I’m sat in bed feeling really emotional as I reflect on the
past year. I go back to work tomorrow after almost 11 months off and oh my how
the time has flown! This year I became friends with two very special groups of
mums; one was through NCT and the other through Twitter. These ladies have been
a rock for me over the past 12 months as we navigated pregnancy, birth and the
unknown territory of motherhood.
Last January Mr T and I had our first NCT session. We walked
into a room with 5 other pregnant couples with the only thing in common being
that we were all due to give birth in the coming weeks. None of us had ever met
before and little did I know how good a friendship I would form with these
ladies.
When our NCT classes finished and maternity leave began, we
used to meet once a week for a coffee cradling our ever-expanding bumps while
tucking into cake. One by one the babies started to arrive and still we
continued to meet up weekly. I’ll never forget that first trip out to see Sarah
and Ninna who had had their babies a few weeks before Ethan arrived. We all sat
in Sarah’s living room looking a bit shell shocked and feeling totally stunned
and overwhelmed.
Over time though we all began to find our groove with this
parenting malarkey. As the babies were all born within weeks of each other it
was so useful to have friends who got it and were going through the same things
at the same stage. From questions on feeding, sleeping, stitches and everything
in between, I lived for those Tuesdays especially in the early days.
My other special mum group is my lovely Twitter Mummies.
I’ll be honest, I have no idea how we got talking to each other on Twitter but
somehow we did. By pure coincidence we were all pregnant within 6 months of
each other and all lived in Leeds and Bradford. Whilst I was off on maternity
leave (before Ethan arrived) we decided to meet for the first time (apart from
Tammy who was in hospital having given birth recently). There were two of us
with babies and two of us cradling bumps and even though we had never met
before it all felt so natural.
From then on, we met every second Wednesday but it soon
progressed to every Wednesday until things changed as some of the mums had to
go back to work. We still meet as often as we can and talk every single day.
I’ll be honest here, I talk to these ladies more than I talk to my own family!
What I love about this group is that as there is a varied age range between the
babies there is always someone who has been there first that can offer advice
and support. In the early days, I had Alice and Em tortured about
breastfeeding, it was great to have Tammy whose little girl is only a couple of
weeks older than Ethan and then we have Sara who has the baby of the group. As
the months progressed the gap between the babies has got smaller while they
have gotten bigger!
These two groups of women are just amazing. They came into
my life when I had very few mum friends and now I can’t imagine life without
them. Yes, my besties have been there for me and always will be but it’s not
the same as having people around you who you know might be up at 3am too with a
screaming baby.
We have all winged our way through the past 12 months and I
truly believe they have all helped me to be the mother that I now am. They’ve
offered support when I have been broken from lack of sleep, offered me tips and
advice on weaning, toys and babyproofing. We have laughed and we have cried, we
have compared poonami stories while tucking into endless slices of cake but
most of all we have been there for each other.
Nothing can prepare you for that first year of motherhood.
You can read all the books, watch all the videos but until you actually
experience it first-hand only then will you truly get it.
This time last year I didn’t know any of these ladies but
now I can’t imagine life without them. I’m excited to see what 2017 has in store
for us as we watch our babies navigate their way into toddlerhood.
“There is no way to be a perfect mother but there are a
million ways to be a good one.”
I adore going for afternoon tea, it’s one of my most
favourite hobbies (eating tea and cake is a hobby – yes?) and I especially love
finding new places to try out.
Last week I turned 30 and surprisingly I wasn’t fazed by it
at all. I always said I wanted to be married, in a good job, driving, pregnant
and own our own house by that time and so far we achieved almost everything on
that list apart from owning our own house. The deposit is there, we just haven’t
found the right house yet.
When I was asked how I wanted to celebrate my 30th
all I wanted to do was go for a nice afternoon tea with my friends and a yummy
meal out with Mr T (he’s not a fan of the sweet stuff – weirdo!) as anything
more hard-core is out of the question with me ready to pop in the next few
weeks.
We booked for the Blackhouse 50% off January sale and it did
not disappoint and I wanted to do something as equally yummy with my friends
but much more cake orientated. I had seen a few posts on Facebook about MamaDoreen’s and after a bit of googling I found there to be one in Leeds and one
in Harrogate.
We opted to go to the one in Harrogate as it’s only 20mins
away from me, one of my friends who was coming lives there and it’s on the
train line for my other friend who was coming too.
It’s just up the hill from Bettys this quaint little tea
shop is all kinds of amazing! The shop area is bursting with delicious baked
goodies that we all somehow managed to resist buying. Beyond the shop area is
the tea room and oh my, it’s so glam and girly without being tacky – we all
loved it!
