Well - I think we're ready for Mothers' Day.
 We've planned a menu that offers a variety of flavours so that it will appeal to every age group and to both men and women - at least, we think we have.....?
We are offering Fish Provencal as a light and tasty lunch, Organic Lamb Tagine with apricots and served with couscous as a more substantial and aromatic meal, Carrot, Parmesan and Chick Pea Fritters for a fresh and obviously vegetarian option, Local Sausage Hotpot for the traditionalists and Creamy Chicken and Sweetcorn Chowder for comfort food. We shall also have some gorgeous puddings as well as the obvious meringues and cakes. Feel free to bring a bottle of wine if you wish - there's a £1 corkage charge and we'll provide the glasses!
We are closed on Monday 19th for our annual spring clean. we have a deep clean every week, but this time we shall be painting the walls and bleaching the outside tiles and hopefully planting out some herbs and annuals to enhance the outdoor dining experience.
We are also closed on March 24th because Jenni is getting married and all the staff will be there!
Otherwise we are open every day as usual. It won't be long 'til we open until 5pm - we'll keep you posted on that.
Meanwhile - Amy's in Paris, Izzy's off to London and has been forbidden to go anywhere near Ottoleghi's, Angela is moving house, Georgia's off on a cruise, Abbi and Becca are just back from skiing, Richard's off on an amazing rugby tour to exotic places ( clearly I can't remember where, but will post the details soon) and Lisa and Jenni are still here.
This Saturday we are catering for the Hookers Day at Marazion Community Centre. It's open from 10am and there will be lots of wonderful knitwear, hooked and proddy'd rugs and many other craft items to buy- as well as the delicious Peppercorn cuisine, of course! Hope to see you there.

Lynfield Yard

I meant to mention this yesterday! Whenever we have a group of customers who arrive at our busiest time and need to wait for 5 or so minutes for a table- we always direct them to our neighbouring businesses in Lynfield Yard. Literally within a few seconds you can be in the lovely Cowhouse Gallery admiring the jewellery, fine art, photography, ceramics and sculpture for sale. They have a selection of delightful greetings cards too. The gallery is run as a co operative, so you can often chat to the very artist of the piece you are interested in!

 Right next door to the Cowhouse gallery is Toppers Too, a bijou hairdressers, owned by Jenny, which is very popular.
 There is also The Beauty Retreat - Lucy's beauty salon offering a wide selection of treatments and pampering.

 The Sewing Box - run by Rose - will alter items of clothing, curtains etc, or make to order, on request.

Last but by no means least is the Craft Centre and Cornish Wools both businesses are Val's - it's a great place to go to buy gifts, clothing, jewellery, cards, ice creams, milk, eggs, cream etc - and the selection and quality of wools available (many dyed by Val herself) are astounding. People drive from the other side of Cornwall to buy wool from here so it's really worth a visit.

Of course - if you'd rather, you can sit in our garden sipping a cordial or other drink of your choice, and wait for us to get your table ready for you. You can bring your own bottle of wine if you wish - we charge a £1 corkage fee. See you soon!

Winter Blues!

We have been struggling with staff absence this past couple of weeks - winter colds have pretty much got all of us at some point and even Lisa and I had a day off each to sit at home feeling sorry for ourselves. Thank goodness the first day of Spring is just around the corner!
Speaking of Spring  - we have planned a complete Spring Clean for Monday March 19th - so we will be closed on that day. Advance warning - we will also be closed on March 24th - because Jenni's getting married!! We shall be open again on Sunday March 25th as usual.
The menu is gradually changing as the new spring vegetables appear - our Vegetable Broth with dumplings is still really popular, Spiced Parsnip soup is being made as we speak by the lovely Amy (the spices on the roasting vegetables for this soup really do give a rich and aromatic flavour to the dish.).

   We have Lamb Tagine on at the moment, served with a tian of crushed new potatoes and salad- we get nearly all our meat products from Vivian Olds in St Just - it's just lovely to serve local produce whenever we can, and Spring lamb is simply delicious.

 We also get our local veg and fruit from John Skewes at St Hilary, he delivers first thing in the morning and we love to see him for a quick chat - and a very accurate weather forecast!
We've introduced a rich Chocolate Mousse and a Pear Frangipani tart this week so do let us know what you think of them.
We have had a few large groups wanting to book tables for lunch - so we've made a decision to accept bookings for 10 or more people.
Off now to plan a delicious Mothering Sunday menu - let's hope it's sunny so that you can enjoy a yummy lunch whilst watching the sea and listening to the birds!

What a review!

