Monday 31 January 2011

The Secluded (New Year!) Tea Party - FULL WRITE UP ......

The Secluded (New Year!) Tea Party was held on Sunday 30th January 2011 and boy was I shocked to realise that I was in fact .......Sold Out!?! ...... I couldn't quite believe it...I was going to be making and baking and creating an afternoon Tea Party for 14 people...
....Very nerve racking indeed!   





I had planned my Tea Party with the sole intention of making sure that everybody enjoyed one last indulgence before their New Years' Resolutions kicked in....However, What I had found in talking to my fellow tea party guests prior to meeting them is this.....
...Many of them are food bloggers, or just generally food lovers, and they do not need to make any excuses....little and often really is not a bad thing ..... Ladies after my own heart!!



 
In fact I had learnt that this was purely a new  experience for many of my fellow tea lovers and I was going to be providing their treats for this weekend - No pressure hehe : ) 


 The venue was the most FANTASTIC so far...being hosted at Cambridge Cookery School in the very heart of Cambridge itself ....Where we all took over their fabulous kitchen for a few hours in candlelight and with the warmth of the venue, it was the perfect afternoon..... I just can't thank Tine enough for letting us take over her venue for the afternoon....the venue is going to be extremely difficult to beat, and I hope that she will come along as a guest in the future to sample the tea party for herself (Without having to lift a finger to help I might add!)    






- The Cookery School are hosting MANY varied events over the coming months, and I challenge everybody to give at least one session a go....they are so addictive and so much fun!....Check out her website..... http://www.cambridgecookeryschool.com

Some of the lovely ladies who attended had been on Twitter, tweeting about the tasty food they had been baking and eating all week....so the pressure was on to ensure that they had good home-cooked goodies to enjoy at the table this Sunday afternoon : ) 



The food itself was simple and bite size....for the most part hehe!...I made a delicious, warm Red Onion and Pancetta Tartlet for starters, Straight from the oven thanks to my venue being so well equipped hurrah...(A veggie option was made up of Red Onion and Red Leicester for my lovely Vegetarian guest : )
as well as a selection of sandwiches that were happily shared around by my guests, everybody enjoying the Ham & Garlic Jam option which always seems to go down well. (It makes me feel less weird when my creations are accepted by my guests....it means my taste buds do, in fact work appropriately ; ) 







I also offered around my Chocolate Macarons, which were filled with a whipped vanilla cream, and these disappeared a lot faster than I had anticipated, So these did go down very well I am pleased to report!
There were no leftovers when it came to this course!





 The scones were also served warm, thanks to the venue and it's facilities.... it really meant that the food could be enjoyed how it was meant to be enjoyed!.....A tweaked recipe meant that these light and fluffy bundles of dough were sprinkled with Mixed Fruit along with a little Cinnamon and Nutmeg to give them a warming flavour on such a chilly day. 
To accompany these scones, I offered a large bowl of Clotted cream at each end of the large table, as well as individual jars filled with a locally-made Peach & Amaretto Preserve.

My Piece De Resistance was my Chocolate Ganache Cake, which it seems, had the attention of all of my guests from the very start!....I had heard a few guests saying that they had been eyeing it up as soon as they had walked through the door.... and I am so pleased with it after the blood, sweat and tears that went into making it (Admittedly!) hehe....




....... The sponge was easy to make, as was the Ganache itself, however when it came to icing this beauty, my hands were so warm that the Ganache kept melting in the piping bag and onto the cake.....
....any tips here would be FAB(!!!).....so I had to keep pulling off the piped icing with a spatula and it took me 4 attempts to get it looking presentable. All good fun!.....
  

Even without the piping, It would have looked delicious, however, I am starting to learn that I 
do care more and more about presentation, and

I wanted this to look perfect......which it near enough did in the end!   


 
I had even decided to decorate it with some hand made (By my own fair hands I hasten to add!!) Chocolate Piped Hearts which I placed on top....also helping me to mark out the size of the pieces for my guests, so that they each got to enjoy a heart as well as this deliciously decadent cake!
.......I am most proud of this dish of all of my recipes so far at The Secluded Tea Party!....It looked so pretty, I almost didn't want to cut it open!.....But the happy groans and smiles from my guest made doing so worth it!



