Time for a Blooming Great Country Tea Party

We are hosting a Marie Curie Blooming Great Tea Party on Sunday July 10 which I'm very excited about. I'm going to take over the whole kitchen (again!) and turn it into my idea of the perfect Tea Room with lots of bunting, mismatched china and, of course, Cake! I can't wait!


I'm inviting lots of friends and family for, what I hope will be, one of many Pop Up Tea Room Events in The Secret Kitchen, in aid of some very worthwhile causes. 


I also have 4 spare places (because it's always fun to meet new people!) for anyone who would like to come along (it's free, but donations will be extremely welcome given the cause that we're supporting). So, do email me if you'd like to come along for an afternoon of Tea and Cake-come on, how can you refuse?!

American Pancakes with Strawberries and Preparations for a New Arrival

It has been a little while since my last post which I thought I should rectify today! Things have been so busy over the past couple of months that I can't believe that it's almost the middle of May. I'm slowly but surely increasing the number of lovely little places that I supply and orders are flooding in from all those fab customers from Not on the High Street-so thank you to all those who continue to support me!


Since the weather has turned so summery and bright, we've been outside doing lots of jobs-I spent most of yesterday with my brother collecting and chopping logs. Saturday was taken up with an equally fun project-planning the arrival of our newest additions: two little pigs! I am so excited as I have always wanted us to become a little more self sufficient than we are. We have the hens and the veg' plot, but I'd love to produce my own pork, so, after much discussion, we've decided to give it a go-pictures of the latest recruits to follow! But, I hope they look like these ones belonging to our friends.... 

When you're out and about in the fresh air, you need a good breakfast to set you up for the day. On Sunday, we had a plateful of American Pancakes with Strawberries and Greek Yoghurt and it kept us going all the way through to lunch-give them a go and let me know what you think

This recipe comes from BBC Food

Ingredients

·         135g/4¾oz plain flour

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         ½ tsp salt

·         2 tbsp caster sugar

·         130ml/4½fl oz milk

·         1 large egg, lightly beaten

·         2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

·         Strawberries, Greek Yoghurt and some kind of Berry Jam to serve

1.    Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

2.    Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.

3.    Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.

4.    Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.

5.    Serve with lashings of Strawberries, Yoghurt and Jam