Fame and festivities

Now, I have never been one to shy away from the limelight, so this month has been a lot of fun for me. Aside from all the excitement of Christmas coming and getting to bake some of my favourite festive breads, I've been let out of my kitchen to spread the word about Hels' Bakehouse and my passion for bread making.  In the eyes of my 5 year old son this pretty much takes me to the same level as Paul Hollywood & Mary Berry, so I have been enjoying my 5 minutes of fame whilst they last.

First up, I had a brilliant time at the Edenmill Food Festival, where I gave a bread demo to visitors to this great local event.   The farm had been transformed into a pop up restaurant, festive market, Santas grotto and Christmas tree emporium and it was a pleasure to be a part of it all.  My aim was to show people how simple it is to make some great tasting bread for Christmas from a simple white dough, so there were lemon & black pepper rolls to go with some smoked salmon, and tasty cheese straws to soak up the festive spirit, as well as a plain loaf and Sourdough to compare & contrast.  I discovered it's quite tricky trying to make bread, maintain eye contact and talk at the same time, but luckily I had some little elves at hand to help me knead the dough and pass round the samples.  Here's a pic of me in action!

Next up was an interview with for BBC Radio Scotland's Out of Doors programme, where I had the opportunity to let out my evangelical side and spread the message about Real Bread to the masses - at least the ones who were up at 6.30am on a Saturday morning!  You can hear the inteview online through the following link for the next few days - so be quick if you want to enjoy my moment in the spotlight and cringe at my dodgy bread jokes.

Out of Doors programme

Finally, my little elves were back in force to help me with my last two events of the year, the Strathblane Primary School Christmas Fair and the Killearn Christmas market.  Both events were great opportunities to get the Christmas party started and chat to all the lovely people in the community that we are lucky to live with.  I came away with empty bread baskets, full Christmas order lists and a warm feeling in my heart. I'm unlikely to manage another blog post before the big Ho Ho Ho so I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported the Bakehouse over the year.  I have made a lot of bread and a lot of friends and I've loved every minute.  There's more fun to come in the new year with plans to introduce courses for people who want to learn how to make their own bread at home and some tasty new loaves to bake, so bring on 2014.

Merry Christmas from Hels xx

Me and an elf

It's time to get Festive!

This blog post is a mission statement, advert and general catch all communication for anyone who is interested in what Hels' Bakehouse is up to for Christmas!

I'm not normally one for planning ahead, but it occurred to me that as a business owner I might be expected to be more organised this year. So here's the plan:

1st December - 2pm Bread making demo at Edenmill Food Festival. Come along and find out how to make great Real Bread and test some of our favourite loaves. Then pay a visit to Santa and buy some great local produce!

A selection of breads and Christmas gift jars of festive granhohohola will be on sale at:

7th December - Strathblane Primary School Christmas Fair (6.30-9.00pm)

14th December - Killearn Christmas Market (10am-3pm)

The last Bread Club day of the year will be on Friday 20th December but I'll also be doing some special extra baking days on the 22nd & 23rd December.  These are open to all and you will be able to pre-order the following delicious Christmas treats from me for collection only:

Apricot & Walnut Couronne - a very special Christmas showstopper, filled with marzipan, apricots and nuts and finished with a sticky icing.  £8.50

Pain de Glengoyne - Whisky soaked raisins in delicious malty rye bread. Bye bye Miss American Pie, those good old boys would like this one with some thick cut marmalade for a very merry breakfast. £4.00

Cranberry & Pecan bread - a Bakehouse thanksgiving special. Wholemeal bread packed with the most festive of fruit and nuts. £3.50

Sourdough - Hels' Bakehouse's signature bread. Tastes delicious, good for the digestion and will see you through the festivities as it keeps well for toasting. £3.75

Blue cheese, Honey & Walnut bread - This one is like a ready made Cheese board. Yum! £3.00

Sage & onion bread - Pop this one in the freezer and bring it out to make an amazing boxing day sandwich with your left overs. £2.50

Croissants - Rich, buttery, flaky, fresh croissants available in packs of 4. Enough said! £3.20

Festive granhohohola - a Christmassy take on our original granola, this one is festively spiced and packed with pecans, cranberries and crystalised ginger. Available in 250g packs at £3.00 or our special Christmas gift jar £10.00

Availability will be limited so you'll need to get your name in fast. We'll be taking orders at the Christmas fairs or you can email me at info@helsbakehouse.com. The deadline for getting your orders in will be Monday 16th December.

Collection will be at Hels' Bakehouse HQ, 13 Blane Crescent, Blanefield between 4-6pm on each special baking day with mince pies and mulled wine waiting for all. All of my lovely loyal Bread Club customers are invited to drop in too as a thank you for your excellent support and bread eating skills over what has been an amazing year.

After that the McGougan sleigh will be heading down to Wiltshire to see the relatives with baking for the Bread Club starting again on 10th January.

It's almost enough to start making me feel Christmassy. Where's the sherry?

Keeping my sprits up

It's officially time to get into the Christmas spirit. The weather has been cold and crisp and there has been a hard frost on the ground all week that makes the street look like a winter wonderland. The advent calendar is up, and Michael Buble is on the television singing Christmas songs so I should be in my element, but I have a cold and seem to have lost my yuletide motivation.  As a result I haven't been doing much baking or yoga this week, but I have been trying to make some time each day to do something that reminds me to take a break and step away from the stresses and strains of daily life.

Here's my top 5 moments of calm amongst the chaos:

1. Stopped for coffee and pastry en route to a meeting at Tapa Organic in Glasgow. A perfect cafe with great food and a great philosophy behind it. It also gave me the chance to try some of their lovely bread.

2. Took a walk with my dog in the frosty sunshine on a cold blue skied winter's day. Breathed in the fresh air and admired the beautiful golden light on the hillside.

 

 

3. Watched people ice skating on George Square in the Christmas wonderland.

 

4. Bought some new cosy winter socks and settled down with a good book on the sofa.

 

5. Helped my son write his Christmas letter to Santa and settled down with the family for our annual viewing of Elf.

 

These may not be huge achievements, but when I look back over the week they are the bits that count. I'll try to get back to the baking, business planning, yoga, christmas shopping and emails soon, but for now I think I'll just stay on the sofa and take a moment to bask in the glory of small victories and the rare pleasure of doing absolutely nothing.