Drink sampling with the family

Sampling is so much fun, and it's interesting to see the difference in people tastes. I tend to like anything with elderflower, ginger, raspberry or apple, whereas my grandma prefers citrus flavours, and my mum prefers beetroot and tomato juices.

carrot and apple, beetroot juice, pear, cherry and apple, elderflower, cox's apple, lemon , summer berries, raspberry

I personally liked the pear ! It was refreshing yet still had a lovely sweetness to it. The carrot and apple was really not to my taste! I think that was batting for the healthier side, rather than flavour! The apples and elderflowers were good, and the tomato juice had a spicy kick to it. There were a few other flavours not listed here, like tomato juice, orange, ginger beer etc. The tasting panel consists of my mum, dad, grandma, Scott and I, which is a good balance of old and young, male and female and we came to a decision of our favourite 5 flavours!

I can't wait for the tearoom to open, it's been so exciting helping making all sorts of decisions from interiors and props to food and drinks. We've all put so much time and effort into making sure the little attention to details are just right.

I think the jewel tone colours are beautiful, and I feel inspired to mix a couple of my own drinks after tasting these! What are your favourite flavours to drink?

Moroccan Mint Tea

Moroccan Mint Tea is something I've been meaning to try recently. I love tea, I drink tea too much, but it's always English builders tea. I really wish I liked green tea, herbal tea etc, but I just don't. I need a ridiculous amount of sugar for me to like it, and a lot of the time I'm too impatient for it to become drinking temperature. But mint tea has for a long time, been very enticing ( too much time spent watching food programs and being influenced easily), and this weekend I gave it a go, and it was very tasty.

What you will need:

Tea pot -

Teacup/ Tainted glass tumbler

• 10 fresh mint sprigs, plus some for garnish
• 2 green tea teabags, or three teaspoons green leaf tea
• 3 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste
• 4 cups water

Place all your mint, teabags and sugar into your teapot. Boil your water and pour into the teapot (about 4 cups).

Leave to brew for three minutes, then strain your tea, and its ready to pour.

I added another mint sprig to add some colour.

My verdict : Tasty as an occasional treat, but for general purposes I will stick to builders tea!

Scott's verdict : Again, quite nice, but can't beat English breakfast tea!

D.I.Y Teabags

Hello there !

I haven't blogged for a week now and I feel really bad. It's not like I feel I have to blog, its just I think it's so important to document all the little things that happen in our lives that may be forgotten over time without something like a blog to document them. I've been mega busy this week attempting to put some form of a portfolio together for university, and I haven't had much time for my usual things like walks with Scott, cooking and crafty things. But I made time to try out this cute DIY that I found from - Amanda, and can't wait to be back to normal and not so stressed :)

What you will need:

Tea leaves, or the contents of a teabag.

Coloured card

Filter paper (I used coffee filter paper from Tesco)

Embroidery Thread

Sewing Machine

 1) Start by cutting a rectangle into two sides of the filter paper. Then sew three sides leaving one open to add the tea leaves.

 2) Add the tealeaves. At this stage you could add flavourings such as peppermint etc to flavour your tea, personally I like mine plain.

 3) Cut two shapes (whatever you like) out of card. I chose a heart and made it from this lovely red glittered paper.

 4) Use your sewing machine to sew the embroidery thread to one side of your card. Then glue the other piece onto the sewed side.

5) With the other end of the thread, you need to sew the bag to the thread using your machine.

 6) Gently fold over the stich making sure the thread is central, and there is no gaps for the leaves to leak from.

 Finally sew the fold down, and thats all there is too it.

 It's super cute, and although its unpractical for everday use, it looks lovely if your having a tea party, friends over, or even as a gift!

What I love this week ♥ - My favourite drinks

1. Elderflower cordial, I love this stuff, its so yummy. I personally like Bottle Green's version.

 2). I'm not really a big alcohol drinker, but if i fancy it, it has to be Gin and cranberry, yum.

 3. Ice tea!! especially raspberry ice tea. I like homemade, and Costa's Raspberry ice tea,.

 4) Milk. You can't go wrong with milk. Milk & Cookies are the ultimate childhood combination.

 5) Pink lemonade, its just so good, and the colour so pretty too.

 6) Innocent's This water, lemon flavour. It refreshing, sharp and sweet all at the same time.

7) Lastly, but by no means least, good and proper British tea. Builders style for me.

Christmas Food Planning

Yesterday I spent the afternoon looking through magazines and internet pages for the perfect festive food ideas. I came across these lovely ideas from Jamie’s Christmas.

1) Jamie Oliver's mum's retro triffle       2) Jamie's Winter chcolate bomb ( Looks amazing)

  

 Festive forks, the perfect snacks for hungry guests and family members.

 

 

Hot chocolate and comfy blankets

Uch I have been really ill today, so I’ve stocked up on Satsuma’s, hot chocolate, hot Ribena, Tea, soup and cherry bake wells.

Also I’ve been wearing my all in one Dalmatian pyjama suit, which has kept me cosy all day.

Can't wait to feel better now though....

Raspberry Ice Tea

 I have a new food/drink obsession. Raspberry ice tea.

I usually buy ice tea from Costa, but recently I’ve been looking for the best way to replicate it for when I’m at home (our nearest Costa is Mold which is about 11 miles away) so I came up with this combination

  Lidl Lemon Ice Tea (You can use and make or brand of ice tea) and Raspberry ‘Monin’ Syrup which I bought from Amazon for £6.49. It sounds expensive but it lasts for quite a while, and is well worth the price once you taste it.

Recipe:

Add about 2-3 teaspoons of syrup to your ice tea; then add ice and lemon and Viola, a yummy drink, much cheaper than the £2.60 I pay at Costa, and just as tasty and refreshing.