Category Archives: afternoon tea

Last week, in pictures

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Harrogate Turkish Baths, relaxation room
After another set of nights last weekend, I needed some rest and relaxation. The Turkish baths in Harrogate ticked both of those boxes. The building is absolutely gorgeous, having recently been restored to its Victorian opulence. We spent a leisurely couple of hours soaking up the heat and occasionally braving the bracing plunge pool. The tension I’ve been feeling in my neck feels easier and my skin, more hydrated. I’d like to back in the winter, the heat will feel extra luxurious when it’s cold outside.

Homemade chocolate cake with mum's homegrown grapes
Knowing that I love cake, my aunt baked her first cake in years. Chocolate, coffee cake with chocolate cream. Decorated with grapes from my mother’s garden.

The Midland Manchester, Royal Afternoon Tea
On Wednesday it was time for afternoon tea with Em and Han. Tea at the Midland has been on my Manchester to-do list forever and it was so worth the wait! We dined on crustless sandwiches and dainty pastries, whilst sipping endless cups of tea. There may also have been a glass of bubbles…

Alberts Schloss negroni sharer
The weather was so unbelievably gorgeous that on my walk home after tea, I rang husband and told him we were going out for dinner. We walked back into town, without jackets, and found ourselves at Alberts Schloss where we ate the most delicious German food. It was the best way to celebrate what will surely be one of the last warm days of the year.

Pot Kettle Black, Manchester. Wagon Wheel Brownie

We’ve had a quiet weekend, spent mostly at home or mooching around town. We started Saturday with lacklustre coffee and brownies in Pot Kettle Black – a shame since their main dishes are so damn tasty. A grocery shop, some time in the kitchen and an early night finished the day off.

Smitten Kitchen flapjacks
I made these flapjacks and they were insanely good. So good that they were gone by Sunday morning.

I also unearthed an unopened bag of red onions that went out of date over 6 weeks ago! They were perfectly fine however so I chopped them up and caramelised them, before throwing together some tarts with a block of goats cheese that has been living in the freezer for about a year.

The end of September

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The weather has turned in the last few days. The rain was icy cold last night and I took a hot water bottle to bed. We’re steadfastly refusing to turn the heating on in our house, but I know it won’t be long before I crack. I saw my breath in the cold air this morning and I swear there was a glisten of frost on the grass, but I’m choosing to ignore it for now. It has only just turned October, after all.

The last two weeks of September were spent with family and friends. A particular quirk of my current job is that I don’t get to pick when I take my annual leave – it’s fixed into my rota. A fact I wasn’t particulate pleased with initially, but being forced to have two full weeks off work is actually rather nice.

Unusually for me, I didn’t make any travel plans and instead tried to focus on spending time with my people, and relaxing.

Monday

I finished my stretch of night shifts and after a particularly infuriating journey home – travelling into Manchester during morning rush hour is my own personal hell – I made it back and was reunited with my bed. A 90 minute snooze later, I went into town to meet a friend for brunch at Pot Kettle Black – the merguez eggs were divine. I wandered over to the Northern Quarter to take a coat to the tailors before treating myself to a fro-yo, finally cashing in all those loyalty cards I have been holding on to.

Tuesday
I relaxed.

Wednesday



There was afternoon tea to celebrate a birthday and an opportunity to catch up with old friends from my last job – I miss those nutters.

After tea, I drove across the Pennines to see my family.  I finally gave into the germs that had been threatening to ruin my week and went to bed at 7pm. My cousin was up from London and we spent some quality cousin time together in the hours that I managed to stay awake.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday

More sleep and lots of sorting through piles of knick-knacks for a car boot my mother and I planned to have on Sunday.

I also successfully made salted caramel without a thermometer – I like to think it was skill, but really it was just pure luck.

Sunday

I woke up at half 5  for our car boot. We didn’t make much money but we did shift a fair amount of stuff and I had fun people watching. Our unsold wares are to go to the charity shop.

Then it was to Leeds for tea and a catch up with Lyds. We made a friend, who was more interested in our food than she was in us.

Monday

Lunch with my in laws

Wednesday
I went to my first ever book club. We discussed Normal People by Sally Rooney. I did not like the book, but I really enjoyed the evening.

Thursday

I popped back to Yorkshire to go to an event at the Redbrick Mill – a wonderful, converted mill which I have enjoyed visiting for years. I went with R and we chatted about mortgages and solicitors and felt very grown up. We listened to some wonderful bloggers speak, drank bubbles and ate vegan brownies. I resisted the urge to buy all the yellow things.

