Chief taster

Back in February, Mr A’s sister Laura (& her business partner Catherine) opened up a coffee shop, next door to the beauty salon they already own in Leyland. It was all going so well......until lockdown.

From a positive point of view, this has allowed them time to rejig a few little things (hindsight is a wonderful thing!), including installing a full kitchen and hiring a couple of chefs (rather than a couple of gals with a microwave & toastie maker). This has meant they can expand the menu and the chefs have come up with some amazing ideas already.

We were very kindly invited over this morning to sample the new breakfast menu and OMG it didn’t disappoint!

First up was toast, slathered with homemade hummus and topped with mushrooms. I’m not a fan of hummus, but had to admit it was tasty.
Next we had cheese on toast. That sounds run of the mill, but there was a generous portion of Lancashire cheese, with just the right amount of meltyness thats a word right?, atop the most delicious plum & apple chutney.

Last, but my no means least, were the pancakes featured on today’s blip (photo courtesy of Mr A).
We were a bit apprehensive about these, as we were already quite full (well, I was!) and they looked quite thick and stodgy, but joy of joys, they were sooooooo light and fluffy! An absolute winner of a dish in our opinion.
Feedback was duly given on all the dishes and greatly received by a very nervous chef; she really needn’t have worried though, good food speaks for itself.

Prior to lockdown, Laura was buying in all the sweet treats from a local baker, but one of the new chefs is a star baker, and with the new kitchen, can bake everything fresh on site. We just had to take some all of her tasty cakes home to sample once our bellies were less full!
We took slices of the lemon & blueberry cake, an earl grey tea loaf, a chocolate oat slice and a black cherry tiffin.
I’m still feeling full from this morning, so the cakes will make a lovely tea time treat :-)

If anyone is local to Leyland, (or fancies a day out), the shop is called Maeve & Willow, 74 Leyland Lane, Leyland, PR251XB

DQ x