"Taxidermy and Tea" Bethnal Green
If some unfortunate person wired themselves up to my brain and intrepidly explored it's recesses (a bit like a Bear Grylls version of 'The Cell') they would encounter some very particular themes. I'm fairly convinced somebody did indeed do this and was inspired to create the following: "Taxidermy and Tea"!! And as well as doing exactly what it says on the tin and providing tea and taxidermy, the event also included some of my other favourite things, such as 'tease in the form of Burlesque act Coco Deville and an Alice In Wonderland/Heston Blumenthal food mash-up courtesy of Animal Vegetable Mineral. I honestly don't know where to start...

My friend and I arrived fairly early which gave us carte blanche to dig into the amazing Mad Hatter's style spread before anyone else had a chance! The first thing we did was try the inhalable cakes which were vanilla or toffee apple flavour helium gas in colourful balloons - of course they came with the added surprise of making us sound like chipmunks which we hadn't anticipated, and made me laugh and snort the lovely 'Teapigs' tea out of my nose when Debbie started talking like Alvin.
Also available were scones, jammy dodgers, iced mushrooms that tasted like crispy cinnamon biscuits and marzipan bumblebees. I dug in to some of the savoury sandwiches first: perfect ham and mustard, buttery cheese and cucumber and spicy egg mayonnaise, before devouring the sweets.

There was a chocolate tower which needed to be smashed with a mallet, candy floss trees containing the best candy-floss I've EVER tasted and also little chocolate and beetroot mousses with chocolate 'soil' crumbs and mint leaves that made them look like little potted plants. And even though the food did taste amazing, half the fun came from putting things in your mouth that you weren't quite sure about...were the mini ice cream cones going to be sweet or savoury? Did the marzipan bees contain real honey..or real bee?! It was all so Willy Wonka - it was amazing!
After we'd filled our bellies we waddled off like Augustus Gloop and took a seat in front of the shabby heart-shaped stage to await the amazing Amanda...

What then ensued was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative session with Amanda as she 'taxidermied' a rabbit before our very eyes! The process was done in two stages with the skinning occuring for the first hour. It was very interactive, and the audience were able to shout out questions to Amanda and join in the discussion as she worked. Even better, we had a break in the middle which allowed us to re-fill on tea (or at the bar if we preferred) and shove more sweets into our eager mouths. (For an audience like us, it wasn't as if the taxidermy put us off the ham sandwiches - if anything, I really wanted a nice rabbit stew...)
Then, as we digested a bit we were regaled by the fantastic burlesque performer Coco Deville and her Alice In Wonderland inspired act. See here for a snippet:

Part two of T&T consisted of the 'stuffing' part of the taxidermy, again with step-by-step instructions and Amanda's fantastic stories and patter with the audience. The only problem is she was so good she made it look too easy and I have a feeling lots of people will try their hand at this in their kitchens at home, much to their 'other halfs' horror!
After the session we had a lovely chat with Amanda who I'd like to work with in future on various projects, and I couldn't help but wonder if taxidermy may overcome things such as knitting and crochet as a 'group' activity. Why go to Knat and Natter or Stitch and Bitch when you could take part in a Gut and Gossip session, or go to Stuff and Nonsense?! There's definitely a market for it ;) And living in a London flat where pets aren't allowed, I certainly think I've found a loophole...

All in all, the perfect way for me to spend a Saturday - it had absolutely everything...nearly... The only thing it was missing was Bear Grylls :( 
Until next time...xox
http://www.amandasautopsies.com/
http://www.avmcuriosities.com/ (Animal Vegetable Mineral)
http://www.therobincollective.co.uk/ (Experimental Pop-Up Events)
http://www.coco-deville.com/

"Big Chocolate Tea Party!" For....

Every April the SCT encourages people to throw a choccy tea party and also has stalls to sell donated cakes. This year one was in Borough Market and I baked a cake as well as helped out on the stall for a few hours. Oh my gosh it was so difficult not to shove my face in all the lovely cakes!

