Hello

February has brought challenging weather conditions with the beautiful sunny but icy cold days, then a good dump of snow and bitter winds! We still though have plenty of comforting winter veg to turn into something special, warming drinks and plenty going on!

 

In the Shop

 

We have a number of tasting events planned starting with:

 

Saturday 25 February – Bread Factory

Our new suppliers of artisan bread will have their full range of delicious breads in the shop for you to sample. The loaves are traditionally made using pure ingredients and are simply delicious. Do come and sample them – the tiger loaf is amazing!

 

Saturday 31 March – Farmer Bill’s Ice Cream

Handmade by Hadley’s of Essex, their award winning ice-creams and sorbets are so sumptuous and with such flavours as chocolate marshmallow, honeycomb crunch and strawberry, totally irresistible too. Which is your favourite flavour? Do join us to try.

 

 

Tea

The range of loose leaf house teas that have been carefully selected, handpicked and packed just for us by local tea connoisseurs Tealicious are available to purchase for you to enjoy at home. Alongside the classics such as Darjeeling and Assam, popular blends include British Brew, Afternoon Tea and Royal Reserve.

 

Takeaway

Cups of tea and coffee and pastries are now available to take away in our new eco-friendly boxes.

 

Roscoff Onions

Braids of these mildly sweet and delicious onions are now hanging in the shop along with garlic and shallots – lovely to cook as they don’t make your eyes water! Originally grown in Roscoff, France, the farmers brought their harvest over here and sold them in braided bunches door to door by the Frenchmen riding bicycles and wearing berets and stripped shirts who became known as the Onion Johnnies.

 

Inspiring Vegetables

Although coming to the end of the winter veg season, the wonderful Crown Prince pumpkin still packs a punch – try it cubed, fried and stirred into curries or risottos adding sage or thyme to offset the sweetness or try ginger for some extra warmth; explore the opportunities with the humble potato, the Cyprus, for example has a lovely distinctive taste and rich in flavour, as does the Cavolo Nero cabbage, one of the super-foods rich in iron and vitamins and very satisfying. The colourful beetroots add a cheerful addition; try the golden, raw and sliced finely with carrot and a dressing for a delicious winter salad.

 

In the Café

 

We are delighted to welcome so many of you for lunch in the café – do please bear with us during the peak periods and we’ll find you a table as quickly as possible.

Inspired too by the produce in the shop, our chefs are cooking delicious daily specials such as cream of winter vegetable soup, toasted Focaccia topped with melted Cornish brie and caramelised onion chutney followed by oranges in caramel and brandy with vanilla ice cream for pudding.

Our pastry chef is also busy creating beautiful delicacies for our traditional English afternoon tea, with a mouth watering array of scrumptious cakes, sandwiches and scones and a pot of tea costing £8.95.

 

The Pearces

 

 

Hello

A Happy New Year to you.

We are delighted that so many of you have been able to visit our new café since we opened six weeks ago and do hope you had an enjoyable time – thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

January in the Café

Sunday Brunch and Lunch

Our chefs are busy in the kitchen 7 days a week and Sunday brunch and lunch are already proving a popular choice. The opening times are Brunch 10.00am – 12.30pm and Lunch 12.30pm – 4.00pm.

Our lunch menu offers a choice of three delicious roasts and we also currently have the tasty seasonal option of a whole boned and stuffed pheasant for two, served with roast scalloped potatoes, selection of vegetables and brought to the table for you to carve.

The menu also offers a choice of starters such as soups and terrines, chef’s specials like a venison casserole or chestnut mushroom frittata and wonderful homemade desserts – even the filo pastry for the apple strudel is home made.

Booking for lunch is advisable.

Our specials start from £5.95; the roasts £9.95 and the pheasant which is only available in season, £24 for two to share and please order in advance.

