St Just’s Fiesta. Once again the sun shone.,The streets, squares and Plen-an-Gwary were filled with happy people, stalls, dancers, processions and music.

Ready

Gentle chaos as stall-holders set up

!!

Lunch-time crowds

Market Square

She just dropped in for tea ...

... while the rest of The Kernow Cabina Girls waited outside

Lafrowda Day was born in 1996, the brainchild of Mary-Ann Bloomfield and Bridget Gibbs who had been asked to include more young people in St Just’s annual Music Festival Week. Their idea – for a full day of music and arts on the final day, called after the old name for St Just – has grown like topsy.

2. Donating books

A fair number of people very generously give us books to sell. We always explain that we are not a charity and are always grateful for their generosity. Just recently we were given some quite valuable books. This was explained to the donor who still didn’t want any money for them. She did agree that we could give our chosen charity the amount we would have paid if we were to have bought them. We were delighted to send a cheque for £100 to Combat Stress.

Founded as The Ex-Services Mental Health Charity in 1919 in the aftermath of the Great War, this is what they say about their work today on their website www.combatstress.org.uk:

Why Combat Stress exists

Combat Stress is the UK’s leading military charity specialising in the care of Veterans’ mental health.

We treat conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety disorders. Our services are free of charge to the Veteran.

Since 2005 the number of ex-Service men and women seeking our help has risen by 72%. And we have a current caseload of more than 4,300 individuals. This already includes 102 Veterans who have served in Afghanistan and 400 who served in Iraq.

In March 2010 our Patron HRH The Prince of Wales launched our major fundraising campaign – The Enemy Within Appeal.

The £30 million, three-year appeal is designed to help us treat the escalating number of psychologically injured Veterans who are turning to us for help, by:

• Establishing 14 Community Outreach Teams nationwide
• Enhancing clinical treatment at our three short-stay treatment centres

Now, as a matter of course, if people donate books to us, we ask them if they would like us to make a donation to Combat Stress.

3. Early Morning Mists

We have had some beautiful days – and some that are as thick as a bag!

The spiders are out in force, but where are the wrens and swifts? Maybe the cold winter put paid to the wrens which is a real shame. I’ve only seen two swifts this year, the first on 9th July.

Early morning on the cliff
Pearl Fishers

Pearl fisher 1

Pearl fisher 2

Pearl fisher 3

Pearl fisher 4

Pearl fisher 5

Pearl fisher 6

Golf club sentries

Heather

The stack

Carn Gloose

What a wonderful write-up in The Book Guide, the on-line guide to books and book shops in the UK.
We only learnt about this from two guests who came in clutching a printed copy. Needless to say, we’re absolutely delighted that someone thinks so highly of our lovely book shop. Thank you Chris, and also Mike Goodenough for giving us permission to reproduce the report in our newsletter.

It is well worth visiting their website (The Book Guide) for which you’ll also find a link to on our Useful Links page.

1. An Explanation

These past two months have been rather taken up with making sure that our home is comfortable for David’s mother, who is now living half the year with us and the other half with one of her daughters in Sussex. In between making sure she has her old familiar furniture, pictures and photographs in each of her new homes, we have also been really busy with the sale of her bungalow and all that that involves.

It is only now that the bungalow has been sold is there time to write this newsletter. As I write, I’m very conscious of the piles of papers, letters, photographs, ledgers and much more that remain to be looked through carefully and either put away or burnt. It’s vital that I don’t muddle them up with my own piles!!

2. Canada in April

When Philippa went out in March, Maia was making the transition from crawling to walking. Just two weeks later, she was walking everywhere and had learned to climb – onto the dining room table, the sofa and almost over the gate at the top of the stairs. Having an older sister and brother, she is determined to keep up with everything they do.

Rowan sets off ...

... pursued by Maia ...

... while Liv keeps an eye on her

The fruits of our labours

The three weeks on Vancouver Island flew by. Before I left the UK, Jake had reminded me how much he loved the papier maché island I’d make him when he was about Rowan’s age, so I’d gone out prepared. It was a great project for us all, though it took forever to dry, and has been built to the right scale for Playmobil pirates and other toys.

Much pushing

When not making the island, there was much pushing of Olivia, Rowan and Maia on swings, the endless riffling of Jake’s Lego – taken out in two bags that each filled half our baggage allowance – re-glazing Miranda’s greenhouse, and even a few walks.
Best of all was just being with our far-away Canadian family.

