Can you guess our Style Era?

Tea With Me and Friends

Hello there,

Welcome back to a slightly different post from Tea With Me and Friends....as today as well as a little tea and cakes we're also going to be talking a little bit about style.

We were recently shown this fab online tool from Glitzy Secrets which, with the click of a couple of buttons, helps you find your ideal look from bygone eras. Lorna and I love nothing better than throwing aside our usual clothes and "dressing up"...whether that be in fab vintage finds or reproduction clothes.....or even the odd cowboy hat here or there! So we loved the idea of this tool and was keen to take a peek.

Now anyone who pops by regularly will probably not be surprised by our result....in fact we weren't really surprised either...but it was fun to click through the images. Yes, we got....The Rockin 50s!

Lorna rocking her 50s wiggle dress

The era of full skirts, petticoats, narrow waits and the odd neckerchief...not to mention strong lipsticks and beautifully style hair....both Lorna and I adore this stylish era (and the music was awesome too!). In fact we love it so much that each year in November we head off to Rhythm Riot, a 1950s rhythm and blues weekend held in Camber, Sussex. It's a weekend where we can let our hair down (or rather curl it up) and wear our favourite 50s styles for a whole weekend.

Our 50s style is probably influenced rather a lot by the American fashions, but as well as all the full dresses and petticoats you'll also find the odd wiggle dress as well....

Our passion doesn't stop with the evening wear though, we are also partial to a pair of high waisted turns up for the daytime. Surprisingly comfy and roomy...if you haven't tried a pair of high-waisted turn ups we'd highly recommend it....we've already converted a couple of our friends!

Tea With Me and Friends

Now, this got me thinking a bit....we love the 1950s fashion...but how could this translate into our other passion....afternoon tea? 

Well, I've had a 1950s Birthday party previously and I think some of the food I made then would also make a wonderful 1950s themed afternoon tea. Obviously we'd need to start with some savouries....but I would move away from the traditional finger sandwiches in this case and try something a little more American....

1950s style afternoon tea savoury treats

Mini burgers and hotdogs can easily be bought in packs now from supermarkets, but they are also really easy to make yourself once you have found the mini rolls. They also look incredibly cute on the table and I think would work well in an afternoon tea. We have experienced mini hotdogs and burgers once before when we enjoyed the Sex & the City par-tea at Hyatt Regency The Churchill. 

For the cake part of your 1950s afternoon tea adventure you could try making some cola flavoured cupcakes.....

1950s inspired cola cupcakes

These cupcakes were flavoured using soda stream cola syrup and were topped with cola icing and of course some mini cola bottles. They turned out surprisingly well, with a delicate cola taste which wasn't overpowering or artificial in taste. These proved so popular that I have made them several times since.

Another sweet treat could include a peanut butter muffin....

Admittedly slightly bigger than our usual afternoon tea sweet treat, but just as scrummy! Made with peanut butter in both the sponge and the icing.

Or how about some salted caramel cake....

This was a plain sponge layered with vanilla icing and a salted caramel filling - perfect if you wanted to serve a coffee for your afternoon tea adventure!

Other things you could include in your spread would be pretzels and bottles of coke.....

A 1950s inspired tasty afternoon tea spread!

I think our love of the 1950s translates really well into an afternoon tea adventure which would make a fun afternoon with friends and family!

So, over to you....what do you think? Are there any other treats that we could add to our 1950s afternoon tea spread? 

We're submitting this blog post into a competition run by Glitzy Secrets, take a peek here to learn more and vote for us!

Thanks for popping by today,

Tea With Me and Friends

Rachel & Lorna

Meet the Head Chef......

Hello there,

Welcome back to another blog post from Tea With Me and Friends, this time we are meeting the Head Chef  Sergio Neale at the Reform Social & Grill in Marylebone London, creator of the Vintage themed afternoon tea currently on offer.

Vintage Afternoon Tea
Reform Social & Grill

We visited the Reform Social & Grill last weekend and loved the concept of the afternoon tea, and afterwards Chef Sergio kindly answered some questions for us.....

Q. Why did you decide to feature a themed afternoon tea at the Reform Social & Grill?
Many places have themed afternoon teas and to add a little something extra to the classic option. I just tried to find something that is very on trend at the moment.

Q. We love the idea of an afternoon tea inspired by the 1940s/50s - what made you pick this particular era?
It a time in Britain when things were hard, with rationing still in place for much of the time, Britain pulled together, people did the best with what they had. But even thought times were hard people really knew how to have a good time. Its an inspiring time and at tea time, people enjoyed themselves and this is exactly what we want people to do here. Indulge, dress up and enjoy. 

Q How long did it take you to create this new afternoon tea?
The creation of this afternoon tea took around 3 month from the idea to 

Q. Was it hard to pick which fancies to include in the afternoon tea?
Not really! I just think back to what my granddad used to cook for me. Plus I have his some of his recipes which are amazing.