I had so much fun baking on the Saturday... it is so relaxing to make these recipes....Of course, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it! And my guests had great ideas for new and adaptive recipes, so the inspiration to come away with me has been huge....So many ideas, I need to start a brainstorming session within the next few days to get it all down on paper! So exciting!


 And not forgetting the Tea served at this Tea Party.... A mix of loose leaf teas from a lovely quaint tea shop in Norwich, and also from teapigs.co.uk



 




I did also have a new addition or two to add to the table, and these were from 



Teaboxonline.com where I had ordered their White Tea with a hint of Melon, and their unusual sounding Rhubarb and Custard Caffeine Free tea which down very well indeed with my guests..... a firm favourite this time around!
.....Needless to say, these two additions will make an appearance at future events!

I even had a few new additions to the table in the form of some very delicate green Chinese patterned side plates that I had found in a local charity shop and a very BEAUTIFUL Curved Cup and Saucer that has been recently donated...the lucky guest who had this cup to drink from wanted to take it home under her coat as she loved it so much....but I would not allow it....It's just one of a kind....And thank you SO MUCH to the lovely donate-r...you know who you are : ) 







 








Everybody got on so well, that we continued past the 4pm finish, and this was great to see people getting on so well and making new friends, which is the whole idea of these events : ) 




 

I even had requests to come back to the next tea party....so details will follow very shortly for you all.....!     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                



Thank you all for coming, it would not have been successful without you, so please spread the word,and if you know anybody who might like to join me for afternoon tea, please let them know where I am! 















Miss Sue Flay

xxx






PS - Since writing this post, I have had some amazingly lovely comments and reviews from some of my guests, all of which you will find below...Please do follow these lovely ladies, they are so much fun to do so!........


The Lovely Ireena at Not Another Food Blog


The Lovely Deepa at Lazy Giraffe


The Lovely Nora at Nora the Kitchen 'Splorer

The Lovely Maria at Feisty Tapas


x

Wednesday 26 January 2011

*Rise and Shine! - Blueberry and Yoghurt Scones*

After a very gluttonous Xmas and New year... and a few Birthday celebrations to boot already this year (!!!)....It has been no surprise that  have started to feel very deflated and...
.....at the same time...very INflated ...haha.....


So....back to Weightwatchers I go....Virtually of course....Online Weightwatchers to be precise...the fat fighters of the cyber world : )  Such a joy!...
...But for me, it is working again, so I am chuffed that I have decided to go back. A really hard thing to do when you are trying so many different foodie adventures at one time!!....


I lost the healthy 2lbs last week that I was meant to have done....and with that sweet tooth of mine...it really is a test of willpower!


Flicking through the latest copy of their magazine today at lunchtime, I noticed, and could not help but be intrigued to read that the breakfast pages had a recipe for some very cute looking Blueberry & Yoghurt Scones.....


....This is Miss Sue Flay speaking here, when I say......HOW COULD I RESIST?!....

And much to my EXTREMELY pleasant surprise!.....They are delicious and SO simple to make!....You could honestly rustle these up in 20 minutes before getting ready for work if you wanted a good hearty breakfast before you left home.


So I share the recipe with you fellow blogger....Give it a go!....It took me 5 Minutes to whip up these little bundles of blueberry love!!!......And just 12 minutes to bake in the oven!!!......


*Rise and Shine! - Blueberry and Yoghurt Scones*

3 Propoints per scone      125 Calories per scone        
15 Minutes to prepare      Total cost £2.35`


Serve each scone with tbsp 0% fat Greek Yoghurt and 
2 tbsp blueberries for an extra Propoints value of 1


Ingredients: 


200g (7oz) Self Raising Flour
60g (2oz) Low Fat Spread
60g (2oz) Caster Sugar
1 Egg
2 Tbsp 0% Fat Greek Yoghurt (I used Natural Yoghurt, which works just as well)
20 Blueberries approx (I actually put 3 or 4 in each scone, but each to their own!)
1 tbsp Skimmed Milk for Brushing




1) Pre heat oven to 220*c and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Put the flour in a large bowl (reserve 1 tbsp for rolling) and rub together with the spread until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. 