3. Australia now

As a birthday treat, Ellie ran her first half marathon in the very creditable time of 1 hour, 57 minute, 26 seconds, and then went on to celebrate in style, ringing us from the top of a building on the Gold Coast that’s over 740 feet high. Taller than our Clock Tower then!

We’re really looking forward to going out to stay with her in October, to meet her friends and see where she works and plays.

4. Getting ready for the summer – and next winter!

This year we’ve been tidying up the cafe inside and out. Outside has had to wait until the weather improves. There couldn’t have been much better weather than we’ve had over the past couple of months. When it rained the other day, most of us were quite surprised!

Painting the benches and tables is always most satisfying – the colour is so cheerful.

“Molschien Blue” tables with matching Bugatti, courtesy of Don Jenkin

Bugatti, courtesy of Don Jenkin

Jet stops for an ice-cream

Terry Allen has been re-pointing the back roof and some of the granite blocks on the front – and there are several more jobs that can only be done when it’s warm and dry. Old buildings, ships, the Forth Rail Bridge…..

5. A little piece of heaven….

A rare eagle over Kenidjack

Cunimb over Sennen

Carn Gloose to Sennen

Waiting for a Breeze

Half Tide at Big Sandy

Soft Rock 1

Soft Rock 2

Hard Rock at Progo

Philippa returned from a wonderful three weeks with our family in Vancouver Island, “besotted with the grand-children.”

Grannywhoops and Maia (aged one)

While Philippa was away John Mills died. He had gone for a walk on his ninetieth birthday and died as he got home. It was a great shock, but we all salute his indomitable spirit, for he died doing what he loved most. His funeral was held in the Wesleyan Chapel on Monday 29th March, very much a service which remembered with affection a long life well lived.

David will be in Canada for the rest of April, mightily relieved that he can get up to London by train – and that he’ll be away for most of the run-up to the General Election!

2. Cook Book People

We are delighted that Becca Vosper has agreed to take on the responsibility of managing The Cook Book as she has been manager in all but name for some time. This should help to ensure that The Cook Book continues to be a place that people love coming to and give Philippa and David more time to concentrate on our guests and running Bosorne Books.

3. Bosorne Books

Coming downstairs with an armful of books the other day, the Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts at Southampton-Solent University said: “You have the best selection of books I’ve ever seen in a book shop of this size – and very reasonably priced.”

4. Walks from The Cook Book – Botallack

Down Nancherrow Hill, turn left into Tregeseal Valley and head towards the sea. Just past the saw mill on your left, take the track going up a gentle slope to the right. You get a fantastic view of Cape Cornwall as you walk along. On the flat and on to Botallack, a landscape rich in history and tragedy.

Cape Cornwall

Coming back, take the cliff path over a style, across the grass to Kenidjack. You will descend just past a ruined building on your right. Hop over the granite hedge, down the bank to the track. There you have a choice, inland along the track and back to where you started or, if you forget your age, straight across and down a steep and slippery path descending 300 feet to the bottom of the valley below.

Not recommended for children, the faint-hearted or people with a nervous disposition as there is a deep mine to your left, a near-vertical cliff to the right, and a slippery track beneath your feet.

I forgot my great age, set off joyfully and suddenly realised that I could be about to descend 299 feet on my backside – that would have been painful! I picked my way gingerly from rock to rock, solid ground to the next bit of solid ground, remembering how we used to skip down here without a care…….the view, as always was wonderful.

Crown Mines

Only the sea has any silver these days

The valley from the top and bottom

The Valley

Chimney Stack

Mine Ruins

Cape and Cove

Kenidjack Cliffs

Philippa flew off to visit our Canadian family at the beginning of the month. She’s out there for three weeks with plenty of story telling, book reading, games and cuddles from our three grand-children, now aged 9, 4 and 1.

Driving up to the cafe the other day, we passed one of our friends walking up the road with her four year old daughter and both of us commented on how quickly she had grown up. It made us realise how much of our grand-children’s lives we miss because they live so far away. It’s a hard price to pay, even with the instant communications of telephone and internet – and the extraordinary sounds and images that come out of Skype, not our favourite bit of kit!

Jake and Miranda are so happy over there; there is work, space and opportunity.

