Doncaster Visitor Moorings

A box of eggs had been hiding in plain view and their time was up, so it was scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast. A shopping list was put together, then we walked into town, time to visit the deli!

Hang on the sign above the door was different, a budgie in a cage sat by the front door not shelves of exotic fruit and veg. A young lady tinkered with the door. We checked they were open, they were. Blimey it’s changed!

Scicluna started off as a deli stall on the market 47 years ago, it grew in popularity but the restraints of a market stall became too much and after 36 years Josephine moved the business into the shop where it stands today and where I head every time we visit Doncaster. A year ago Josie chose The Gentleman Fishmonger, Martyn Peppard to help move the business into the next age. DN1 was born. Well the shop has changed quite dramatically, the final alterations only happened a couple of weeks ago. Painted black from floor to ceiling, the counters have moved, all the sacks of grains and flours have gone, replaced with dispensers. The wall of spices is now condensed and the boxes of different types of flours are more ordered. There is still a huge variety of fresh veg and bread, it’s just that someone else, not Josie, has sorted everything out.

Half the shop is now a kitchen and fine dining room, with taster menus. The reviews very good suggesting Michelin stars should be on the cards. I’m sure the food is excellent, but the price tag a touch too high for a Saturday lunchtime, a serious celebration needed.

Some tapioca starch was found easily, then a small bag of Gram Flour (I’ve an urge to make onion bhajis), a bag of gluten free suet jumped off the shelf too (I miss steak and kidney pudding), we’ll see what it’s like. The cheese counter called us over. A small slice of three cheeses added to our purchase. I’d been worried that the deli would have changed without Josie at the helm anymore, but it just feels like they have removed some of the vast array of ingredients, tidied the place up so other people can find things not just Josie. Still very much worth a visit.

We’ve not been into the Wool Market before. Several street food vendors have stalls including Hand Pulled Italian Coffee?! It certainly seemed to be popular. Maybe Doncaster is becoming a very foody place.

Into the market for a nosy, a pork pie for Mick. I refrained from buying any haslet, three flavours of this Lincolnshire delicacy on offer today. I’ve only ever had it on school geography field trips, it can stay in my memory thank you! Then into the fish market. The Gentleman Fishmongers stall was by far the most popular with hoards of people crowded round. I was tempted, but this week we need to stick to our list and we’d got treat cheeses.

This morning I’d tried on my trainers for the first time since breaking my toe. I got them on, but walking in them was a different matter, back to the crocks. But after an hour it was time to sit down, I left Mick to do the shopping and returned to Oleanna.

Time to get on with the song sheet for panto. My work boxes had been dug out from under the dinette and a backing was painted up similar to parts of my portal design. Then it was scanned and popped into Photoshop. Faded, colours, saturation contrast changed. Then the words added. I just wanted to add a border.

This took sometime, but I got there in the end, saved and printed out a copy. Ah …. I’d got a spelling mistake and had saved it without all the layers! Time to start again, well I need the practice. Except I couldn’t get it to do a border! Grrr.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 cheeses, 2 flours, 1 suet, 1 pie, 10 litres oil, 1 chicken on second attempt, 3 goes at songsheet, I thought I was getting the hang of this! 1 Saturday roast chicken.