2) Add the egg and Yoghurt and mix with a spoon or knife until it forms a dough, then use your hands to bring it together. Tip onto your floured surface and roll the dough to 1cm thickness. 


3) Take a 5cm (2in) cutter and cut 10 rounds. Use your hands to make balls, pushing 3 or 4 blueberries into each piece of dough. Then brush with milk and put on the prepared baking tray. 



4) Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Once cooked, transfer the scones to a wire rack and leave to cool. 






Store in an airtight container and eat within 3 days. 


Enjoy : ) 


MSF 


xxxx

Monday 24 January 2011

My First Ever Virtual Tea Party..... Glitches and all!....

Why a Virtual Tea Party?


Well, I have had so many people telling me that they would LOVE to attend my underground tea party, however are unable to make it for various reasons.
I sat and thought about this, and decided that perhaps I could take the tea party to them in some way.


......This could mean packing up a cup and saucer, and a pot of tea and some cakes and delivering it to their door.....but what if they lived miles away ...or even overseas?!....that just isn't logistically possible, however nice a holiday in Canada would be! ..... So.... How about arranging a mass tea party via webcam, online in the comfort of our own homes?.......


So I planned to do just this.


My First Virtual Tea Party was held last night, Sunday 23rd January 2011 at 5pm...and it didn't go completely glitch free I am sad to write haha.....At least we could laugh about it!....I really felt quite frustrated to start with.....

....I had planned everything to the finest detail and spent a few weeks trying to make sure that everything was thought of and double checked, and I was very satisfied that I had done just that, and was very happy indeed with my preparations.
Technical calls had been made, and had been glitch free.....so nothing to worry about.....Right?....

....However, on all logging into Skype to "meet" at the arranged time, we had a few issues with the webcam side of it, and could only hear each other. 

For a few moments, myself and another guest could see each other, but then that picture disappeared and we could only speak through our mics, which was very disappointing indeed.
My second guest for the afternoon had a husband who works in IT, however we just could not get the 3 webcams to marry, and so we decided on continuing the tea party by voice - Setting the scene by discussing what we were all eating and drinking, and taking photos of course to prove that we had enjoyed this afternoon. 




The great thing was that I could hear that hugely satisfying sound.....the clinking of china in the background, so I was a very happy bunny....glad to find that we weren't all fibbing and sat there drinking a can of coke, which helped to ease my worries!!

I had decided to put together a Virtual Tea Party Pack for my fellow "Guests" and post them out prior to our tea party : )
This helped with exciting and intriguing my guests, and they enjoyed smelling the loose leaf teas and drooling over the recipes a few days beforehand. 





So with this pack, I had put together a little note, explaining when and what time and how it would all work, as well as emailing my guests to get them chatting and discuss technicalities with them both. So all went to plan in that respect.
They both answered some questions about themselves and we all shared our blogs and websites with each other to do a little research before we met which was really great to be able to do!
We all had twitter accounts too, so there was great banter going on there too. All very exciting indeed. 


My two lovely guests were Marie-Claire from Nouveau Cakes, a fellow underground tea party hostess from Huddersfield who made some lovely looking scones using the idea that I had sent her for my personal favourite scone recipe. The fruit and the golden colour in the photo she had taken made me feel hungry just looking at it!



And Helen aka Candy Handfuls, a fantastic cake maker from Gateshead who made some lovely scones too, and both had fun baking for a few hours prior to the meet, which was great to hear : )
- I had also posted them each a recipe for my Boozy Black Forest Cupcakes, which Helen had bought the ingredients for, and plans to bake in the not so distant future, so I am very much looking forward to seeing those and how she presents them, as they will look fab! They really are tasty recipes, and so easy to make.
 I am just glad that I am able to share them with others and that they are making and enjoying them!


  Myself, seeing as I had spent the weekend making Oreo cupcakes for my sisters' Birthday party, was a little cupcake-d out, so I made some delicate tea party sandwiches to enjoy with my tea. I made a combination of Egg Mayonnaise with Cress & Black pepper, and also some of my tasty Ham & Garlic Jam on Granary, both went down a treat for a well deserved savoury option.



