Kitchen Project - Cabinet Transformation: Part 2

I thought this was going to be easy-peasy!

Anyway ... cabinet is now painted (and re-painted by Mr Plum to a much more professional standard!) 

Lovely Cath Kidston "Chicken" oilcloth has been purchased!

Sewing machine has been brought out of 

hibernation ....

But (arghhhhh!) I have had a nightmare trying to thread the machine - thankfully that has been sorted out now.  Then I tried to sew the oilcloth and the needle was skimming over the material and getting all tangled ..... hmmm

I'm hoping that by discovering an ancient blog which hasn't updated in a while may have solved my problems and I can get on with finishing the cabinet.

Thanks, in advance, Sew, Mama, Sew!   Fingers crossed and the third part of this saga will be the finished product!

Lovely Cupcakes!

I have a friend who is a pastry chef ... here are some of her cupcakes ... yum! I love this photo so much, I couldn't resist putting it on here!

I am stocking up with muffin cases and pretty decorations for my cupcakes ... which I will be making very soon!

M4 Playlist

After a particularly bad and busy day at work, me and Mr Plum headed off to Wales for the weekend on the National Express bus ... to visit some dear friends who have escaped London!

The fact that I had had a bad day (why do I have to go to work anyway?), was sitting by the heater on a packed bus with a really loud woman behind me on the phone and we seemed to be stuck in traffic for hours, inspired this playlist:

From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea - The Cure

Truth Rest Your Head - Gene

Time - Marion

To You I Bestow - Mundy

Always: Your Way - My Vitriol

Today - Smashing Pumpkins

How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths

My Dark Star - Suede

Tear In Your Hand - Tori Amos

Comes As No Surprise - Mansun

Dirty Davey - The Levellers

Lipgloss - Pulp

Every You and Every Me - Placebo

Play Dead - Bjork

The Only Living Boy in New Cross - Carter USM

Round Here - Counting Crows

Life On Mars? - David Bowie

Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage

A Girl Like You - Edwin Collins

Life Forever - Oasis

Single Girl - Lush

Great Things - Echobelly

These are lots of my favourite songs and mainly stuff that I listened too non-stop while at University in Wales ... it got me through a boring bus journey!

Swapping

Whilst browsing through lots of different crafty type blogs, I have often stumbled across "swaps". These can be homemade goods, recipes, buttons ... the list is endless! I have often been tempted to join in - but more often than not, I have missed the deadline or the swaps are "closed" ... 

Today I have joined two swaps! (This may have been a bit ambitious, but heh? I think I am harking back to my days as an avid penpal!) ....

My first is a "Yummy Recipe Swap" - I need to send

* 1 handmade decorated recipe card
* 1 handmade, sewn, felted, crocheted, or knitted food or handmade or any crafted kitchen item or 1 book , cookbook , fiction, non-fiction [related to theme] [Christmas]
* 1 ingredient from the recipe

My second is a "Christmas Swap" - for this one, I need to send

Either a handmade Christmas ornament or a handmade Christmas gift, a seasonal recipe and a little extra surprise

I'll let you know how I get on!

The Hurly Burly Show!

Imagine this .... 

A friend says to me "some girls from work are going to see the Hurly Burly Show - do you want to come?"

I say "who are the Hurly Burly Girls?"

My friend says "oh, they are a Burlesque Cabaret group ..."

I say "oh - strippers, then?"

My friend says " yes, but it's all very tasteful..."

So, on Thursday night I went to the Hurly Burly Show at the Leicester Square Theatre ... I didn't really know what to expect.  I had watched a clip of the HB girls on the Alan Titchmarsh show ... so assumed that it wouldn't be that shocking .... 

We turned up at the theatre after a few champagne cocktails and a lovely curry ... and were surrounded by London's 40's/Burlesque scene ... girls with fantastic hair do's, full 40's outfits, hats, men in drag .... all this on a Thursday night! How exciting!  

We collected our free drink and took our seats ... Mr Dusty Limits (the compere) took the stage ... very camp and very funny .... "Please welcome to the stage Miss Polly Rae and her Hurly Burly Girls!!!!" .... the audience went mad (incidentally there were more women in the audience - including the fabulous Marcella Puppini of the Puppini Sisters!) .... 