We were seated in the window and even though it was grey and
raining outside (good old January weather!) it was lovely to watch the world go
by. Initially we planned to order 2 afternoon teas between 3 and a cake platter
but they got the order wrong and brought out 3 afternoon teas. We forgave them
though as honestly, I have never ever seen such an amazing arrange of cakes and
sandwiches. It was utterly stunning – truly scrumptious.
I snapped a few photos on my phone but we were too busy
enjoying ourselves to take any more.
Not only did we have sandwiches but there were also a few
slices of quiche. The scones were delicious and I lost track of how many cakes
there were. They even brought out a side plate of 3 slices of Victoria sponge
and a birthday cupcake for me! None of us could finish it and we all ended up
bringing a box of goodies home with us.
The service was truly impeccable too, I could not fault it
at all. At the last afternoon tea we went to they wanted to charge us for more
tea (!) while at Mama Doreen’s the pots were kept well topped up.
I was asked when baby was due and one of the waitresses told
us that there has been a spate of pregnant women going in to labour after
visiting there, thankfully that hasn’t happened to me!
I really could go on and on about how good Mama Doreen’s is
and for the bargain price of £15, you can’t go wrong. It’s definitely up there
with the best afternoon tea I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot!
Thank-you Mama Doreen’s for a lovely afternoon, we will
definitely be back!
I was not asked to write this review. We paid for our visit
in full, I just wanted to tell you all how good it was.
Have any of you become the "cake person' among your friends and family? The one people turn to when they need a cake making for a special occasion? That has become my role, my friends often ask me to make a cake for them instead of a gift and I'm always more than happy to oblige.
A few interesting facts on this cake:
A few weeks back my bestie Rhianne got married and I can't remember if I offered or if she asked me to make their wedding cake but I did it as our gift to them. I had seen naked wedding cakes for a while now but had yet to make one and when I suggested it to Rhianne she loved the idea. I knew it would fit their theme perfectly and it's so much nicer to make a cake that doesn't involve messing about with sugarpaste and all that jazz. If I'm honest I would have loved something similar for my wedding cake but considering we got married in another country, a fruit cake was a much more practical option.
We debated about flavours for a while - what was sturdy, what was yummy, what would give us a nice ombre effect without using icing and in the end decided on chocolate, ginger and a good old victoria sponge. The chocolate tier was used making my favourite chocolate cake recipe, sandwiched with chocolate buttercream and dark chocolate chips. The ginger tier was sandwiched with caramel buttercream and caramel sauce and the victoria sponge was sandwiched with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam.
A few interesting facts on this cake:
1. The ginger tier sunk and I had to remake it. I didn't tell Rhianne about this til after she had seen the finished cake for fear of sending her over the edge (she was a wee bit stressed out!) I did text my other bestie Georgie saying "there's a problem but don't tell Rhianne!"
2. The chocolate sponge is the same sponge recipe I have used to make Rhainne's birthday cakes in the past.
3. The jam in the victoria sponge came from a volunteer from a guide dog charity (I can't remember the name). Mr T works with a guy who's wife has sight problems and a week before the wedding they were helping out at a fundraising stall for the charity. Rhianne would love a dog so when I saw the jam for sale I felt it was a nice touch and would give that layer of cake a special meaning.
I'm so pleased with how this cake turned out. With the help of Georgie we stacked it on the morning of the wedding, garnished it in fresh fruit and dusted it in icing sugar.
I think this cake is up there with my favourites. Congratulations Rhianne and Thomas!!!
I love to bake cakes for other people. There is something so
special about seeing their face and reaction to a cake you have made especially
for them
.
When my friend Alison had her little boy last year I
promised her I would make his 1st birthday cake. I actually prefer
to make a cake rather than buy a gift. Gifts sometimes are unwanted or end up
on a shelf while I know a cake will always be enjoyed.
A few months back Alison text me saying Hugo had recently
got into Shrek and could I look at that as a cake idea for him. After a bit of
googling for inspiration I knew exactly what I wanted to make but I also
realised I needed to get some Shrek figures or get better at my sugar craft
modelling. After a few disastrous eBay bidding wars I managed to snap up some
Shrek figures that I could put on the cake.
When Alison and her hubby Dan saw the cake they were
delighted with it. Hugo seemed to like it too – he went straight for Shrek and
put him in his mouth haha!
Question now is – what will I make this little man for his
second birthday??
Just before Christmas I had a little catchup with 2 of my friends and we decided to go for afternoon tea.
After asking around on Twitter (who needs Google when you have Twitter?), Fodder got in touch and told me about their afternoon tea. Usually it's a package for 2 people but they kindly did one for us for 3 at the bargain price of £14 each!