I had also posted out two of my favourite teas to them, along with instructions on how to brew and enjoy them.
The teas that I had chosen to share were the Chai Tea from Teapigs, which can also be used to make a delicious sounding Chai Latte which I have yet to try!
And I had also sent a Rose Infused Black tea from a lovely little tea shop called Wilkinsons of Norwich. This tea goes very well with cake....all cake I have decided in fact!
And it went down very well with both of my Virtual guests. It is very light, and can be sipped black and tastes not as strong as they had both thought it might do. It really is a winner. And I am very glad that my guests enjoyed this tea as much as I do. I highly recommend this to try if you like infused teas. 



We had a great chat, and the hour FLEW past, I couldn't quite believe it went so fast, even if it was just our voices.
I still enjoyed sipping my tea in unison, and swapping cake-related notes and discussing ingredients, and tea and all things tea party! It was great fun! And I will be arranging more in the future!





I can't apologise enough to my guests for the technical issues, and I will be arranging a second meet in the near future, so that we can do this face to face again.
Despite the technical hitch, I still feel that I have made two FANTASTIC new acquaintances through this experience, and I hope to "meet" face to face very soon....I am working on this issue as I type hehe!

This is such a great way to make new friends and I hope to have new people joining me and my virtual guests (Wherever you are in the world!!!) very soon!....It really is great fun! And I intend to change the theme and format every time, so drop me a line should you fancy joining in...I can arrange a virtual meet around YOU and your freetime!



Just contact me to discuss : )
Miss Sue Flay

xx

Thursday 20 January 2011

Trashy Chic!

I have been having a lovely email conversation lately with a local businesswoman who owns a clothing range called Trash Chic, where the lovely lady (Who calls herself Lady Fen - another Cambridge girl with an alter ego...I LOVE IT!!) believes that clothes are FUN!....And her clothing range really is!
 
She creates clothes from cast-offs and gives them a new lease of life in the form of some very exciting items!
Check out her blog for more on her creations and ideas! - She is fantastic fun to follow and to get to know : ) 



Lady Fen has a new found love for headscarves, and I personally plan to bend her ear on this subject, as it is something that I have also recently started to realise actually looks ok on me!....It has taken a while to start to realise that my wardrobe needs an overhaul!...and as a curvy girl, trying to get retro right can be a tricky task sometimes!.....So I am off to speak to the lady in the know!


Lady Fen is running an event at the Cambridge Folk Museum on Sunday 12th February, showcasing her Vintage and Retro range, as well as a "Posh Frocks Rail" with some items from names such as Anna Sui, Nicole Fahri, Save the Queen and See by Chloe.....so I suggest that you go along and check her out to bag yourself a cheeky bargain or two!

This is a fundraising event for the museum, so part of the proceeds of her sales will be donated to them. 

Doors open at 10.30am and close at 4pm.

Perhaps I will see some of you there : )


MSF

xx

Wednesday 19 January 2011

A week of LOVELY GIFTS!

This week is supposed to be the most depressing week of the year.... Monday was apparently the worst day of the week.... making people feel low, and unwell and generally miserable (Who found this out and decided this was official enough to be newsworthy, I personally feel, is an idiot with too much time on his or her hands! hehe)......It, admitedly,  was heavy and dark with rain in sunny Cambridge on Monday morning, so I could see why they say this.....

Anyway.....

.....I have been a VERY lucky girl this week, and having my dad return from his wordly travels safely last night, he brought home the token RANDOM gift......of......a Phillipino Broom!


Amazing! And just typical of my dad to find this sort of *Gift* amusing....actually....it WAS quite amusing.....as we did joke that he had packed a little phillipino lady in his suitcase when he told us that my gift would help us in the kitchen hehe. 

However, he did also produce a BEAUTIFULLY decorated thermos for storing my Tea in when I venture outside for Tea Parties Al Fresco in the summer!
It is a large thermos, which usually would be a pretty dull (but useful!) gift, however this is just sooo pretty, I felt myself stroking it and staring at it in awe for what seemed like a long time! (Too long to stare and stroke a Thermos flask anyway haha!)