It’s the same for Ellie in Brisbane. She is really happy in Australia, the way of life suits her; she has a good job, many new friends and so many opportunities ahead of her. We’ll have to get out to Australia soon!

2. Cook Book People

Josh Prichard has been working with us since he was fourteen, starting at week-ends and in school holidays and taking on the responsibility of full-time chef when an opportunity arose in July last year. He leaves us on 12 March, moving up-country to seek new opportunities like so many young Cornishmen and women before him.

Josh Prichard

We will miss Josh’s cheerful good humour and hard work. He has been a great asset for The Cook Book and goes with our very best wishes for his future.

Josh has been replaced by Toby O’Brien who joined us earlier this month and whom we wish every success in his new post.

3. Winter news

We have had a really quiet winter, with a few great days to keep us on our toes. It’s not only us – trade generally in St Just seems to be quiet. Like all local businesses, we are really hoping for a busy Easter and a good summer. They are vital to us all.

What is especially heartening is the growing number of people living in Cornwall who come down to St Just and into The Cook Book. Years ago Matt Thomas, who has lived here all his long life, told me that we live in ‘a little piece of heaven.’ He is so very right. It’s not only this staggeringly beautiful peninsular set in the shining sea, but also the people with whom we share it. It is a place, a community that wraps its arms around you.

Mine Stream

Penanwell Boulders

Stream Meets Sea

Crumpled Sea at Dusk

Spring is on its way

Landward

Seaward

Winter Refit

It has been a cold winter.

St. Agnes’ eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp’d trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:

Wintry Cliffs

Not so silent in the Cook Book, nor much quoting of Keats.
We had to close early in order to guarantee that essential materials could reach us in the icy weather. It was just as well, for once we started to remove the flooring in the kitchen, scullery and servery, and the worn out units, we found more work than we had anticipated. It was also bitterly cold, so much so that we had to buy fan heaters to get the temperature up so that the glue would stick. Once again, it was a team effort, and once again it was organised beautifully by Becca. A big thank you to everyone who worked so hard to ensure we opened on time.

Cook Book Refit

Cook Book Refit – Nearly There

Cook Book Refit – Maybe There’s More To Go

What’s so special about books?

That is a question asked more frequently in the press than in a second-hand bookshop. Nevertheless, it is a question to be taken seriously as more and more people try out ‘e-books,’ more and more money is spent on developing and producing cheaper, lighter versions, and even more money spent on marketing them.

Take any book from a shelf. The first thing you do is feel it. You have to because it’s in your hands. The texture of a well-made book, printed on good quality paper in clear type; bound in leather or cloth covered boards so that it falls open naturally – that is special.

If you are like me, the next thing you’ll do is smell it. If it is in good condition it’ll have that unforgettable smell of ‘book,’ of the dust from a library, a trace of the glue that binds it, of leather or cloth, the faintest scent of its history. If it’s a newish book, it will have a whole range of different smells.

An old book that’s been stored in a damp place has a strong, musty odour. That’s another reason for smelling old books. That smell can be removed by leaving the book open over a tray of clean cat litter in a dry room for a day or two, or by reading it slowly, slouched in a chair before a roaring fire.

Imagine holding, reading a book that was published while Shakespeare was alive, or one printed before Charles I was executed; or finding one sent out to a young airman held in a prisoner-of-war camp, with all the stamps of the Red Cross, the camp library, the donor inside the front cover; or one published by someone you know, and who will sign it for you.

Most books are pleasing to the eye. They are well-proportioned, some have clearer type than others; really old books have paper that has gone grey with age; some are quite heavily spotted with brown – ‘foxed’; some have beautiful illustrations, others have none.

Above all, you will have in your hands the whole text, and you can start where you like, flick backwards and forwards without effort; if it’s your book you can write in the margins, underline, add cuttings, photographs, dried flowers, letters, tickets, fold corners (if you must).

When you go out, you can slip a book in your pocket or bag, read it where you like – on the train; having a sticky picnic on a sandy beach; it’ll dry out and still be readable if you drop it in the bath; dogs can chew it, children scribble in it – it will still be a book you can enjoy.

Particularly special is the silence that falls when children are immersed in books, when their imagination is soaring, concentration is total, the outside world far away.

