A Pinch and a Punch – June/July 2014
Welcome to our brand spanking new monthly feature! On the first of the month we will be offering up a pinch of the previous month in the form of an Instagram snap, look out you can get involved in this, and a punch into the next month in the form of, well it could take any form!
PINCH
This month’s pinch, above, is a snap we took at a beautiful wedding where we provided the linen, china and afternoon tea. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the bride and groom looked sensational together and we loved every minute of it. The wedding was held at the quintessentially English, Garden Barn, near Haverhill and is well worth a peek for parties and weddings.
So, how can you get involved? Each month we will pick our favourite cake or vintage inspired Instagram snap from the previous month, all you need to do is add #pinchpunch to your photo and @teatimetreatery so we can see it, see you on Instagram!
PUNCH
First up we’re punching into July by diving head first into the most extensive list of Gin and Tonics we’ve ever seen! We stumbled across the Fever Tree pop up in Hoxton Square at weekend and were thrilled to find out it will be running through to 26th July. They are offering 160 different gins and a selection of their tonics or if the choice is too much they will offer advice or better yet grab the G&Tree flight for £15 where you get to try 4 different gins and £2 from each flight goes to Malaria No More UK. The venue is decked out in botanicals and gin bottles and you can admire the range of gins which sit behind the bar. We stayed longer than planned and are keen to get back there so we heartily recommend a visit to find your ultimate G&T!
Top Tip: I thoroughly enjoyed mixing the damson and raspberry gins with the elderflower tonic!
Food box: Hello Fresh
Deciding what to cook for dinner can be a joy and a chore, I want mac and cheese on pizza with ribs but I know I ought to have something balanced and healthy. I love food and I love cooking, in fact I’m passionate about cooking from scratch, but sometimes time is just not on my side. So, this week I decided to put the decision in the hands of Hello Fresh and just had to share the experience with you guys and if you like what you see we even have a discount code for you at the bottom of the post!
I was quick off the mark to try Graze boxes and then the beauty boxes came along bringing joy to my post box so Hello Fresh had to do be done. Hello Fresh send boxes of fresh ingredients and recipe cards direct to your door with the idea being it allows you to eat healthy, fresh food without the fret of grocery shopping and meal planning! They also give you the option of 3-5 meals, meat or veggie, for 2, 4 or a Family Box. I’m pretty sure you could make it work for 1 person too though.
I was thrilled when our box arrived, ok so most post excites me but postal food was a double bonus.
We had chosen The Classic trial box and were not disappointed when beef, chicken and tiger prawns arrived. The meat comes carefully packed with ice packs but it was the bag of miniature soy sauces, herb pots and spice pots that I really loved especially as everything was recyclable. So lets get to it, roll up meal 1.
First up we had Korean Beef Bulgogi with Ginger Stir Fried Tenderstem, this was fun for me as it was meal I had never tried. The only issue I had with this came about because I hadn’t read the recipe instructions in full prior to starting, it said ready in 30 minutes but actually within the instructions recommended marinating the meat for 1 hour which I forced myself to do. The veg, beef and rice were, I felt, great quality and the perfect amount for two. The recipe cards clearly show you in pictures what you needed and the Kcal per serving. The instructions also came with handy pictures making it easy for anyone to have a go. The fresh ginger smelt incredible!
Wednesday we had Citrus Chicken and Chunky Ratatouille. Now, they were not to know I had recently spent a week eating JUST ratatouille but actually I had most recently been eating croissants for a week and needed to get back on the health wagon. It’s probably worth noting that if you subscribe you do get to swap meals out. It was great to learn a new way to cook ratatouille and the chicken was fast and tasty, especially with the fresh grated lemon and lemon juice. One thing that did confuse me was that we got a pot of sugar for our Beef Bulgogi but for this recipe it was required but not included, no problem for me I have plenty of sugar at home and actually used Agave Nectar instead. The best bit about this was that both pieces of chicken were a good size, far too often I find myself growling at the supermarket chicken aisle because each box of chicken breast has one huge one and one tiny one so this made a welcome change!
Finally we had a very tasty and filling Tiger Prawn Linguine with Chilli and Sun-Dried Tomato.
Final Thoughts
I loved the fresh ingredients, I loved learning new recipes that I get to keep, I loved that there was no waste and that everything was recyclable. Overall I felt it was great value, a time saver, healthy and as a company they are clearly doing their utmost to be sustainable. I would definitely do this again, it’s especially handy to book a delivery for the week after your holiday so you can just relax knowing that healthy meals are on their way.
If you fancy giving Hello Fresh a go you can get £20 off your first box with our code, 6BHQDJ.
The trial box consists of 3 meals for 2 people and is £42 including delivery. The Classic Box for 2 people comes in at £39 for 3 meals or £49 for 5 meals including delivery.
Please note, I have not been commissioned to review the Hello Fresh box, I paid for my trial box myself and all opinions are genuine and my own.
Did you know…Saffron Walden Market
Did you know Saffron Walden has a beautiful market on Tuesdays and Saturdays? If you didn’t know then here are 6 reasons you’ll be glad you do know now! I popped in yesterday and snapped away as I shopped.
1.The fruit and vegetable stall is worth a visit alone for all the colours and variety, excellent value too, I grabbed a bag of flat peaches while I was at it.
2. You won’t struggle to find the market, just sniff out the delicious smells coming from Giggly Pig, stop by for samples and you’ll probably leave with a bag full of sausages or a bite from the bbq!