The girls came on all corseted and did a brilliant dance routine, with Polly Rae singing ... it was great!  In fact the first half of the show was excellent....fab costumes, music (Glen Miller's "In The Mood", Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing" [the soundtrack to Victoria Plum's life] ... comedy .... the odd glove, scarf and skirt being removed ... 

The second half was much more risque with more items of clothing being removed ... more tassels, bosoms and bottoms .... the artiness of the first half was lost, with the emphasis being on lots of shimmying their tasselled bosoms! 

I don't think I would rush back to an evening like this!  Although, it was fun to go to a cabaret night like this ... Miss Polly Rae spoke on the Alan Titchmarsh show about the HB Girls being about female empowerment ... but in the end, the girls were just stripping ... would there be a need for strippers if men weren't prepared to pay for them? I'm not sure how empowering it is, really ......... 

Cupcake Magic!

I have a new recipe book to try out ... it's called "Cupcake Magic" and is written by Kate Shirazi, the owner of Cakeadoodledo.  The cupcakes look divine ... I will be making some this weekend!

Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?

Take the Quiz here!

With thanks to Greedy Nan!

Seeds!

In anticipation of the Spring (!) I have just ordered my seeds for next year - how exciting!  I have spent ages looking through Alan Titchmarsh's "The Kitchen Gardener" (a birthday present from Mr Plum) and "The Greenhouse Expert" and have chosen the following to be planted next year:

February/March: 

Aubergine

Courgette

Leeks

Onions

Peppers

Potatoes

Tomatoes (4 different varieties!)

April:

Cucumber

Fennel

Petty Pan Squash

No Daddy Long Legs This Year? Hurray!

I'm just sitting in my bedroom with the window open and the light on ... and all of a sudden I thought "eek - better close the window or I will be inundated with Daddy Long Legs (ewwwww!)" ... and then I thought "but it's November, surely it's far too late and cold for the little blighters now, isn't it?"  And then I realised that I haven't been tormented by any Daddy Long Legs at all this year ... they used to be a constant pain during the autumn months ... Mr Plum thinks that this is a pointless post and doesn't make sense, but I was just thinking .........

Lovely Lavender!

This morning I finally got around to picking the remaining flowers on my lavender plant.  I have managed to get a good sized bunch, which is now hanging in my kitchen to dry, before I make scented sachets for my drawers!

Plum's On Tour - Paris

We recently went to Paris with my wonderful family for the weekend, to celebrate Mummy Plum's birthday...it was lovely! The weekend was taken up with sight-seeing and eating - what more could you want?

One of the highlights was a trip to Mariage Freres a beautiful tea shop just off the Rue du Rivoli. Mariage Freres are the creators of the delicious Marco Polo jelly - served in Claridges with their afternoon tea.  We could have spent hours in the shop looking at the teas, jellies, chocolates .... it was lovely and old worldy!  We were very restrained and got some Marco Polo jelly and tea and some special Christmas tea and jelly ... which will be saved until Christmas of course!  

Have a look at the Mariage Freres website ... it has a very interesting "history of tea" and apparently the French drink on average, 100 cups a year ... I get through that amount a week!!

Don't think we can wait to taste the Marco Polo jelly, I'm off to bake some scones!!!

The Wheel of the Year - Hallowe'en or Samhain

As the wheel of the Year turns and the days of Autumn are upon us, the greatest feast of the Pagan Calander, Samhain or New Year’s draws ever closer. Once the apex of social events - the great feast that would warm in memory throughout the bitter winter, the last chance to see the family, including one’s ancestors, before the dark days fell upon the land – this solemn and spiritual event has become perhaps the trashiest modern festival around. The pollution and corruption of this feast by both Christianity and Commercialism is breathtaking in its scope. Whereas other pagan feasts were adopted and adapted, Oestara becoming Easter, Yule evolving into Christmas, “Halloween” not only hi-jacks the deepest held beliefs and practices of our Pagan ancestors, but manages to insult the very culture it has purloined. Not content with parodying elements of ancient ritual such as the Dead Feast, or divination, (monkey nuts and throwing an apple-peel over one’s shoulder in modern parlance), mainstream churches have ensured many people think the origins of Halloween lie in a form of devil worship. Rather annoying for a culture that didn’t believe in a Devil, but certainly telling us more about Christianity and other orthodoxies than about our pagan past!

