Cup of tea cake and my final pre-baby afternoon tea!

Hello!

Here is a picture of my (now demolished!) Cup Of Tea cake ... yum! It was delicious! I will have to make another one this week!

Val from The Victorians Didn't Even Like Pink! left a comment on my original cake post saying that as an American she had not come across a cake which uses tea in the recipe ... I don't know the history of tea loaf - but it is something I have grown up with! Maybe it is an English thing? Val, have a go at the tea loaf recipe here (you can use Breakfast tea, or Earl Grey with a squeeze of lemon juice is also very nice). I would be more than happy to post you some lovely Yorkshire Tea bags for you to use, if you would like? Let me know what you think!

After admiring my cake on Friday afternoon, I headed into town to meet my pregnant friend from university (who is having a baby in September!) for ... you guessed it ...

Afternoon Tea at The Berkley!!!

Lovely!!!

Yes, I know that four (is it four? I think that I am beginning to lose count!) afternoon teas in as many weeks (ish!) is a bit excessive ... but it has been fun to catch up with my best girlfriends, over a scone and a sandwich and copious amounts of tea. I know that once Baby Plum arrives my champagne lifestyle (on a ginger beer wage!!) will have to stop ... ha ha. Maybe until Mr Plum treats me to the Christmas afternoon tea at Claridges which we had to postpone from last year!

A bit of knitting ...

Here is a little cardie I have been working on for a while! I had finished the main body of the cardie but was putting off doing the fiddly button band ...

This morning I woke up feeling a bit sniffy and had no energy to do anything ... I had planned to go for a swim and do some other bits and pieces - but ended up spending most of the day in bed snoozing while listening to Radio 4 and then 6 Music in the afternoon.

At lunchtime I thought I picked up the unfinished cardie ... I couldn't get it to hang right for the picture - I'm hoping that it will look better when modelled by Baby Plum! I need to work on my seam technique too! But, this is only the second baby cardie I have ever knitted - so feeling a bit proud of myself!

You can see the first cardie I knitted here sadly, my hard work was in vain for this one as I never got a thank you - indeed, they didn't even recall receiving it as they had so many pressies. Maybe a handmade knitted matinee jacket was a bit too shabby for them! Oh well!

Anyway, I adapted the pattern to include the pretty purple frill at the bottom and on the cuffs. I think it looks great!

Cup-of-tea cake

Back in May I spent a week at home with my parents. My Mum had made a lovely "cup-of-tea cake" from a recipe published in The Times as part of their "Eat with the ancestors" column. I would add a link to the recipe on The Times website ... but since Mr Murdoch decided to make us pay for the privilege of browsing Times Online, I thought I would put it on my blog for you. This cake is delicious - go and make one straight away!!

The Story Behind The Cake

Lucy Kihlstom wrote that:

"My grandmother, Peggy Pepler passed down her cup-of-tea cake recipe to my mother ... It's a wartime cake, so their are no eggs in the ingredients. I never liked sponge cakes as a child, so my mother made this every week when I was growing up in Sussex in the Seventies. I'd see her melting the margarine and sultanas in the tea, and get excited because I knew she was making it. I remember eating great chunks of it after school.

She wrote the recipe down for me, and I make it now for my children. It improves if kept for a day or so".

The Recipe

2 cups of cold tea

8oz caster sugar

8oz margarine

8oz sultanas

1lb self raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp mixed spice

demerara sugar for sprinkling

The Method

Put tea, margarine and sultanas in a pan. Simmer for 3 minutes or more until melted. Cool the mixture. Mix all dry ingredients, then add to the cooled mixture. Pour mixture into a greased and lined deep 8in cake tin and sprinkle the demerara sugar on the top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in a moderate oven at 350F (150C, gas mark 3)

I'm just waiting for the mixture to cool!

End of my first week on maternity leave ...

Wow! This week has flown by! I can't believe that I have been on maternity leave for a week now ... only 3 weeks until my due date!!

Yesterday I had a quiet day of blitzing the kitchen ... then meeting up with another friend who is expecting a baby in January for Elderflower Punch at All Bar One before heading home to watch "Twilight" (making the most of Mr Plum being up in Leeds for a meeting!)

Today, I met up with my brother's girlfriend and we went to the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A. This was fabulous ... the clothes were wonderful. I think that we will be watching High Society this evening!

After the exhibition we popped into the hotel where my brother works for a lovely lunch (I had a mixed salad followed by treacle tart with cinnamon ice cream and a nice pot of Earl Grey tea ... mmmmmm).