Jelly Mould on the Beach

UFO Over the Scillies

Philippa has a delightful encounter

In an attempt to persuade a guest to spend a little more money, I enquired if he might like a piece of cake to follow his baguette. He declined politely, saying that sweet food had never appealed. I agreed, but added the proviso that Turkish Delight was the perfect exception in my book. His eyes lit up – “Now you’re talking,” he said – and talk we did.

We regaled each other with reminiscences of Turkish Delight moments. The sight of the wooden box with indecipherable characters on the lid. The puff of fine icing sugar, the white waxy paper enclosing those little lumps of heaven. Rose scented, lemon scented and the wonderful pistachio-filled chewy chunks. The extraordinary consistency – my father always said that only camel’s hoof provided the perfect texture.

Before leaving the café, my friend told me of a special shop in London where he gets his supplies – I think it was Iranian. He promised he’d bring a box next time he came to St Just.
I hope he remembers.

Sunrays Over the Sea

Scent of St Martin’s

Think St Valentine’s Day – one of Philippa’s favourite flowers is the scented narcissi (the other is the anemone). It was Becca who found the advert in the Yellow Pages.

A phone call revealed friendly and helpful family farm on St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly, which sends boxes of these beautiful flowers from October to March at amazingly reasonable prices. In the summer they send Show Pinks, one of my favourite flowers.

If you want to know more, do visit their website, or ring them yourself. You won’t be disappointed. We have happily added them to our Links page.

Scilly Flowers

www.scillyflowers.co.uk
Churchtown Farm, St Martin’s
Isles of Scilly TR25 0QL
Telephone: 01720 422169

Cook Book People

Welcome to Lollie Brewer, who joined us in November when Sophie Slater set off for Australia where she’s having a great time.

We say farewell to our wonderful accountant Carol Martin who is finally retiring. Carol has held our hands from the moment Philippa thought of running a ‘book-café,’ with her meticulous attention to detail and clear, concise advice, always given in the gentlest way. She is a good friend and we look forward to welcoming her at the Cook Book and at home when we will guarantee not to talk shop!

We welcome Claire Stone and look forward to working with her keeping us safe.

Golden Sunrays

Website Refit

As well as the Cook Book having a refit, our website is having a bit of a brush up behind the scenes. We’re aiming to make more of our regular updates and highlight them on our home page. We should be making the switch over to the new website in the coming month or two.

Endless gales seemed to have been sweeping in from the Atlantic, bringing equally endless rain.

On Saturday night, 28/29th November, we had an especially violent storm, hammering and bullying its way inshore, accompanied by violent rain squalls. It kept many of us awake, especially those living near the cliff edge.

When we got up to the Cook Book on Sunday morning, it was obviously dangerous to open, as slates and lumps of cement had been blown off the roof of the adjoining Bolitho Club. The wind was still blowing, and we were downwind!

After consulting committee members of the Bolitho Club and Tony Boyns, the mason who has been working on the back roof, we called the police to let them know. They in turn called Cormac and within 40 minutes Tony and David had the area in front of the cafe closed off with barriers, our outside tables, cones and safety tape.

It wasn’t until Tuesday morning that the wind eased enough for it to be safe for Tony Boyns to get onto the roof to clear off loose slates and secure the damaged area. We were able to re-open on Wednesday.

Incoming Storm

Roof Damage

The Cook Book Closed Off

Repairing the Bolitho Club Roof

2. Cape Advent Fair – Sunday 6 December

When the owner of Cape Golf Club, Terry Glazebrook dropped in for a coffee earlier this year, one of the conversations we had was about organising events in St Just to increase business generally. This led into further discussions, including the possibility of a book fair, rapidly discarded as being too risky, before settling on a craft fair some time before Christmas, from which Cape Advent Fair was born.

David suggested asking Pendeen and St Just Primary Schools if their choirs would like to sing at the fair. A friend recommended asking Bolitho School choir as well. Kate Beckly joined the team, bringing with her enormous energy and enthusiasm. Preparations for the fair really took off.

On the day, there were twenty five stalls with the most wonderful selection of locally produced crafts,- cakes, fudge, glass, leatherwork, calendars, cards, decorations, jewellery, soaps and stocking fillers to name just a few.

