Being really busy at work is not really conducive to being a blogger but having morning coffee with friends yesterday made me think about it again. We had excellent tea and coffee with beautiful light home made scones and jam and enjoyed it so much we even had a second round. I love this coffee shop and the gift shop beside it is full of lovely things. (My second cuppa actually was peppermint, made with whole dried mint leaves and it was delicious if you love peppermint tea and its calming effect on the digestion.)
We had so much discussion on whether we like to drink our tea and coffee from a fine china cup or a big pottery mug that we began to wonder if we were getting old...But for those of us who are really picky about taste, we decided that a fine china cup is really essential!
Lots of coffee shops are now getting involved in this blog but all are so protective of their very special businesses that pictures have to be perfect, reviews have to be on just the right day and well, I understand all that. When you put a lot of work into something really special it is only understandable to want to see it presented at its best. So watch this space. Things can only get busier.
Crystallized Violet
Saturday 13 June 2009
Monday 8 June 2009
Doyle's Cafe and Deli
Good Monday morning so far! Nipped out for some bin bags and ended up buying lunch to go from my local cafe and deli.(Cupboards are very bare in my house, no time to shop!) Came home and immediately ate the Paradise Slice with my morning coffee sitting in the garden. There are no words.....well, plenty obviously, but it was a fine piece of cake, Cherry Tart, sorry you weren't here!. Moist and juicy and full of cherries and such like with sugar on top. The cafe is delightful and service impeccable. Exactly the kind of place Cherry Tart and I are tracking down so relentlessly. More on this to come but if I tell you that their lemon drizzle cake and chocolate rum cake are also divine and at Christmas time they sold the best truffles I have ever tasted....Well worth a review I think. One of my personal best in Scotland and in a gorgeous rural setting. More on this to come and watch out for pictures. Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world....
Crystallized Violet
Crystallized Violet
Sunday 7 June 2009
Cherry Tart in Sagres
Still blogging from sunny shores in Portugal. Don't you just hate it? We took a local EVA bus with friends to Pousada Da Infanta and I had my favourite coffee of all-um gallao. A clifftop setting, land's end views and a long milky coffee-perfect! Let us know your favourite tea and coffee shops at home or abroad.
Off for another of those pastel da natas.....
Cherry Tart
Off for another of those pastel da natas.....
Cherry Tart
Friday 5 June 2009
Story from Darling Daughter
I like this story. It made a lot of sense to me.
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes". The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now" said the professor as the laughter subsided "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions-and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first" he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls."
"The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness, spend time with your children, spend time with your parents, visit with grandparents, take time to get medical checks, take your other half out to dinner, play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the drains. Take care of the golf balls first-the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and enquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said "I'm glad you asked. The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes". The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now" said the professor as the laughter subsided "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions-and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first" he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls."
"The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness, spend time with your children, spend time with your parents, visit with grandparents, take time to get medical checks, take your other half out to dinner, play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the drains. Take care of the golf balls first-the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and enquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said "I'm glad you asked. The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
Thursday 4 June 2009
Pastel de Natas-every day!
Blogging from very sunny shores, Portugal to be exact. Scones are in very short supply out here so, strictly for business purposes, I've taken to comparing the delights of pastel de natas(custard tarts).. Sheer joy-wish you could share the taste sensation with a cup of lovely coffee.
Cafes here are full of women chatting and eating pastries and drinking cha(tea). Feels very like home but warmer of course.
Adeus
Cherry Tart
Cafes here are full of women chatting and eating pastries and drinking cha(tea). Feels very like home but warmer of course.
Adeus
Cherry Tart
Wednesday 3 June 2009
The Cocoa Tree Shop and more..
Today is the day we are finally online and people who find us can send messages, tell us all their morning coffee and afternoon tea chat, share recipes and view gorgeous china in our Cup of The Week slot. We also want ideas about new coffee shops to try. All very exciting! Our aim is to ultimately find the top 100 tea and coffee shops in Scotland and as self-styled experts in all things related to life in tea shops, Cherry Tart and I have had plenty of experience of sitting drinking tea and coffee and sorting out our lives. (You never do that over lunch or dinner do you? Why is that?) We are also very picky. A lovely cup of steaming coffee and a fabulous scone with cream and jam can be spoilt by grumpy staff or a grubby table. All coffee shops should have a Critical Friend visit once a month. What is it in Scotland that we find difficult about staff training and smiling at customers! Enough moaning... My Critical Friend, otherwise known as Darling Daughter, thinks I spend too much time chatting and not enough time reviewing so..