And today I have been blessed with a LOVELY new cakestand for The Secluded Tea Party table....from my lovely colleague at work. 
She had spotted this in a charity shop over the weekend, and thought of me...goodness knows why, as I force my kitchen experiments down her neck when I can hehe....Anyway, I love it! 
And it will be hosting some of my tasty home-made treats at The Secluded (New Year!) Tea Party on Sunday 30th January! - So watch this space for more pictures hehe!


Love you Mrs (YOU know who you are ; ) !!! - Thank you so much!!!! 

What a lucky girl I am! 

MissSueFlay
 
xXx

Tuesday 18 January 2011

The Books that got me into baking...And Still enjoy!

Every time I go to my bookshelf to look for something quite specific, I always annoy myself at just HOW MANY cookery cooks I actually have to peel from the shelves and onto the floor to get to the one that I need!
This exercise is never a short one either...the book that I am looking for is most usually right at the bottom towards the back, and my living room ends up looking like Beirut within the space of approx 2 minutes!

I am sure that other cooks (Professional and home makers alike!) will all be nodding in agreement with me here! I can't be the only one that suffers this unorganised state!!!???.....
This weekend, whilst looking for one specific recipe within one specific book....I stopped and looked at just how many cookery books I actually owned and felt ashamed for a moment, as I didn't feel that I use them very often. 
And with the Mister watching silently, I could feel his cookery-book-hoarding judgement from the opposite side of the coffee table!

So I guiltily sat back and thought about each and every book, and as I decided which ones might need to go, I realised something.......
...... I do use them all!!....several times over throughout the past ten or so years that I have enjoyed baking!

I may not use loads of recipes from each one, but I do actually and have used every single book many times over, and I intend to for many many times in the future!
So here I am....sharing just a FEW of my favourites...and some significant cookery books from my own personal baking experiences over the last few years : ) 

...... Perhaps you will recognise them all!....Perhaps you won't! All I will say is that I have had a HUGE amount of fun baking with these books, and I love them all!...Of course, mainly for their sweet dishes! hehe.

First Up...Nigella!.... Who doesn't like the Domestic Goddess herself?! 
Ok....Well, I do know of many who do NOT like her, but I think she is FAB! She has been a real role model for my younger self, and I looked up to her a lot and loved just how glamourous she looked whilst cooking!....IF ONLY I could look as glamourous with scone mix wiped over my face....she is Fabulous!

I found my Pupcakes book in the pet department at Harrods one Xmas and since buying it, my pooch has enjoyed several treats from it! The author does write that all of her recipes are both pooch friendly AND human friendly...What she doesn't say is that they taste AWFUL to the human tongue! But my boy LOVES the cute cat cupcakes on the front (Banana & Peanut Butter..an interesting concoction to say the least!)

The Patisseries Of Paris... a book that was reccomended through Edd Kimber's Blog (The Lovely Edd won The Great British Bake Off on BBC1 in 2010) and has inspired me over the past few months to enjoy a class or two at the LOVELY Cambridge Cookery School, where I have started to learn how to make various French treats, and I feel inspired to visit Paris not too far into the future thanks to this dreamy book!

Who You Callin' Cupcake? - A book that had grabbed my attention on play.com and had added to my Xmas wish list for some American inspiration. Hmm....Having made the vanilla cupcakes....I am not entirely sure that this is a great recipe book....I will try again, but they came out very much like doughnuts!...Crispy on the outside and nothing in the middle!.. But for decoration ideas, this book is tip top! I Love staring at the designs!

The Brownie Cookbook - My very FIRST cook book. Having offered to help out my pack with a jumble sale, I came across this book and liked the sound of cooking safely without my mum!....So I stashed it under my coat, stuck 20p in the pot and hoped nobody would see that I hadn't put it out for sale!....To this day!....I still use it! The flapjack recipe was the first recipe I had made alone, and it went down a lot better than my "Teddy Bears Birthday Cake" which was disappointingly just a jam sandwich covered in buttercream....ick!