Q. What is your favourite part of this afternoon tea?
Bananas and custard, it’s a classic mums quick dessert, it’s a brilliant combination  

Q. Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself and have you tried tea anywhere else?
I do enjoy afternoon teas, I enjoy classic tea rooms were they serve big wedges of cakes and eccals cakes as big as dinner plates. But for something a little special I would recommend sketch.

Head Chef - Sergio Neale
Reform Social & Grill

Q. What is your favourite filling in an afternoon tea sandwich?
Coronation chicken. A classic but we worked hard on getting the right combination of spices so its unforgettable

Q. The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?
Cream, you can get more on if the cream goes on first, its harder to spread cream on top of jam

Q. If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why?
Definitely tea with the Queen! 

As you can imagine Lorna and I were pleased to hear that Chef Sergio dresses his scones in the correct way - cream first! We'll be enjoying a spot of afternoon tea at Sketch next month and so we were also pleased to see the recommendation here!

A big thank you to Chef Sergio for answering our questions and we hope you've enjoyed our latest instalment in the "meet the chef" blog articles.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....Reform Social & Grill

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea blog post from Tea With Me and Friends, last weekend Lorna and I and a group of friends experienced a new afternoon tea on offer at Reform Social & Grill in London.

I had been told about their vintage afternoon teas with live music inspired by the 40s and 50s, where guests are encouraged to dress for the occasion. Well anyone who has popped by our blog before will know that Lorna and I love a bit of vintage...so we got a group of girls together and put our 50s attire on and headed into London....

Tea With Me and Friends -
ready for a spot of afternoon tea

Now, Lorna and I have visited the Reform Social & Grill on several occasions before and have always enjoyed good food and great service, and so we were looking forward to this afternoon experience. You can either enjoy a vintage afternoon tea with traditional cakes and tea or you can opt for unlimited bubbles (for two hours) with your tea. Any regular visitors to our blog will not be surprised to learn that we opted for the bubbles! 

The tea begins with a seasonal Bellini each - we could choose from peach or raspberry. Our afternoon included live music from singers Verity and Violet, however when they are not performing music from the 40s and 50s is played in the restaurant.

After we had each picked our tea from the varied tea menu, the cake stands were brought out. The tea looked lovely, and we had vintage china instead of the usual white china used for previous afternoon teas.

Vintage afternoon tea
Reform Social & Grill

Two of our guests didn't fancy the salmon sandwiches and the waiter happily substituted these for one of the other varieties. On the sandwich plate was cucumber and cream cheese, smoked salmon and horseradish, coronation chicken and duck egg mayonnaise.

Afternoon tea sandwiches - Reform Social & Grill

If I'm honest these were not the best sandwiches that we have enjoyed with afternoon tea (although there were crust free and dainty in size!). The fillings were ok, but the bread was rather soggy. The beetroot bread from the salmon sandwich also dyed the sandwiches which we on either side of it. 

We then moved onto the scones - we had one each, which was accompanied with raspberry jam and clotted cream.

Fruity scones - Reform Social & Grill

The scones were lovely - I could have eaten another one really! They were light and fluffy inside and there was plenty of cream for everyone.

We then moved onto the top tier of the cake stand.....the vintage inspired sweet treats.

Vintage inspired cakes - Reform Social & Grill

There was a good selection of cakes and we all got one each - so no sharing here! The selection included lemon pound cake, apple turnovers, mini treacle tarts, jam roly poly pudding and rose petal meringues.

Afternoon tea - Reform Social & Grill

Unfortunately this was a rather disappointing tier, something that we all agreed on. The concept of this tea is wonderful and I was so excited to try all the old fashioned treats - but they just didn't hit the spot for us. The highlight was probably the apple turnover, but the low point is tied between several of the cakes. The treacle tart was a little too small and a little over baked - it was like eating a mouthful of pastry. The meringues were rather buttery....in fact I couldn't tell you that they were flavoured with rose petals.

The service was also sadly lacking on this particular visit, which also surprised me as everyone was always so attentive previously. Both our teacups and our prosecco glasses ran dry several times during the afternoon, resulting in us needing to catch someones eye and request "more please".

The live entertainment however was brilliant, we all enjoyed seat dancing along to the vintage inspired songs that Verity and Violet sang....and they looked beautiful in their outfits....

Vintage inspired entertainment
Verity and Violet

This was a lovely addition to the vintage afternoon tea experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.

You can partake in a vintage afternoon tea, complete with live music on the first Sunday of each month, but the vintage tea itself is served all the time (without the music). The tea will cost you £26.50 each and if you'd like to enjoy unlimited Prosecco it will cost £28.50 each. The food in this tea is limited to what you see in these photos, however if you want to order another plate of anything you can at a charge.