3. Brown Bread are our go to stall for fantastic breads, they also have an irresistible selection of pastry and cakes.
4. Beautiful flowers can always be found at the market and will brighten your day.
5. Fresh olives, pesto, olive oil and more, you will find everything you need for a lazy afternoon picnic. There’s usually a fine cheese stall and fresh fish too!
6. For all the crafters out there you can find materials, buttons, and more.
It doesn’t even stop there, on Saturdays you will often find the sensational and refreshing Saffron Ice Cream Company and Planet of the Crepes! The King Kong’s Big Brother crepe (Cheese, Ham, Egg, Spinach, Mushroom, Asparagus) is superb but I have yet to take on the King Kong Crepe challenge (Cheese, Ham, Egg, Mushroom), eat three in a row and you get a free t-shirt – yep that’s right folks, Saffron Walden is home to a food challenge!
See you at the market! If you know of any other fab markets or local food challenges we’d love to hear about them.
Cream Tea Top Tips!
It’s here, cream tea season, Andy Murray has won his first match at Wimbledon and strawberries, scones and clotted cream are everywhere! So here are our Cream Tea Top Tips…
1. Go Fresh!
Fundamental, from the strawberries to the scones, you can’t beat fresh, local produce. For the strawberries why not get out there and pick your own, click here to find somewhere local to you. By the time you’re done picking you’ll have earned the treat but if that sounds too strenuous keep your eyes peeled for local strawberries in the super market or local markets. For the scones make your own, more on that, or find a local bakery or baker (ahem) and order them handmade fresh from the oven. Finally, nothing beats homemade jam but for convenience a good local jam will be just as delicious and far less tricky.
2. Loose and leafy tea!
Rule of thumb, if it’s mentioned in the title it’s vital! Tea is clearly a key ingredient to cream tea so make it count. This doesn’t necessarily mean trying some obscure tea you’ve never heard of before (don’t hold back if the mood takes you there) but a loose leaf tea/tea bag gives a taste worthy of an occasion like this. You get depth of flavour and colour and it really elevates the experience from the everyday to the treat it’s meant to be. Just drop us a line if you’d like some more advice on this, we stock a wonderful selection of loose leaf teas and tea bags and loved testing them all out.
3. Bake your own!
Baking scones is actually quite easy and something you can get the kids involved with too. We’d recommend finding a recipe that uses buttermilk or yoghurt for a real indulgence, here’s one from baking’s Queen, Mary Berry. Don’t forget to get those hands high when rubbing in the flour, you want the air in there to get a fluffy scone. Keep a pile of flour next to your lightly floured surface and twist your cutter through the flour before cutting into the dough, this will allow you to pull straight up in one swift motion. When brushing the tops with a glaze, go lightly this is a less is more situation for a beautiful finish. Finally, why not mix it up a bit, add a dash of cinnamon or really go for it and try our favourite savoury combo, jalapenos and mature cheddar!
4. Serve up an event!
It will come as no surprise that we love to break out the vintage china to serve our cream tea on, the glittering gold details and beautiful designs make us feel so special. If you’re after something a bit more disposable and easy to clear away then there are some fabulous paper and wooden party ware options, you can find lots of party ware at Jelly and Blancmange.
5. Oooh go on pop the bubbles!
Pretty straight forward, whether it’s Prosecco, Champagne or Schloer we love adding a bit of fizz to every occasion.
Rattling my tea cup
I never expected to find myself scouring the streets for pennies in order to fund extracurricular education rather than my next tea hit but here I am. I’m going off piste again today but I promise to get back to all things cake, tea and life experiences soon! Actually, this could be an incredible life experience so lets get cracking.
Some of you may know that I am currently trying to get my pennies together to go to Blogcademy in London in July. The opportunity to learn with such inspiring and fabulous women is beyond exciting and I am determined to get there. I just have so much I need to learn, it’s scary! The clock is ticking and I’m eagerly trying to find fun ways to get the cash together and I’m open to suggestions so get in touch!
First up I have made myself available to friends and family to hire for their entertainment! Obviously this is within reason but if they want me to take a buttercream bath, ok! Do their ironing, sure! Teach them some of my baking secrets, great! Basically I’m eager to give something back to get there. When I put the offer out there, I braced myself for all kinds of weird and wonderful suggestions but what I received surprised me some what. While I did get a couple interesting requests and a few very generous donations, two of my friends actually offered donations in exchange for time with me. Now I really appreciate this, it is great to know my friends want to hang out with me (it’s been a tough year so I can’t quite put into words how much it means!) but it made me realise how trying to run a small business can swallow you up whole and isolate you in many ways. So now I’m eager to find some balance and catch up with some of my fabulous friends too.
Secondly I stumbled across an app and website called Vinted which allows you to clear out your wardrobe and make your items available for sale or swap (or even giveaway!) to others. It’s free to sign up and list your items which appealed to me as it meant I could get started straight away. I only started listing items today so we’ll see how it goes. If you want to check out my wardrobe you can find it here.
And finally, I have an equally eager companion in my Blogcademy saving journey. The fabulous Miss Sue Flay has made her awesome Bell Tent available to hire for last minute bookings over the next few weeks to generate funds to get her to Blogcademy too! So, if you’re in the Cambridgeshire area and hankering after a BBQ or a summer gathering but you know you’ll need a shelter, in case of rain or just fancy an awesome venue in your garden, make sure you drop her a line and find out about hiring the fabulous bell tent at very special rates. It looks so great with the bunting and lamps! Miss Sue Flay has been a huge influence and mentor to me over the last year and I would love for us to be able to go to Blogcademy!
Got any suggestions on getting last minute cash together. I would love to hear them!