I had an appointment with our Environmental Health Officer today but rather than coming out to see me they'd asked me to take the Hutch along to their offices. This, in itself, wasn't an issue although the rain and wind made it a slightly stressful journey! So, I arrived in plenty of time (big mistake as it turned out) but there was no way I could get the Hutch into the car park as it was choc full. The only option I had was to park near the entrance, on double yellow lines, and hope that our EHO would come out when I called. What I wasn't aware of was that she doesn't actually work in the building she'd asked me to attend and she was still en route from her office. Waiting nervously, I watched as various cars came in and out the shopping centre car park opposite me but once a lorry tried to turn in front of me (a bit too close for comfort) I decided I had better try and find a better spot. My thought was that maybe I could get into one of the other supermarket car parks nearby where there would be a bit more space and I wouldn't be bothering anyone.
Commence Operation Turnaround... Now, I don't consider myself to be the worst driver and I mostly get by with the Hutch. I've parked in all sorts of places with varying degrees of success although I never look forward to going somewhere new and it's always a help if there's a second person to help guide. Today, I sucked! I spied a gap in the cars and decided I could reverse the trailer into it to get turned. As it turns out his gap wasn't very wide and the street really wasn't wide enough for such a manoeuvre without some guidance from the absent second person. I ended up pulled up against a barrier for a loading area, unable to turn anywhere and too terrified to reverse all the way back up the street! It was at this point a very lovely man driving a van took extreme pity on me and reversed my trailer back up the street and parked it exactly where I had been before! Had it not been for this knight in shining armour I'd probably still be sitting blocking the road with people swearing at me from all angles and no doubt crying my eyes out in a pathetic girly fashion so if this was you, you are officially my hero (sorry Mr B) and I am very grateful. If you are ever near Carron Valley please come and say hello and have a coffee on me. Now I'd love to go lie in a dark room for a while but there's cake to make so the big girl pants have been pulled up and normal service shall resume!
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December! How did that happen? It's been a busy few weeks with the various events we've attended and our regular weekends at Carron Valley. We are so grateful to each and every one of you who supports us. We'd like to say a big thank you to Stirling Bike Club for having us along at their cyclocross event last weekend and well done to everyone who took part on the day. Thanks also to the organisers at Falkland Winter Festival. A great day to get into the Christmas spirit and we met some lovely people too. This coming weekend finds us taking our annual trip north to beautiful Glamis Castle for their Christmas Market. Always a lovely weekend, we can't wait to be a part of this again. Hopefully it won't be quite as cold as last year! We'll have our range of festive hot chocolates on offer as well as lots of lovely hot Espre coffee, teas and a selection of our own homebaking. Pay us a visit and have a browse around all the wonderful craft stalls. Lots of Christmas present ideas in one place! It's been business as usual for the last couple of weeks at Carron Valley. Last weekend was a little wet and wild but we still saw a fair few of you out and about. The wind chill threatened to stop my fingers working this weekend but you all kept me going and stopped me turning into an icicle! So far, all the Low Gluten cakes and bakes that we've done for you have been received well and in our opinion you more often than not wouldn't know that they weren't made with standard flour as they taste just as fabulous as any other Hutch product. We'll keep experimenting and bringing you new tasty treats as often as we can. Don't forget you can now order full or half trays of your favourite by going to our BAKERY page. Next Saturday we're at Carron Valley again but on Sunday we're heading over to Plean Country Park for the Cyclocross event happening there. With 200 entrants plus spectators it's set to be a busy day and we can't wait to meet you if you're coming along. Please be aware that often there is only one person serving in the Hutch so at busy times there can be a small wait but we always do our best to keep the line moving and serve everyone as quickly as possible. Your patience is appreciated and we promise it's worth the wait! We had an awesome day at Driftland in Lochgelly on Saturday! The spectators were such a good bunch and LOVED their hot chocolate, especially the luxury version topped with "scooshy" cream, fudge pieces and toffee sauce. You all managed to get through 84 pints of milk, 4kg of hot chocolate powder and a whole lot of coffee beans! Apologies to anyone who missed out as we did sell out of some things but we really had no idea how busy it would be. The guys at Driftland and the Scottish Drift Championships put on a great day and the fireworks were outstanding. Big thanks to them for inviting us along and we'll hopefully see you again next year. We'll be back in our favourite spot at Carron Valley the next two weekends so will be great to see some of our regulars again. We're looking into the possibility of an event at the end of the month but will keep you updated should we get any confirmation on this. Come December, we have a couple more events lined up. First up is the Falkland Winter Festival on Saturday 1st December and the following week we'll be back in lovely Glamis for the Glamis Castle Christmas Market which runs from Friday 7th Dec to Sunday 9th December. Fingers crossed it's not quite as cold as last year Howdy folks. What a great weekend we had at Carron Valley. The Ride for the Angels event was well attended (despite the relentless rain) and I'm told lots of money was raised for some very worthy charities. Huge well done to everyone who took part and thanks to all of you who made it worth our while to be out on such a horrible day too. Sunday's weather was much more pleasant and again, thank you to everyone who came by and sampled our wares. We won't be at Carron Valley this weekend owing to a couple of great events. On Saturday you'll find the Hutch at Bridge of Allan Parish Church Hall for a fundraising craft fair being held by Equi-Power who are looking to raise money for a new centre in Stirling. If you're not familiar with the work they do, check out their Facebook page. Their will be lots of lovely stalls inside so come along, get a jump on your Christmas shopping and don't forget to stop at the Hutch on the way in for a coffee. Sunday finds us back at Stirling University campus for Stirling Triathlon Club's Aquathlon. Whether you're taking part or just spectating we'll have plenty of hot drinks and small snacks to keep you fuelled up throughout the day.
