What Goes Well With Tea?

Have you ever thought of that? What goes well with tea?

I started to think about that after my husband introduced me to one of the best British delicacy called Rich Tea biscuit. I mean, the name says it all, doesn’t it? Rich Tea… the biscuit that makes tea drinking experience even richer? Am I pushing it?

The traditional Cream Tea — Tea, scone, cream and jam

Then of course, along came Cream Tea. Scone is probably one of the best thing that can happen to tea. Those are new to me, because in Indonesia, and in my Chinese culture, tea is not enjoyed the way people do here in the UK. Completely different.

For example, in Indonesia we don’t need to drink tea from a cup. We enjoy it hot or cold, with or without sugar. But never… with milk or any whitener. Or lemon, as lemon is not widely accessible in Indonesia — expensive because it is an imported fruit.

Chinese Tea in a Bakutteh Restaurant in Malaysia. Definitely a must try… 

While my mum is a coffee drinker, my dad is a tea drinker. He enjoys a good tea, and only drink it black. I think I learn it from him. The difference is, while I am not too fussy with my tea, my father could be a mini pain in the neck when he started making comments about what tea should be. Come to think of it.. almost all his siblings are pretty fussy about tea.

Whenever I come back from Indonesia, I always bring some boxes of tea for me and my sister in law. Indonesian tea (especially the jasmine tea version) is generally more fragrant than tea in the UK, which was imported from India. I am not saying they’re better, but I am used to tea from the other part of the world, and processed differently too. I mean, there are hundreds or thousands of tea variety in the world, in the end it is all about your preference, isn’t it?

Right… while in that part of Asia we enjoy tea with almost everything — including savoury food, here we have a special kind of tea drinking experience called Afternoon Tea, or High Tea.

High Tea or Afternoon Tea… Three Tiered Yums

I was finally able to convince my DH to go with me to enjoy an Afternoon Tea in the city. He is a coffee drinker, so he swapped his tea with coffee — don’t mind the heathen. He thought Afternoon Tea is an overpriced cake eating experience. I beg to differ…

I believe that afternoon tea is not just about eating cake and sandwich while drinking tea. For me it is a way for us to allocate a time for just us, enjoying the finer things in life without distraction from computer games, or mobile phone apps, or tv show. It is a great way to go on a date as a couple.

Seriously.

And you know what? When we finished the afternoon tea (we were allowed to bring the leftover home, so… bonus), he admitted that he quite enjoyed the whole experience. See?

Anyway… what else goes well with tea? You guessed it…

Knitting.

x ❤ x

 

This Weekend…

Hello you… and you… and you…

…

Goodness… It’s so awkward to sound like an outgoing person. Let’s just skip that bit. How’s your weekend?

I started a new WIP, a jacket for my husband. Or cardigan. I honestly can’t really see the difference. Do you know the difference between jacket and cardigan for men. My husband likes to call it jacket because it probably sounds more manly for him.

Whatever works, Bro…

I am using the green wool I bought from iceyarn long time ago. I had it when it was on sale, and I only had for skeins of green. That’s why I combine it with blue for the ribbing bits. Hopefully it would be enough. Husband chose the colour combo, and I though it works alright. Let’s see…

We also went for another cream tea day. Now we had one in Ludham.

The tea room is called Alfresco Tea Room. Tea is wonderful. Food is exceptional. Husband bought Norfolk Pasties for himself, and thoroughly enjoyed his meal with a glass of latte. We love it. Better yet, the food and drink are very affordable. That is surprising because they’re using high quality local produce.

Recommended. Obviously.

So… there. We had a great weekend, too bad that all good things come to an end… Hope you had a great one too.

x ❤ x

Bake Off is On (Again)

Despite feeling utterly devastated last year, knowing that The Great British Bake Off is no longer broadcasted on BBC, I can’t help feeling excited to know that it is back on telly last night. Of course it is not the same without Queen Mary (Berry), but hey… change could be good. It did not work with Top Gear, but QI is doing okay without Mr. Fry.

The adverts, though… We could all do without them. But being a positive me, I think adverts time is the best time to count stitches.

