Monthly Archives: April 2015

english, Ordinary, Scones

Gail’s Artisan Bakery

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This is the BBC (baby buggy central) otherwise known as Gail’s Artisan Bakery. Barnes is a very nice spot on the bulge in the Thames where the boat race will be contested in a few days time. Only an ‘artisan’ bakery would do .. otherwise the natives would revolt.

As you might expect then, Gail’s is a very nice coffee shop which seems to be busy no matter when you go. Lots of yummy mummy’s and people ‘at the office’. Once saw a couple juggling two laptops, two iPads and four mobile phones, ah the joys! One reason it seems so busy is that it’s small. Although it has overspill seating outside it sometimes seems as if the whole of Barnes is trying to squeeze in here, and no wonder. Lots of great looking home baked breads, cakes, pastries, biscuits .. and scones. You order at the counter and pick up a paddle so that they can find you at your table. Hats off to the staff, they work like trojans, picking their way through the conglomeration of people, bags and buggies.

Being fussy

We had never tried the scones in here before so it had to be done. After a short wait it duly arrived and the reason for the wait became obvious, they had been toasting them. A little too mA scone at Gails Artisan Bakery in Barnes, Londonuch as it happens. They were so hot it was difficult to handle them and as a result the base of the scone had become too hard and the scone itself had become a bit on the dry side. They came with little bowls of cream and strawberry jam which were very nice. Bear in mind that we are comparing with the likes of Fonab Castle here so are being deliberately fussy. Overall we enjoyed Gail’s scones and are sure that the fact that ours were a little over toasted is not the norm. This place is definitely worth a visit.

SW13 9HH                 tel: 02087410987                  Gails 

Scones, Uncategorized

Magnificent 7

Out for breakfast this morning to Cafe Nero, they don’t do scones. Why is it that scones are not acceptable at breakfast? Don’t know but they just aren’t! Anyway this is the Magnificent 7

The debate

News is all about the election broadcast last night between the seven big scones. It kind of ended up as the three ladies socking it to the Wastemonster three with UKipNige throwing wee tantrums in the background. There was Natgreen (sounded like she would like her scones barbecued). LibNick (not sure what to do about scones). UKipNige (only English scones, please).  RedEd (any jam as long as it’s red). YakidaaLeanne (likes Welsh scones). NatNic (makes her own Scottish scones) and of course PoshDave (never had a scone without jam and cream). Anyway it was all quite civilised, UKipNige came close to throwing all his foreign scones out of the pram a couple of times. One very eloquent lady in the audience, Victoria,(haven’t heard the last of her), gave posh Dave a hard time about soldiers sleeping on the street.

Who won? Goodness knows! I am sure the London based press i.e. almost all the press, will declare for PoshDave. However NatNic managed to pull off the amazing feat of increasing her party membership by over 1500 in the course of the debate. Don’t know if any of the others came close to that. Maybe their memberships were going in the opposite direction?

Perhaps predictably The National came out for NatNic and Scottish scones …

The Nationalbut we were really surprised to find The Times agreeing. Mind you I think they ran a completely different story in the English edition. Two faced or what?.

The Times

 

 

 

 

 

Jam and cream

Lord Ashcroft’s latest poll also shows that NatNic and the SNP would win a third of  seats if they stood in England??  Extraordinary times indeed. Anyway off to Englandshire tomorrow to do some scone testing in the deep south. Will UKipNige be right about English scones being the best? Will there be more jam and cream the further south we go? You will, of course be first to hear the findings.

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

The Milk Barn

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Well here we are at The Milk Barn on the south side of Falkirk on a dull chilly day. The upcoming General Election has well and truly kicked off with all parties promising more scones tomorrow. Main issues seem to be: 1. should banker type folk get more cream on their jammy scones 2. should ordinary folk (i.e. not bankers), get any jam 3. is the EU meddling with our scones 4. should folks north of the border be allowed to call their scones Scottish instead of British.

Appealing MPs

Being Scottish the last one is of particular interest because once again the main unionist parties are demonstrating tInternal view of the Milk Barn, Falkirkheir complete lack of comprehension of what Scotland and its scones are about and in so doing seem to risk the Union itself. From a sconologist point of view, the unionist parties should really be promoting United Bakeries, who make brilliant scones. Unfortunately they are in Norway .. which isn’t even in the EU. So maybe not. Interesting though that all MPs are effectively sacked and then have to win back their jobs by appealing to us folk. Not only with scones, but probably with jam and cream as well. It will be an interesting few weeks.

The Milk Barn is a great bit of diversification by the Reid family who run Glen Farm. It’s probably not the sort of place to go if you don’t have children. The noise levels can be pretty high. On the other hand if you do have children it is a must do destination. There’s a great play area inside for smaller kids. An adventure playground outside for the bigger ones. A large grassed area for playing football. A fab ice cream parlour where you can watch it actually being made.

Fibreglass cows

You can even milk Glenda the life-size fibreglass cow! So great fun if you are looking for the kids to be entertained while you try and sneak in a quiet cup of tea and, of course, a scone.
Milk Bar sconeThe scones are home baked and although mine was an odd shape it tasted fine and butter and jam were provided free. Oh, and fab strawberry tarts

The place is busy most of the time. However, although the staff were run of their feet they still managed to be smiley and friendly .. well done.

FK1 3AA                       tel: 01324 630703                       Milk Barn