A nice little surprise was the organiser of 'The Cake And Bake Show 2012" which will be in earls Court during September. He donated lots of pink and glittery vanilla cupcakes that went like hot-cakes...or like cup-cakes I guess..!

I think it's definitely time to change that phrase from hot-cakes to cup-cakes as it seems the delicious single portion delights have never been so popular. In fact the lovely organiser of the campaign, Sophie Dean (Community Fundraiser for SCT), tells me we took over £1000 that day for the SCT so all in all it was a massive success :)
Thanks to everyone who came down on the day and thanks for the donated cakes from The Cake and Bake Show, Beas of Bloomsbury and Ms Cupcake among others. hope to see you at the next one xox

www.sickchildrenstrust.org

"Lost Society" 1920's afternoon tea (@Blind Tiger)

http://www.blindtigerlondon.co.uk/

Finally Easter arrived which meant I could go back to my usual creamy, meaty, chocolatey eating habits. Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against vegetarians or vegans and I absolutely love things like Quorn and tofu, but life for me is certainly about choice and balance so it was nice to be able to treat myself after a good internal spring clean...!
So I did it in style at "Lost Society" in South London, a little gem of a place that I annoyingly never knew about when I lived down that way.

For everyone who thinks that you can only find decent places to eat, drink and be merry North of the river then think again: South London has some brilliant places which aren't as full of hipsters and aren't as expensive so it's well worth taking a trip to the deep, dark South...

The decor at Lost Society is really luxurious and vintage with a theme that relies heavily on Prohibition. Cocktails are served in teapots and there are lists of pre- and post-prohibition drinks on the menu, and the music I'm happy to say was also of the right era.

The food itself was amazing! One of the best teas I've ever had. To begin with we were given a complimentary Bellini which was beautiful and felt considerably naughty at 3pm on a Sunday...

Then the sandwiches came and they were to die for. As the meat-eater to my vegetarian companion, it was left to me to devour the little open sandwiches with Coronation chicken, salmon and cream cheese and gorgeous beef and horseradish that was just the right shade of pink in the middle. My friend had the cheese and the egg ones which I'm told were delicious. We both washed them down with the Bellinis while our English Breakfast tea was brewing beside us. (I always go for English Breakfast as that is a staple I can compare across the board. But this tea menu was really interesting and provided by Tea Pigs - it even included a 'popcorn' tea which I'd love to try next time.)

'Big Chocolate Tea Party' in aid of The Sick Childrens Trust
Listen up, cake bitches! - now it's time to put your money (and your time) where your mouth is: Bake a big chocolate cake for this Saturday (April 7th) then head to Borough Market with your wares...

www.sickchildrenstrust.org

The Sick Childrens Trust are running the Big Chocolate Tea Party campaign throughout April in order to raise money to provide accomodation for the parents of sick children. This is because there are many children who need to be treated far from the family home for their conditions, and this can put a financial strain on parents and siblings. (See the direct link on your right.)
Last year the campaign enabled the SCT to provide over 600 nights of free accomodation to the families of sick children, so lets try and top that this year :)

Head down to the lovely Borough Market from Saturday early morning, either to donate a cake or to buy one. I'll be taking two cakes with me, one donated by the fantastic Crimson Heart Cafe in Shoreditch (see my other posts labelled 'Crimson Heart') and one made by my own fair hands! I'll also be volunteering on the stall so come and say 'Hi' and fill your face :) See you then xox

Shoreditch "Clandestine Cake Club" - Meeting 1

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the inaugural meeting of the Shoreditch CCC at Crimson Heart. It was so lovely sitting round and getting to know each other, and feeling (kind of) healthy due to the Vegan theme for the month. There was banana maple syrup, lemon drizzle, chocolate carrot, banana tahini, steamed berry... It was actually quite nutritious when you think about it :)

The 'Vintage Tea Party' Book - By Angel Adoree

On the way to a 1926 night at Troxy :)

