High Tea with Friends

James and I were delighted to host Angela's birthday high tea on Sunday.  Angela and I have been great friends ever since meeting in the eighth grade of high school and we've been close ever since.  James and I have held a number of afternoon teas over the years but Angela had moved to Melbourne some years back and had missed them.  Hence I wanted to hold a high tea especially for her on a very special birthday and I wanted everything to be perfect!  James transformed our little city balcony into a leafy oasis and I baked up a storm to fill the table with scones with jam and cream, cupcakes, the most enormous birthday cake with chocolate mousse icing and ribbon sandwiches.  Everything was blue and white, the lilies from the markets opened up and Caroline bought along lots of bubbly with delicious hibiscus flowers.  It was great to finally meet all the friends Angela had mentioned over the years and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves over the never ending pots of tea.  Happy birthday Angela!

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A Beach Cottage

Mariage Frères

I have loved the Mariage Frères Marco Polo tea blend for many years and have longed to visit one of their Salons de Thé.  Marco Polo is difficult to find in Brisbane so I was excited to discover on our return to Paris that we happened to be a stone's throw away from their Rue du Bourg-Tibourg tea salon in Le Marais.  I relished the chance to try some of Mariage Frères' other blends and discovered Fis de France and Haute Mer to be additional favourites.  The tea room beyond the store proper was an oasis from the wintery streets of Paris.  I loved my tea flavoured creme brulee and stocked up on tea supplies as gifts and to sustain us back in Brisbane.  A must visit in Paris if you love tea like I do!

Candles and Tea

I caught up with some friends this morning for brunch on James Street and was very lucky to have received a few more belated Christmas gifts which I just love, including a beautifully wrapped selection of T2 teas, a hand-stitched and beaded leather camel Natalie purchased in Egypt and an adorable set of Russian doll measuring cups from Tammy (for all my cupcake baking she says).

The Sohum candle in the background is a newly discovered favourite. It's subtly scented, made from natural vegetable wax and is poured into beautiful facetted glass jars.  I have to admit Sohum has some seriously cute products. I gave one to Tammy as it has become a bit of a tradition now to always give her a new candle from a range I find.  Last year it was Kakadu Water Lily from the range of soy wax Glasshouse candles which I continue to love.

RSPCA Cupcake Day

Yesterday we held our first RSPCA Cupcake Party to fundraise for animal welfare and I am happy to say that it was a resounding success!  We served Mocha, Sticky Date Pudding and Coffee Walnut cupcakes.  I think I made 75 all up.  Thanks to the generosity of our friends and family I can claim to be in the current top 10 individual fundraisers. Probably not for too long as RSPCA Cupcake Day is officially today so we'll see.  Thanks to everyone who kindly donated and to those who came for afternoon tea.  Geneve and Joe popped in with baby Jack as did Ron, Leonie and Oi Lai.  Angela, Caroline and I finally caught up together after many years.

For those who are interested in donating please visit the fundraising link below. Thanks!
http://www.fundraise.rspcacupcakeday.com.au/helen_ma

Macarons and Jasper Conran

It's been a busy few weeks and I must admit I haven't been a very dedicated blogger of late.  James brought home these yummy macarons from Kenchington Patisserie tonight.  They are making them better and better over there! They are the best value macarons in town I think, and also the best kept secret.  The Chocolate, Rose Water and Caramel almond pastries came in a cute little pack of three. The standout was definitely the Caramel this time around.  I made myself a cup of my favourite Tea Forte Oolong tea that come in silky mesh triangles. It all looked so inviting on my Jasper Conran Chinoiserie set.  I'm collecting pieces from this Wedgewood range, I'm totally in love with all of it!

Easter Treats

Ange popped in this morning for another of our delectable morning teas.  Today's treats included hot crossed buns, easter themed cupcakes, rocky road, chocolate eclairs, easter eggs and easter bunnies accompanied by stockholm blend tea.  Although we didn't get a chance to touch the bunnies for having sampled all of the other delicious items.  Catching up with an overly indulgent morning tea has become a bit of a tradition with Ange over the past year.  Hopefully a tradition that will continue!

