NEW TEA PARTY DATES... Alice ... Xmas..... Vintage.... &..

It's finally settled, the calender for The Secluded Tea Party... Taking you right up to January 2012... Get the dates in your diary and contact me to reserve a place should you be keen to join in with the following planned Afternoon/Evening Tea Party Events.... So Exciting! x

SUNDAY 4TH SEPT 2011 -10am - 12.30pm

The Secluded (RADIO!) Tea Party 

- 6 Spaces Left

In partnership with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire... They will be attending this very first Mid-morning version of The Secluded Tea Party, so come and join Me and my guests for tea and cake a natter on the radio about all things tea and cake : ) 

MENU and BOOKING.. Click Here. 

Suggested Donation is just £12 Per Guest to include mid-morning Scones, Cake & Tea. Exciting!

SATURDAY 10TH SEPT 2011- 11am -5.30pm

** PRIVATE EVENT** - Contact Ruthie to Book:

"Writing Day" @ The Cambridge Art Salon

I will be joining The Salon and providing some delicious cakes as well as using the time to meet local writers and creatives whilst spending some *Me Time* to put pen to paper and make the most of this fantastic creative writing outlet.

FRIDAY 23RD SEPT 2011 -7pm - 9pm

The Secluded (FRENCH FANCY!) Tea Party 

- 9 Spaces Left

In partnership with my lovely friend and previous tea party guest, Cakes By Cat, we will be making and decorating beautiful and delicious French Fancy Cakes for you to enjoy with an evening version of afternoon tea.

MENU and BOOKING.. Click Here. 

Suggested Donation is £35 Per Guest to include Afternoon tea food & French Fancy Decorating Class. 

* NEW * SATURDAY 22ND OCTOBER 2011 - ALL DAY 

The Secluded (VINTAGE TEA PARTY BOOK!) TEA PARTIES : ) 

- Vintage Brunch Tea Party 10am - 12noon       - 8 Spaces Only 

- Vintage Afternoon Tea Party 3pm - 5pm          - 8 Spaces Only 

- Decadent Midnight Feast 9.30pm - Midnight  - 8 Spaces Only 

In agreement with the stunning Angel Adoree of The Vintage Patisserie, London, I will be planning an entire day of Tea Parties from a VERY Small and unique venue... for a one off event to please all guests who fancy a small & intimate get together with strangers over delicious Afternoon Treats being Inspired & freshly prepared from Angels' new and beautiful book titled "The Vintage Tea Party Book". 

MENU and INFO coming soon - Email MSF to add your name to the guest list! 

Suggested Donation is £25 Per Guest. 

* NEW * SATURDAY 12TH NOV 2011 - PM (Time TBC)  

   TEA-RANTINO ! - An ode to the master of Cult Classics!

- 20 Spaces Available (Guests must be aged 18+)

In partnership with the Fantabulous Emily of Atomic Cupcakes, we will be bringing a second adult only version of The Secluded Tea Party, with an ode to the master of Cult Classics... of whom gets Miss Flays Heart pounding every time he releases them into the world... Mister Quentin Tarantino!

We will be hosting an evening of Tarantino-inspired cakes & sweet treats with an interactive table to get all guests talking, laughing and shrieking... (Hopefully of the slightly creeped out variety!) Haha. 

MENU and MORE INFO coming VERY soon - Email MSF to add your name to the guest list! 

Suggested Donation is £TBC - Per Guest (Approx. £25)

* NEW *  DECEMBER DATE AND TIME TBC  

   The Secluded (VERY VINTAGE XMAS!) Tea Party

- 12 Spaces Available 

A very relaxed and seasonal version of The Secluded Tea Party, hosted in a beautiful Cambridgeshire Countryside village, within the building of a new Tea Party friend to Miss Sue Flay... One not to miss! 

MENU and MORE INFO coming VERY soon - Email MSF to add your name to the guest list! 

Suggested Donation is £TBC - Per Guest (Approx. £25)

* NEW *  SATURDAY

 28TH JAN 2012- 7pm - 11pm

 ALICE IN..... MURDER MYSTERY TEA PARTY

- 20 Spaces Available

To celebrate the FIRST BIRTHDAY of The Secluded Tea Party, we will be celebrating in true Tea Party style and Miss Sue Flay will be hosting the holy grail of Tea parties, but with a murderous twist to proceedings... The Script has been written by her own fair hands, and this very interactive and creepy version of the delightful children's tea party will be sinful in more ways than one! The chosen venue to hold this event even has accommodation, so why not make a weekend of it if you dare!?.... More to come shortly.... We suggest putting it in your diary!

MENU and MORE INFO coming VERY soon - Email MSF to add your name to the guest list!

Suggested Donation is £TBC - Per Guest (Approx. £35)

COMING SOON!...

The Secluded (WEDDING!) Tea Party 

The Secluded (BLIGHTY BOOSH!) Tea Party... VENUE BEING CONFIRMED THIS WEEK : ) 

Plus many more Afternoon Tea Parties to come.. Or why not book your own PRIVATE TEA PARTY? 