I feel exhausted now that I am home! I have a quieter week planned next week ... and I really must get on with some cleaning!!!

Veg from the garden and other random bits on a Wednesday ...

No gallivanting around London town for me today!

This morning I had an antenatal appointment, followed by an hours swim at the local pool ... after lunch, a read and a nap I headed to the kitchen to make some meals to put in the freezer - so we don't have to worry about cooking when Baby Plum first arrives.

I picked two lovely courgettes and two little turnips and roasted these with some lovely basil flavoured tofu (discovered at Waitrose in Worthing!) for dinner.

I was kept company by the lovely Pansy (who is celebrating her first birthday today!) ... she spotted the washing basket with blankets used for my picnic on Friday and thought that she would make it her new bed. Such a cutie!

A spot of knitting was also done ... I have decided to take a break from knitting the baby blanket and have decided to do some toys instead! Here is my first bunny - I am going to make a string of them to hang across the cot. Mr Plum thinks that it looks a bit like Hitler ... so I may have to do some work on the bunny's mouth!!

Afternoon Tea Again!

I'm really enjoying my maternity leave!

Yesterday I cancelled my travelcard and went to the cinema to see Eclipse (the 1130 showing!!). I thought that Eclipse was so much better than New Moon ... but couldn't convince Mr Plum to come with me, so went on my own!

This morning I had a nice lie in (until 11am!) listening to Women's Hour while reading and doing some knitting. There was an interesting bit about "Mummy Bloggers" which I am sure many of you will be interested to listen to (I'm sure that it will be available on the i-player).

After popping to Tesco and doing some tidying ... I headed into town to meet some friends at The Cadogan which I booked through www.afternoontea.co.uk and got for the bargain price of £15!

Delicious!

My request for veggie and pregnant friendly sandwiches was met ... my favourite pud was the white chocolate and raspberry mousse in a chocolate shell ... wonderful!

We sat there gossiping until about 8pm ... what a lovely afternoon!

Tomorrow I am hoping that the nesting instinct will kick in ... it hasn't so far!!

Mr Plum has suggested that I put together my own guide to afternoon teas ... watch this space!

Lovely knitted goodies ...

On Thursday, I went into work and found these lovely knitted goodies on my desk. They had been made by a lady in my team ... how thoughtful. I love the teddy!!

A day in Worthing and some lovely fabric!

Yesterday we escaped London and drove down to the coast ... rather than follow the hoards to Brighton - we thought we would go to Worthing instead!

We had a lovely couple of hours walking around, paddling in the (warm!) sea and had a picnic on the beach.

On the way back to the car we walked past a fantastic haberdashery ... I fell in love with this Scottie Dog fabric and had to treat myself to a meter. I found this picture of the fabric on notonthehighstreet.com where they are selling it for the extortionate price of £18 a meter ... ironically I found it on the High Street for £12 a meter!!

I don't know what I will make with it - I just couldn't walk away from it!

Special Offer in The Guardian ...

Have a look at the special offer on the Guardian website for 10 Florence Strawberry plants for £4.50! Yes, you read it right ... £4.50!!!

It would be rude not to ....

Victoria Plum has left the building ...

Yesterday was my last day at work before starting maternity leave ... I had been looking forward to leaving for months and had had an ongoing countdown going on in my calender ...

This morning I have woken up feeling a bit sad ... I'll miss the people I work with, they were lovely and made a sometimes slog of a job rather fun. I think I will miss the work too ... a little bit...for a while. It feels strange thinking that I won't be going back there for 10-12 months, and when I do, I will be in a new team doing something completely different.

The main reason I feel so sad is that my team made such an effort for me and made my last day so special.

Apparently, lots of ideas had been banded about - but it was (thankfully!) decided early on that the traditional curry and drinks in the office would not be so much fun for a pregnant lady! They thought about taking me out for afternoon tea (but decided that as I already had three planned - they wanted to do something different!).

So ... at 2.30pm yesterday afternoon, I headed off to the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park for a picnic!!! It was lovely ... lots of lovely food and cake (my final baking for the team ... they will probably miss that more than they will miss me!!). We sat in the sunshine for hours - it was such fun!

They gave me lovely gifts ... a pretty necklace from Swarovski, inspired by the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland ...

The photos don't really do it justice ... it is a gorgeous necklace with four cotton reels and a pair of scissors ... all encrusted with lovely, sparkly Swarovski crystal ...

And a book about Afternoon Tea (I quite like going out for afternoon tea y'know!) and some lovely tealights...