Its true name is Samhain: it is the feast of the Dead in the Celtic Calendar. On this night the veils between the worlds are lowered and not only can a dedicated person seek advice from the Other-worlds but the dead ancestors can reach out to the living.

Samhain marks several things. As with all Celtic pagan feasts it marks a point on the wheel of the year, in this case the end of the year, and beginning of the New Year. This date, obviously, was a great occasion in Celtic society. In this sense alone, one would the progress of the year; the death of the world which will (they all devoutly hoped) be reborn in Spring. This view of the world was enshrined in sagas and in folktales, in stories about the mother god giving birth to the son, who dies and then is reborn (concept carried on in many cultures and for many generations! ) or in the two lovers who are separated by foul means, by death or magic.

Samhain was the period of the year when the livestock which would not make it through the winter was marked out and slaughtered, to be feasted on and to be dried out as provision for the long dark months ahead. This, coupled with the sense of the world going underground for the winter, led to this feast being a feast uniquely concerned with death and the spirit world. At this time, the veils between the world of living and dead were felt to be very flimsy and our ancestors instinctively realized that the spirits, and ancestors, were close at hand.

Limoncello - Part 2

As 40 days have passed (well, just over 40!), it's time for part two of the recipe!  I have boiled up 625ml water and 500g caster sugar and am leaving it to cool to room temperature.  Once the sugar syrup has cooled I will add it to the jar of vodka and lemon zest and put back in a cool, dark place for another 40 days ... 

Kitchen Project - Cabinet Transformation! Part 1

We have been busy in the kitchen today - making a start on finishing the little bits of decorating we have left to do ... the little bits we started back in January ... oh yes, 10 months ago!!

Mr Plum was busy putting edging on the work top, finishing laying the floor, putting a nifty piece of wood on the step into the bathroom (a bit difficult to describe on here - but looks great!) and putting a new light in.  I made a start on transforming the "cube", and painting shelves and window sills. 

We are nearly there - our aim is to get it completely finished by Christmas! 

My main project today was "cube" - Mr Plum's pride and joy - but far too '80's for my liking - and it no longer fits into our lovely kitchen.  

Here is the cube - before it got the Plum treatment!  

I have painted the cube with a nice white gloss to match the other bits of furniture in the kitchen.  I had planned to use a "grainer" tool on it - but that didn't work!

My next job will be to make little curtains for the open shelves on the cube.  I have been looking on the Cath Kidston website for inspiration and have found some nice pieces of oil cloth with pretty vintage patterns.  I have sent off for samples - here is my favourite:

but it really depends on how much I will need as typically it is quite pricey! 

The Good Reads Website

While sitting in bed, gearing myself up to paint the cabinet in the kitchen...I came across a website called "Good Reads".  I have added a link to my blog with recently read books, and the book I am currently reading (a bit trashy ... more of a beach holiday read - but I am trying not to rush through my Maisie D books!).  I think I am turning into an internet geek, so I had better get on with the painting! 

"Pardonable Lies" by Jacqueline Winspear

This is the third book in the Maisie Dobbs series, and again, is an absolute page turner!  Maisie is asked to investigate two cases which take her back to the battle fields of France, threats to her life and unscrupulous mystics.  I wish they would make these books into a tv series or film - I think that we are in need of a sassy 1930's female detective on our screens!!

To heat or not to heat? That is the question....

As it starts to get cooler (definitely time for hat and scarf!) I am having to think about heating my greenhouse.  Having had a look at the Grow Fruit and Veg forum - I'm not sure whether it will be cost effective for me to heat the greenhouse (I'm also worried about it melting or catching fire overnight...) over the winter.  I have got a few seedlings in there at the moment, but am not planning to fill it up with lots of plants until the Spring ... when (hopefully!) that big yellow disc in the sky that the old folk talk about makes a reappearance! 

Fellow greenhouse owners are spending on average £12 a week on paraffin to heat their greenhouse - which (much as I hate to admit it) is more than I would spend each week on fruit and veg from the supermarket .....

I think that my pennies would be better spent on decent staging for the greenhouse, ready for the invasion of the seed propagators next year!