What an absolutely beautiful book to own! I do love my Kindle as I'm an avid reader and it's easier for me to use that to carry the 10 books I can read in a week - but there is nothing better than holding a gorgeous book like this in your hands and going over its pages time and time again, in a big comfy chair.
And the best thing about it is it's not just a 'cook-book' but also has tips on how to source vintage china, make decorations and even get the perfect vintage look for your tea party. But because of the large range of subjects it covers, I was surprised at how sophisticated the recipes are. This is a 'grown-ups' cook book which includes dishes like smoked salmon souffle and brie & walnut savoury scones. It even includes so many things I've never even heard of...and I've been to a lot of tea parties! Coddled eggs, aspics...the list goes on.

http://vintagepatisserie.co.uk/ 

Now I'm half Irish and half Gypsy, so I thought I was aware of every possible excuse to drink during the day...champagne breakfast, bloody mary, mulled cider etc. But even I haven't heard of "Athol Brose" - a delicious combination of cream, honey, whiskey and oats to be downed with your bacon and eggs. That's next on my list to try :)
Continuing the boozy theme, there is a gorgeous selection of tea cocktails such as a 'Tea-quila Sunrise' and a 'Tea-tini'. So who thought tea parties were twee and boring?? Of course there are also some amazing recipes for sweet treats but I don't want to spoil the surprise - go and get the book!

 http://angeladoree.co.uk/ 

Angel herself is an amazing woman - you may remember her from Dragons Den (watch here):

Clandestine Cake Club
 - The first rule of Cake Club is "You do not talk about Cake Club"
 - The second rule of Cake Club is "You do not talk about Cake Club"
(or something like that...)

http://clandestinecakeclub.co.uk/

Well actually the main rule of cake Club is "NO cupcakes, muffins, brownies, pies or tarts - it's all about CAKE"

Now the end of March is drawing near, I thought I'd officially post about how proud I am to be the organiser of the Shoreditch branch of the 'Clandestine Cake Club'. The CCC was founded in the summer of 2010 by Lynn Hill, who simply wanted a way to enjoy more tea, cake and conversation without having to do ALL the baking herself. Thus, the Cake Club was born and since then the network has grown to over 70 clubs, with international groups in Spain, Switzerland and New Zealand.


I first saw this group on The One Show on Feb 24th of this year; note that at the time (1 month ago) there were reportedly only 30 CCC groups....

You can also read Lynn's write-up of the day here:  http://clandestinecakeclub.co.uk/2012/02/16/leeds-the-one-show/
I e-mailed Lynn straightaway after checking her website and seeing there was no local group near me...in fact, hardly any in London at all! Poor Lynn was inundated with e-mail but within a few days I had a location and a date for my first meeting, and the Shoreditch CCC was born.
Since then the Clandestine Cake Club has been in many magazines and newspapers, and was even on the Alan Titchmarsh show on the 16th of this month (an accolade shared by my W.I Group, the Shoreditch Sisters.) 
It will also be on Lorraine Kelly's show around March 26th and there is a cookbook featuring the best of the CCC's recipes in the pipeline to be released soon...
If you'd like to join my group or the network in general, click on the above link and get registered. You can then apply to attend the specific events, and that is a necessary part of the process as it's the 'clandestine' part! The venue is never advertised until only a few days before so you need to be registered to find out where it is... It's also a good idea to register to let the organiser know what cake you're making (so there's no duplication) and if you intend to bring a guest. The theme changes every month, and next month I have a 'Film Noir' theme to really get those innovative and creative juices flowing.
So if you like to eat, bake and talk about cake then there's a place for you in a Cake Club near you.......... x0x

Cakes and Shakes at "Fat Sam's Grand Slam"
My most recent adventure with Crimson Heart nearly involved me getting absolutely covered in cream during the infamous 'Splurge' fight - part of the 'Bugsy Malone' immersion experience hosted by Future Cinema.

We weren't selling tea but there were plenty of cakes, supplied by my favourite location for sugary shenanigans in Shoreditch: Crimson Heart Tea Shop. And standing behind the counter while the amazing smells of rocky road, vanilla cupcakes and strawberry milkshakes wafted over me was almost maddening - dairy is still off the menu for me so Fat Sam had to eat my share :(

The film run this time around is much longer than Brief Encounter, partly as it coincides with the kids Easter Holidays, so there's still a chance to get tickets. We were definitely prepared  for the onslaught of sticky fingers demanding milkshakes, coke floats and giant cupcakes like zombies demanding BRAINS, and it was nice to see that our 'hard-shakes' were just as popular for grown-ups as they contained a cheeky shot of something a bit stronger...

