Out & About October 2017

To everything there is a season Autumn may have well and truly set in, but we have much to be thankful for as we cosy up and enjoy nutritious comfort food. It’s also a great time of year to enjoy the English countryside and start thinking about Christmas cheer, says ROMILLA ARBER

spring and summer and gets ready for winter. Remember that we welcome dogs and their owners and are not worried about muddy boots. We are hosting the Walbury Hill Climb at the Crown and Garter once again this year. Cyclists obviously keep going rain or shine – so come along and enjoy the time trials. There will be plenty of food and drink available and a generous amount of parking space. We are also pleased to be joined by some local producers, showing all that is good about food and drink in West Berkshire. In the cookery school, we are getting booked up for our Christmas wreath courses so get on line or on the telephone, otherwise you will miss out. There are lovely courses available this autumn with some new tutors. Japanese and a perfectly seasonal Italian funghi course, and lots more besides so please take a look. What better way to ignore the weather then safely ensconced in our cookery school making dishes and socialising? Good for the mind, body and spirit. We have a couple of Mexican courses, a chocolate course,

I heard on the radio this morning, during the weather forecast, that summer in the UK is over. This is sad as we all like to enjoy an Indian summer when we are able. We tend to feel lucky having enjoyed something that we are not necessarily entitled to, something that is not guaranteed, being an island in the northern hemisphere. Indian summers also help to make the winter less drawn out. It does seem terribly self-absorbed to talk about the weather at all given the events in the US, the West Indies, India and Bangladesh and the devastation that the extreme conditions have caused in those countries. Our weather could seem sublime in comparison. The change of season, however, does enable us to refocus our minds and bodies to the type of food we like to eat as the darker evenings draw in and the temperatures drop. Happiness and security can be found around the kitchen table tucking into something hearty and warming with our loved ones. Happiness can also be found in the Crown and Garter, snuggled in front of our fire looking at our new menu and deciding what to eat. Our wonderful, albeit sometimes frustrating, climate offers us ‘some

of the best’ at this time of year – apples, pears, plums, quince and damsons, which all transform into the most delectable puddings, jams and preserves. At Honesty we will soon be introducing the autumn range of products in our coffee shops, which we hope will help to get you through the rainy, more challenging days ahead. Being involved in food production and supply does mean that already we need to start thinking of Christmas, which is a terribly difficult thing to do when the leaves haven’t yet fallen from the trees. I am also busy looking at new products to keep you and your taste buds interested. I know one of our coffee shop customer frustrations is that we don’t have a large enough variety of food on offer. I do have to keep reminding everyone that our premises are coffee shops without kitchens and so we have to be imaginative in respect of what we can offer as we can’t produce on site. We do care though and we are trying, so bear with us. There is still much to enjoy outdoors and the countryside often comes into its own at this time of year, when one can enjoy walking and looking at the scenery as nature slows down after a hectic

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