Green Tomato Chutney

Regular readers will know that I had quite a few green tomatoes this year.  I have used up the remaining tomatoes (about 1lb) and made a lovely (I hope!) green tomato chutney.  I used a recipe of my mum's and adapted it a little bit....looking forward to having a dollop with some nice cheese!  I didn't make a lot - only two jars, but that's enough to keep us going til Christmas!

1lb tomatoes, chopped

Half a red onion, sliced very thinly

1 apple, peeled, cored & chopped

1/4 pint of balsamic vinegar

4 oz chopped dates

tsp salt

4oz brown sugar

1.  Put the tomatoes, onion and apple in a large, heavy-based pan with the vinegar.  Bring to the boil and then simmer until tender.

2.  Add the dates and cook until the mixture has thickened.

3.  Add the salt and sugar and stir well until the sugar has dissolved.

4.  Pot and seal.

"Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day" by Winifred Watson

Another brilliant book.  I had never heard of "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day" - but was intrigued by a poster which appeared at my local train station.  The film was released in August ... and it's looking quite likely that I have missed the film at the cinema - oh well, I have read the book which is absolutely amazing!

First published in 1930 by Winifred Watson, this novel has recently been re-published by Persephone Books along with the original illustrations.  Miss Pettigrew is a fairy tale ... the dowdy, spinster governess turns up on the doorstep of a nightclub singer and ends up being made over, taken to a nightclub and travelling home in a taxi ... with a man! It reads like a Fred Astaire film and in my head the singer is played by Ginger Rogers! 

Reading this has inspired me to look at other titles in the Persephone range.

Gardening Jobs Done Today....

This is a little aide memoir to remind me of what I have done today (and when to hopefully expect growth!).

Planted in pots (to be transplanted when larger) - 

Spinach (Perpetual)

Carrot (Nantes Frubound) 

Broad Bean (Aquadulce Claudia)

All were on a special "vegetables to be sown in Autumn" stand at the garden centre yesterday).  I also have lettuce, more beetroot and cabbages to do .... but it's dark now and I can't see what I am doing!!

I have also planted blackcurrant and raspberry bushes in pots - not sure whether these will work, but they were cheapo plants from Poundland ... so we'll just have to wait and see!

I have also cleared out the old tomato plants, pulled up a rather sad courgette plant and pumpkin - I have weeded around the other two pumpkins ... fruits are still tiny and sprout sized .... not sure whether we will have a pumpkin big enough to carve for Hallowe'en!!

Must go and make dinner ... we are having some of my potatoes!!! Yum!

Blackberry Jam - the results!

I have just made my jam! Not sure how it will turn out - but smells lovely and fruity!

Spicy Sloe Gin

I have used a different recipe for this year's sloe gin ... it is from the brilliant book "A Slice of Organic Life" - this will be my first 'project' from the book!

2lbs sloes

zest of one orange and one lemon

teaspoon of honey

cinnamon stick

2cm ginger, sliced

6 cloves

bottle of gin

Crush the sloes with a rolling pin, or spoon and put into a large bottle/jar.  Add the other ingredients and cover with the gin. Store the jar somewhere dark and cool for 6-12 months ....

Blackberry Jam

Last weekend, me and Mr Plum scoured the hedgerows of Plumton-on-Stour for blackberries and sloes .... there was an abundance of fruit and we came away with 3kgs of berries and 2 kgs of sloes! The sloes are in the freezer (traditionally, you shouldn't pick the sloes until after the 'first frost' - freezing them is a bit of a cheat!) - I will probably defrost them tomorrow and get the sloe gin on the go.  Anyway, back to jam!

I have never made jam before - so am quite excited! I am using a recipe in my trusted Betty's cookbook - usual equal amounts of fruit and sugar.  I have also stocked up with jars from Ikea - not sure how much jam I will make!  In my head it will be enough to stock a farm shop and I will be able to give up work and live off the proceeds ... 

Next on the list of things to do is making green tomato chutney .... 

"Birds of a Feather" by Jaqueline Winspear

This is the second novel in the Maisie Dobbs series - and is as compelling as the first!  It is now 1930, about 6 months after the first book.  Maisie's detective agency has been asked to find the missing daughter of a local business man.  In searching for the girl, both Billy and Maisie have to confront demons still lingering from the First World War.  It's very good - go and read it!

Spuds!

Today was the day that I decided to check what was growing in my potato barrel!  I am very please to report that I have harvested nearly a kilo of lovely little potatoes (I can't remember what variety they are though!) ... looking forward to sampling some tomorrow!