I chatted this morning with Sophie from The Cocoa Tree Shop in Pittenweem, a fabulous place which we hope will become one of our top 100. Anyone going for a day out to the East Neuk will not find a better place to sit and drink coffee, tea or amazing hot chocolate. The White Chocolate with cinnamon is just sensational and just the job after a long hike along the coastal path. Like so many really great coffee shops it is also quirky and interesting and full of personality. More on this later but thank you, Sophie, you gave me lots to think about.
So now to work, a day lined up visiting coffee shops with Cherry Tart and working out our review process. All fascinating stuff and makes my hassles with uploading (or is it downloading ?) pictures seem worth it. Now I can do it I can't stop doing it so as no one has sent me a special tea cup I will have to use one of my own.
Crystallized Violet
Tuesday 2 June 2009
My gorgeous azalea
How about this? My first photograph! And lets face it, it really is gorgeous. Still not a tea shop in sight but, oh well, getting there. Baby steps!
Monday 1 June 2009
A Gingerbread Moment
My daughter texted this morning to ask, rather unhelpfully, if there were ever going to be any tea or coffee shops on our blog as promised. Fair point made, I think. The answer is yes but it is all rather more complex than Cherry Tart and I initially imagined. Several fabulous tea and coffee shops are signed up to appear on our blog and be reviewed by us but we have had a few technical off- days. Sunny weather has had a wee bit to do with our problems as well, as, being Scottish, we absolutely have to stay outdoors for every last hour of daylight when the sun is shining like this weekend. Obviously our blog is not live yet and no one is too keen to appear on it until we are more fully up and running. To anyone looking for a cup of coffee, please come and look again, we will get there.
In the meantime, we really are working hard in the background. By way of an apology, I am giving all of you out there my recipe for the best gingerbread in the world. I can take no credit as it is adapted from a recipe from Rachel Allan, one of my favourite chefs on t.v. Rachel, if you ever read this and I am breaching some legal ruling in sharing this, I am your biggest fan, please don't sue me! This, and hundreds of other treats, is from Rachel's Favourite Food for Friends. My copy is sticky with use.
This is sticky and golden and all things gingerbread should be. You need:3 oz butter, 5oz golden syrup(maybe half treacle if you like it and I do!), 8oz marmalade(half a 1lb jar and ginger marmalade works a treat) 8oz sr flour, 4tsp ground ginger, 2tsp ground cinnamon, 1 beaten egg and 2 tabsp milk.
Assembling all these ingredients is the hardest part as the rest is a dawdle. Butter and line an 8in cake tin and put on oven at 170degrees (fan 150). Melt butter, syrup and marmalade on a medium heat and stir. Cool for a few minutes. Add beaten egg and milk and pour all this into the dry ingredients, folding to mix. Bake for 40-50minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Eat when still warm with a lovely cup of tea at your side and I promise you it will be a golden moment.( I think the ginger marmalade just gives mine a wee edge, Rachel. It was that A in what we call in Scotland, Home Eccy, that just tipped mine over into perfection. I've seen your pictures in the books and your house is definitely much nicer than mine so don't feel bad...)
Crystallized Violet
In the meantime, we really are working hard in the background. By way of an apology, I am giving all of you out there my recipe for the best gingerbread in the world. I can take no credit as it is adapted from a recipe from Rachel Allan, one of my favourite chefs on t.v. Rachel, if you ever read this and I am breaching some legal ruling in sharing this, I am your biggest fan, please don't sue me! This, and hundreds of other treats, is from Rachel's Favourite Food for Friends. My copy is sticky with use.
This is sticky and golden and all things gingerbread should be. You need:3 oz butter, 5oz golden syrup(maybe half treacle if you like it and I do!), 8oz marmalade(half a 1lb jar and ginger marmalade works a treat) 8oz sr flour, 4tsp ground ginger, 2tsp ground cinnamon, 1 beaten egg and 2 tabsp milk.
Assembling all these ingredients is the hardest part as the rest is a dawdle. Butter and line an 8in cake tin and put on oven at 170degrees (fan 150). Melt butter, syrup and marmalade on a medium heat and stir. Cool for a few minutes. Add beaten egg and milk and pour all this into the dry ingredients, folding to mix. Bake for 40-50minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Eat when still warm with a lovely cup of tea at your side and I promise you it will be a golden moment.( I think the ginger marmalade just gives mine a wee edge, Rachel. It was that A in what we call in Scotland, Home Eccy, that just tipped mine over into perfection. I've seen your pictures in the books and your house is definitely much nicer than mine so don't feel bad...)
Crystallized Violet
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