Not many people at work know about my blog ... but if, by chance, any of you are reading - thanks again for a lovely afternoon!!

"Little Bee" or "The Other Hand" by Chris Cleave

I have just finished reading "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave (this is the US version which was lent to my mum by a friend - and then lent to me!. It was published in the UK as "The Other Hand").

I don't want to give anything away - but this book was so moving and very thought provoking...you should read it too.

Mr Plum makes a discovery in the garden ...

This is our third summer at Plum Cottage ... and we often moan about the large tree in our garden whose roots have destroyed our lawn, and we think that this tree will eventually be responsible for the entire building crashing down around our ears!

Something is different about this tree this year ... something which has made Mr Plum question whether it is an ornamental cherry tree ... or an edible variety ...

We had noticed that there was a lot of very ripe fruit falling onto our garden table, into our food and onto our cat. Mr Plum was CONVINCED that the cherries were edible...I preferred to err on the side of caution.

This afternoon, brave Mr Plum tried one of the cherries ... and declared that he believed it was edible, and went straight onto t'internet to do some more research - as Mr Plum does ...

He is now busy in the garden picking away ... it would seem that our cherry tree is indeed an edible variety!!

Maybe all we needed was a perfect summer to ripen the fruit?

I think that I may wait until tomorrow to see if there are any side effects, before trying some myself!

Here's a quick veggie patch update picture ... I can't believe how much has grown in the last week!

Fabric Addict Swap!

I entered another swap a month or so ago ... but due to the incompetent staff at Croydon Post Depot ... my lovely parcel sat on a shelf unclaimed ... and then (thankfully!) returned to sender. I am so relieved that this is what happened - it would have been so upsetting if the parcel had been pinched by a light-fingered postie.

Here is what I got from the lovely Louisa at Faerie Nuff (and you can see what I sent her by clicking on the link) ...

Handmade make up bag, lavender heart, bunting (more for our nursery corner - fab!), buttons, fat quarters, CK tissues, vintage hankie...

Such lovely generous gifts - thank you so much!

Cor! It's a bit hot!

We have had a lovely weekend!

Yesterday we went round to friends for a BBQ ... lots of lovely food and gossip! This morning we met the same friends in a local Morrisons for breakfast and then did a big food shop - bulk buying a few things and stocking up so that I can make lots of lovely veggie meals to stick in the freezer, so we don't have to worry about cooking when Baby Plum arrives!

We have spent a couple of hours in the garden, tending to the veg ...

I am very proud of my cucumbers - as I don't seem to have much luck with them usually ... hopefully this year will be better.

I love the colour of this foxglove ...

Here's the veggie patch with the addition of a few tomato plants ...

Some home grown strawbs ...mmmm

(Oh no! Germany have just scored ....)

Here is some lovely home grown lettuce ... plenty for our BBQ tea tonight!

Afternoon Tea Number Two!

Off I went to The Goring this afternoon for my second afternoon tea of the week!

I met my friend Liz at Victoria Station and we walked round the corner to this little gem! I have never been there before, but my Dad had mentioned it as I think that he knows someone who works there.

As you step into the foyer - it is like stepping back in time. The room where you have afternoon tea is lovely and you can imagine Sherlock Holmes sitting in the bar. And of course, there were the cakes ....

Dainty sandwiches (I had a special plate of veggie/pregnant friendly sandwiches), scones and cakes .... again washed down with plenty of Earl Grey. Lovely. A perfect start to the weekend!

Off to The Cadogan for tea in a couple of weeks! Well ... best get as many teas in as possible while I am on a full time wage (and before the pay freeze and VAT rise!!)

Lovely bunting from an old friend ...

I still consider my three best friends from school my best friends forever (does that sound a bit American?!).

We may not phone each other regularly ... busy jobs and other commitments means that we are only able to meet up every couple of months. But I know that they are there if I need them, and I am always there for them. When we do meet up, we regress back to the silly 14 years olds, in love with Keanu Reeves, stinking of Woolworths "Fuzzy Peach" body spray and clunking around in Doc Martens!

Today, after a particularly dull day at work (although, shouldn't moan ... must be glad that I still have a job - even though am now subject to a two year pay freeze...boo!) I got home to an unexpected package on my doorstep. After coming down for my birthday tea and cakes a couple of weekends ago, my very crafty friend had been inspired to make some bunting for our "nursery corner" (the delights of having a baby in a one bedroom flat!).

Isn't it lovely? The kind thought reduced me to tears ... I can't wait to put it up in our room!

Am seeing another one of my girlfriends tomorrow for afternoon tea at The Goring. I can't wait!