To find out more about any of the above or to book your own Tea Party,

email Miss Sue Flay at:thesecludedteaparty@live.co.uk

French Fancy Decorating - Unique Event Coming September!

A few weeks back, myself and the lovely Lynn AKA Bakelady from The Secret Tea Room in Leeds met up in Ely for a cuppa and a piece of cake at Peacocks Tea Room next to the river. It was pleasant outside, so we got to enjoy the beautiful rose garden and I enjoyed the loveliest cup of tea - Rose & Marzipan, a refreshing blend matched perfectly to my taste. Followed by a brisk walk through the town and around the cathedral to burn off some sugar afterwards. It was a lovely way to spend a lazy morning after the zombie related tea party fun the evening before!

Myself and Lynn were catching up on all things underground and tea party related and I was talking through a new feature blog post with her (Which is coming very shortly - so keep an eye out!) where she will feature. It was great to talk about our plans for the future and what was and wasn't working in our plans. It's always great to catch up with her, she is so lovely and very knowledgeable on underground tea parties, having run her own for some time now. 

As a treat and to offer her a slightly more unusual afternoon activity, I took her to my new cake-y friends' house, Cat from Cakes By Cat in Ely, where we all sat and drank (more!) tea (Tea is a wondrous invention! hehe) and practiced making Fondant French Fancies for our up and coming collaboration in September.... 

...The Secluded (FRENCH FANCY!) Tea Party

 Friday 23rd September 2011 

at 7pm to 9.30pm...

You can book your tickets by clicking HERE. 

(Drop us an email when you have booked as we will keep you

 posted with the details nearer to the event)

Cats' Motto is "Make Cake, Drink Tea" ... What's not to love about that?!.... She is my ideal partner in crime! 

The kitchen smelled delicious as we whipped up fondant icing for the layer cakes (The different flavours in the cakes were heaven alone!... Strawberry Jam and Buttercream, even an Orange Liqueur filling in one of them, an experiment of Cats that was a winner with me : ) 

And we then chopped the square sponges up into smaller squares and had fun making lots of mess dipping them in different bowls to try out the consistency of different mixes. We finally found the right one for our future class and we managed to cover the table in the stuff... All part of the fun! Cat had also decided to cut hers out into circular shapes which actually looked just as nice as the square shapes... All pretty pink cakes and it didn't stop there!....

Whilst we were waiting for them to dry off, Cat taught us how to make pretty flowers to decorate the top of the cakes, with beautiful sugar craft techniques that even I could do... And if I can do it, anybody can, trust me! 

When we had finished, the three of us all had the prettiest little French Fancies and they looked so good I didn't want to destroy them, however after dropping Lynn off at the Train Station, I did stop off a couple of my family members en route home and share them so we didn't end up eating them at the Secluded tea Party HQ! 

So... Now to offer this fantastic activity alongside an evening version of my Tea Party for Just £35 donation per guest, with limited spaces, we have a few left should you want to join in this unique event. 

Come along and make new friends, bring along old friends and family or even your partner to come and drink tea and enjoy both Miss Sue Flays’ Home-made treats, as well as your own hand decorated pretties talked through and taught by Cat throughout the evening. 

This is going to be every cake lovers HEAVEN...!

Afternoon Tea a La Francaise:

Something Sparkling 

on arrival

***

Finger Sandwiches 

***

Lemon Madeleines, served with Rose Petal Jam

***

Chocolate Eclairs

***

Cake TBC

***

And not forgetting delicate layered French Fancies to eat and to take home with you,

Decorated beautifully by your own fair hands!

***

Unlimited Loose Leaf Tea served throughout the event by Miss Sue Flay to keep you from wilting : ) 

***

MENU SUBJECT TO CHANGE

***

THE VENUE... At a Secluded Cambridgeshire location - Shhhh We can’t say where just yet or it will ruin the magic and suspense... You will find out nearer the time, so be sure to send over your email to keep in the know!

DRESS CODE... Dress comfortably and as relaxed as you wish.

Why not add a french flair or twist to your outfit, should you desire to enter into the spirit of the evening. 

If you need to contact us, you can email: thesecludedteaparty@live.co.uk

We look forward to welcoming you to this very exciting version of The Secluded Tea Party. 

Miss Sue Flay

& 

Cat

x

Getting Crafty at Cath Kidston (Cambridge)

After popping into Cath Kidston last week for baby inspiration for my friend who is due to pop any day now (Come on JB... Hope he comes out soon : ) I got chatting to the lovely Harriet behind the counter who helpfully wrapped up my beautiful gift for me. 

After discussing all things vintage and tea party related (Naturally!) she mentioned that there was due to be a real first for this new Cambridge store in the form of a Craft Club evening the following week. 

