rain, rain, go away.....

another damp and cold day in rowallane - you can just about see the horribleness from the photos - must try and remember preoper camera more!

thankfully there are many wonderful blogs for me to busy myself  this one today - i particularly love the gifts in jar!

cookies for santa fabulous idea! easy to put together and such a cute kiddies pressie! and you could change the labelling to anything at all! if only i had someone to make little gifts like these for! they are a good idea for the tearoom too - but maybe nextyear - gotta organise myself a little more yet!

officially winter time :0(

Today seems to be the begining of the winter - here - all alone - lonely in the gardens!

Noone likes to walk in the wind and rain! Though the Autumn colours are beautiful.

halloween - ghosts and ghourds day

taken me a few days to get to doing this post - last weekend - our halloween here in rowallane gardens - i think we may all STILL be recovering!

thursday and friday where spent baking what i then thought, where a large amount of cupcakes and cookies - however saturday saw it all disappear and a 2am job was needed on sat/sun to address the situation!

ghosts and ghourds day is a big thing for kiddies in rowallane - pumpkin carving and a halloween trail where amongst the treats in stall!

we dont usually see many littles ones in rowallane - so it was a good excuse to play about with little treats! we offered a pick 'n' mix selection of mini cupcakes and sugar cookies - i think i was trying to make work for myself! i headed to mums house on thursday to try and get on top of everything!

managed to take a good few snaps - of both the mini cupcakes and the cookies
the little vanilla cupcakes had cute little bats - and then some ghosts on the chocolate ones!

then i moved on to making the bigger cupcakes - i am still trying to master the sugarcraft - but they do look cute



everything looked good when eventually was set up - and avril carved us a fab little pumpkin :)

we had a brilliant weekend - the busiest of the year so far - yet to see if it will be beaten at christmas! that is the next thing to get plotting!

p.s. we also have a new addition to the family which is filling up my spare time - a little 3/4 spring/1/4 labrodor pup - she is a little gem so far - and such a little bright spark!

decorating products and organising for pumpkinfest!

We prompty sorted out our packaging for the jam/chutneys and got to work on the dog biscuits! I am happy with the final look!

David set about making many batches of dog biccies - and we packed them away in packs of 8

The dogs got to do plenty of tasting - so they where happy :)


Then we packed everything up and Matt and I buddled ourselves away down to castleward to set up our stall. We where pleasantly suprised to have 2 tables inside - which meant BOTH of our fabulous posters could be displayed!
The weather was glorious and we had an enjoyable weekend - meeting lovely people and making lots of contacts!

Now to start to organise ourselves for Rowallanes Pumpkinfest this weekend!

Rowallane Plant Sale!!! (2)

The plant sale on Saturday was a great day - lotsa lovely plant lovers around - who where eager to enjoy some of our produce - great lentil and herb soup (herbs from our garden) and lovely sweet treats!

I took some snap shots of the court yard as everyone was setting up.




The stall on the 1st and 2nd picture belongs to Mr & Mrs Pilcher - They sell a fabulous range of herbs, amoungst other things. Their website is http://www.lisdoonanherbs.co.uk/ .

Matt (the Rowallane Potter) also had a stall in the courtyard. Managed to bring his wheel outside - and attract a good amount of attention - with some purchases and orders.




Visit his blog at http://rowallanepottery.blogspot.com/

Spent today foraging for lovely ingrediants for Castleward hedgerow jam! Can not wait for it to have my first taste :) and to take it to pumpkinfest at the weekend!

attempting sugarcraft!

a few days ago i received another lovely package - this time from http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk - and box full of cupcake fun!

this prompted me to attempt some simple sugar craft! armed with punchers and coloured icing i gave it a good shot - and this is what i ended up with


and a not so good blackberry photo of the first batch!

pleasantly suprised!

A lovely package arrived for me today - from vista print!
I was somewhat dubious about my order - but because of the marvoulous FREE offers - I knew I was not out to loose much if the products where not very professional looking. As I had been warned they may be....
However - what a great suprise! My postcards are perfect!
Thank you vista print!!!!

Apples Galore!

David discover the local apple tree - located in the Gardeners Nurseries - had said farewell to its apples earlier than usual this year!

So he set to work collecting as many as possible before the buggies and birdies could steal them all!

However a few did not get away so luckily! Though I dont mind sharing a couple!


And the tree has kept a couple - though I am unsure if these will ever mature!


A lovely apple chutney was created - along with a very lovely smell!

And it was jarred up and left to cool :)

Rowallane Plant Sale!!!

This Saturday is the annual Autumn Rowallane Plant Sale - and if this good weather continues it is set to be a treat! Come and join us at Rowallane, purchase some lovely plants in preparation for next year - and visit us in the Garden Kitchen Tearoom - for a light lunch of seasonal soup and scone, or a flower themed cupcake or sugar cookie!

An Introduction to Us!

The Garden Kitchen Team consists of myself - Laura - and my business partner - David.
David is renowned for his scrumptious carrot cake! A lovely moist fruit filled cake, covered in a sweet, slightly tangy cream cheese icing. And the lovely seasonal soups he whips up out of fabulous seasonal ingredients - often from our very own kitchen garden. Served with a beautiful cheese and herb scone - again with our own herbs! Of course - amongst many other things.
David lives close to the Gardens - in Saintfield - and can often be seen being dragged back and forth by his boisterous collie x springer Rory.

I have a slight obsession with cupcakes - and spend too many hours plotting pretty decorations! However I spend most of my time out front looking after our many lovely customers and making a large array of wonderful coffees!
We recently had bit of a paint job at the cafe and it is currently looking very shiny - both inside and out!
In addition to myself and David, whenever we are in need of a little more man power - my troublesome brother - Stephen - and my rock 'n' roll sister - Louise - lend a much needed hand!