Mary Poppins

As I sit and write this, I am still on a high from going to see the UK tour of Mary Poppins in Birmingham yesterday.  From the very start of the overture to Mary flying over the audience when the wind changed (come back Mary!) I was in complete awe.  It was amazing!  The songs, the dancing, the sets, the lights, the costumes ... everything was absolutely brilliant!  There were some new songs and some of the songs from the original Disney film weren't in it ... my favourite was "Step In Time" ("It's the master! ... ")  I have always loved the film and to see Mary in the flesh (because, obviously ... she is real, and can fly with the aid of her parrot brolly) was a dream come true!  Mary Poppins is practically perfect in every way!

Christmas Is Coming....

As today was "the last Sunday in September when I am free" I made my Xmas Cake!  I used the same Delia Smith recipe as I did last year (was lovely and moist!) - but have substituted Brandy for Sloe Gin (2007 batch) and added some chopped dates.  I will be feeding the cake on a regular basis with more S.G ... and marzipanning and icing nearer Xmas.  I can't wait!

Here is the recipe -  Delia's Classic Christmas Cake

Jolly Days In London - Part One

Had a lovely day out yesterday. Dragged Mr Plum out of bed at the ungodly hour of 9.30am! We jumped on a train to London Bridge and had a walk around Borough Market, stopping off for breakfast where I had lovely eggs florentine and Mr Plum had a ham & cheese croissant!

Borough Market was packed, as always. We got a nice piece of Comte and some mozerella...and made plans to go back on a Thursday nearer Christmas!

We had originally planned to go to the Tower of London, but as it was "Open House" weekend in the city - we took the opportunity to look around some buildings which are normally closed to the public. We went to the Vintners Hall, the wonderful Art Deco old headquarters of "The Express", the High Court, and the Freemasons Grand Temple (another fine Art Deco building).

We took advantage of the lovely sunny weather to grab something to eat at Giraffe on the South Bank - it felt like we were on holiday! Then headed to Waterloo to catch the train home....makes a change from an afternoon shopping in Plumdon!

"Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear

I'm always on the look out for a new series of books to read - you know what it's like, you get to the end of one book, feel a bit sad that you have finished it - but can pick up the next in the series straight away!  

I was over at a friends house for dinner a couple of weeks ago and she lent me the first four "Maisie Dobbs" novels (and there are more - I have just checked on Amazon! Excellent!).  I have just devoured the first one.

"Maisie Dobbs" is set 1910-1929. The novel jumps around a bit from when Maisie was a girl in service, to her time at Cambridge, then as a nurse in the First World War and then as a detective in 1929.  I enjoyed every minute of this book - it was a real page turner .... and left me sobbing my heart out at the end! I can't wait to get started on the second book "Birds of a Feather".

"Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire" by Amanda Foreman

With the recent release of "The Duchess" looming, I decided that it was about time that I finally sat down and read Amanda Foreman's biography of the Duchess of Devonshire.

Georgiana featured quite prominently in my studies at university as she "pursued leisure" in eighteenth century London.  She one of the most important ladies in the "ton", she set fashions, held gaming parties and influenced politics.  I have wanted to read this biography for so long - but had never got round to it.  I was spurred on by the release of the film. 

   

Limoncello - part 1

In preparation for the festive season and pressies for family and friends, the Plum Brewery started off their first batch of Limoncello!

I got the recipe from "A Year of Family Recipes" by Lesley Wild and published by the Betty's Cookery School.  As with my Sloe Gin - this takes time and attention.  I have just completed part one of the recipe, and am writing this while I wait for the kettle to boil.  I am just about to take afternoon tea out into the garden for Mr Plum who has just fixed my shed!

Ingredients (makes 1.5 litres)

8 organic unwaxed lemons (or whatever you can get at the market ... I only got 7, so will be adding an extra one later on!)

750ml 80% proof vodka (the vodka I have is only 37.5% - so not sure whether it will work!)

625ml water

500g caster sugar

Method for part 1:

1.  Carefully pare the peel from the lemons with a sharp knife, ensuring the white pith is left behind.

2.  Pour the vodka into a large glass jar, then add the peeled lemon zest.  Cover with the lid and leave in a cool dark place for 40 days.  Gradually the vodka will absorb the flavour and rich colour of the lemon zest.  At the end of this stage the zest will be pale and quite brittle - this is a sign that you can progress to the next stage.

