Ice cream's licked...so what's up next? Lucie Greenwood finds out

We forgot the FEEEEEGS” yelled Hattie! It was half past midnight following our first Milk Shed dinner, the last few guests just gathering themselves in a slightly inebriated state to tootle out to their taxis.

The evening had gone brilliantly – 41 guests, a four-course menu, lots of wine and a slightly raucous high-spirited atmosphere all well and good – but I’d intended to give everyone a gorgeous, individually-wrapped whole fig stuffed with brandy ganache and coated in dark chocolate, which I’d bought especially from my lovely Spanish suppliers, Brindisa. Never mind, we’d pulled the rest of it off and I doubt anyone could’ve stuffed another morsel down, and besides, we’ve enjoyed scoffing them instead. Since the clocks went back the ice cream, as you can imagine, has tailed off and while I’m still surprised when people turn up for a cornet at 9am on a freezing blustery morning, I’m relieved that the pressure’s off and I’m free to turn my attention to other events. It makes a nice change. But having said that I loved making Halloween blood ice cream with skulls and eyeballs, and putting chocolate space dust into a bright orange custard for our Bonfire Crackle – it’s good to have time to play, and I’ll soon be donning my white coat and fiddling about in the ice cream room with a Bunsen burner and a seasonal supply of cranberries, clotted cream, Christmas pud, cinnamon and mulling syrup, although I’ll steer clear of the stuffing balls and cabbage. Or will I? Two can play at that game, Heston!

It’s been great fun playing ‘shop’ and putting together our Christmas products that are due for delivery tomorrow, which means I probably won’t sleep tonight with excitement!

I absolutely LOVE Christmas and our family has a tradition of making the most ridiculously spectacular cake which has developed over the last decade and thanks to my awesome Dad, in recent years has featured a working miniature train cutting through not one, but two cake mountains and crossing a viaduct; and in 2012 showcased a working ski lift (yes, you heard me right) complete with skiers!

Anyway, I digress, but it goes without saying that it will take extreme willpower not to just put all the foodie goodies meant for my little shop straight into the boot of my car and down to Cornwall to be wrapped and stuffed into stockings.

The plan is to make up hampers, and thanks to my Tuesday girl Kate who’s also, handily, a florist, we’ve got a box full of perfect, fat, red, multi-looped bows ready to tie them up with.

We’ll do one full of sweeties, another for cooks crammed with fab and unusual produce, and one made up of all my favourite things. That’s if there’s anything left after the team have bagsied their wish list! It hasn’t all been plain-sailing recently though.

Natalie, my gorgeous second cousin – who’s been with us since before we opened and was a member of the ‘scrubbers’; a gang of extremely loyal mates that helped me get the place turned around ready for opening in less than three weeks – is off tomorrow to spread her wings by flying all the way to Australia and a year of unimaginable excitement and adventure. She’s leaving some very classy shoes to fill and I’ll miss her like mad, but these are problems unavoidable for small businesses in this game.

Onward and upwards though and next up is dinner number two, where, sticking with the ice cream theme, we will be serving proper baked Alaska. Yikes. Nervous, moi? And shortly after that we’re holding a good old opening party, just a few months late, to celebrate what a crazy year this has been, before closing for a couple of weeks to sit in front of a fire somewhere, slippers on, sipping port and falling asleep in front of the Strictly Christmas special along with thousands of other knackered people, without so much as a fleeting though given to ice cream...

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The Milk Shed is in Northampton Road, Weston-on-the-Green.
Call 01869 351387 or see themilkshed store.co.uk