An Indian Summer?

It's been very busy throughout the summer at Snowdrop Cottage.  Whilst the weather has been somewhat variable at times, today whilst I ate my breakfast the sun streamed through the windows whilst a low mist hung on the hills and an Autumnal nip was in the air - apparently we're set to have an Indian summer - hurrah!  The girls are now back at School and quiet descends on the house enabling lists to be made and chores to be caught up on.

At the start of the summer we welcomed some 'new girls' into our home, or perhaps more accurately into their home under the Quince tree at the bottom of the garden.

We have four 'Lowmans' - like the one above who has been named Sneaky for her persistent ability to escape constantly only to be found pulling the lettuces to pieces in the kitchen garden!  We also have a 'Cream Legbar' (Hermione) who will lay lovely blue eggs and another gorgeous girl whose breed we're not sure of, that will lay us green eggs (Pip). They've settled in really well and my youngest daughter loves nothing more than checking eagerly for any eggs laid whilst rewarding then for being so clever with very enthusiastic cuddles.

We're lucky to live in the heart of the countryside so we often take walks around the village and across the fields.  The girls love checking to see whether the damsons and blackberries are ripe enough to pick or throwing sticks into a nearby tree to release the ripe apples into eager mouths!

This is the view across the village and out towards the start of the Cotswolds hills

Such a gorgeous plant!  

Today though, a chance to breathe and catch breath before another hectic weekend ahead. Do take a look at our events page and come and say hello if you're nearby, we'd love to see you!

Bristol Good Food Awards 2015 - Results

Enjoying our night at the BGFA 2015 with Liam from Psychopomp 

Thank you to all our lovely customers and friends who voted for us and enabled us to go through as finalists at The Bristol Good Food Awards 2015.  We had a fabulous night, meeting some lovely old and new friends as well as chatting to some of the judges who gave us an insight on how it all worked!

Unfortunately we didn't win our categories this time round (boo, hiss!) but already we've dusted off our aprons and will be bringing you even more delicious pies and preserves and hoping you'll put us through to next years final where we'll give it our best shot once again.

It was great to be part of the celebrations and finally swap my flour dusted apron for a little red number and my favourite leopard print high heels and fabulous to see Mr Snowdrop in his wedding suit still looking pretty dapper I have to say!  Thanks once again to all you lovely people that enabled us to have a night out and celebrate the amazing variety of food and artisans out there well and truly putting Bristol on the foody map!

Competition time!

If you fancy winning a hamper full of our own Snowdrop Cottage goodies then take a look at this competition being run by Guide to Bristol (click here to enter). The competition closes on 24th April so be quick!!  Good luck to everyone who enters!!

Finalists at Bristol Good Food Awards 2015

Thank you soooo very much to all our customers and friends who have voted for us this year in the Bristol Good Food Awards.  We're finalists in the categories of 'Best Pie' and 'Best Preserve' and everyone at Snowdrop Cottage HQ are very excited!

Samples need to be submitted in May to enable judges to blind taste and decide on a winner.  We love our pies and we're thrilled you do as well, but it's nerve wracking having Michelin chefs and other experts tasting our produce.  Fingers crossed we can win for the 3rd year in a row in the Preserves category and hopefully bag our first pie win!!!!

We'll keep you all updated, but we really just wanted to say thank you to every one of you that took the time to vote for us!

It's National Pie Week

To celebrate we've introduced a new pie into our range which went down a storm at our market in Frome, drum roll please......'Italian venison meat ball'.  Of course to produce a mouth watering pie, you need the best ingredients.  We use only the finest organic flour from Shipton Mill near Tetbury, lovely free range eggs and each pie is individually and lovingly made by hand and adorned with various leaf patterns!

We use our own 'girls' eggs where possible

Once the school run is done and our girls are happily settled it's straight back home to start the days pie cooking.  The day will start with a strong cup of good coffee and Radio 4 turned up in the background.  The oven has already been heating up so it'll be nice and warm ready for the first batch of pies to go in.  My Mother (not an early riser) will arrive at about 10am by which time the first batch of pies will be out of the oven and the containers ready for washing up - thanks Mum!  It's a well oiled machine now at Snowdrop Cottage and cooking can generally be completed before it's time to pick the girls up from school at 3pm.

We're in the process of having a lovely new kitchen built at the moment and once completed we'll be running some pie making workshops for those that would like to have a go!  Keep an eye out for dates to be posted later Summer.

Bristol Good Food Awards 2015 - VOTING OPEN!

It's that time of the year again folks when the voting starts for the 2015 Bristol Good Food Awards.  You, our customers have voted us into the finals for the last two years and we've been thrilled to win 'Best Preserve' for the last two years running.  It always humbles us that so many many of you love our preserves and continue to support us which makes everyone at Snowdrop Cottage very happy!!!!

We'd love to reach the finals again this year and qualify for three categories!!!!  If you enjoy any of the following you can vote in 'Best Local Producers' section ( click here) for our pies/ preserves or condiment - or maybe all three!!!

A big thank you for your continued support, we're only a little business and we intend to keep it that way. We like to know our customers and ensure our quality remains the highest it can possibly be so please vote!

In search of Spring

Alas our kitchen at Snowdrop Cottage has become too small for us so recently we've been building an extension to house new equipment and provide gorgeous views of the Cotswold hills as we cook. With a husband's determined eye, thermals on and a level in his hand it was clearly time to exit the house with my eldest daughter and a lovely friend to seek out signs of Spring in our village!!!

Who wouldn't just melt seeing this gorgeous Snowdrop doing it's thing on a cold Saturday morning? They may be little, but take the time to get down close and you'll see this little bulb packs a punch.  Beautiful markings, snowy white petals and a good dose of cheer, a perfect antidote to Winters blues.

Or these cheery pinky flowers bursting forth from bare branches to say 'look at me, you know I'm gorgeous don't you?'.  It's easy to walk with your eyes turned down, but look up and the signs are there shouting Spring is on its way!

These dried seed heads looked spectacular waving their heads in the wind.  So, take some time over the next few weeks and see what wonders you can find.  The humble Snowdrops are forming carpets of glowing white, indicating the move from wintry darkness to light, to new beginnings.  But then, we're a little biased about Snowdrops aren't we?