 

Anyway… I warned my husband that with Bake Off on telly, it means there would be a massive amount of baked goods coming out of the kitchen. When I heard him grumping, I told him that if he did not like what I bake, he could always share with the colleagues. Apparently he was grumping because he knew he had to share with the colleagues.

He really is extra-possessive to his cakes.

So, I did some midnight baking. Not necessarily because of Bake Off, but because I couldn’t sleep. Last night was BAKING hot — heh heh… sorry, can’t help myself, and it was too uncomfortable to go to bed, or knitting — gasp.

This week signature dishes is fruity cake. Or cake with fruit. Uhm… not really understand the challenge yet, so I made my upside down apple caramel spiced cake. I mean… it’s cake with fruit, isn’t it?

x ❤ x

P.S. In the morning, only half of it is left in the kitchen.

WIP Weekend, and A Some Extra Bit of Something

I always like knitting, and yarn shopping… I mean, really… who doesn’t like yarn shopping? Even my husband does… He could grump and moan, and act like he doesn’t enjoy the whole squealing and whimpering when finding a really nice fluffy wool on offer. He could say otherwise, but I believe that deep down… he loves yarn shopping.

Everybody loves yarn shopping… 

But, not until I have known, and read blogs of a lot of wonderful knitter on this blogging universe that I start paying attention to the beloved LYS. Local Yarn Shop. I believe that you can measure how awesome a town/city/village is from their LYS.

In Norwich, you could find more than plenty. If you happen to come to visit Norwich (Norfolk, United Kingdom that is), you would realise that even though online and big shops offer cheaper options of wool, our LYS are surviving. The easier one to find are in the city — one in the market, one in Pottergate called Norfolk Yarn, and one in St Giles called Crafty Ewe. If you are going further in Magdalen Street, there’s another one which I walked pass a lot but never notice the name.

When I went to Bury St. Edmunds, though… I did have to look really hard to find them. But I did find two of them. They’re smaller than one we have in Norwich, but I think it’ll do for a quick fix to satisfy your yarn high. So, if you are visiting Bury… and you accidentally left your WIP at home. You know you can get a little something-something to keep you going for awhile.

Talking about WIP, though… I think I am on a finishing stage now 😀 Woohoo!

I am trying hard to balance out knitting and sleeping. It is easy to lose track of time when you are sitting and knitting while watching Law and Order omnibus. Anyway… do you watch L&O? Which L&O is your favourite one? I mean, I do like SVU, but I would choose Lennie Briscoe anytime.

Gosh… I am rambling, aren’t I? I better finish it now before I start mentioning other crime drama series that I like.

Until then… have a great weekend, Everyone 🙂

x ❤ x

The WIP and The Workshop

Because of the wrist situation, WIP went very slowly. BUT, I managed to make some progress, so yeah well done me.

In between time, curbing myself from exerting my wrists to a heavy duty knitting, I sew buttons. I just found out that a lot of my FOs did not have buttons in them. I did buy some buttons months ago, but when they arrived, I forgot to attach them to the jackets. What a silly me.

So, here you go.

These are the baby lacy matinee jackets with pearly buttons.

And, don’t forget the latest projects.

Now all buttoned up.

My husband and I also spent time doing workshop in Bury St. Edmunds. Workshop? What kind of workshop can possibly done there? Well… actually, the kind of workshop we do together is “He works, I shop :D”

His job sometimes requires him to go on site, and sometimes he was sent to a nice place. And when that happens, I would tag along, and spend the whole day going around adventuring by myself. Last time it was Bedford… this time it is Bury.

Bury is a lovely little heritage town, known as the jewel of Suffolk. Well known for its abbey ruins, and its wonderful cathedral. Although of course, for me the Greene King Brewery is as important too.

I have to say, I quite enjoy a day trip there. It is definitely a very welcomed change of routine 🙂

x ❤ x

A Day Out…

So my DH took me to Stoke Holy Cross. I had to wiki it because I had no idea what kind of place it is. He told me that the place we are going to visit is called Caistor St Edmund — which at that time meant nothing to me. So… reluctantly, put the knitting down for a little while and probably enjoy a bit of sunlight.

