A village shop can be many things. At it's best it's the hub of the village, providing everything you've forgotten to pick up in the supermarket and any impulse you may have which would be quashed with the effort of getting into the car and driving anywhere to get ingredients; easy supper; sudden temptation to bake a cake; the overwhelming desire for chocolate; a cheese and pickle sandwich when you have no pickle.... that kind of thing. At worst, a village shop can be a depressing place with poor lighting, grubby shelves, gormless staff and out of date stock. The job of the Shop Manager is to try and please as many people as possible most of the time whilst realising it's impossible to please everyone all of the time.
And that's why we're here at this blog. I want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk and nothing focuses the mind more clearly than really experiencing what you want others to take to. I could tell you that the shop's brilliant and you should shop there as much as you could - but without doing it myself, it's fairly empty words.... and so, I find myself on the brink of committing to shopping nowhere else other than the village shop for the month of October. Why? Because sometimes it's difficult to see the wood for the trees. A Village Shop needs to fulfill the needs of the majority of the people it serves and you can only know that when you experience it fully. For example, a customer came in the other day and asked for Worcester Sauce - we didn't stock it - and yet it's a fairly standard staple in most kitchen cupboards (we do stock it now!). But it's those key ingredients that sometimes you only think about when you need them so, I need to need them to think about them!
From October 1st for the next month I will let you know what I've made for supper from ingredients only brought at the village shop; how easy (or not) it was to come up with hassle free ideas and what the shop is lacking at present and how we can make it better..... I can't guarantee that they will be awe inspiring meals all the time and have no doubt that fish fingers and baked beans may appear on the menu at some point but hopefully we should end up with a collection of recipes for you to dip into as and when you need... all with the convenience of never leaving the village!
And that's why we're here at this blog. I want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk and nothing focuses the mind more clearly than really experiencing what you want others to take to. I could tell you that the shop's brilliant and you should shop there as much as you could - but without doing it myself, it's fairly empty words.... and so, I find myself on the brink of committing to shopping nowhere else other than the village shop for the month of October. Why? Because sometimes it's difficult to see the wood for the trees. A Village Shop needs to fulfill the needs of the majority of the people it serves and you can only know that when you experience it fully. For example, a customer came in the other day and asked for Worcester Sauce - we didn't stock it - and yet it's a fairly standard staple in most kitchen cupboards (we do stock it now!). But it's those key ingredients that sometimes you only think about when you need them so, I need to need them to think about them!
From October 1st for the next month I will let you know what I've made for supper from ingredients only brought at the village shop; how easy (or not) it was to come up with hassle free ideas and what the shop is lacking at present and how we can make it better..... I can't guarantee that they will be awe inspiring meals all the time and have no doubt that fish fingers and baked beans may appear on the menu at some point but hopefully we should end up with a collection of recipes for you to dip into as and when you need... all with the convenience of never leaving the village!
Good luck, I look forward to reading your blog, do some puds as well...bread and butter pudding is a meal ��
ReplyDeleteHappy to give it a go, Mark!
ReplyDelete