Tea Love Affair

Firstly, where is summer? I have no idea what the weather is going to be like from one day to the next. I wake up pondering whether it’s a flip flop day or a Wellington boot day – to be honest, I’d rather be elsewhere. This is how I ended up deciding to do some serious work on expanding my tea knowledge – and my cooking skills.

As most of you know I am only happy when doing 3 things, drinking tea, cooking, or contemplating making a cup of tea. With this in mind I decided to try my hand at a meal that I have been dying to master… Chinese Lemon Chicken – you know the kind you get from Chinese restaurants. The recipe was simple and described itself as a traditional citrus Chinese cuisine, taking roughly 20 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook. This should be simple right?

As per normal, whilst everyone around me devours food with a glass (or bottle) of nice wine, I insist on accompanying my meals on almost every occasion, with a cup of tea. So, I managed to get my hands on some Clipper Green Tea – I’m a huge fan of Clipper Tea, I also really enjoy a sleepy tea of theirs, it’s a great choice to aid insomniacs. But back to the Chinese tea: The Chinese have been drinking tea for thousands of years – white tea, red tea, green tea… and each one has its own benefits and more so, myths surrounding them. But the reason they drink so much of the green tea, especially when eating is because the tea itself has a hidden power of washing down, breaking up and aiding the digestion of oily foods – So with my food on Saturday I had planned to wash down my home cooked Lemon Chicken with my Clipper Green Tea.

One hour after commencing my self-taught Lemon Chicken, it was to be served to my very polite partner… so polite so, he couldn’t bring himself to say ‘this lemon sauce is horrible’. It was truly awful… Thank god for the Green tea – it really did wash our food down!

But I learnt three lessons by attempting to cook Lemon Chicken;

• Green tea is really delicious when drinking it alongside Chinese food; it really does compliment the food well. Its flavour is quite bitter so I normally add a time bit of sugar to it just to take the edge off of it, but I’ve been told that as you drink it over time your palette recognises it as a sweet flavour!
• Just buy a takeout from Just Eat. It will arrive in less time than it takes to cook and you won’t have to wash up either!
• My Boyfriend is too polite!

Green Tea Facts/Myths;

• Green tea is regarded as an excellent aid to losing weight
• Drinking Green tea regularly can help protect you against heart disease and diabetes
• Due to the low number of cancer suffers in China and Japan, it is believed that Green tea helps stop cancerous cells growing and spreading
• Green tea slows down aging
• Green tea is best drank once it has cooled
• China is the biggest producer and exporter of Green Tea – exporting out a whopping 83% of the world’s Green tea

Obviously, before anyone gets on touch – these are Facts/Myths because I cannot promise any of them, especially not the weight loss!

It really has been a while, I must, I must, I must keep this Blog up to date. Life’s been so busy and although I have the best intentions to write at least once a week.. I cannot deny standards have slipped. So what have I been doing?

Since moving to London I have curated a huge list of things to do, So the other day Andy and I went to Camden on the search for some out of space outfits for our August music festival. I had only ever been to Camden at night and my memories of it are somewhat blurry, but in the day its quite magical – we even ventured into Cyber Dog

So we spent the morning mooching around the market, discovering some real gems… never have I seen so many cute tea sets, for pretty much next to nothing! It wasn’t long before we needed re-fuelling with some food, and of course, Tea <3. So we grabbed some wonderfully tasty chinese street food from one fo the stalls and sat down with a cup of tea (in a cardboard cup). The tea was quite anaemic, you can’t really even see it in the cup.

So verdict is, no costume but, a new found love for Camden Market… in the day.

Where else have I been?