 

Traditional English Afternoon Tea

We are very pleased that, like us, you also seem to be enjoying that timeless tradition of taking English Afternoon Tea. Our pastry chef bakes the most scrumptious cakes, miniature pastries and scones and together with the finger sandwiches and a pot of tea we are delighted to bring this pastime to you at the great value of £8.95

Tealicious, a small family run local company has sourced the finest eight loose leaf handpicked tea for us, from a gutsy Assam, a delicate Darjeeling to the ideal blend of Ceylon and Indian. We serve tea in stylish glass tea pots with a timer so you can choose your own brewing time – a bit of fun we know but we do want you to enjoy the perfect cup.

January in the Shop

One of the joys of January is the arrival of the Seville oranges – bitter, knobbly and thick-skinned but perfect if you enjoy making your own marmalade, also their fragrant juice makes an interesting change to lemon or lime juice in marinades and dressings and a few strips of peel gives a great depth of flavour to a beef stew. Boxes brimming with these colourful fruit are on the shop floor now – do grab some as their season is all too short.

Other great produce in the shop include the blood oranges and citrus fruit, we’ve still got English apples, sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, kale and the flavoursome Crown Prince squash, wonderful for roasting, making a puree or putting into a Moroccan Tagine.

If you are having a Burns Night bash on 25 January, we’ve got a great selection of Scottish cheeses to choose from; Lanark Blue, the Scottish Roquefort made with ewe’s milk; the fine Highland cheeses Morangie Brie, Strathdon Blue and Scotland’s oldest cheese Caboc as well as a Lockerbie Cheddar.

The Pearces

 

Christmas at Pearce’s

 

Hello and welcome to our first newsletter marking the opening of our wonderful new café. We’ll keep you regularly updated with what’s going on at Pearce’s shop, café and down at the farm with seasonal produce, events and tastings.

Finally after six months of building, the café was opened at the end of November and we are delighted with the result. Contemporary in style with solid oak beams, table and chairs, it’s been built to eco-specification with solar power heating and rainwater harvesting and the floor to ceiling glass creates light and space giving wonderful views out over the valley.

We’d like to thank you for all your patience during the building works, putting up with the extra noise and alterations in the shop and for your continued support during this time. We do hope that you’ll find time to pop in soon for a cup of coffee – and more, have a look and soak up the atmosphere.

Next year also promises to be exciting with events already in planning. Please do keep an eye on our email newsletters! Why not encourage your friends to subscribe.

We are open everyday until Christmas closing at 4.00pm on Christmas Eve, please do remember to pick up your turkey, pre-ordered, in good time on either Friday 23 or Saturday 24 December.

 

Christmas Shopping at the Shop

 

We are well stocked with everything you’ll need for your Christmas Lunch as well as inspirational edible gifts for under the tree; all chosen by us for quality, taste and originality. We have the scrumptious Bonci panetonne, tins of Amaretti and sweet biscuits, chocolates, sauces, whole Cheddar, Stilton and Brie and Brie Bakers, Christmas puddings and cakes, even stuffing mix, as well as all the larder goods and of course fresh fruit and seasonal vegetables.

Our wonderful Christmas hampers are available again this year, brimming with top quality luxury goods from the shop which make great presents or corporate gifts. You are welcome to come into the shop and choose from our extensive range of delicious products to create your own bespoke hamper yourself or Jenny, here in the shop is very happy to make up a hamper on your behalf.

From the delicatessen section our cheeses of the month are Ossau Iraty, the unpasturised cheese made with sheeps’ milk that takes 90 days to mature and develop that rich nutty flavour.
Fourme d’Ambert, one of France’s oldest cheeses dating back to the Roman times, is a blue, mild cheese and
Applewood cheese, a traditional Cheddar with a delicate smoky flavour and a dusting of paprika.

Outside we still have a good range of Christmas trees of all sizes, including the popular Nordman Spruce variety, which doesn’t shed its pines and don’t forget we have supplies of local seasoned hardwood logs. We’ve also floral wreaths and the delightful life-size willow reindeers too.

 

Christmas in the Café

 

Our chef is featuring some delicious festive dishes in the run up to Christmas including warming wholesome soups and home baked mince pies.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and wonderful New Year.

The Pearce’s