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

Time for Tea.....BRGR.CO

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends. Today we are asking the question...when is an afternoon tea not an afternoon tea?

Recently Lorna and I visited BRGR.CO in Soho London as a treat for our friend Sheree's Birthday. We were looking for something a little different to celebrate Sheree's Birthday, but we know she enjoys a spot of tea and so when we saw the burger inspired afternoon tea on offer at BRGR.CO we thought that would be perfect.

If you don't know about BRGR.CO they offer high quality gourmet burgers in Soho, London.....but we were there to sample their afternoon tea menu....

Afternoon tea with a difference - BRGR.CO

The purist out there will notice that although there is a savoury and sweet eleement to the menu, and also a tea (of the iced variety) there is not a scone in sight and therefore you may already be questioning the naming of this menu.

The drink refreshments come in the form of a glass of chilled Proseco and a goblet of homemade iced tea. Although there is a choice of flavours on the website we were not offered a selection to pick from.....

Bubbles and iced tea - BRGR.CO

In keeping with a traditional afternoon tea theme the rest of the items were all dinky in size. The savoury selection included three different sliders and the cutest portion of chips.....

The savoury selection
Afternoon Tea at BRGR.CO

The varierty of sliders included a butchers cut and cheese (mini beef burger to you and me), a chicken ceaser and a lobster BLAT. The fillings were fresh and generous, and the flavours were good. The brichoe buns were perfectly glazed and soft.

These were the perfect size for nibbling on as you had a gossip - but don't visit when you are really hungry as you will only be offered the one serving. My favourite slider was the lobster one, although the beef was also very good.

The tiny fries were sadly small in portion size. They were crisp and light, perfectly salted - if I am honest we all wanted more of them (but that could be the salt talking!).

Once we had finished with the savouries we moved onto the sweet selection....

The sweets....
afternoon tea at BRGR.CO

Now, this is where I felt a little let down in the afternoon tea .....yes they were all bite sized and yes everything was fresh, but it wasn't particulary inventive. The best bit was the vanilla milkshake which was rich and creamy. The small piece of chocolate brownie was also nice, but I have enjoyed better. The cheesecake was ok, but the salted caramel doughnut left us all cold....the caramel  filling either being non-existant (in Sheree's case) or it had leaked out from the doughnut onto the tray.

The service and ambience was also not in keeping with a traditional afternoon tea. We only saw the waiter when we ordered and when our food was brought out, we actually had to ask for our bill. However, at £17 per person you cannot argue the value of the experience.

BRGR.CO is ultimately a burger restuarant, they offer good burgers in a fun environment.....and they had a good go at an afternoon tea....but we were all left feeling that they had jumped on the band wagon a little here. If you want a fun experience then it was perfect...if you are more of a traditionalist I would probably go elsewhere!

For more information about the afternoon tea on offer at BRGR.CO please visit their website.

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea......Hyatt Regency The Churchll

Hey there,

As the smoke is still clearing after the 4th of July fireworks to the west, it seems a good idea to let you know about the recent visit our fab friends, Becca & Becky, made to the Sex & the City par-tea at Hyatt Regency The Churchill.  As you can imagine there is a strong American twist on the typical afternoon tea here so maybe this one is not for the traditionalists among you.  However if you fancy something a little bit different then this is it!  

Fancy something a little bit different?

 

 Delectable mini burgers and hotdogs take the place of finger sandwiches and there is, of course, a cool cocktail to wash everything down.  The cocktail in question was the Flirtini, a delicious champagne based, fruity drink.  The cakes and pastries were fabulous, even tempting the savoury lover at the table to finish every single one.
If you are a fan of the TV series or movie Sex in the City you will enjoy the nods to the main characters including a pink stiletto for Carrie and an appletini jelly for Samantha. There is definitely a hint of Manhattan glamour to this afternoon tea!

The fabulous Flirtini cocktail!

At £38 for a standard tea and £47 if you fancy the cocktail too, this is a little bit of a treat....but the food does keep coming, you just have to ask for it! Overall a wonderful afternoon was had.  The service may have been a teensy bit slow at times but the friendly and apologetic staff (not to mention the cocktail!) made up for this. Maybe us Brits aren't the only ones who can pull off the perfect afternoon tea..!

Thanks for popping by today, if you've enjoyed this review please leave us a comment to let us know!

 

 

Rachel & Lorna

xxx