Good Old Delia! She, I am sure, is the oracle for most home cooks and bakers un the UK, and she has gotten both Myself AND the Mister out of some very dodgy kitchen situations such as the roast potatoes that we decided to cook with Goose Fat for our first Xmas dinner...But had no idea how to actually do it....it was easy in the end!....And saving my bacon when I had drawn a complete blank on how to actually make a traditional Yorkshire Pudding! The woman is a GEM to be held in the Kitchen!

The Hummingbird Bakery is still somewhere that I have not yet had the chance to visit, but I was given this book for a gift one year, and it makes some of the MOST delicious cupcakes I have ever made! Very simple and yet extremely tasty recipes! I have not yet ventured away from their cupcakes....so right now I feel inspired to go away and try out one of their scrummy-looking traybakes!! - A must have book for any cupcake fan!

Need I even name these guys?! They are THE DUDES of British baking, and I LOVE them with all my heart! And the Mister does know of my infatuation with them both!!! ; )
The Hairy Bikers have produced some brilliant cook books, but their "Mums know best" book is a favourite of mine, used many many weeks of the year! - I have used various versions of their recipes for The Secluded Tea Party so far, and they have all gone down a storm! Easy to prepare recipes, and very easy to follow!... If you don't use them, give them a go....they offer no nonsense, really well thought out recipes! Check out the cheeky chaps here!

Ravinder Bhogal is a new one on me... I hadn't heard of her until my auntie gave me Cook in Boots as a gift!
Now, I am not one for experimenting in other lands of wonderment, OTHER than with British Food really! - I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to Indian food....however, the lovely lady makes THE MOST tasty guilty pleasure in the form of a pan-cooked Banana and Chocolate Sandwich! YUM. Worth owning this book JUST for this recipe alone! Hehe.

And Lastly...Of course...The QUEEN of baking! Mary Berry's Fool proof Cakes
This was my first real cake book, where I made my first REAL Victoria Sponge, and various other firsts too!
This book is so simple, yet so satisfying. Mary Berry has a way of writing that makes it easy to follow and makes you want to get it right, just in case she ever KNEW that you hadn't done exactly what she had told you to do! I love her, and I love this book!


Feel free to share your favourite books with me! I love taking a peek at new cookbooks, so tell me which you use and have used over the years : ) 

MissSueFlay 

xx

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Our Foodie trip to London - Xmas 2010!

We took a trip to London between Xmas and New Year as we wanted to get out of Cambridge to stretch our legs and sample a few yummy treats around London...Mainly because we hadn't realllllllllly indulged over the festive week (Which was unlike us!) and partly because of various recommendation's and suggestions throughout the last few months....there were SO many places we wanted to try....we didn't actually know where to start!

So firstly, we took a lovely long walk around Hyde Park, where a few years earlier we had visited and experienced the wonders of their *Winter Wonderland*.....Wonderland back then being quite ironic, the only wonder really being.....HOW is this titled *Winter Wonderland*?! hehe....It was far from wonderful back then and very small indeed....a few burger and hotdog stalls, and a couple of rickety fairground rides around the Ice Skating rink... A little disappointing.

Well....a second trip back there proved a revelation!...it was more than a *Wonderland* now!...It was a whole spectacular land of wonderment and more importantly......a lot more exotic food on offer hehe....!

.......Ok....Exotic perhaps not....! But a massive market with rows on rows of wooden shacks, very reminiscent of Xmas markets in Europe-(Prague held a similar one when we visited there a few years back!)
Lots of stalls with handmade jewellery, arts and crafts, and lovely smelling festive warm ciders, mulled wines, meat of every kind, doughnuts, cupcakes, popcorn, roasted chestnuts.... the list goes on and on!
We spent hours just wandering around and sampling the goodies, including a tasty and very large white German Sausage, which was very interesting....still undecided on if I actually enjoyed it! But glad we didn't go for the spicy one...as this had a kick to it for sure!




We also tried these very cute mini pancake puffs with a choice of topping....the lady who ran the stall didn't speak very good English, however the choice was made....Baileys....Thinking we may receive a Baileys cream or similar...we were pleasently surprised to find the pancakes were COVERED in Baileys Liquer, which was warming in the freezing wind to say the least! - A definate kick in the right direction for 11am on a Thursday morning!

