Stem ginger shortbread dunked in dark chocolate

This is a great recipe from The Great British Bake Off How To Bake. I've made these biscuits a few times without the chocolate (as per the recipe) and they're amazing - my housemate's a big fan, but I suspect that making them in the run-up to her wedding possibly wasn't the most helpful thing to do!

I wondered what they'd be like dunked in dark chocolate, given that dark chocolate and ginger is a fairly common flavour combination. My conclusion? They're pretty good! The real payoff comes when you hit a lump of ginger, and in fact I'd be inclined to up the spice content next time.

The chocolate is Green & Black's Dark 70% - organic and fair trade! 

Charity shop triumph

Last week I went out on the hunt for nice tableware. I think afternoon tea deserves better than Ikea - I have nothing against mass-produced crockery, but there's a time and a place and this is not it.

So I headed out to my local town centre which, as it happens, is chock full of charity shops and, keeping my expectations fairly low, I had a bit of a mooch. I'm not a seasoned charity shop shopper but I knew I was on the look-out for the kind of stuff that you either can't buy new anymore, or it costs a fortune.

£30 later and I had the kind of haul I could only have dreamt of when I left home. I realise this stuff isn't to everyone's taste, but I like it!

Imagine the blue vase full of summer flowers - pink roses, purple freesias, lime green lady's mantle - and there's great centrepiece!

I think my favourite item is the bowl which would work equally well with roses floating in it or full of pastel-coloured macaroons (not that I've made macaroons before - clearly now is the time to learn!).

So now I just need to host an afternoon tea!

Time for tea

Tea, be it the drink or the meal, is an integral part of British culture. When I was a child our evening meal was tea, in the proper traditional sense - bread and butter with jam, cheese, meat paste (what really goes into those little jars?!), a glass of squash and biscuits or cake. I haven't had a 'tea' like that in years.

A couple of years ago my sister bought me The Best of Mrs Beeton's British Cookery, based on a selection of recipes from the aforementioned Mrs B's Book of Household Management, a comprehensive guide to running a Victorian household. The introduction includes a brief guide to what to serve at breakfast, picnics, the Sunday roast and most importantly - for our purposes - afternoon tea. She gives instructions on laying the table (with linen, fine bone china and small arrangements of flowers) and what to serve to those who don't - heaven forbid - like tea (fresh, iced lemonade or coffee), before moving onto the menu itself.

A whole paragraph is given over to directions for making cucumber sandwiches - butter is essential as it stops the cucumber making the bread soggy and the sandwich should be well seasoned with salt and pepper. All sandwiches should, of course, be made just before consumption to 'avoid limpness'.

Savoury additions to the menu could include cheese straws and scones, smoked salmon on Irish soda bread, Gentleman's Relish and scotch eggs, while toasted crumpets or muffins, pastries, cakes and scones make up the sweet recommendations.

When you consider how much has changed about British culture in the 152 years since Mrs Beeton's masterpiece was published, it's amazing that afternoon tea has seen the revial it's experienced over the last few years. Maybe the advent of all that technology has made us crave a simpler time, or perhaps as a society we've just remembered how much we like cake.