Lost In Austen

Why did the portal from Longborne lead to Amanda Price's bathroom? It should have lead to mine!  

"Lost in Austen" is a new ITV series about romantic Amanda Price who is disillusioned with her life in London and has the luck to find Lizzie Bennett playing with the electric light in her bathroom!  Amanda travels through the portal and Lizzie stays in 21st Century London...

Amanda is supposedly a big fan of Pride & Prejudice - well, if that's the case then surely she would know how to behave at Longborne and Netherfield? Surely smoking, downing glasses of punch, wearing lipgloss and kicking Mr Collins between the legs is not the way for an Austen heroine to behave?

By the end of episode 2 everything is going horribly wrong ... Mrs Bennett has asked Amanda to leave, Jane has married Mr Collins and Bingley, well .... he's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard!

It's good TV though ... especially Amanda's reaction when she first meets Mr Wickham ... she reacts how anyone would! With a glare and a "I'm watching you Mr Wickham!".  The series is a 4 parter and hopefully we will see more of Lizzie in the next 2 episodes!

The Proms!

Last night I went to Prom 73 at the Royal Albert Hall.  The programme included Vaughan Williams "Sinfonia antartica" (Symphony No 7), Xenakis "Pleiades" (first performance at the Proms - and last, hopefully!) and finally, Holst "The Planets".

The Vaughan Williams piece was beautiful and inspired by Scott's doomed expedition to the the South Pole.  It was easy to get lost in the music .......... 

The second piece of music by Xenakis just wasn't my "thing" at all ... very modern, loud and tuneless ... not really what I had gone to the Albert Hall to listen to ... a lot of people walked out in the middle of it - one man in the audience actually shouted "noooooooo!" in the middle of it!  It sounded like crashing bin lids!!! 

The final piece on the programme was Holt's "The Planets" - this was amazing! I have never sat and listened to the whole movement in one go ... always bits here and bits there.  I was captivated throughout the whole performance ... and the Holst Singers at the end was particularly moving ....

Harvest Time

I have spent the last 4 days resting a sprained foot and haven't had the chance to get out in the garden and check what is occurring. Today I ventured out in the Autumn drizzle and spotted slightly pink tomatoes - finally! I have given the tomato plants a good trim and picked a few fruits which I will put on a sunny window sill to encourage ripening. Hopefully the rest of the fruits will naturally ripen on the plants.

I also picked all my chives which I will chop up and freeze, 3 green peppers (I will leave the rest to go red on the plant), the entire crop from my peas ... (3 pods!), some very small spring onions and a handful of rocket. I'm not sure whether I will use a grow bag again next year as I thought I would have more luck with my salad by using one.

Next year, I will plan what I am going to plant and where I am going to plant it with more care. Rather than shoving as much as possible into my greenhouse, I will utilize the outside space better. I will be reading Alan Titchmarsh this afternoon and planning what to plant this Autumn....

Today I am mostly drinking ...

Yu Luo White Tea 

This exquisite white tea comes from the Hunan province in China.

Grown at an altitude of 4,500 feet, the tea bush ‘wakes’ after the winter in April and produces delicate white buds, which often have a white down on them. They are picked by hand and sun-dried so that fermentation cannot take place.

Very little white tea is produced, as this process requires particular care, increasing its rarity making it highly sought after by tea buyers all over the world.

It has a delicate flavour, which is best drunk without milk.

Joules - A Guide To The Cotswolds

Having had a slight mis-hap on the way to a meeting yesterday, I am currently sitting at home with my feet up nursing a sprained foot...so inbetween reading about Georgiana I am also browsing the Joules website thinking about what lovely Autumny items to buy ... on the Joules Village part of the website they had put a Guide to The Cotswolds - all they need to do now is open a flagship store where Mummy & Daddy Plum live (and not Cheltenham) and that would be GREAT!

Men's Afternoon Tea at The Mandeville

I have just seen the "Men's Afternoon Tea" at The Mandeville on www.afternoontea.co.uk - whatever next?  It is aimed at London's "heteropolitan"!  I hope this means that Mr and Master Plum won't be going off for afternoon tea without me!