Now… what is Caistor St. Edmunds? I heard you ask. I wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t heard about it. It is the first time for me myself. Apparently, it is a huge grassy field.

BUT, not just an ordinary grassy field. In this field, there used to be a Roman market town of a tribe called Iceni. Now I got a bit excited, as there were some ruins of their walls. We do love our ruins…

The day was beautiful, although a bit breezy. Caistor was quiet, only a few interested visitor was in view. But, one thing that excite DH the most is that whoever managed this place has now improved the place and has implemented an Augmented Reality experience in this place.

So, in some spots where you could see and read the information panel in the area, DH could just point his beloved mobile phone and start to enjoy the techie bits. Actually, it was quite cool. All he needed to do is to download the apps — everything can be done with an apps nowadays.

On Sundays, the church — St Edmund Church — not to be confused with St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St. Edmund, served cream tea. I never had cream tea before. It was basically a scone, served with cream and jam, and a generous pot of tea. They only do sultana scones, unfortunately, so I have to pick them out 😦 I can handle a couple, but not too much.

However, it was a wonderful afternoon. I wished I have had my knitting with me, that would have made me feel very British…

x ❤ x

Anniversary?!

It’s a what?

I didn’t realise that I have missed this blog’s second year anniversary! I just found out that my first post was on the 7 July five minutes ago, and thought… Oh bugger…. I should have done something to congratulate myself. It’s something worth celebrating! Maybe one or two skeins of nice fluffy wool…

One of the very first amigurumi I made

But I have to restrain myself now, really. Although it was totally and utterly worth every single poundsterling, the last holiday almost cleared me out completely. I need to go back to Indonesia to sort this out, and luckily I have already got the ticket and a departure date.

What do you do to celebrate your blog anniversary, though? Some people don’t take their blog as personally as I do, but I know that for some people their blog is very important. It is kind of a lifeline, the only thing that connects them to the world outside their own. Like me…

How about a walk in the fine city of Norwich?

I’ve been living in Norwich for years now, but staying at home and being a little bit more than slightly introvert makes me no friends. I do have friends I made when I was studying in UEA, but they’re not in Norwich anymore, and it is not the same… really. I have my wonderful sister in law, but of course not only that she works, she also has her own life and social circle to go to, so an occasional visit is probably a stretch for her too.

Oh, anyway… anniversary is not the time for whinging. I might find something nice to do at the end of the day to spoil myself cheaply. Maybe a new pattern from ravelry… considering my current WIP is in the finishing step. Who knows?

x ❤ x

I Think Summer Is Over

Or at least, I hope so…

I know… I know how ungrateful that sounds for so many people. I realised that in this country people likes the sun, and the warmth and everything, so I know that hoping the summer to be over is not very… British — as how my DH would put it. Oh well…

But still. I am glad that the last couple of days it was cooler, even borderline chilly. I was happy that it was raining too, for so many many many reasons.

Happy Poppies

My plants are happy with a little weather change there, my tomatoes, poppies… everything just so happy that finally they are not overheated. I am happy that with the rain, there were no football games either.

Pssh… Doesn’t matter how often my DH told them to be careful where they kick those balls… I really wish next year we can move somewhere where we could have a proper garden and better neighbour…

Anyway… I just realised I haven’t written anything for a month! And how rude of me to just barge in and rant about the weather and the neighbour and all that. Apologies.

where are the red tomatoes?

I have to say that it had been way to warm for me to knit, but I did some progress though — in cooking, baking and especially gardening. I harvested my tomatoes, and they’re wonderful in salads and food. And boy do they taste wonderful.

Not only that they’re fresher (just picked that very morning), and pesticides free (because I don’t use any of those). It is also very satisfying to see them grow… just for YOU! Wonderful isn’t it?

they are here! harvested, and ready to be cooked… and eaten

Since the summer is almost over, I started to collect some seeds from my flowers too. I imagine that next year, whether I will stay in the UK, or sent back to Indonesia, I would be able to grow these wonderful flowers again.