We're referring to these cakes and bakes as MWG (Made Without Gluten) rather than "Gluten Free" as all our baking is done in one kitchen and although all equipment and surfaces are appropriately cleaned and sanitised in between uses there is always a small possibility of some gluten traces remaining in the work area and we wouldn't like to cause upset or illness to anyone by claiming otherwise. On baking days our MWG items are always prepared first to help further minimise the risk of any cross contamination.
After a beautiful day this Saturday, Sunday was a different matter altogether with strong winds and driving rain for a lot of the day. Not surprisingly there weren't as many of you out and about but those that were kept us going until we decided on an early finish for a change. Next weekend finds us back at Carron Valley where there's a 24hr "Ride for the Angels" charity cycling event which begins at 10am Saturday 13th October. If you'd like to take part and help raise money for some very good causes please check out the event page on Facebook and sign up. Fingers crossed for better weather for them! There's been no slacking off for the Hutch this year. The title refers to the lack of blogging! Disgraceful behaviour on our part but testament to how hard we have been working that we've had no time to sit down and chat!
Anyhoo, a lot has happened in the last year (!) but mainly we've just been concentrating on building the business and bringing you awesome coffee and cake like we always do. You'll still find us at Carron Valley most weekends throughout Autumn, Winter and Spring but we do try to find new and exciting events to go to during the summer months. New events for us this year included the very first Falkirk Ultra race back in January, the Crit on the Campus bike race at Stirling University in April and this year we made our first appearance at the Scottish Performance Car Show in Bo'ness and had a fabulous day serving up lots of lovely coffee to lots of lovely petrol heads. We catered at two events in Duncarron Medieval Village. Their Medieval weekend and the fabulous Pirates event and we've attended various other events throughout the central belt. Our next planned appearance will be at Stirling Triathlon Club's Aquathlon event on Sunday 21st October back at Stirling Uni and we hope to have another couple of events before the end of the year but will keep you posted. For now, it's back to business as usual with normal trading at Carron Valley this coming weekend. We are working on bringing you some low gluten options in our homebaking range and will keep Facebook updated with the progress on this. It's officially summer and The Hutch is all primed and ready for the season ahead!
Our next event is Airth Highland Games on Saturday 22nd July from 9am to 6pm. (*we will be selling coffees and cakes only at this event as agreed with the organisers) This coming weekend (15th/16th July) the lovely people at Duncarron Medieval Village are holding their Vikings at Duncarron event. Please take a look at their website for details. We'll be in our spot in the main car park so pop down and see us for some refreshments if you're attending. We have recently added a new range of filled rolls to our menu. These are made fresh on our premises daily. We cannot make up rolls while trading as they are all prepared in advance however if you have a specific requirement or would like to place an order then please get in touch at least 48hrs before you plan to visit to see if we can make something just for you that you can then collect at an agreed time. Please note that if orders are not collected within a reasonable window of the agreed time then they will be put into general stock for sale. We do not like to see food wasted and will not hold onto them indefinitely. Let's hope we get some really good weather over the coming months and we'll see you all at The Hutch very soon! There always has to be a first post so here it is...
Have you been to visit The Hutch yet???? You'll find us most weekends selling our wares at Carron Valley in Central Scotland. We have a regular site in the Forestry Commission car park and if you're a mountain biker then you'll probably be aware of the bike trails there but there's also some lovely walks around the reservoir, nearby fishing at Carron Valley Fishery and The Clanranald Trust are building Duncarron Medieval Village (www.facebook.com/duncarron) and hold open days/events at points throughout the year. The first of these is being held 24th and 25th June 2017 and The Hutch will be attending on Sunday 25th with our eats and drinks. Saturday 24th June 2017 finds us at the first Auchinstarry Community Festival which is a new family friendly music festival at Auchinstarry Marina, Kilsyth. Check out their Facebook page for more details.(www.facebook.com/auchinstarryfestival) On Friday 30th June 2017 we will be at Bo'ness Children's Fair so if you're near that area come along and see us there. More event dates will be posted for the summer months soon so keep checking back for updates. |
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September 2019
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