The choirs sang beautifully. The Boiler House Quartet brought us carols and traditional songs from West Cornwall, Father Christmas met scores of children in his grotto, Mark Harandon and Mary Ann Bloomfield told stories for all ages, mulled wine flowed – a good time was had by one and all!

That the first Advent Fair at Cape Golf Club was an undoubted success is largely due to the support of the stallholders, the range and quality of goods for sale, the whole-hearted enthusiasm and support of the staff of the Golf Club, especially their Events Manager, Kirsten Halford, and the excellent publicity that Kate arranged.

Between us all, we raised a magnificent £820.51 towards the sensory trail that Nancealverne Special School will be creating for its students.

A very big thank you to all who made the fair such an enjoyable day.

In Full Swing

Pendeen School Choir

Bosorne Leatherwork

Claire and Daisy on Claire’s Fudge Stall

Young Entrepreneurs

Josh Prichard raised over £160 on the cake stall for Nancealverne School. Well done, Josh, and many many thanks to everyone who baked and donated cakes, mince pies and other goodies.
Photograph by Don Kirk

3. Christmas and New Year

We are closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

We are closed on New Year’s Day.

4. Refitting The Cook Book

We are closed from Monday 4th – Sunday 24th January inclusive.

During this period we will be refitting and repainting The Cook Book. There is always a lot to do to keep a late eighteenth century cottage in good order. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our guests.

FINALLY

We wish the many guests who support The Cook Book, our lovely staff, our excellent suppliers and the craftsmen who keep us going a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

The Collective, a group of St Just artists, have had a powerful and disturbing exhibition of their perspectives of war in The Cook Book. The private view, on 4th November, was also an occasion to hear a number of moving readings about different perspectives of war, and to hear Doctor Derrington give a seried of brief vignettes about his experiences as a wartime bomber navigator. It was an evening that provoked thought, brought people together in a simple act of remembrance and also helped to raise over one hundred and fifty pounds for Combat Stress, the ex-services mental health charity.

2. Cape Advent Fair – Sunday 6 December

The Cook Book will be closed on Sunday 6 December as we are helping to organise this exciting new fair.

Please come and support the stall-holders and help raise much needed funds for the sensory trail at Nancealverne Special School in Penzance.

Cape Advent Fair

3. Images of Autumn

Storm Clouds & Stack

Towering Cumulonimbus

John Clemo blew in to catch up with friends

Sunset from Carn Gloose

Sunset from Carn Gloose – Stormy Sennen

Sunset from Carn Gloose – Clouds Over the Brisons

Sunset from Carn Gloose – Cloudbanks

Sunset from Carn Gloose – Longships Lighthouse

Rain Squall and Bow

We had an amazing month with Ellie. She had been away from home for exactly two years when she arrived at Heathrow on 14 September. It was so lovely to see her walking through the arrivals gate, hard to see her depart by train from Exeter four weeks later.

Ellie and Mr B from Ozbus, who dropped in unannounced one Sunday!

In between, she didn’t waste a moment, settling into her lovely Banjo Cottage, walking the cliffs in the glorious weather we had for most of the month, with friends to stay and friends to visit, time to catch up and tales to be told, a foray to London to see more friends and family, a memorable birthday for her ancient dad, a pre-wedding feast with her oldest friend, and then back to Brisbane, to work and to her life out there.

Laura’s Pre-Wedding Feast

The Train Now Arriving …

… On Her Way …

More birthdays out in Canada, for Jake, Miranda and Olivia – and on their fifth wedding anniversary, the public unveiling of two statues that Jake created for the town of Sydney, BC. He had won a Public Art Competition earlier in the year with his designs for a pirate and a power walker and has spent weeks creating these life-size statues, now standing in …. Park beside Vancouver Sound.

Jake’s Pirate

Jake’s Pirate in the Park

Walking the Dog

2. Café News

We were sad to read in the Western Morning News of the death of Carol Trewin. She had become a good friend of the Cook Book and wrote a wonderful article about us in May this year.

Poems at the Equinox was held for the first time in The Cook Book on Saturday 19 September. Organized by the Poetry School Seminar tutor Alice Kavouvas, who read from her new collection Ornament of Asia (Shearsman), six of her students read a selection of their poems to an audience of about thirty people. It was a delightful evening, described by one guest as a “poetry party.” We hope to be able to organize other readings here during the winter.