Friday

I met Em’s gorgeous beagle and we took her for a walk along the river Mersey. Then I met another friend and ended up on another walk. We covered 8 miles and stopped for food along the way. He ordered soup and then nicked my chips.

Sunday

My cousin came to visit. She told me she didn’t eat breakfast because she knew our day would involve lots of food.

We had an insanely delicious pineapple and coconut donut from Siop Shop and then filled our savoury bellies with snacks at Bundobust. We hopped on a tram to the Quays to see the poppies at the Imperial War Museum. I made my cousin share an ice-cream and fed her pho and summer rolls before sending her home.

In Monton

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This weekend has been the first one we’ve spent at home in  Manchester, just the two of us, in forever. It has been lovely and much needed.

Today we decided to head up the road to Monton. We spent a couple of hours walking the streets, imagining what it would be like to live in one of the fantastic gigantic old houses in Ellesmere Park. I would have one room for shoes and another one for dresses. And a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves.

I spied a couple of Qubek’s pieces just off Monton high street and made husband wait an age whilst I took far too many pictures.

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We ended our afternoon with a cream tea at a tea room – good, strong tea but not so great scones. As a personal preference, I do not think any thing is made better by glacé cherries.

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Las Vegas, eating

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It’s lovely remembering how much fun I had on holiday last month, as I sit here this evening in cold, rainy Manchester, wearing a million layers of clothing to try and keep warm.

Here are some of the foods we enjoyed in Vegas. I would love to go back to the city one day soon just so I can get through more of the food that’s on offer there.

Fried chicken at Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, Grand Bazaar

Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken

Exactly what we needed after a day road tripping. Super juicy fried chicken and crispy fries with a cracking selection of sauces. If I were to go again I’d skip the mac and cheese – it was fine but not great and it used up some belly space I would have rather filled with chicken.

Sandwiches at Eggslut, The Cosmopolitan

Eggslut

Every Eggslut we passed on our trip had stupidly long queues outside it, that’s how good it is. We arrived at the one in the Cosmopolitan at half 9 expecting it to be fairly quiet, because who gets up early on the strip? Plenty of people, it turns out. On seeing the size of the queue, R had the genius idea that we should pop round the corner to Milk and pick up some milkshakes to keep us going while we queued. 30 minutes later, I had a tasty, drippy, egg sandwich in my hands and all over my face. Lovely! I highly recommend.

Milkshakes at Milk Bar, Cosmopolitan

Milk

Full of calcium so basically a health drink, right? My soul certainly felt nourished after a White Russian.

A slice at Secret Pizza, Cosmoplitan

Half the fun of this place is trying to figure out where it is. The pizza was decent and at $5 a slice, well priced considering how expensive everything else is on the strip.

Afternoon tea at Mandarin Oriental

Afternoon Tea, FoodAfternoon Tea at the Mandarin OrientalAfternoon Tea, SavoryAfternoon Tea, Cake Details

One of my favourite experiences of the whole trip. I love an afternoon tea and I was super excited when R, after the success of our tea in Belfast, suggested one for this holiday. I chose the Madarin based purely on pictures I saw online of the view you have of the strip. The Tea Lounge is set on the 23rd floor, and the floor-to-ceiling windows give you a fantastic view of the strip and the desert beyond. We arrived at 3 and left late, after the sun had set. It was quite magical watching the city light up as the skies darkened. My only (small) complaint would be that there wasn’t enough cream to go with my scones – I like them to be piled sky high with pillows of cream and a dollop of jam on top. I’m sure I could’ve asked for more but I was too busy drinking endless mimosas to be bothered.

Sushi Burritos at Jaburritos

Linq Promenade, High Roller

I was excited to try Jaburritos after seeing pictures on Instagram but I was a bit overwhelmed by the menu when we got there.  I ended up picking the Long Beach because it was the first burrito that I saw that had spicy tuna in it. I accidentally picked very well, it was delish. Its setting on the Linq promenade made for some excellent people watching whilst we ate.

Cupcakes at Sprinkles

Sprinkles Red Velvet

Sprinkles Cupcakes

Sprinkles was a place that I wanted to try because I’d seen and heard so much about them over the years. We had a selection of the small cupcakes. They were tasty enough, but not life changing so.

Burger and fries at In-N-Out

In'N'Out Quality You Can Taste

My google map of places for us to eat was so long, you probably couldn’t have hit all the spots over the course of a month, never mind the two days we were actually there. Despite that, we went for a repeat trip to In’N’Out because we enjoyed the burgers our first time round that much!

In'N'Out