Afternoon Tea Is My One Weakness ...

Oh! I am so annoyed!!

As I mentioned yesterday, today I was off to The Athenaeum for afternoon tea with my friends from work. I took my camera so that I could take pictures of all the lovely cakes and believe me, they were delicious ... orange blossom scones with lemon curd, orange and lemon cake, violet cupcakes, strawberries dipped in chocolate, banana cake and fruit cake to name a few of the delights we tried ... along with the dainty sandwiches and finished off with crumpets and tea cakes!

BUT ... I did manage to take a picture of the table before our cakes were served - I was just so absorbed by the yumminess of it all that my poor little camera was ignored.

We had such a lovely time, and sat there until 7.30pm gossiping ...

Off to The Goring for afternoon tea on Friday - I'll take more pictures then!!

A sunny day in the garden when I should have been at work ...

Hey ....

It's been a while since I last posted - and thought that I owed you an update on the goings on at Plum house ....

I had a week off work at the end of May and spent it at my parents. We had a lovely time ... days out in the Cotswolds, lots of nice food and generally relaxing! Mr Plum joined us on the Friday and then my brother and his girlfriend came up for the weekend. It's not often that we get the whole family together - it was great!

Sad news though ... on the Sunday we got home and our handsome ginger cat was missing - and sadly, he had been run over. We are devastated and being a bit over protective of his sister, Pansy. Right now she is still out and about and we are starting to get a bit panicky ... I just wish she would pop in and say hello to us!!

After a terrible night's sleep (I'm now 33 weeks pregnant, I just can't get comfy in bed ... and had a night of cramp and heartburn, a thousand trips to the loo and worrying about the whereabouts of Pansy) I stayed at home today. I slept for most of the morning and woke up in time to see George Osborn's emergency budget ... then headed outside with a glass of squash and a good book. When Mr Plum got home from work we had a BBQ and did a bit of gardening.

Here are some pics ...

(from left to right) Turnips, Scallop Squash and Courgettes ....

I have overdone it with the tomato planting this year ... here are my San Marzano tomato plants ... I'm a bit behind with everything and have only just taken them out of the propagators ....

pretty roses in the Midsummer sun

My view for most of the day as I sat under the tree reading ....

Summer essentials .... sun hat, shades, a good book and some alcohol free lager!

I have only got 2 and a half weeks at work before I go on maternity leave and have already met former colleagues for a lovely lunch by the river on Friday ... tomorrow I am going to the Atheneaum for afternoon tea with the girls that I started working with almost 10 years ago ... I've had afternoon tea there twice and it is lovely!

I'm really looking forward to it! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Afternoon Tea!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes last week ... the truth is that my birthday was a little bit rubbish as I had to go into hospital for a Glucose Tolerance Test as there is a history of diabetes in my family and I am a 'little' overweight. The GTT meant that I had to fast the night before (and for those of you who know me, going without food for any period of time is a NIGHTMARE!). Anyway - I woke up on my birthday morning to lovely pressies from Mr Plum, my family and friends ... but then we had to go to the hospital for the morning ... and a girls only antenatal class in the evening (there are some things that I would rather just not know for the time being!! ) .... we decided to postpone my birthday for a week!

On Friday, Mr Plum and I celebrated four years of married bliss! I can't believe that it has been four years! It has flown by ... we both went to work for the day, but I was under strict instructions not to wear my lovely Joules Shelley sundress (which is perfect for an expanding tum!) but to wear my smarter Mamas and Papas spotty tea dress ... and proper shoes as Mr Plum wanted me to meet him at Victoria Station at 4.30 for a surprise!!

The biggest surprise was Mr Plum paying for a taxi to our destination!! I was expecting to catch a bus! Anyway, I was still in the dark as to where we were heading ... especially as we headed past all the possible places I could think of! Where were we going?

As we drove up Regent Street I was completely flummoxed ... and then we came to The Langham hotel ... I have never been here before!

We were sat in the most wonderful art deco room - a bit like Claridges Foyer, but lighter and brighter and a bit more relaxed. We ordered the Wonderland Tea ... the hotel provided Veggie and Pregnant Lady friendly sandwiches, warm scones and divine cakes ... it was heavenly! Afternoon Tea has to be my favourite meal of the day .... and I think that I am going to be having lots of trips out for Afternoon Tea between now and the arrival of Baby Plum!

I am so lucky to be married to wonderful Mr Plum :)

Here is an afternoon tea we had a couple of weeks ago with the left over cakes (or some of them!) from my birthday party ... mmmmm

Good Enough To Eat Swap!