Considering we enjoyed rather good live music with our tea I do think its good value for money, but I would have liked just one more of those scrummy scones.

Have you enjoyed a vintage inspired afternoon tea anywhere? If so we'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Tea for Tea.....in the 1950s!

Hello there!

I hope you are keeping well today. Firstly I am sorry for all the photos in this post....I couldn't help myself!

This weekend Lorna, Becca and I did a little time travelling as we joined Rhythm Riot in Pontins Camber Sands for their action packed 1950s weekend! There was plenty of 1950s fashion, music, dancing and cars....all in the wonderful settings of Pontins. Lorna and I got into the swing of things with our new 1950s clothes....

1950s day wear!

But we also found time for a spot of tea and cakes. If you know the area, you'll know that the little town of Camber sits about 15 minutes away from the beautiful town of Rye....and it was to Rye we headed to (on a 1950s bus!) find some sweet treats!

On Saturday we visited Simon the Piemans....

 

 

We found this fab tearoom behind the main high street and were enticed in by the amazing window full of sweet treats and the inviting fire.....

 

Who wouldn't want to stop here for some tea and cake??

 

We were pleased to get a nice spot by the fire!

 Simon the Piemans didn't offer a full afternoon tea, I could have enjoyed scones and tea...but on this occasion I fancied something a little more substantial and so we all opted for savoury items followed by some cake. To start I ordered the egg sandwiches (good old fashioned sliced, boiled eggs with mayonnaise if requested) on brown bread, with a pot of tea.

Tea and egg sandwiches

The sandwiches were freshly made to order, the bread was fresh and filling plentiful. I'm glad they asked me about the mayonnaise though...it would have been a little dry without it! Meanwhile Lorna had opted for something a little different....

A large pork pie and salad. Lorna reported that the pork pie was very tasty, with the right amount of jelly!

 

We then moved onto the sweet items....and the menu keep us occupied for some time as there was a lot to pick from! In the end I decided to sample my first mince pie of 2013......

Warm mince pie and whipped cream - scrummy!

I was not disappointed with my choice....the pie was warm and served with whipped cream. The mincemeat was tasty and the pastry just the right thickness. All in all this was a rather scrummy mince pie!

 

Becca went for a piece of the scrummy looking chocolate and walnut brownie....

 

Becca let me try a piece of her brownie and I am pleased she did....it was rich, chocolately and full of walnuts. A very nice end to our lunchtime!

 

Unfortunately the service isn't the fastest, but the food was good and the tearoom itself is lovely - the open fire really makes the space. If you're in the area and fancy a piece of cake, its definitely worth a visit!

 

 The next day we headed back to Rye to sample the delights of The Cobbles Tea Room...again this is tucked off the main high street in Rye....but once you've found it you'll definitely visit again! Lorna and I had actually visited this tea room last year and so we knew some of the treats that lay behind the cute signage....


Afternoon Tea at The Cobbles Tearoom

First off we needed to order some drinks.....and Becca took our advice, ordering the Cobbles Special hot chocolate.....

 

Hot chocolate anyone?

Served in a teacup, this hot chocolate is rich and creamy, topped with marshmallows and then piled high with cream! Its a meal in itself and a must for all hot chocolate lovers. Lorna and I opted for a pot of tea.....

 

Time for tea?

 There was a good selection of black and green teas to pick from, and if you liked a particular tea you could also buy leaves to take home with you. This tea however, was to accompany the afternoon tea for one that I decided I needed to sample....

Afternoon tea for one....

 The tea consists of a pot of the house tea, sandwiches (picked from a list of fillings), a warm scone with cream and jam and a generous slice of cake (again picked from the selection on offer that day).

 

I was a little disappointed that I couldn't have the egg mayonnaise that I had ordered(there was only enough for one person and so I let Lorna enjoy the egg), instead I opted for tuna mayonnaise. However, the sandwiches were fresh and tasty. 

 

The scone was the highlight of this tea...not only was it served warmed....it was also homemade and extremely tasty. We enjoyed having a pot of cream and jam to ourselves, and piled our scones high!

 

There was several different cakes on offer...I opted for a lemon drizzle cake and Lorna went for the coffee and walnut. Both slices were large and tasty (although mine had a little too much drizzle on the top for my taste).

 

 We really enjoyed our experience at The Cobbles Tearoom, which is over 50 years old. The service was friendly and quick and the food was homemade. If you are visiting Rye, you should pop by!

Lorna and I enjoying our tea!

All in all we had a lovely tea-fuelled 1950s weekend.

Matching car and outfit...what more could a girl want?

I even picked out my next car!!

 

If you have an interest in the 1950s, then the Rhythm Riot weekend might be just the thing for you...take a peek at their website for more information!

 

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna