UK Coffee Week

Next week (4th- 8th April) is UK Coffee Week! The week will be marked by several events and the opportunity to donate 5p each time you buy a cup from a whole range of coffee shops across the UK in order to raise money for Project Waterfall. 

One such event will be the London Coffee Festival:

A whole host of businesses will be there offering up their wares along with music, art and a Guinness World Record attempt for the most espressos made in a one hour period (the current record being 3386!).

I love my caffeine but I daren't think how shaky I'm going to be after this...

R x

Raspberry tart!

What could be better than a slice of homemade raspberry tart and a cup of tea (& a dash of milk) on a beautiful sunny day like today?  I recently made one for a Comic Relief cake sale it was just so pretty that I had to make another so I could actually try it and it’s delish!

It’s made up of shortcrust pastry, crème patisserie, raspberries and a strawberry glaze on top = yum

I found the recipe in a baking book I was given but there are lots of similar recipes online. BBC Food
is always my first port of call for recipes…not that I ever manage to stick to them!

R x

                                        

The Tea Rooms- Stoke Newington + misc.

This weekend Boy and I moseyed over to ol’ Stokey for a spot of tea at the aptly named ‘The Tea Rooms’.  I’d been before but thought I should probably freshen up my memory of it before blogging.  It was lucky I did as it’s changed a lot since my last visit, having expanded into the premises next door, and more than doubled their floor space. 

I’m not sure how long it’s been since they expanded but they seem unprepared for the size of the place: large stretches of wall are uncomfortably bare, the tables look like they’re staunchly keeping their distance from one other and the squashy turquoise sofa has been relegated to a spot next to the loos with a sad little ‘for sale’ sign taped to it.  I’m really hoping that this is just an off period in the expansion process as I couldn’t help but feel pretty disappointed.

However, as we’ve always been told appearances aren’t everything: I plumped for a latté (I can’t help myself- I love having coffee out!) and a raisin scone, with cream and jam, of course. Boy went for an unusual-looking sausage roll, being more of a savoury person, and a coffee.  Unfortunately the scones were served cold but were still perfectly nice, the coffee was great and Boy was very happy with his s.r.  There was a good selection of cakes to choose  from amongst several savoury options for those lacking the sweet- tooth gene as well as a full-blown afternoon tea menu for just £15. 

Here’s hoping that they get back on track and I promise to visit again soon to see how they’re getting along.

R x

P.s. the ‘misc’ part:

This week I met someone when doing some extra work who had done a DIY leopard print job on her nails and I couldn’t help but have a go myself : )



Bill's (Covent Garden)

Having spent much of the last 3 years in East Sussex (I went to Sussex uni) I developed a huge fondness for a restaurant/‘produce store’/amazing cake-place: Bill’s.  During the majority of my visits I devoted my stomach capacity (and student loan) to their array of breakfast options (‘Bill’s breakfast’ and eggs royal being particular favourites) so imagine my excitement when I recently spied a newly opened Bill’s in Covent Garden!

Yesterday my man and I went to explore a little further than the doorway and find out whether their excellence really could cross county lines…we were not disappointed.  From the lovely (if a little excitable) waitress to the impeccable ‘Hedgerow Fizz’ complete with floating blackberry, we had a lovely evening.

The food is pretty safe and simple (in the best way) and the carefully constructed walls of produce (all of which you can buy) marry with the low ceilings and exposed brick to create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere which is a pretty unusual find in the centre of London on a Friday night! 

We couldn’t manage a pudding but I did notice that they offer a simple cream tea so undoubtedly I will be back for more at a later date- watch this space!

R x

Yumchaa- Camden (Stables)

 For my first ‘official’ foray into tea-shop sampling I chose one of two possible ‘Yumchaa’ in Camden Town which overlooks the lock and the ‘West Yard’.

I was accompanied, on the surprisingly sunny day, by my lovely friend Emily (twitter.com/emilinerose) who valiantly agreed to help me start out on my Tea Quest. 

Strictly speaking this trip was more tea-and-cake and not a by-the-book Afternoon Tea.  Having consulted the (slightly shocked) employee for blend advice and sniffed at a few of the tea samples, Emily plumped for a pot of the gloriously named ‘Chitty chitty bang bang’ tea.  This came from the ‘spicy’ class rather than the ‘fruity’ and smelt incredible all the way over on my side of the table!  I chose coffee (for which the only choice was semi-skimmed milk) and we shared a slice of home-made lemon drizzle cake.  The cake was admittedly very good and all the more so as we were

able to enjoy it out on one of the balcony tables. 

So far so good! However, I was a little disappointed by the finish of the place, everything looked a little scruffy and uncared-for, particularly considering it really isn’t an old place.  We  felt that they could make so much more of their speciality teas and some relatively small touches would have made a considerable difference to the experience. 

I would be happy to visit Yumchaa again (and I still plan to try out their other shops) but I have to admit to being slightly underwhelmed...

Plus points: homemade cakes, inexpensive

Minus points: scruffy and lack of any particular sparkle

Rx

Who is she, who is she?

I am…Rosie: 23 year old, Londoner, jobseeker/destinyseeker/part-time ‘extra’

Having ummmmed and arrrred over starting a blog for far too long, I have finally decided to take the proverbial plunge and launch myself into the blogosphere. 

Feeling that I need to have a somewhat specific reason for writing, I have decided to dedicate my words (at least initially) to my love and, undoubtedly patriotic, commitment to the Afternoon Tea! 

Seeing as I have sampled a great many teas in my 23 years, I hope to be of some help to those wanting to know when/where/which/how much? etc. when it comes to the competitive world of the Afternoon Tea.

Since I’m only just starting, some of these posts will be in hindsight but if the teas were good enough to remember then that can’t be a bad thing!

R x

P.s. photo (and first proper post) coming soon!