Like tea? Then read this post.....

Hello there!

So, in my last post I mentioned that I had joined The Secret Tea Society.....so today I thought I would tell you a little bit more about the Society and the lovely ladies who I met last weekend.

The Secret Tea Society is a group for you if you are based in London, Surrey, Bath or the surrounding areas....and you enjoy a good cup of tea and a natter! We are a group of smart, tea drinking ladies who meet periodically at organised events where we enjoy tea, cake and sometimes some bubbles or the odd cocktail. Sounds good doesn't it?

There are several different membership packages that you can choose from...starting at under £18 for the year. And once you've joined you'll be able to join in the fun and attend future tea events! All events are organised by our wonderful tea leader (who can make it snow at the drop of a hat!) and range in price from £0 - £45 per person.

The ladies who I met at the last event were all incredibly friendly and welcoming, it was a truly lovely afternoon filled with laughter and tea! There were several new members at this event as well as me....but I think any onlooker would have thought we'd all known each other for years!

If you are intrigued and would like to find out more, pop by The Secret Tea Society website. You can see photos of where the ladies have enjoyed tea previously and where we'll be going in the future!

 

If you join us, you get to enjoy tea in some unusual places!

 

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea.....Fanny's Farm

Hello there,

This weekend I experienced a wonderful tea with a lovely group of ladies. About a month ago I found and joined The Secret Tea Society....a wonderful group of tea drinking ladies who enjoy nothing better than a spot of conversation over a good cup of tea (or glass of bubbles given the opportunity!).

The Secret Tea Society meet approximately once month to have a wonderful natter, and each time a different afternoon tea venue is frequented. I think you can understand already why I joined!

My first afternoon tea with the ladies couldn't have been more different to any of the other teas I have experienced so far! This time the ladies went to Fanny's Farm in Reigate and we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea in their tree house! Yes, you read that right....I had afternoon tea in a tree house!

Me and the Secret Tea Society Ladies!

Everything about Fanny's Farm is truly delightful, including its decor.....it is decorated to fit the season...we were greeted by this display when we first arrived....

 

Yes, I think they're ready for Halloween!

 

As you wander around the grounds you come across many different sites....

 

 

Until finally, among the quiet garden, you discover the tree house.....

 

Isn't that amazing?

 

The tree house was first built in 2001 and seats 10 people inside. There are several different time slots available during the day, and there are seven different menu choices to tempt your taste buds. Everything must be booked in advance, including your menu selection.....but you can make slight changes when you arrive.

 

The various menus include a cream tea, a morning coffee, a mixed tea and a ploughman's lunch. They range in price from £7.50 - £16.50, but the average menu is £9.50. I opted for the Farmhouse Tea which included a pot of tea, a scone with cream and jam and a piece of cake.

 

As you can see from the photo above as well as sweet scones, there are also savoury cheese scones on offer. All are incredibly tasty and very fresh, and rather large in size. The cheese scones came with cream cheese and a selection of fresh vegetables.

 

Lorna will be pleased to note my scone assembly!

 

The sweet scones came with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Everything was served on wonderful china....and we had huge pots of tea to share.

 

 

There was a variety of different cakes on offer to those of us who opted for cake with our tea....the portions were huge and the cakes were served with fresh fruit. We could pick from carrot cake, lemon cake and an apricot and amaretti cake.

 

I opted for the apricot and amaretti cake....which was incredibly moist and tasty. My tea cost £9.50, which considering the portion size and quality of the food was very good value.

 

All in all this was a wonderful and truly unique experience. The Farm and the tree house are beautifully maintained and decorated, the food is tasty and everyone we encountered was very friendly and helpful....even offering to take our photo when we first arrived.....

 

Inside the Tree House with The Secret Tea Society

If you are looking for a tea with a different then this is a brilliant experience.

 

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for tea...where ever we happen to be!

Hello there,

Its lovely to see you! As you might know Lorna and I have recently taken a short break from the Tea With Me And Friends afternoon tea blog.....we escaped to sunny Spain for a week of relaxation!

 

Here we are posing on the beach!

 

Now we may have been away from the country...but afternoon tea was never far from our minds! Spain might not be known for their afternoon teas and our hotel didn't serve an afternoon tea as such. But as it was an all inclusive holiday we managed to find enough snacks to put together our own afternoon tea!

 

Now there might be crusts on our sandwiches....and there wasn't a scone in sight.....but I did enjoy my sandwiches and Danish!

 

We also managed to miss out on another afternoon tea...on our flight! Yes, Thompsons offers afternoon tea on their airplanes!

 

 

Doesn't that look cute??

 

Have you ever sampled afternoon tea in the air.....or on another mode of transport? If so we'd love to hear about it....please leave us a comment!

 

Thanks for popping by today,

its lovely to see you.

 

Rachel & Lorna

My favourite words for afternoon tea

A wonderful tea inspires my creativity, I guess that's why our crafternoon teas work so well!  I find my vocabulary flourishing as I endeavour to describe all the delights that are tantalising my taste buds... As well as the bits that are slightly less than tantalising!

'Delectable', 'divine' and 'delicious' seem to be favourites of mine, althought why I'm obsessed with words beginning with the letter D, I'm not sure!

However, Rachel recently added a fabulous new word to my vocabulary when I was struggling to describe an overly moist banana bread recently, informing me that it was 'claggy'.  So perfectly descriptive!

Alas!  I cannot keep using words that begin with the letter D and 'claggy' forever so I'd love it if you would all help me out and let me know your favourite words to describe afternoon tea, both the good bits and the bad.  If we get enough suggestions Rachel and I can compile a list of our favourites and maybe challenge ourselves to use them all to describe one tea!

Regular visitors to the Tea With Me And Friends Afternoon Tea blog will know that one of Rachel's favourite words at the moment is "Scrummy"! So what words do you think should make our list? How do you describe afternoon tea? Remember it can be positive or negative!

We'd love to hear from you...either leave a comment here or track us down on Twitter!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Lorna

Other People's Afternoon Tea....Part 2 of 2

Hello there,

So if you've already seen the first part of our "Other People's Afternoon Tea" series you will know that here at the Tea With Me and Friends afternoon tea blog we've been drooling over the gorgeous photos that our fab Twitter friends have been sharing with us. The first post featured afternoon teas that our fab friends have experienced....this post is slightly different. In this post we share with you some of the wonderful afternoon teas that our friends have created.

Right get ready to feel hungry....you have been warned!

 

A beautiful sponge made by Andrew Kite

 

 

Scrummy afternoon teas created by Cupcake Diva

 

 

What a spread! Created by Delightful Tea Bakes.

 

 

A gluten free afternoon tea created by Gluten Free Living

 

 

A pretty afternoon tea prepared by Millie and Me

 

 

Indoors or out....Netherdene B&B creates scrummy looking spreads!

 

I don't know about you...I think I need to go and put the kettle on and eat a piece of cake! Don't they all look wonderful?

 

I'd like to thank all our fab friends...both old and new...for sharing their amazing creations. If you've got a tea you've experienced or created that you'd like to share with us we'd love to see it!

 

Either leave us a comment here, or come and find us on Twitter!

 

Thanks for popping by today,

its lovely to see you!

 

Rachel and Lorna