Chloe Northover’s paintings of West Penwith and the Isles of Scilly were much admired, especially as she is still at school. She surely is a painter who has a great future.

Showing now is Rosemary Gries’s amazing textile art, beautiful landscapes created using hand dyed velvet and silks.

On the counter we now have a wonderful ceramic dish with a small nude statue, the work of St Just Sculpture Rory Te’Tigo. He very kindly created this, donating it to The Cook Book to encourage guests to leave tips for our hard working staff. It is a real pleasure to report that it works – we have never had more generous tips!

Rory’s Statue

Rory’s Tip Dish

At the end of October we have an exhibition by The Collective entitled Perspectives of War. We invited this group of St Just artists to hang paintings on this somber theme as part of The Cook Book’s contribution to our community’s act of remembrance centered on Armistice Day, 11th November. We had planned to have an evening of readings on Remembrance Sunday, similar to that held in the café two years ago and in the school last year. However, because of the amazingly busy summer and all that has gone on since, there has not been time to research, re-write and organize this properly. This is a real disappointment to us. It is so important that we never forget those who fought and died, those who bear arms today, those wounded, those with unseen scars.

We will be giving our commission on sales of the work of the The Collective to Combat Stress.

On Sunday 6th December we are organizing the CAPE ADVENT FAIR at Cape Cornwall Golf and Leisure Club. This is a new craft fair, with a wonderful selection of stalls, a Santa’s Grotto, mince pies, mulled wine and carols. It is being held to raise funds for the Sensory Trail at Nancealverne Special School, Penzance.

WINTER OPENING HOURS

We will be closed on Feast Monday.

Thereafter, we will be open every day from 10.00 am – 4.00 pm.

We will be closed on Sunday 6 December for the Cape Advent Fair and on Christmas & Boxing Day and on New Year’s Day.

We plan to close for our winter refit from 9 – 24 January 2010.

3. Book Shop News

September is the month of the Morrab Library book fair, held in St John’s Hall, Penzance. This is the only book fair we go to and is always a most enjoyable day out, talking to other book sellers, browsing their shelves, buying books, oh, and selling them too. John Lewis had some of his books on our stand and between us we traded well. He is a good friend of Bosorne Books and a great help throughout the year.

Morrab Library Book Fair – Photograph by John Lewis

Morrab Library Book Fair – Photograph by John Lewis

4. West Cornwall in the Autumn

Maybe July and August were damp and soggy. The last few weeks have certainly made up for all that rain. We have had some beautiful weather, hot sun, calm seas, spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Living here in a house that Philippa’s grandfather bought is such a privilege, with stunningly beautiful walks on cliffs and moors on our doorstep, and running a small business that serves a community in which she has deep family roots stretching back over centuries.

Cot Valley Dawn

Woolly Jumper

Sunset Over the Sea

5. Recipe of the Month

Cook Book Fish Pie

Ingredients
Fresh line-caught Pollack from Newlyn

Free-range Cornish eggs

Organic tomatoes from St Buryan

Large baking potatoes from Bollowall Farm

Cornish semi-skimmed milk & butter

Grated cheese from Cheddar

Seasoning

Method
Peel and boil the potatoes

When cooked, mash using plenty of milk and butter to make a soft & fluffy mash

Skin the Pollack, cut into chunks about one inch square and put into the bottom of a pie dish

Add enough milk to cover the bottom of the dish, about ¼ inch deep

Scald and skin the tomatoes, slice and cover the fish

Hard-boil the eggs. When cool, slice and cover the tomatoes

Melt some butter and splash over the eggs – don’t be too generous

Add ground black pepper and coarse sea salt

Spoon on the mashed potato to a depth of about ½ – ¾ inch. Use a fork to smooth it out and make sure it goes to the edge of the pie dish

Sprinkle on a generous scattering of grated cheese

Bake in a pre-heated oven (175ºC) for about 35 minutes, or until you see juice beginning to bubble up around the edge.

Delicious served with marrow cooked with butter and thyme

The size of your pie dish will tell you how much of the ingredients you need

Great excitement! Ellie will be home from Australia for a month, arriving in the UK on the same day that she set off on her travels exactly two years ago. It will be lovely to see her again after so long.

Over on the other side of the Atlantic, Jake is working flat out on two sculptures he has been commissioned to make for a park in Sydney B.C., having won a Public Art competition. He also has other work in hand, so there is plenty to do. The family is happy and well. We miss them all.

