The return of afternoon tea.

Is it just me, or is there an abundance of vintage-style teacups and cupcake paraphernalia in the shops at the moment? This can mean only one thing - afternoon tea is back! Hurrah! Wave goodbye to coffee mornings and afternoon frappacinos and go buy yourself a teapot.

2011's afternoon teas are super-sweet, preferably al fresco and involve a lot of florals. Here is my checklist for throwing the perfect afternoon tea:

• Mismatched vintage teacups and saucers (try charity shops or ebay for these or get new vintage-style lones from http://www.dotcomgiftshop.com/)

• A teapot (because, lets be honest, proper tea needs one)

http://www.dotcomgiftshop.com/search/content/teapot

• Cute gingham or floral tablecloth (ooh maybe some bunting too?)

http://www.cottonbunting.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Shades_of_floral_bunting.html

• Cupcakes (for extra cute-factor get a stand too)



Wilton 307-831 13 Count Cupcake Stand

• And proper tea (none of this green stuff!)

Taa Daa! Now you have an afternoon tea perfect for catching up with good friends, or celebrating something fabulous. 

If you prefer to let someone do the hard work for you, here are my fave afternoon tea venues:

• The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne http://www.grandeastbourne.com/dining-afternoon-tea.html
• Browns (here you can opt for a G&T instead of tea - I know... genius!) http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/locations/bristol/menus/food/pudding-afternoon-tea-0211/
• Boston Tea Party http://www.bostonteaparty.co.uk/

Do you brunch?

I am fairly new to the art of brunching, but I have taken to it like the proverbial duck to water. I think, being born and raised in Surrey, on some level I have always been destined to brunch - it was inevitable.

I used to think brunch was just what you called a meal between breakfast and lunch, i.e. if I got up at 11am and ate a kit-kat and a sausage roll - that was brunch. Oh how wrong I was! I have come to realise that a truly fabulous brunch involves a cafe, many cappuccinos, good friends, and can take up to 3 hours. Oh yes, now I've had a taste of proper mid-morning dining I'm never going back.

After trying a few, my favourite venue has to be Cafe Rouge. It is a lot less pretentious than other places I have been to, the prices are reasonable and they have a great selection of British and French inspired breakfast dishes. My favourite is the 'Pain perdu' (French toast topped with strawberries, blueberries and banana with Bonne Maman honey to drizzle) but I have been reliably informed that the Croque Madame is pretty good too.

Pain Perdu

http://www.caferouge.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunch

And if you prefer a DIY brunch: Bubby's Brunch Cookbook: Recipes and Menus from New York's Favorite Comfort Food Restaurant

It's not about the cheese... It's about what the cheese represents.

For those of you who don't know, the number one crime you could commit in a student house is stealing food. You could pretty much get away with playing your music loud or never loading the dishwasher, but the moment you use someone else's butter or nick a pot noodle, you've crossed a line.
Why does this particular vice trump all the others? You may well ask. Well, the answer is in the title of this post:

It's not about the food. It's about what the food REPRESENTS.

And what does the food represent? TRUST
Not just any ordinary trust, but the bond of trust between housemates. You don't want to live in a house with people you can't trust, it stops it feeling like home.

Ok so it's also a little bit about the food... students are on a budget... we can't afford to be paying to feed other people.

So let that be a lesson to all those who live/will soon be living in student houses...just pop to the shops... it's not worth it!