Dear Friend of Woolsgrove Cookery School,
Over a year has passed since the opening of the new Woolsgrove Cookery School kitchen and function rooms. I still get a thrill when I go into the new kitchen, even at 5 am! Since last year we have hosted cooking classes, business lunches, black-tie dinners, photo shoots, birthday parties, business meetings, Miele appliance cooking days, corporate away days and a barn sale. Bespoke cookery days have proved very popular as always, with groups including University of Exeter Sports Department, Devon Farm B & B providers, mid Devon farmers, ladies and children celebrating birthdays, Sandford Men’s’ Walking Club, post-breast cancer bespoke, visitors from abroad, and groups of teenagers and young adults. Off premises we have been busy catering parties in barns, gardens and castles! I have enjoyed private cooking in people’s homes, and I even burnt pastry cases at a local WI! See it all in action by visiting www.woolsgrove.co.uk.
I have met such interesting people. Becky Sheaves, Food Editor of the Western Morning News, has been brave enough to let me loose writing in her Saturday pages, something I have loved. I have met the proprietors of the new Crediton Coffee Company, Andrew and Carole Webb, learning about the fascinating world of coffee, and savouring brews from Peru and India. Come and learn about their top-notch coffees, and eat Woolsgrove cake, on Friday 3rd Feb at 10 am, free! Mary Quicke, one of my food heroes, is co-hosting a cheese and wine evening with me here at Woolsgrove on Friday 24th Feb at 7:30, £25 – a fantastic Christmas present!
Woolsgrove Cookery School Annual Christmas Fair was held last year for the first time in the new build, with monies raised for the National Autistic Society and Crediton Church Lighting Appeal. Please come and join us this year on Friday, 25th November, 2011, 10 am – 3pm. We have lots of new stalls this year. As always, £10 entry all goes to charity, this year Alzheimer’s Research UK, and gives you morning coffee, lunch and a glass of wine, as well as lovely shopping and socialising! Finding something new to give as a Christmas gift gets more and more difficult every year, I find. Treat your loved ones to a day at Woolsgrove of their choice with an open WCS gift voucher. Prices remain lower in January and February, to help after the expensive Christmas period. 2012 prices are the same as 2011, as we are all feeling the pinch. New classes include Drop the Pounds, Thrifty 1-Pot, Chinese New Year, Masterclasses on Bread, Chocolate, Pastry and Spices, Winter ½ Term, Summer and Winter Baking, Flavour Thesaurus, Americana, Pacific Rim and Italian Food and Wine. Woolsgrove standards include Seasonal Vegetarian, Fish and Shellfish, Puddings, Entertainment, Sauces, Best of the West, Men-Only, Moreish Moorish, French Classics, Modern Game and Christmas classes.
This year I would like to thank my wonderful assistants, Natalie, Sara and Marion, they are simply the best. Thanks to my dear friend Kate Shirazi, for cupcake classes and constant inspiration. Thanks to my waiting staff of wonderful young people too numerous to mention, you know who you are. Thank you lastly James, Phil and John, for being lifesavers and friends beyond compare.
Gretchen Oldland, Woolsgrove Cookery School
