simpkins for her sloe gin recipe. Mrs Simpkins – I’ll let you know how I get on at this year’s “Gin Off”. It was great to meet the team behind Dorset Doorstep Deli, Lizzie and Diane www.dorsetdoorstepdeli.co.uk

We also popped into the Food & Craft Market at Montacute House – where I couldn’t resist some more of Mere Fish Farm’s smoked trout pate… Extremely good on hot buttered toast with a few slices of pickled cucumber from Dorset Blue Soup. www.dorsetblue.com

Our Safari lunch stop was at the Halfway House in the middle of the Somerset Levels. The food was gert lush & it was toasty warm inside with two log fires on the go. Thank you for making us so welcome, especially as we’re from over the border…

thehalfwayhouse.co.uk

On our return to Honeybuns, Naish Farm there was just enough room for some gluten free cakes – little slivers of gorgeousness served on our growing eclectic collection of mismatched china – ranging from  granny’s finest chintzy cups and saucers… to the not so chic A Team mugs circa 1988….. Please see carefully edited photo below. B .A. Baracus is just out of shot.

Tea Party

Please do pop in to see us this Saturday, 5th November. It’s our penultimate Bee Shack Saturday before we hibernate in Jan & Feb. The Bee Shack has had a gentle makeover & is looking prettier than ever. Why not pop over for a pot of tea & peruse our book collection whilst you snuggle up on the sofa. There’ll be lots of samples as per usual & very sweet little stocking filler ideas too.

Work is starting mid November on phase 1 of reinstating the old Naish Farm orchard – we’ll have illustrated plans of the orchard & nature reserve done in time for December’s Bee Shack. We’re hoping people might like to get involved in harvesting & sharing the harvest in years to come.

Thanks for reading. Wishing everyone a super week,

Em x

Blkthorn Blossom & log pile

Hallo, we mentioned the orchard project last week & alongside that we’re creating lots of quirky features for our young visitors. Examples are the brand new “Tinker’s Dell”, a clearing in our nature reserve which is shaded with a lovely sail cloth & furnished with wooden toadstool seats – it will be used as a story telling space. Our teapot trail will also invite children to identify various wild meadow plants – growing in assorted teapots along a trail. We will be doing tours of the nature reserve on Bee Shack Days from April 2012 & we can host a number of visits from primary schools subject to prebooking. www.honeybuns.co.uk/beegreen.

Birdlife has been very lively – we’ve spotted pied wagtails, gold crests, tonnes of sparrows & finches all stocking up on the hedgerow berries before the frosts really start to kick in. We find old pheasant feeders are good hung up in the old apple trees. They make for very popular feeding stations.

We also have a growing band of doves making their home in one of the old barns – it’s magical seeing them against a clear blue sky of a frosty morning. A couple of pigeons also hang out with them – we should get some interesting chicks next Spring…

Pretty Gift Wrap

Lottie & Sally are busy getting ready for the Christmas mail order orders. They’re tweaking our already quirky & pretty packaging. So soon we’ll have bespoke Honeybuns mail bags & outer boxes to go with our pretty tissue paper & ribbon. We’re also working on a new mini eco-printed mail order brochure. We’ll be offering some new, exciting lines in the New Year. All to be revealed soon. www.honeybuns.co.uk/shop

We remain busy in the test kitchen. We’re currently working on a gluten free scone – it’s utterly delicious & we’ll be able to reveal more in the New Year.

Hopefully we may see some of you at the next Bee Shack on Saturday, 5th November. www.honeybuns.co.uk/beeshack. There’ll be lots of samples to try & if the weather is kind our beloved  fluffy pink parasols will be out in the front garden.

Have a great weekend, Em x