• Udder-belly, I think that’s how its spelt. It’s comedy festival down on the South Bank that is sport a HUGE purple inflatable cow as its main attraction. Inside the cow is an stage that host comedy shows. We never got to watch a show but we did sit in the outside area that had really cute mushrooms as seats. and swinging seats like the ones you have in a garden it was really pretty! I’ve included some pics…

 

• I visited my friends back in Cambridge and paid a visit to Harriet’s Tearooms, its a new addition to Cambridge. The tea rooms are really authentic and almost take you back in time. Myself and my Lisa stopped for a cup of Tea and a crumpet.. The food that was being brought out looked and smelt incredible - After watching someone next to me tuck into an Eggs Benedict, I felt cheated with my Crumpet. The girls that work there dress in old waitress dresses and hair scarf’s, they are really professional and friendly – Its definitely a place I will go back to, just this time I’ll order Eggs Benedict!

So that’s where I’ve been the last few weeks <3

I promise to keep this more up to date – I have a couple of things to write about this week, including Festival Ideas, Authentic Thai Tea and some amazing Hypnotherapy! In the mean time I’ll leave you with my cat Oscar… the longest cat in the word!

Friday means Team Lunch – Today we had Team Lunch at PIE in Covent Garden. Pie is a wonderful hidden Gem that is discreetly tucked away in a sneaky corner. Its barely big enough to swing a cat in the place buy, wow, that’s fine. As soon as you tuck into your creamy mash you’ll be sold.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Chicken and MushroomPie, accompanied by a cup of Twinnings Earl Grey - The tea master that I am means I got a photo of this… but not my pie (Borrowed the above). I failed. But please take my advice and head down because it definitely worth fighting the crowds for.

Also, We have had a visitor when our US company, Savings.com – Alan is our Operations Manager and he came to visit this week. Originally from Ireland and making a quick trip over next week, Alan is going to send me some Irish Tea. I am very excited to get my first sample through, I have heard that the Irish are very passionate about one particular brand and cant wait to try it

There is nothing in the world better, than tea and cake.

before I moved to London, baking was something that I did most weekends. But since moving I’ve got caught up in the hustle and bustle of London living and neglected my mixing bowl and failed to produce much more than a loaf of Banana Bread – So I decided that I would commit to making something this weekend. my first problem arose when I woke up on Saturday morning to find the sunshine radiating through my curtains, I couldn’t bring myself to switch the oven on. Instead of baking I made an impromptu trip to Cambridge to visit some friends who I hadn’t seen since making the move. Sunday is bake day.

Recipe: Cherry & White Chocolate Muffins

250g Self-raising flour

1tsp Bicarbonate Soda

100g Caster sugar

100g Butter (melted)

2 Eggs

130g Natural Yogurt

100g White chocolate

140g Fresh Cherries

Peel of 1 Lemon

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Mix together flour, and bicarbonate soda and add the cherries, white chocolate, cinnamon and lemon peel. Then add melted butter, yogurt and beaten eggs. Mix together well but be careful to not mix too much as the muffins will not rise as well other wise – (goes against everything we are normally told)

Pop them in the oven on about 180c for about 20mins – Check fan ovens, they might not need so long. This is a really simple recipe that doesn’t take much time to do. Whilst you wait you could make a cup of tea?

After I had finished I enjoyed them with a cup of Whittards, Cambridge loose tea in my new tea cups, which I received as gift for my birthday, from Sarah and Zam. It’s a gorgeous set from Oliver Bonas – I have 2 different designs, both of which are in my favourite colours. after receiving these I am now feeling a little inspired to make some of my own designs – watch this space <3

So I have finally baked in London and feeling very pleased with my Sunday afternoon treats, We’ve decided to have BBQ as weather is so fantastic so I am off outside, turning off my oven and shutting down the lap top till next time.

I thought I’d share this photo – Spring really is here. My street is lined with gorgeous Blossom trees and I could help but snap a picture of the prettiest tree on the street <3

This weekend is when I give my affair with Tea, some depth. I am going to venture outside of my comfort zone and move into a new Tea dimension - I am going to move aside from the warm, comfort     & familiarity of ‘Milk, No Sugar’ Tea and have a more fruity week. I live in an area that has a large Turkish Community which means I should be able to get hold of some amazing, infused Tea… surely?  I’m a massive fan of utilising local amenities and buying locally so I think this is also going to be a great chance for me to get in touch with some local people – who knows where this Blog could go.