Page 25 of Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

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As the end of the week rolled around, it spelled the revival of Pudding Club.

Rachel found herself looking forward to these bi-monthly meet-ups at the Pudding Pantry. Her idea last winter to drum up extra custom by creating a regular evening event in the barn tearoom was still going strong. There was now a group of around twelve or thirteen ‘Clubbers’, most of them regulars and friends by now.

They had a different theme each time, and tonight was ‘Dreamy Ice Cream’ – a special request from little Maisy who was always keen to get involved. They’d invited along Andrew, the owner of the local dairy that made its own ice cream, to give a talk, and here was the best part, a tasting session. He had mentioned there’d be a honeycomb ice cream, ginger, traditional vanilla and a choc-chip to sample. Rachel and Jill had also been busy making several puddings to pair with the delicious ice-cream flavours.

Maisy had been allowed to stay up late to attend, even though it was a school night – well, she couldn’t miss her own theme night, could she now? She was excitedly helping Rachel set out the Pantry. Rachel and Jill had already moved two of the white wooden tables together to create a large space for the group to sit around.

‘We’ll need about fourteen chairs, I’d say,’ Rachel called out.

Several members had already messaged to say they were coming, and often one or two extras turned up on the night.

‘Okay, Mummy.’ Chairs were scraped and bumped across the stone flags, but Rachel didn’t have the heart to stop her little helper.

Rachel switched on the white fairy lights that were strung along the counter to give the barn that extra bit of sparkle, and refreshed the pretty posy milk jugs with fragrant sweet peas set at the centre of each table. The two girls then popped a spoon and fork, wrapped in a red-checked gingham napkin, at each place setting.

‘It looks really pretty.’ Maisy stood back with a smile, admiring their work.

Rachel’s heart warmed watching her little girl.

‘It does indeed. Just perfect for an ice-cream and pudding night.’

They clapped their hands together in a high five.

It wasn’t long before Andrew from the dairy arrived with a cool box full of fabulous ice-cream booty.

‘Hi Andrew, great to see you again. Thank you so much for coming along tonight.’ Rachel shook hands warmly with him.

It was always nice to see a fellow farmer in the area; their families had known each other for years now. And, they’d got to know each other even more last summer when Rachel was setting up supplies for the Pudding Pantry.

‘No worries. You’re most welcome.’

‘Can I help bring anything in?’ Rachel offered.

‘There’s another cool box in the back of the Jeep, if you don’t mind.’

‘Yummy, ice cream. Hello Andrew,’ Maisy was beaming up at him.

‘Hey there, little Maisy. And, how are you?’

‘Good, thank you.’

Rachel was pleased to hear that she was minding her manners.

‘Mummy says I can stay up late and eat ice cream!’ She grinned.

‘Well, that sounds a good plan for a Thursday night.’ He smiled back at her.

Andrew was soon set up, with his samples at the ready, and some flyers to hand out about the dairy. Jill came back across from the farmhouse with a freshly baked sticky toffee pudding, warm from the oven. The evening was balmy, so the barn doors were open wide and welcoming. And, in no time at all, no doubt lured in by the gorgeous caramel smells and the thought of dreamy ice cream, the first Pudding Club attendees began to arrive.

First was Frank, in his summer attire of beige slacks and pale blue shirt, closely followed by Kirsty and Hannah, who’d picked up new-to-the-village young mum, Alice, on their way. Hot on their heels were keen bakers, Pamela and Nigel, a middle-aged couple from the nearby town of Alnwick with two of their friends. Daniel arrived next, with a kiss on the cheek for Jill and a cheery hello to the group, followed by Christine and Eileen, keen members of the local Women’s Institute, along with friend and Pantry helper Jan. Brenda from the local deli came rolling in just in time for the seven o’clock start. And, last but not least, Eve crashed in all in a fluster.

‘Phew, sorry guys, I hadn’t realised the time, I was flat out putting the finishing touches to a soft toy hedgehog family for an Etsy order! Can’t wait for some delicious ice cream, though.’

Wow, it certainly was a full house tonight.

After teas and coffees were served, Andrew did a brief introduction to the group. ‘Hello everyone! I’m so pleased that you’ll be testing some of our wares this evening, and I’m very proud to announce that the dairy has just received a Gold award for “Northumberland Producer of the Year”!’