Tea and Roses

Dad and Leonie popped in yesterday for a brief catchup over carrot cake and tea.  This arrangement of red, pink and pale yellow roses was perfect accompaniment.  They brightened up our apartment on a squally afternoon.  Dad brought us another little plant for our balcony. This one is a miniature jade plant which looks very happy in its little pot.  No doubt I will be showing it off soon!

Very Berry Cupcakes

Perfect summery weekend weather!  We invited Ange over for morning tea yesterday and decided that berry cupcakes would be the very thing with big glasses of iced tea.  I made this recipe once before and love decorating the cream cheese icing with all the sugar frosted berries.  We bought a tea from Kenchington called Summer Pudding so a definite berry theme was happening!

Afternoon Tea at Versace

This morning we decided to meet with Ruen, Michael and Kevin for afternoon tea at Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast.  Still recovering from hosting our New Year's Eve party we decided it was a good idea to get away for the day.  It was also a good opportunity to catchup again before they return home to Sydney.  The consensus was that the ostentatious furnishings work well in context with the hotel.  One would need to think twice before attempting the look at home.  We also managed a successful shopping stint at the newly refurbished Marina Mirage.

Image source from top:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teohyc/2036096415/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teohyc/2036889842/in/photostream/

Birthday Cupcakes

It's James' birthday today! I made a batch of chocolate birthday cupcakes to celebrate. The Crabapple Bakery recipe is almost fail-safe. It's also the first batch of cupcakes I've made in our new apartment. There was an extra dome-top one which James polished off for breakfast. We were very happy to be able to indulge in a late afternoon tea shortly followed by dinner with James' family.

Catching Up

It was good to catch up with a few friends this week.  We are definitely over-indulging but it is the silly season after all!  Vanessa popped in for dinner on Tuesday night.  Natalie visited on Friday night fresh from trips overseas.  Her travel anecdotes are always fascinating and we enjoyed one of the beautifully packaged teas she brought from Taiwan.  Angela came over this morning for a catch-up before her trip to the UK.  And we bumped into Anton and Oi Lai at the Broadway markets where we picked up some bright cordifolium together with a couple of sculptural lotus pods.  All this travel chatter is making us restless.

Mint Meringue with Chocolate Ganache

Yummy mint meringues made by Caroline for afternoon tea today with carrot cake from Shingle Inn and gingerbread from the Art Centre Markets. The meringues are so pretty with the pink swirls! Caroline and Vinnie have recently relocated to Brisbane and we are looking forwards to catching up more often over the summer. 

Shortbread

Some beautiful photos Anton and Oi Lai sent through to us from when they came over for dinner several weeks ago. Taken with their new camera. Anton's homemade shortbread also, yum!

Lavender Milk

A quick catch up dinner with Ruen before he heads home tomorrow morning. Tammy suggested a quirky Taiwanese restaurant on the Southside. It had a crimson wall covered in photo frames and "Lavender Milk Soup Set" on the menu. We had to try of course. It was interesting and quite tasty really. They had amazing tea blends too!

Tea & Mahjong

What lovely weather on Saturday! And a very indulgent afternoon. James and I started the morning with a quick whip around town to Flour Power for their amazing goodies, over to the Broadway Markets for flowers and the most beautiful strawberries, and lastly over to Milton for final touches. We met up with Ruen, Michael and Tammy to see Geneve and Joe's newly arrived baby Jack. Jack is of course gorgeous and sweet. We thought since Geneve and Joe are in a busy period of being new parents and not able to join us, we would take afternoon tea to them! Pain au chocolat and caramel slice all round!

Off home to our little city apartment for refreshments and an afternoon of mahjong madness. We had decided that it would be the best way to catch up with Ruen and Michael who travelled up from Sydney to visit. They brought us the most lovely french macarons from Lindt cafe at Martin Place. An afternoon of sweet treats, tea and many hours of mahjong ensued!