Now you all know I love Betty's and if I'm honest it is my favourite place to go but I just couldn't justify spending £28 on an afternoon tea. Yes I know it's amazing but I also love to try new places too.
For £14 per person I was seriously impressed with what we got - 2 types of sandwiches, some savoury pastries and a selection of desserts. It was all so yummy apart from the brownie/biscuit. I can't stand nuts and this definitley had something nutty in it. The bread was lovely and fresh, the pastries were so light and the scones were divine. I would have loved a bigger scone but seeing as we couldn't finish the meal I'm just being greedy wishing for one!
We also got plenty of tea and a pot of hot water too to top up the tea pot. It's always a winner for me when you get that pot of hot water, I do like to stretch my tea as far as it can go.
After stuffing our faces (and we still left a bit) and having a good old gossip we allowed the food to settle before wandering round the shop that is attached to Fodder. We didn't buy anthing but I was impressed with the prices and quality of food on offer. Yes, it is more expensive than shopping at the Big 4 but I though the meat and veg were cheaper that what I would pay at Otley Farmer's Market.
Next time you are in Harrogate I would strongly reccomend that you visit Fodder. It's a bit out of the way and you do need a car to get there but it's such great value and the food is really good.
Thanks Fodder for a lovely afternoon, we will be back again.
So it's my birthday at the end of January and I'm on the lookout for somewhere new to try for afternoon tea. Let me know if you have any suggestions...
*I was not asked to write this review nor was I paid. These are my own thoughts and opinions.*
After asking around on Twitter (who needs Google when you have Twitter?), Fodder got in touch and told me about their afternoon tea. Usually it's a package for 2 people but they kindly did one for us for 3 at the bargain price of £14 each!
Now you all know I love Betty's and if I'm honest it is my favourite place to go but I just couldn't justify spending £28 on an afternoon tea. Yes I know it's amazing but I also love to try new places too.
For £14 per person I was seriously impressed with what we got - 2 types of sandwiches, some savoury pastries and a selection of desserts. It was all so yummy apart from the brownie/biscuit. I can't stand nuts and this definitley had something nutty in it. The bread was lovely and fresh, the pastries were so light and the scones were divine. I would have loved a bigger scone but seeing as we couldn't finish the meal I'm just being greedy wishing for one!
We also got plenty of tea and a pot of hot water too to top up the tea pot. It's always a winner for me when you get that pot of hot water, I do like to stretch my tea as far as it can go.
After stuffing our faces (and we still left a bit) and having a good old gossip we allowed the food to settle before wandering round the shop that is attached to Fodder. We didn't buy anthing but I was impressed with the prices and quality of food on offer. Yes, it is more expensive than shopping at the Big 4 but I though the meat and veg were cheaper that what I would pay at Otley Farmer's Market.
Next time you are in Harrogate I would strongly reccomend that you visit Fodder. It's a bit out of the way and you do need a car to get there but it's such great value and the food is really good.
Thanks Fodder for a lovely afternoon, we will be back again.
So it's my birthday at the end of January and I'm on the lookout for somewhere new to try for afternoon tea. Let me know if you have any suggestions...
*I was not asked to write this review nor was I paid. These are my own thoughts and opinions.*
I love to bake and I wish I had more time to bake the ever
growing things on my wish list but what I love the most is baking for other
people. There is something really special about baking something for a gift, something
you know will put a smile on someone’s face and bring them some pleasure.
You may remember my post a few weeks ago about the giant cupcake that I made for a fundraiser in work to raise money for the Keep The
Beat charity that has helped my colleague Ben and his family. Well baby Eddie is
still in hospital down in Leicester and doing well but his parents have to live
down there with him, leaving their home in Bradford.
I live quite near Ben’s parents and I knew they
were traveling down to see them last weekend so I decided to send some cake down with them –
Jammy Raspberry Cupcakes and Chocolate Brownies. I wanted to make something
that they could enjoy but also share with whomever else came to visit.
I got a lovely message from Ben thanking me for the treats
but the best thing of all was to see a picture of Eddie eating one of the
cupcakes and looking so well. He is such a wee fighter and I was so pleased to
see him sitting up and happily enjoying some cake!
The cupcakes were a bit of an experiment that I have wanted
to try for a while and I’m pleased to say they were a success! The sponge base
comes from The Hummingbird Bakery Book but as always I have tweaked it to suit
my tastes.
