1. Family News
We are really looking forward to seeing Ellie again – she’s coming home for a month, arriving in the middle of September, exactly two years since she set off on the Ozbus adventure that took her across three continents, onto Mount Everest and ended with her happily working in Brisbane. She had told Philippa and several of our friends as it was meant to be a surprise for her ancient father, until she took pity on him! There’ll be so much to talk about.
Over on the other side of Canada, Jake and his family are back from their five week adventure. That saw them flying to Toronto to collect a new car, then driving it out to the East coast of Nova Scotia before heading all the way across the huge continent back to Vancouver Island. It sounds as if they had a lot of fun. Jake’s now back at work in his forge and Miranda and the children are catching up with friends, hens, gardening and their life at home.
Here in Cornwall we had a lovely surprise visit from David’s niece Mischa and her 12 year old son Joshua. They stayed for a week of mixed weather, had lots of walks, met old friends and were warmly welcomed by their Grandmother/great-grandmother. Mischa first came to stay with us for summer holidays in Cornwall when she was about five years old, flying from Ibiza on her own with a label round her neck. She came every year until she was about 15 and has many happy memories of summers in and around St Just. We always made sure we were at the airport early!
Gwenvyr
Heather & Gorse
2. Café News
The holiday season started with a change we weren’t expecting. Sheila decided to leave.
Thank goodness for friends. Jenny Stephens stepped forward immediately and baked the vast quantity of scones we needed to see us through the week-end. She is such a star and we are truly grateful to her for dropping whatever she had planned for that Saturday to help us. Another friend, Elaine Claxton, suggested we might ask a friend of hers, Julie Chapple, to see if she could help with the baking. She could, and we now have wonderful cakes, scones, flapjacks and quiches coming from Julie’s kitchen. She is running her business from her home and you’ll find her website on our links page.
Everyone who works at The Cook Book has been magnificent, stepping up to the mark to make sure we continue to give our guests the best possible service and the highest possible quality food. Thank you, one and all.
Josh Prichard, who has been working at The Cook Book since he was fourteen, is joining the staff permanently, or rather, until he joins the Royal Navy which he aims to do in March next year. Welcome aboard, Josh.
Brisons & the Reef
Harvest Moon
3. Book Shop News
We have been surprised and delighted by the number of people buying books and by their positive comments about the quality of books on the shelves and on the high standards of the book shop. This is particularly heartening at a time when too many second-hand bookshops are closing, and when there is so much talk about the ease of buying books ‘on-line.’
There is nothing to compare with browsing shelves, picking up books, feeling their weight, the quality of binding, the texture of the page, their smell.
It is one of the joys of running a second-hand book shop to see a family disappear upstairs and to go up some time later to find children lying on the floor with their noses in books while their parents are wandering from room to room collecting armfuls to buy!
Another of the joys is in buying books. We are fortunate to be able to buy some wonderful collections, and to have guests arriving at The Cook Book with boxes of books in their cars. We’d always ask people thinking of bringing in books to ring first, especially in the summer holidays when it’s often so busy.
It is especially pleasing to be the ‘first and last’ second-hand bookshop in England, and to have on our shelves books for which people have been searching the world (via the internet).
Morning Dew
4. Art at the Cook Book
Currently showing: The exhibition of work by John Higgins looks magnificent. There was an excellent review in The Cornishman and we are delighted to have his beautiful work here for the first time.
September: A small exhibition introducing Chloe Northover opens in September.
Chloe writes: “In the last couple of years, I have combined a love of nature and the rugged landscape surrounding St.Just with my passion for painting. Growing up in Cornwall with its dramatic backdrop of coastline, moorland and valleys has had a major influence upon my artwork but recent visits to Penwith and the Scilly Isles have inspired this collection of paintings. Looking down across barren fields and rural hamlets, I am interested in portraying the true identity of this tight community; where the work is painfully hard and lacks much remuneration, the romanticised landscape is rather a raw and harsh environment where life is governed by the force of the weather, and where the history and traditions of Cornwall continue to live on through generations from a deep and intimate understanding of their earth.”
Mid-October: Perspectives of War
An exhibition by The Collective, a group of artists from St Just, to coincide with the Remembrance Sunday readings on Sunday 8 November.
Cornish Fluff
5. Recipe of the Month
Red Onion Jam
Ingredients:
1 kg peeled red onions
Olive oil
Red wine
Balsamic vinegar
Soft dark brown sugar
Sea salt & pepper
Hot water
Method
Finely slice the red onions
Cover the base of a saucepan with olive oil and heat
Add the sliced onions and sweat at a low – medium temperature until translucent
Keep stirring to stop them sticking
When translucent, remove from the heat
Add:
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of red wine
1½ – 2 tablespoons of soft dark brown sugar
A pinch of sea salt, some ground black pepper
A splash of hot water to get the consistency you want
Return to a high heat and stir well until the sugar has dissolved
Taste, adding more vinegar or sugar as required.
Cool and store refrigerated
Delicious with a Cook Book Cheese Tea