 

 

 

 

Anyway… Does anyone know how do you harvest poppy seeds? I quite like the flowers…

 

How (Not) To Be A Good Neighbour…

My neighbours just had a row today.

I don’t like it.

Things like that always made me feel anxious — especially when I was caught in between the parties in dispute. Well… not exactly caught in the middle, but was in an extremely close proximity, and definitely wasn’t a comfortable distance from where it happened.

Ah… there’s unfortunately no shortcut to tell this story, so bear with me while I am telling you the background of the story. I will keep it very brief.

our garden view from the inside

I have a very dear neighbour, she is a 80-something year old lady who was a friend of my husband’s late mother. Last year her son died because of medical negligence, and only won the case few weeks ago — yes you can even find the story on the newspaper. In the memory of his son, she planted a beautiful rose bush — understandably she is very particular about that flower bush.

Now, I live in a complex, where we shared communal garden. Even though there is a sign “no ball games”, the sign was only put in a certain area. Two areas that is not covered by that sign was in our back garden (mine and this lady’s), and the neighbouring block’s back garden — where their residences’s kids often plat football games there.

woops… that’s the ball

To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with children playing outside. It is good, considering there are a lot of kids whose worlds were only their room and their tv or computer. It is refreshing to see kids being active. But these kids are more than active. They’re slightly… well…

When the summer holiday started, and they were out with their ball, my husband has told them to be careful where they’re kicking. When I came back from Indonesia two weeks ago, two of my tomato pots was broken. My neighbour reported to me that she has reminded them as well, but only two days ago I found my courgette plant was half snapped.

And look… whose ball was found next to it?

well well… that’s the ball again… looking shifty next to my limpy and sad courgette plant

The ball has hit my neighbour’s windows and front door several times already at that time — which really worried and annoyed her. But the last straw was today when the ball hit the rose bush. THE rose bush.

My neighbour took away the ball, and the kid’s dad went to her. She refused to give the ball back without giving the father a long speech about respect for other people’s property, etc. The father started yelling at her, and then started to swear as well. I mean… seriously, yelling at a 80 year old lady over a ball?

I am not a kind of person who complains about my tomatoes or my courgette — although both my husband and my neighbour told me to file a complain about it, because direct confrontation often set off my anxiety. But I do feel that the father being angry to us while his kid was the one being unruly? Really?

Do you have neighbour from hell like this one?

x ❤ x

This Little Piggy Is Learning British Food

Few years ago I had a job as a content manager for one of a culinary websites in Indonesia. The start up website did not take off, but I discovered a whole new world of food and cooking. And I love it.

Food has been a part of our culture in Indonesia. Simple thing is, if you greet someone for a meeting the first thing you said after a hello is: have you eaten anything? How weird is that?

When I moved to the UK, I thought British food is just chips and full english (fry up!!). Full English Breakfast is good. I love it. My husband loves it. We even had it for last bank holiday weekend. It’s just… you can’t have it everyday (Or can you….?)

My husband likes to have two of everything. The plate is not big enough for two spoonful of baked beans. Mine? I’d like to have half what he has… *shudder*

But after meeting my father in law and his wife, I realised that British food is more than fry ups. They also have Sunday roast and pies. I also learned that there’s a reason why The Great British Bake Off is such a biggie… because British desserts are just so heavenly. So I thought, of course the best way to learn how to BE British, is to EAT like a Brits.

I started to cook and bake… My husband never complained, obviously.

Pie and Mash was such a success

Some food like meat pie, mash potato or apple crumble are quite obviously British. But I am not sure where quiche is from (it sounds French but it’s basically egg pie, isn’t it?)

Vegetable quiche — “Where are the meats?” protested my husband

And blueberries… I don’t know that blueberries were not native to this country. But I love blueberries, don’t you?

Blueberry Pie — It was big but gone in two days…

Apple Crumble — quick family favourite… Gone faster than the prep and cooking time -_-

Wait… so British food is actually fry ups and pies?