Jammy Raspberry Cupcakes (makes 12)
240g sr flour
280g caster sugar
80g stork
240ml milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
- Preheat the oven to 160c (fan)
- Line a muffin pan with cases (I love these ones from Lakeland)
- Whisk the flour, sugar and stork together until it resembles breadcrumbs
- In a jug beat the milk, vanilla extract and eggs
- Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry and whisk until it is well combined
- Using a ice-cream scoop divided the mixture into the cases and bake for 22-25 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack
While the cupcakes are cooling you can make the buttercream
Buttercream
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter (softened)
A few tbsp of milk
Raspberry jam
Freeze dried raspberries
- Add the butter, icing sugar and milk to a bowl and using an electric whisk or mixer beat for about 5 mins until it is pale and fluffy.
- Add more milk if the buttercream is too stiff; you want it soft enough to pipe but still hold its shape.
- Once the cupcakes are cool use a sharp knife to cut out a bit of the centre, pour in a tsp of jam (or enough to fill the hole) and place the cut out bit of sponge back on top.
- Fill a piping bag with the buttercream and pipe a generous swirl of icing on top of each cupcake. I like to use the Wilton 1M nozzle.
- Sprinkle with the freeze dried raspberries and enjoy!
Baking for other people really is the best and I think I
need to do it more often. It’s nice to do something for someone else and know
that it will bring them some happiness.
Tuesday already! The bank holiday weekend went in far too quickly but I decided to book today and tomorrow off work as Himself is a teacher and on half term so its a good chance to spend some time together.
The weekend didn't start off great as on Friday we discovered the drain at the back on the house was leaking sewage (ick!) so we had to stay in waiting for the drain man to come out and fix it. It also meant the toilet was out of bounds, I couldn't clean cos I couldn't run water, I couldn't put the dishwasher on which meant I couldn't clean some baking stuff I was using the night before to finish my baking for the weekend. I ended up watching Harry Potter no. 6 as there was nothing else to do and it took my mind off needing the loo!
Anyway it got sorted in the end which was a relief.
Ok, just realised this post looks like it might be a wee bit long so bare with me (or just skip to the photos if you want!)
So on Saturday we went down to Leicester to see some friends for the weekend. One of my friends from uni is about to give birth in 2 weeks and she was having a party for her husband's 30th. The afternoon was girls, cakes and a sort of baby shower so I baked my chocolate salted caramel cake and some baby themed cupcakes for mummy to be. Everyone else brought some sort of bake too and my friend Alex made these amazing chocolate and marshmallow "mushrooms." I have decided to have a go at making them myself sometime soon. So simple yet so cute and effective!
The evening then was down the pub for burgers and karaoke. It was such a good laugh but I think it is best that I don't post the videos from that evening on here. We also paked up some of the leftover cakes for people to graze on that evening.
Next day we all went for Easter lunch and I had the most amazing cheesecake for dessert. Raspberry and Bailey's with a white chocolate sauce. I definitely have to try and make it, it was just heaven!
Yesterday was a nice lazy day and we are off into town this afternoon to visit the new shopping centre in Leeds, Trinity.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Hope you all had a lovely Easter!
The weekend didn't start off great as on Friday we discovered the drain at the back on the house was leaking sewage (ick!) so we had to stay in waiting for the drain man to come out and fix it. It also meant the toilet was out of bounds, I couldn't clean cos I couldn't run water, I couldn't put the dishwasher on which meant I couldn't clean some baking stuff I was using the night before to finish my baking for the weekend. I ended up watching Harry Potter no. 6 as there was nothing else to do and it took my mind off needing the loo!
Anyway it got sorted in the end which was a relief.
Ok, just realised this post looks like it might be a wee bit long so bare with me (or just skip to the photos if you want!)
So on Saturday we went down to Leicester to see some friends for the weekend. One of my friends from uni is about to give birth in 2 weeks and she was having a party for her husband's 30th. The afternoon was girls, cakes and a sort of baby shower so I baked my chocolate salted caramel cake and some baby themed cupcakes for mummy to be. Everyone else brought some sort of bake too and my friend Alex made these amazing chocolate and marshmallow "mushrooms." I have decided to have a go at making them myself sometime soon. So simple yet so cute and effective!
The evening then was down the pub for burgers and karaoke. It was such a good laugh but I think it is best that I don't post the videos from that evening on here. We also paked up some of the leftover cakes for people to graze on that evening.
Next day we all went for Easter lunch and I had the most amazing cheesecake for dessert. Raspberry and Bailey's with a white chocolate sauce. I definitely have to try and make it, it was just heaven!
Yesterday was a nice lazy day and we are off into town this afternoon to visit the new shopping centre in Leeds, Trinity.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Hope you all had a lovely Easter!