Now, the word "crafting" alone sends me into mild panic attacks - My fingers were not made to pick up a needle and thread let alone actually use it. However, in this instance it was too good an opportunity to turn down and strangely I found myself signing up and mentioning to Twitter friends, one of which joined me to take the very last place. 

So Tuesday evening I headed down to the Market Square and joined 11 fellow crafters plus the lovely and very welcoming Cath Kidston team who talked us through our craft for the evening and joining the simpler craft of the two on offer, I was shown step by step how to make a pretty heart shaped pin cushion and a needle case to match. This was free to make with scraps from the material the girls had lying around, and the perfect starting point to get into crafting with. I actually really enjoyed it in the end and am very proud of my little heart  cushion which I even managed to hand sew a loop onto to make into a hanging decoration. Who would have thought it, I was actually sewing for the VERY first time!

The ladies on my table had actually both heard of my tea parties indirectly through different people, much to my amazement. I was more than chuffed to hear that word had gotten around and they both knew of me as soon as I said what I did... Such a great feeling indeed hehe. And in fact, the two other guests on my table knew of the same people too, such a small world but a great conversation starter. 

The more advanced crafters were sat on the other side of the shop with (for me, panic inducing) sewing machines to make a beautiful tote bag with their choice of material (All they had to do was pay for the material and they were coached through it with another member of staff) and they all looked fantastic. 

For 2 hours we took over the Cath Kidston store, made new friends, discussed all things vintage, drank tea, played with and had a good old nosey of the goodies in the shop and even ate cake (I made a Layer Cake with Apricot & Amaretto Preserve between layers of piped Buttercream) which went down very well with my fellow crafters. 

Needless to say, conversation led to the next monthly craft club and the team asked for our feedback on which crafts we might like to see. I know for one that I would very much like to come back and try a basic craft again. After being scared of the sewing element, it really wasn't as bad as I thought and for a couple of hours I felt relaxed and really enjoyed the social element to the evening. Congratulations ladies, it was a huge success and you will have no problems filling those places for future events!

Count me in for the next one... Bunting or Napkins perhaps?... Something transferable to my tea parties would be fantastic... Perhaps flowers or cakes for the centre piece?.... I will bring more cake if you allow me back again hehe. 

Cath Kidston Ladies... You were brilliant and you have turned a scared crafter into a not so scared one! Hehe... You should be pleased, even my strictest of teachers could never get me to make anything crafty! 

And to everybody else... I suggest that you get on the mailing list, this is too much fun to pass!

Miss Sue Flay 

x

I Love My Jam Lady

Since last December, there has been one wonderful constant in all of my baking and tea parties.... Deborah, My AMAZING and personal jam lady at Hardwick Cakes & Celebrations.

I met Deborah at a Xmas fair last December in a very cold village hall and she has been by far one of the best contacts I have made since starting up my cake related adventures. 

I started falling in love with her jams with my xmas fair purchase of a scrumptious sounding Peach & Amaretto Preserve and it was just to die for, like no jam I had ever sampled before. I went back to her a week later with the card she had given me there and bought 3 more jars of the peachy goodness for my trial Xmas Tea Party with friends and family. It went perfectly in puff pastry parcels, and even better warm straight from the oven. 

Ever since then, Deborah's Jams and Preserves as well as some custom made chutneys have been produced to meet my desires and tailor made to match my menu choices. I can tell her what type of scone I am planning to bake, and she superbly matches these with the most delicious flavours that work more perfectly with my goodies than I could ever do myself. She prides herself on using seasonal fruit from her mums garden and if she can't get it, she won't make it. 

 I honestly can't rate this girl enough... She works full time and is a young mum and still does this for me... I love her to bits and I am always telling my guests who makes these locally sourced products... I just hadn't yet told you all who this woman is, mainly because I almost don't want to give her to you hehe... I want to keep her all to myself, but I don't think that is very fair ; ) 

Just some of the products that Deborah has designed and made for me are the following: 

Red Onion Marmalade, which appeared at The Punting & Picnic Tea Party 

Rhubarb & Apple Jam teamed up with my Caramelized Pecan Scones at the Vintage Tea Party

Forest Berry Jam, which makes the most amazing addition to a Victoria Sponge 

Spiced Plum Nut Jam, the perfect match for my Book Club Streusel-topped scones

Apricot & Amaretto, which makes a fruity layer cake with vanilla buttercream (Perfect for the Cath Kidston Cambridge Crafting Team this week! They LOVED it : ) 

Every Single one of these flavours have gone down a storm with my guests, and I plan to keep using Deborah for my tea parties and cake menus, because she is the nicest person I have met and nothing is impossible or too much to ask of her. She even delivers to my door when she passes through... I am always happy to collect, but she drops it to me every time - A real star! 

Needless to say, I am never disappointed with these jars of sweet sugary goodness, and I suggest that if you are looking to find a local Jam provider, Deborah is your woman as well as mine!

You can contact her at: debander@btinternet.com 

and don't forget to mention you heard about her through Miss Sue Flay ; ) 

x