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!

Can I tempt you to some ice-cream? (Weight Watchers should look away now ...)

Last Autumn I swapped some sloe berries for some blackcurrants which my friend had picked from her father-in-laws garden ... they have been sitting in my freezer since then! There wasn't enough to make a decent amount of jam - so I thought I would make some lovely ice cream instead!!

I cooked the blackcurrants for about 15 mins on a low heat with about 4 tablespoons of caster sugar until they went all runny and lovely ... and left them draining for most of the day!

I then whipped up some cream and icing sugar (click here for my Mum's "no fuss, no ice cream maker, just bung it in the freezer" ice cream recipe) and added the the drained blackcurrant juice. I wish you could smell the currants! They were wonderful!!

I really didn't want to waste the berry pulp ... so made a layer of currants at the bottom of the tub ...

and then poured on the blackcurrant and cream mixture.... oh my word, what a fabulous colour!!

My friend and her husband are coming round for dinner on Friday and I think that this will be the perfect dessert! If there is any left!!

I love bank holidays!

I hope you have all had enjoyable Bank Holidays?

We have spent the day at home, clearing out lots of our rubbish for either a car boot sale or the tip to make space for Baby Plum in our one bedroom flat!!

I am very proud of myself as I have finally got my sewing machine out from its hiding place and made a couple of cushions!

I used a pattern in CK's "Sew" book and am very pleased with the results ... the last time I made a cushion was in my Home Economics class many years ago!

I couldn't resist a little polka dot button on the back!

Ooh .... what's in the CK carrier bag?

The winner of my giveaway!!

Well done Kandi! Mr Plum picked you out of the carrier bag ... and something lovely will be winging it's way to you very soon!

May Day Greetings!

Good afternoon this bright and sunny May Day!! I hope that you are enjoying whatever you are up to today!

We have spent the morning having a bit of a sort out (which means Mr Plum emptying every drawer and cupboard ... spreading it over the floor and then vacating the room ... hmmm) trying to make space for "baby stuff".

I have just spent a glorious hour in my greenhouse rescuing seeds which fried earlier in the week and getting more seeds into propagators. I'm a bit behind with this, but I'm hoping that as Spring took a while to show her face, it shouldn't matter too much! I've got more seeds to get in over the weekend - I'll do a garden update at some point! I've also got my beady eye on some beautiful bluebells which are growing in one of the sadly neglected gardens next to mine ... I'm tempted to go and dig some up and put them into my garden -

is that wrong?

Later on, me and Mr Plum are heading into town for a friends 30th birthday celebration at Tiger Tiger on Haymarket (yes, the bar "they" tried to bomb...). I'm not particularly looking forward to a busy bar, as I hate places like that at the best of times ... but as it is my friends birthday, I will just have to grin and bear it!!

Earlier this week, me and Mr Plum joined some friends in Carshalton for a trip to their local theatre to see a production by a local am dram society. It was "City Of Angels" and was brilliant!!

Thank you to all those lovely people who have entered my giveaway!! I will pull a name out of the biscuit tin and let you know who has one later on!!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

Well ... we finally made it to the campsite!!

After my in-laws fixed the problem with the caravan they towed us up to a lovely, quiet camp site in Hunmanby, East Yorkshire ....

Here is our little home for the week ....

We had day trips to our favourite coastal places: Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough ... the weather was beautiful - perfect for coastal walks.

Of course, a trip to Scarborough means a trip to the wonderful Harbour Bar ... and Knickerbocker Glories!! Mmm mmmm!!

We also spent time snoozing, knitting, drinking tea and eating yummy tea loaf from Betty's Cafe in York!

Here we are on the beach in Filey! I'm the short dumpy one! Ha Ha Ha

What a shame that we had to come back to London and go back to work!

Thank you for all your lovely comments while I have been away ... don't forget that there is still time to enter my 200th post giveaway!

I have been catching up with all your wonderful blogs, and have even been given a blog award by Deborah at Fondant Kiss!! I will blog about that later in the week!

Victoria Plum is ...

... still stuck in Hull. We should hopefully find out later on if the problem with the tow bar on my inlaws car can be rectified ... if not we will be heading back to Plum House tomorrow and to work on Wednesday .... boo!

Today we are heading to York for a trip to my favourite place, Betty's Cafe, for lovely tea and cakes.

Rather than moping around today - I will be counting my blessings that we were not hoping to fly anywhere ....

Don't Forget ...

One final post while my inlaws are sorting out a slight hitch* with the caravan they are going to be towing to the seaside for us!!

Don't forget to enter my 200th post giveaway!!

See you in a week!!

* slight hitch means that we are still at my inlaws two hours later ... waiting for the RAC van and the prospect of spending our weeks holiday in the caravan in their garden and not on the lovely East Yorkshire coast ... but, I suppose it could be worse and we could have been one of the poor holidaymakers waiting for the ash cloud to disperse ... a week in Hull is not so bad.

15% off at Cath!

15% off at Cath Kidston ... just for today!!

