New fans traveled over 4,000 miles for Marble Slab Creamery!

Please let me introduce you to a lovely couple and our newest fans from Berkshire, UK, Cal and Craig, who scheduled a stop at Marble Slab Creamery in Fountain City while they were in the States celebrating their 25th anniversary!

John and I met Craig a couple of years ago during a visit to England to see our daughter who was studying abroad at Swansea University. We immensely enjoyed getting to know Craig and found that even though we were an ocean apart, we had many of the same interests and experiences--family, children, and work. So, when Craig contacted us to let us know that he and Cal would be on holiday in the U.S. and wanted to make a stop at our Creamery, we were thrilled!

After spending several days on the West Coast seeing San Francisco, the Redwoods, Alcatraz, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas, the Thatchers stopped for an entire day in Knoxville before heading home. The day began with an English tea lesson. Craig had shipped a package ahead of time with instructions to open only after they arrived. Inside were gifts of Welsh cakes, loose-leaf tea, a British teapot, and mugs commemorating the Royal Wedding!

After tea time, the rest of the day included a tour of downtown, UT campus, Bleak House (thank you, Jessie Krueger!), and a special stop at Marble Slab Creamery for a lesson on ice cream production, and of course, ice cream sampling! Craig and Cal were amazed with the variety of flavors--Pumpkin, Key Lime, Peanut Butter, Cheesecake, Red Velvet--not just your usual Vanilla (although our Vanilla is award-winning!).

"We really, really enjoyed it. Such fun - and all those amazing flavours! We are majorly deprived in the UK," says Cal. "It was a very memorable visit."

It was so much fun reconnecting with Craig, and finally meeting Cal, truly a very lovely person. I'm looking forward to staying connected with my new British friends, and perhaps someday we'll get back across the pond for a personal visit with them! Cal shared her recipe for Welsh Cakes with us, so I thought our fans might enjoy it as well.

Blessings,
Sheila

Welsh Cakes
1 lb. Self-Rising Flour
4 oz. Lard (or white vegetable fat)
3 oz. Butter
6 oz. Sugar
6-8 oz. Dried Fruit (currants, sultanas/golden raisins)
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
Splash of milk
Mixed spice to taste (optional)

Rub the fats into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar, dried fruit and mixed spice (if using). Add the eggs to the dry mixture along with enough milk to make a firm dough.

Roll out to about 1/4" thick and cut into 3" rounds. Cook on a hot griddle stone greased with butter. (Once the griddle is hot, these cakes do not take long to cook on each side.)