Thank god for  the fact I never gave up booze for Lent - I needed a shot myself by the time Ali started to sneakily let me know the splurge was going to begin soon so we needed to wrap up the cakes. I went all clumsy with the cling film and started panicking, hissing to Ali in a frantic whisper "I can't find the end, I can't find the end!!" hahaha. And honestly, what compelled me to give the counter-top a good wipe down and polish?! It stayed shiny and clean for, ooh, all of 5 seconds once the pies started flying. I've never spent so much time under a table in my life!

Crimson Heart Film Club
There is a book called 'Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe' which I did a fairly scathing review of a long time ago - it was full of schmaltz and one dimensional characters that were bordering on being fairly racist stereotypes... Needless to say I got asked to take the review down. Good. I know where I'd rather be....in the real world:

Of all the places I've had afternoon tea in London, this has become a firm favourite and I definitely consider myself a Crimson Heart Groupie. Not only are the food and drinks fantastic, the staff friendly and the atmosphere as cosy as your nan's slippers, the place is just bang on trend and full of ideas. On any given day you may find yourself visiting a pop-up flower stall in their back garden, playing retro boardgames, watching a band or attending a book club. I was there for the recent monthly film club and had an absolute blast. For the entry fee of just £5, I was plied with food and drink, I got to enjoy Weird Science in surroundings just as comfortable as if I was at home and I met some more great people.

I was on the winning team for the quiz afterwards, so I got to choose the film for next month...I'm not telling you what it is, you'll have to come and see! Also, head there this Thursday at 6pm for the clothes swap party - the Crimson Heart Swap-o-Rama! Go to http://www.facebook.com/crimsonheartshoreditch for details xx

Time for 'Tease....with Khandie Khisses

Pancake Day went well for me and involved lashings of chocolate sauce, lemon and sugar but now Lent has started and I gave up dairy again! So what to do when you run a tea blog which involves whipped cream, butter and milk?? Luckily this blog encompasses tea and 'TEASE so it seems like I’ll be focussing on the 'tease for the next six weeks ;-)

Fortunately, at a recent meeting of the ‘Dalston Darlings’ (that’s the Dalston branch of the Women’s Institute) we were treated to a lecture and burlesque lesson from the ‘Burlesque Tornado’ herself Khandie Kisses!

Khandie is an accomplished DJ, MC and model, and is expanding into the world of film with an imminent role in a movie penned by the legendary Alan Moore (most well-known for writing From Hell, Watchmen and V For Vendetta). However it is her burlesque skills we’ve come to witness today….even though it has to be said she is as funny as she is sexy, so her burlesque skills were on a par with her comedy skills!

She started the session with a chat about her journey into burlesque and how it actually began with a career in the Royal Air Force – it was hilarious to hear how she’d gone back to her old barracks to do a performance for fellow servicemen and women who were now seeing her in a new light…!

She also talked of her involvement with different burlesque festivals around the world, and the huge range of acts she could do, my favourite being ‘Baby of the Blitz’ which can be seen at: http://youtu.be/XT0WHrJVk58 and is inspired by her RAF history

Then of course, it was time to shake our own bootys with a little lesson on how to do some of those signature moves! You may have seen Christina in ‘Burlesque’ or the Abi Titmuss DVD but nothing is as good as the real thing. I only wish I hadn’t had a broken rib at the time! But it’s not a problem as Khandie is working around the UK and sometimes offers lessons in London. See http://khandiekhisses.com/ for details. I will definitely be heading to a lesson or two while she's in England....if her star keeps rising we may lose her to the allure of the bright lights of Hollywood!

Until next time xox

Also see http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dalston-Darlings-Womens-Institute/159653610732407 
and follow both on Twitter:
@KhandieKhisses and @dalstondarlings