Hello!

I'm a bit behind with my blogging!!

I took part in the Good Enough To Eat swap which was organised by Emma and Claire and my partner was the lovely Jackie from Sew Special Bears...here are the wonderful goodies I received on Tuesday .....

Such a thoughtful gift for Baby Plum ....

The smell which greeted me when I opened the parcel was AMAZING! Haven't I been spoilt?

Thank you Jackie!

You can see what I sent Jackie here

A little treat for me ...

After years and years of having a duff phone ... I treated myself to one of these! It's the snazziest phone I have ever had!!

Salon de the macaroons

My love of macaroons began in Paris in 2003 when me and Mr Plum got engaged. I love the colour and decadence of nibbling away at a macaroon! Every time we have been back to France I make sure I get a couple! It had never even crossed my mind to make some of my own ....

Then, a couple of years ago I spotted a recipe for 'Salon de the macaroons' in the Mail on Sunday...so I had to give them a try!

My first efforts were a tad frustrating ... the mixture was too runny and spread all over the baking tray, or the macaroons stuck to the greaseproof ... so I left it for a couple of years (!) and then had another go .... here is the recipe:

Macaroons - makes about 20 filled macaroons

120g icing sugar

120g ground almonds (I put in a bit more to thicken up the mixture)

1tbs green tea (I used Earl Grey)

2 medium egg whites at room temperature

pinch salt

30g caster sugar

food colouring (green for the green tea macaroons, purple of the Earl Grey...)

Filling

140g unsalted butter

80g icing sugar sifted

finely grated zest of 1/2 a lime (for the green tea ... I used lemon for mine)

1. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, add the almonds and stir to blend.

2. Grind the tea in a coffee grinder, sift this onto the mixture and stir it in.

3. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl with the salt until they appear foamy and then sprinkle on the caster sugar whisking each addition until they form medium soft peaks.

4. Stir the almond mixture onto the egg whites in two goes, then colour the mixture with a drop of food colouring.

5. Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper and drop level teaspoons of the mixture onto the sheets in little mounds. Leave for 2 hours uncovered - the macaroons form a skin.

6. Pre heat the oven to gas mark 2.

7. Dust the macaroons with icing sugar and bake for 20 minutes.

8. Leave the macaroons to cool and then remove from the baking tray using a spatula.

9. To make the filling, beat the butter until light and fluffy then add the icing sugar and a drop of food colour if you want. Pipe or spread onto the macaroons and sandwich together.

Or, you could just head here for a little treat ....

Birthday Tea Party

It is my birthday on Thursday!

So yesterday I invited some friends around for a tea party ....

I made a nice variety of cakes (from the top pic) ...

Earl Grey and Lemon Macaroons

Scones with Raspberry Jam and Cream

Victoria Sponge

Sparkly Star Cupcakes

Coffee Cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes

Raspberry Cupcakes ...

Coffee cake ...

Chocolate Cake (I only invited 15 people ... do you think I have made enough?!)

Tea loaf and shortbread!!

Polished off with some Rose Lemonade (everyone else had Pimms!) ... if you squint it could almost be rose champagne ...

Followed by a delivery of fish and chips from the local chippy!

It was lovely to catch up with friends ... and we have a LOT of cake left over ... so if you are passing by - pop in!!

(If any of the cakes take your fancy - let me know and I will send you the recipe!)

Quilts ... cont

I thought the Quilts exhibition was fantastic! As we went on a Saturday afternoon, it was rather busy - but not so much that we couldn't have a good look at the exhibits. I was amazed at the vibrant colours of the quilts made in the 18th and 19th centuries. There was also a modern quilt by Tracey Emin and another made by the inmates of HMP Wandsworth in 2009.

Of course I couldn't resist picking up some (over priced - but this is the V&A!) fat quarters with prints taken from quilts made in the mid 19th century.

We then headed to the lovely cafe (the first museum cafe in the world!) for tea and cake before heading home.

V&A Quilts Exhibition

This afternoon I am meeting some friends at the V&A for the Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition. I have read some very good reviews of this exhibition and am really looking forward to it! It may even inspire me to make my own patchwork quilt .... well, now that I have mastered the art of cushion making - there's nothing stopping me!! Right???

Today's Thrifty Award Goes To ...

My mum and dad for spotting an i candy Cherry stroller in the small ads of their local paper!! Fantastic! The stroller retails at £284! The lady was selling hers for £80! Quite a saving! We just need to get a carry cot and car seat and we will be sorted!