Baby Plum's First Concert!

On Sunday night me and Mr Plum, met up with my brother and his girlfriend and a dear family friend for dinner. Our friend is called Diane Ponzio and she is an amazing singer/songwriter ... before heading off for pizza, we had a personal rendition of her lovely song "Be My Lighthouse" ... it was Baby Plum's first experience of live music ... and she loved it! You can download "Be My Lighthouse" (via Amazon for 79p) by clicking here

Spoilt Rotten and giveaway winner!

One of my oldest friends came round for lunch yesterday ... we used to regularly meet up for cheese and wine after work but I had to cancel our last trip as I was suffering from morning sickness ... and hadn't reached the 12 week point ... and couldn't think of a viable excuse to get out of eating lots of (now, sadly banned for a while!) un-pasteurized cheese!

It was this friend who began my addiction to Philosophy's "Amazing Grace" range ... and she turned up with some lovely 'mum to be" pampering goodies from the Little Me Organics range ... mmmmm As soon as she had left to begin her trip back up to North London, I jumped in the bath and had a lovely relaxing soak. I am spoilt by my lovely friends.

And after a rather dreary day at work, I headed to the pool for a refreshing swim and to sort my muddled head out and got home to find that I had won my first ever giveaway!! Woohooo! You have NO IDEA how much this has cheered me up! The giveaway was over at Fondant Kiss ... have a look at her blog - it's lovely and perfect for a miserable Monday!

Fabric Addict Swap, My 200th Post Giveaway and other sunny weekend stuff ...

I have just signed up to Crafty Helen's First Swap! It's a Fabric Addict swap ... perfect!

Wasn't it a glorious day yesterday? I had to work in the morning, but that was okay because I could see the beautiful blue sky out of the window and by 1pm I was on my way to Covent Garden to meet Mr Plum at the London Transport Museum for the Suburbia exhibition. Mr Plum was, typically, 30 minutes late and incommunicado for that period ... so I managed to find myself a free curb in the Piazza and sat reading my new book The Resourceful Mum's Handbook (full of thrifty tips for not getting sucked into all the maternity and baby "must haves"), and listening to the nearby buskers!

The exhibition itself was okay. We had already spent a day at the museum itself, so didn't bother looking at the main exhibits again, and am glad that we had a 2 for 1 voucher. We found that we had already seen many of the Suburbia exhibits before, mainly because we have read about them, watched programmes about it, and attended a couple of lectures at the museum earlier this year. I am glad that we went though! If you haven't been to the Transport Museum and find yourself in London - I would definitely recommend it.

Under 16s are FREE and adults should make use of the National Rail 2 for 1 offer!

After that (and a piece of cake and cup of tea) we headed up to my FAVOURITE department store ... JOHN LEWIS!!! I was planning to get some wool so that I could start crocheting a blanket - but was overwhelmed by the choice of colours couldn't remember what I had in my yarn stash at home. So came away empty handed!

We popped to the Nursery Department and had another look at prams. Living in London and not being able to drive has had to influence our choice as I need to be able to get the pram off and on buses etc easily. Some friends had offered us their old pram for free - but unfortunately it was like a mini-tank and was not really practical for our needs. So we have chosen this one:

We had decided on this one even before we found it in purple!! Baby Plum in a Plum pram! It's nice and nippy and perfect for getting out and about!

This is my 200th post!!! And to celebrate I will be having a giveaway - and like last time, the gift will be a a surprise! If you would like to enter you can do any of the following:

Leave a comment on this post

Become a follower of my blog

Add the button to your blog (make sure you let me know!)

The more things you do ... the more entries you get!! The winning entry will be drawn from a cake tin on 1st May. GOOD LUCK!

Blogland is going giveaway crazy ...

The lovely RosieP turns 50 on Monday and is having a baking themed giveaway to celebrate ... have a look at her lovely blog here

I've got that Friday feeling! And another giveaway ...

Phew ... Friday at last! Why is it that the short weeks always feel the longest? And I have stupidly agreed to work tomorrow to earn some extra pennies for nappies! Ha Ha! Thankfully only working tomorrow morning and then Mr Plum and I will be heading to the Suburbia exhibition at the London Transport Museum. You have to pay to get into the Transport Museum (unlike many of the other large London museums and galleries), but we will be using a National Rail 2 for 1 voucher - these are fab and make a day out in the capital slightly more affordable (otherwise the Transport Museum is £10 each!!) Have you been?

So here I am, feet up at home (I had planned to go for a swim - but am too tired and think that maybe I will try for a Sunday morning swim instead...) catching up with lovely blogs, cats have come home (today they spent the whole day out in the sunshine and came in as soon as I got home!), and a new blog is discovered! Hurrah!

Check out Fondant Kiss who is doing a "New Beginnings" giveaway where the lucky commenter will get this beautiful necklace ... I love to enter giveaways - but never with any success! Oh well .... Not long until my 200th post giveaway!

As Chris Evans would say .... "Happy Fridays Everyone!"