Christmas Is Here

Catching up with the present, Christmas is upon us. We've collected the Christmas tree from the Tree Barn in nearby Christmas Common and the girls decorated it to the sound of carols and the smell of mulled wine - which is proving a real treat during this cold spell.

Christmas bookings are coming along nicely but please don't presume we are just full of Christmas parties throughout the festive season - give us a ring because you never know!

As in past years, on Christmas Day and Boxing Day we will revert back to an old style pub with no food whatsoever and just the landlord and landlady behind the bar, welcoming (or, in the landlord's case, abusing) everyone who pops in for a lunchtime drink. We hope to see you on one or both days.

Catching Up With November

Here we are with the first 'new look' blog, which I'm writing to go with our new look web site.  We hope you like both, and find them both useful over the coming months and years.

So, for this first new entry, let's get up to date with some recent news.

Towards the end of November we had another of our very popular 'French Nights' and it was a great success, with the girls dressing up in their berets and the boys looking like Rene from "`Allo `Allo".

Traditional country French cuisine was served, including our famous scallops (which we collect ourselves from Normandy) and, as ever, I was persuaded to cook up a few of my Crepe Suzettes.We had some lovely comments on the evening and thanks to everyone who came and joined in. We hope the next 'French Night' will be in April or May, so keep an eye on the website for future events.

While we were in northern France recently, Helen and I came across a wonderful supplier of oysters and mussels on the Cotentin peninsula, on the Atlantic coast. It was a real  pleasure tasting "the Crustacean" when you could see and smell them in front of you, in the sea. We hope to bring some back after our next visit.

For those of you that know The Maltsters very well, I know you'll be sad to hear that we lost our beloved choccie Labrador, Buttons, in November, from old age. She will be very much missed by us and, I know, our clientèle too, but the good and happy news is that we've found an excellent breeder in Wales and we'll be collecting our new pup in early January. Expect photos on this blog as soon as possible, and I hope you'll come and see the new member of the team in the New Year.