We won a contract to provide the catering for a local company’s meetings and events and we’re averaging 2-3 buffets a week for them which, on top of the other business clients we have, means we do at least one buffet lunch every day of the week.  On top of that, we’ve been inundated with private catering so often do hot/cold/finger buffets at weekends for parties etc.  And of course, we still run the cafe at Peter Wilson Fine Art Auctioneers in Nantwich on Thursdays for sale day.

Talking of which, the BBC’s Bargain Hunt team are back filming there on  30th and 31st March so if you want to see yourself on TV, come along and watch the auction.  We’ll have some yummy food in the cafe and, as before, we’ll be catering for Tim Wonnacott and his team.  Last time we did some cupcakes with pics of Tim and his experts on them which went down exceedingly well!

It’s been hectic on the cake front too with the first of 28 weddings we have in the diary between now and October, plus lots of celebration cakes for various events and cupcakes for Valentine’s Day.  We’re now gearing up for Mothering Sunday on 3rd April with a mountain of orders to complete. See below for some of the diverse orders I’ve undertaken recently.

Since I last blogged, waaaaay back in October, I’ve been on the TV on Sky’s Wedding channel.  The programme is “The Great Cake Bake” and was filmed back in October but was shown a few weeks ago.  You can see it here.  And look out for Sue and me in the opening shots of all the episodes in series 2!

On the subject of media, I’ve become involved with RedShift Radio, a fabulous radio station which is currently broadcasting via the ‘net but which will shortly be on 87.7FM for a month from 4th April.  I present a food and lifestyle show every Tuesday between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm called “The Good Life” and for the duration of the FM broadcast I’ll also be presenting the Drivetime Show every Wednesday with the lovely Sharon Burrows from Hullabaloo Kids.

Finally, don’t forget Farmers’ Market THIS SATURDAY in Nantwich Town Square, and if you want to orders cakes for your mum for Mothering Sunday on 9th April, please let me know as soon as possible so I can fit you in the diary!  Delivery is free within 5 miles of Nantwich so get ordering!

That’s all for now.  Helen

Pops 1915-2010

It’s actually been a very strange week here at Scrumptillious.  It began in the early hours of Monday morning with the sad news that my father-in-law had passed away after a fall at home.  He was very nearly 95 and lived at home until almost the very end and I was so pleased he’d never had to go into a care home.

Contrast that with the rest of the week.  We were contacted a couple of weeks ago by Wedding TV who asked us to take part in one of their shows, The Great Cake Bake.  The idea is that a bride & groom give their wedding brief to three different cake designers who each come up with their interpretation of it.  The couple pick their favourite designer based on an initial meeting but - and here’s the jeopardy – they don’t actually get to see the cake until their wedding day. 

As we don’t have business premises (yet) and don’t have any kind of showroom, Sue and I decided we urgently needed some mocked up wedding cakes.  So between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, we managed to mock up 4 wedding cakes!  If only it were so easy to do the real things!

Thursday then saw us being filmed decorating some cakes and being interviewed, and in two weeks’ time we’ll be filmed again with the wedding couple.  The show will be aired sometime in 2011 – watch this space!

Then yesterday (Friday) I took part in a live radio show on new local internet station Red Shift Radio. Christine Fyffe of  the fabulous women’s website www.womensthoughts.co.uk  asked me to take part in the programme that they sponsor called Scarlet Women, broadcast every Friday between 12pm and 2pm.  Well we had a riot.  Christine and Anne were hilarious; Liz Southall was the presenter and she and fitness expert Emma Foden were desperately trying to keep it all together.  Listen again to the repeat this Sunday 24th October between 4pm and 6pm.

And finally, today is my daughter Phoebe’s 10th birthday.  Happy Birthday Phoebs xxxx

This coming weekend it’s Stone Food & Drink Festival and Scrumptillious will be there on Friday only so come along and grab some delicious foodie goodies.

Our other exciting news is that we’ve launched a new NATIONWIDE DELIVERY SERVICE for our cupcakes and traybakes.

We are offering special launch discount prices for the whole of the month of October.  Why not give us a try?

We look forward to seeing you soon.   Helen

We’ve got our regular spot near to WH Smith and we’re planning to have tons of cupcakes, traybakes and bakewell tarts as well as a selection of homemade quiches.

The festival itself is being run differently to previous years.  This year it’s being held throughout the town, not on Mill Island and – best of all – it’s completely free to attend! 

The Beer Festival has moved to Nantwich Cricket Club so don’t forget to pay them a visit too.

We look forward to seeing you over the weekend.

www.peterwilson.co.uk

The Fine Art Sale itself is this Wednesday and Thursday.  Our cafe will be open both days.

Don’t forget you can also buy tickets for the 3rd Words and Music Festival in Nantwich from our stall.  Visit www.wordsandmusic.com to see the line-up.

See you there!

Nigel Stonier, Thea Gilmore, Rod Clements, Clare "Fluff" Smith

The website for the 3rd Words and Music Festival Nantwich is now live.  Check out

www.wordsandmusicfestival.com

Tickets are on sale now – buy online, from Grapevine in Pepper Street or from Scrumptillious at Nantwich Farmers’ Market on Saturday 28th Aug

Mark Radcliffe

There are some great gigs to look forward to with Radio 2′s Mark Radcliffe opening the show on Thursday evening at the Crown Hotel, reading excerpts from his new book and then playing with his band, The Big Figures. 

On Friday night, the fabulous Fyfe Dangerfield (lead singer of The Guillemots and as a solo artist, the soundtrack to the recent – click on above link to see) plays a set, also at the Crown.  Then on Saturday night, folk legend Martin Simpson plays at the Malbank Studio Theatre.

The weekend concludes with the wonderful Thea Gilmore playing at the Crown.  In between there are all sorts of other events including poetry readings, events in the town square, “Acoustic Sunday” in Costa Coffee … watch this space!

I’m currently designing the festival website and Scrumptillious is sponsoring Mark Radcliffe’s gig on Thursday 7th, providing cupcakes for his book reading, entitled “Outtakes and Cupcakes”!

Tickets will be on sale very shortly – available from Grapevine in Pepper Street, as well as via the website when it’s up and running (I’ll post here once it is).  Or you can contact us here at Scrumptillious.

Sue Townley

We are very excited to have Sue Townley joining our growing business.  Sue has a wealth of experience, both of catering for large numbers of people and of running a cafe so I know she will be an invaluable member of our team!

Sue had a baptism of fire with the Fine Art Sale at Peter Wilson followed by preparing for the Farmers’ Market  and numerous customer orders including a wedding, a christening and a 21st birthday, but she clearly has a wonderful talent for staying calm under pressure and helped keep the whole ship steering a straight course and going smoothly!

In her spare time, Sue is pretty handy with a needle and thread and is just in the process of making the bridesmaids’ dresses for her daughter’s wedding in June.