I’ve just placed a large order for the holiday season and I’m wondering what to expect… specifically with regards to their local tea, conserves, toffee, fudge, etc? I understand that it’s not all made in-house; their conserves and marmalades which are labeled “Sarah’s Home Made __” seem to originate from www.wildandfruitful.co.uk, for instance. It does indicate that it’s “Homemade in Cumbria for Sarah Nelson’s Grasmere Gingerbread Shop”, for what it’s worth. The tea is from Farrer’s which looks to be a local Kendal institution. The toffee butter & treacle comes from a famous toffee shop in Penrith. I also ordered a selection of old fashioned “country” fudge in ginger, chocolate, rum & raisin, and Irish cream which doesn’t specify any place of origin but indicates that it’s handmade and looks to be packaged by a very local artisanal producer. It’s hard to find much info on anything; this appears to be the big export industry in the provincial Lakeland area, so all I get is marketing and tourist driven links to social media review sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp, which are of little to no help. I wanted to do something festive for the holidays, since I convinced my wife to ditch the customary visit to my in-laws in Orange County and instead talked her into a snowy white Christmas in the Canadian north, so I thought it would be fun to go all-out with the traditional Yuletide garnishings. I also ordered a plum pudding (never had one before in my life) and some toffee lollies, mulled wine sachets, their famous Cumberland rum butter, and of course, plenty of Grasmere gingerbread, which I look forward to trying. It wasn’t inexpensive however, and I recognize that I could have ordered some really fine imported food products for the cost, so I just hope that I haven’t been sucked into a tourist trap… If anyone is familiar with this shop or local products from the region, I’d love to hear from you!
Cheers