Here in Cornwall we have had Jake’s best man, Davy Luscombe, staying for several weeks. He’s a great house guest and, having taken Aggie for many long walks, is definitely her favourite man! Davy was in between Costa Rica and Australia, where he finally arrived a couple of weeks ago. He’s already met up with Ellie in Brisbane, though he’s spending most of his time in New South Wales. He had a Bosorne farewell when Philippa took him to the station.

Davy Luscombe

Bosorne Farewell

Farewell to Bosorne

2. Café News

This summer has been the busiest since we started, even busier than last summer, which we didn’t think would be possible. The weather has been indifferent, not as wet as last year, not as windy, but not the best weather for families with small children. It’s such a shame as we know how fantastic Cornwall is when the sun shines, winter or summer.

At Cape Cornwall

No Fishing Today

Priest’s Cove in a Bit of a Blow

Brisons in Rough Seas

We would be lost without Becca Vosper. She organises the staffing, looks after the ordering of victuals and stores and runs a smooth and happy ship with great efficiency.

Over the years we have got to know many people who come down here for their holidays, and for whom the Cook Book has become a special place to visit. It is always so warming to see them again and to hear how much they love the community in which we are lucky enough to live and work.

One very special and regular guest is Harry Glasson, perhaps better know as Harry Safari. He has become a good friend over the years that he has been bringing people to the Cook Book. We send him our very best wishes for a speedy and full recovery from his operation and look forward to seeing him and his wife Ann in St Just again soon.

A very big thank you to our guests who support the Cook Book, and to the staff who look after them so well.

The Cook Book is closed for the day on Monday 14th September.

3. Book Shop News

Book sales in August were the best ever! It was quite amazing and we’re still scratching our heads and wondering why.

We have been fortunate with the quality of books that we have been offered and make a big effort to present them well on the shelves. One of us will try to keep the shelves looking tidy, though after a really hectic day they sometimes look a bit ruffled. Whenever there’s a spare moment, and if there is space at the bar, we’ll cover dust-jackets in protective sleeves. It keeps them from getting torn and makes a big difference to how they look.

If pages are loose, or the spine is split on books we buy, or if this happens when they are on the shelves, we’ll take them away so Becca can mend them.

Her book repairs and restoration work is going really well. It is lovely to hear the comments of people when they come to collect a favourite book that has been carefully restored or rebound.

Of course, the best thing about buying books is reading them!

4. Book Review

Books can do strange things. They entrance, amuse, bore, instruct and horrify. Sometimes they do much more – sometimes they want you to tell the world about them. One such is “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin.

It is the story of an American climber, Mortenson, who was taken in and cared for by the inhabitants of a remote village in the Karakoram range after a failed attempt on K2. The care he received made him want to do something in return. “Three Cups of Tea” is that story.

Mortenson has built dozens of schools in the cut-off villages of the area. He has achieved a unique understanding of its people and has made friendships with members of the tough, wild tribes who survive in the borderlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He believes passionately that education is the road to peace.

After reading this book, so will you.

Philippa James

Three Cups of Tea.

Authors: Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin.

Published by Penguin Books 2007

ISBN 978-0-14-303825-2

5. Recipes of the Month

Here are three that we have tested and they really work!!

Wasp Stings
Rub the sting with half a raw onion.

I put on a cap that had been hanging on a hook over winter and was abruptly introduced to the queen wasp who was sleeping there. I might have looked odd wandering around rubbing an onion on my bald head but it quickly took away the pain and the swelling.

Night Cramp
Sleep with a magnet in the bed.

When we started The Cook Book we’d get cramp in muscles we didn’t know we had – behind the knee cap was the most painful. After a long day on our feet cramp still bites, or rather it did. Someone told us in the café about putting a magnet in your bed to banish night cramps. We did. It does. I found a small magnet used for adjusting a wet-and-dry thermometer, tied it in a sock so it wouldn’t get lost and put it on the sheet towards the foot of the bed. I believe that any magnet will do the trick.

Sore Throat
This also works well for that run-down pre-cold feeling!

Put the following into a glass or mug:

1 teaspoon of vinegar

1 teaspoon of honey

Juice of half a lemon

Mix thoroughly with about half a glass/mug of hot water and sip slowly

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