What a fabulous review in the Western Morning News - we had a full page spread of lovely comments and scores of 10 out of 10 in every category! We've had many new customers this week, on the strength of the review. One couple came down from Launceston for lunch and another couple drove 120 miles - wow!

We had a visit from GB Boardriders Shifting Horizons Transition Programme last week - they're working with young people and introducing them to a variey of different work environments. We spent a very interesting couple of hours answering questions about Peppercorn Kitchen, how it all started, our vision for the future, how we find and enrol our wonderful staff etc.
They also offered some really helpful comments regarding our blog and website. For instance - we have never mentioned that we recycle our plastics, glass and cardboard; our waste vegetable peelings and any stale bread goes to a local pig farm and our take away containers are all bio-degradable and some are made from recycled materials. We have also now joined Facebook and Twitter - thanks to you guys!

We received a wonderful gift from the heavenly Di Cox - Hooker Supreme - here it is - the Peppercorn Girls wall hanging- decide for yourselves who is who!!

So this week our Moroccan Briks have been really popular. They take an age to prepare, but Amy is meticulous and they look beautifully symmetrical when she makes them. We have tried Spinach and Feta Briks, Chocolate Ganache and Banana Briks (obviously a pudding dish!) and today we made Lamb Kofte and mashed potato Briks. The Venison Casserole with creamy mash is a more rib-sticking option for those needing a more substantial lunch - possibly followed by Star Anise Rice Pudding?

Lisa has perfected the art of piping meringue for the Pavlova bases. Mine were an extraordinary shape when I tried them - a bit like an upside down thimble! I shall have to get some practise in, I think!

We're off for a press release photo shoot tomorrow - with Ben from Ben's Cornish Kitchen in Marazion. I had what was definitely the most delicious meal of my life so far - at Ben's last Saturday evening.

 If you haven't been there yet - BOOK A TABLE!!

Publicity!

What a magical week!

It's been great fun at Peppercorn - busy, busy lunches; cards and e mails from appreciative customers (how absolutely lovely is that?); we've joined Taste of the West, applied to join the West Cornwall Food Guide and tomorrow we have a review coming out in the Western Morning News.....let's hope it's a good one!

I have to say that our staff training on Thursday evening was a joy - Di came along as our baking consultant and tutored the lovely Angela - who now makes sponges to die for!
Honestly - they're huge!!! Photos to follow I think.

The dish of the week has to be the Peppercorn Pavlova - an individual circle if piped meringue, with tangy lemon and lime curd topped with delicate peaks of chantilly cream and drizzled with a blackberry and blackcurrant coulis. There are still a handful left, if you're quick.....!

Next week we have a Children's Morning Birthday Party - so I anticipate some stupendous 'photo opportunities coming up.

Fritter heaven!

So this week has been largely about Fritters....
The Green Fritters with Lime, Chilli and Coriander butter is a real favourite with our customers, but sometimes change is good. Carrots are currently cheap, tasty and readily available and chickpeas provide a lovely creamy texture so Carrot, Chickpea and Parmesan Fritters were creatd by the lovely Lisa this week. They are wonderful! They rise like scotch pancakes and are very light; they have a crunch from the carrot, creaminess from the chickpeas and a salty tang from the parmesan. Of course - they contain a little cumin too - Lisa made them after all, and cumin is her trademark!!
Next will be the  Beetroot , Butterbean and Cardamom Fritters - I can't wait!

Today, Amy and I have ben making vatloads of Lime and Lemon curd - we sold three jars within an hour - so hurry down if you want to buy some before it all disappears.

In the summmer we picked lots of blackberries and blackcurrants and froze them. January seems a good time to transform them into a scrummy red fruit coulis with which to top our Peppercorn Pavlovas. They are individual Pavlovas which contain home made lime and lemon curd, freshly whipped and piped chantilly cream and our gorgeous summery coulis. Can you afford to miss out on this treat?

Amy - our fabulous manager - is going to add some photos to our weekly blog so that you can see more clearly the tempting offerings available at Peppercorn each week. Watch this space.......

here's a picture of the Butterbean, Beetroot and Cardamom Fritters!!!!!

It has been a busy week at Peppercorn with lots of catering for Team Teach as well as a full cafe for lunches.

My favourite dish of the week?  Spanish pork & almond stew - simple, full of flavour of bay, thyme, garlic and obviously pork and almonds!

Apparently there are some huge mackerel ripe for the catching so if anyone fancies jumping in the nearest kayak and bagging a few we'd be more than happy to take them.

Forecasts are predicting cold and clear this weekend, so a good walk ending with a roaring fire and a hearty dish at Peppercorn may be just the ticket!