Anybody looking for a festive experience in London...*Winter Wonderland* at Hyde Park is a real MUST!
Great for kids of all ages!!! Fairground rides actually put some rides at Alton Towers to shame!
And for foodies, and crafty bloggers, just make sure you head there next year! - Just Brilliant fun for everybody!

When we finally were able to tear ourselves away from the fun in Hyde Park, we did some of the touristy side of London...we visited Buckingham Palace for the first time in YEARS and stared through the gates with all the other tourists haha....we even pretended to be tourists for a laugh and put on accents, trying to *Blend in* ....feeling like complete idiots, we soon left and headed towards Kensington for a bit of daydreaming and drooling over the rows of elegant town houses and cars worth more than our annual wages put together!



After yet more walking, we decided to head to Conduit Street for a spot of Afternoon tea at a place that had been reccomended to us by a few people over the last few weeks....SKETCH.
A very modern twist on Afternoon tea... but slightly baffling for us Non-London folk!
We stepped off the street and into near darkness in a large corridor, and had we not been met by a a very friendly hostess who took our name, gave us a seat and said she would call us when a table was available, we would have been completely disorientated and would have most likely walked straight out again.

We waited for 25 minutes, and were shown to a small table in the corner behind the counter.....which disabled our view of any of the room, other than our very cute gold table and low comfy boudoir chairs that we had been sat on.
A bit disappointing, as the room was huge and there was a LOT to see and watch, so it was such a shame to have to seat anybody behind the counter so they can't see out!....
...Anyway, we waited for a waitress...most of whom seemed more interested in clearing tables to get more people in, than actually serving the guests they had seated....and when somebody did finally serve us, she was very forgetful...and BIZARRELY....they don't take down your order on paper....they memorise your order.

...Now this WOULD be impressive, if she had remembered our order.
It was simple, two pots of tea, both different... but not difficult choices.
One Cream Tea.
One piece of Chocolate Cake.
Two Madaleines.

The lovely girl repeated it back to us twice before leaving us...and both times she repeated the order back incorrectly.... Why they aren't allowed to write down your order is beyond me : s

So when we finally got our pots of tea, mine was incorrect, but I didn't want to hassle the poor girl, so didn't say anything and enjoyed it regardless : )
We also enjoyed watching the Japanese girls beside us trying to figure out how to add clotted cream to their scones, and deciding that patting it around the edges was the way to go : ) Bless them, very sweet and very amusing to watch.

This place was a little too trendy for us both, when we have decided that we do prefer a more traditional take on afternoon tea.
The Nightclub-esque (Very loud and pumping!) music, and the ever-dimming lights were both very offputting, as we couldn't see our food or tea, and couldn't hear each other without shouting....

All in all...lovely to try somewhere new and different, however would not rush back : (

However, this fusion of Tearoom / Michelin star restaurant-cum-evening / Art Gallery was a very interesting venue, and had some very quirky art pieces dotted around. The light fittings were mesmerising and their staff are all VERY friendly and accomodating.
The hostess did put our waistlines to shame, she looked amazing  and was very good at remembering our names for a personal touch on arrival.
- Perhaps on a different dayand at a different time, it could be a different story, but for the expense, we were a little disappointed with our overall experience to say the least.

In between walks here, there and everywhere, and several stops in shops for some more spending hehe.....we did make one last stop to the notorious *Selfridges* for some take-away goodies to enjoy at home over the New Year weekend!
We indulged in some *Lola's Cupcakes*, 2 large, 2 mini, including a seasonal Gingerbread cupcake and a mini Carrot Cupcake for the mister, and a delicious Oreo Cupcake and mini Peanut Butter Cupcake for me : )
All were as tasty as we had been told. And for a good cupcake, they come HIGHLY reccomended!



My most favourite indulgence of the day has to be my stop at the amazing Pierre Herme counter for some delicate macarons.
I spent a long time choosing my 7 treats to take home and savour, and BOY did I savour them.
I enjoyed each and every one of them with a glass of sparkling wine on my sofa in front of the Xmas Tree.
Perfect!




Should I only be allowed ONE treat next year, this would be it!!!

Until next Xmas!....

(...Where I will officially be.......

................Mrs Sue Flay ; )

xxx