The One and Only TEA Room: Everyone Welcome (bring champagne and muffins please!)

[Jacksmama]

Wow, we're on our third thread!!!
Previous (second) incarnation of the tea room.

A warm welcome to everyone, whether you have one child, none, or ten. This is a tea-and-muffin or booze-and-sofasorcanapees sanctuary for all. But certain standards of behaviour continue to apply - anyone engaging in fisticuffs will be ejected by George Clooney, ably assisted by Mellors the Gardener.

Cheers all!

Naswm - One Americano cocming up!

Amber - Lovely to see you. I think you've sometimes been in the Reluctant Worshippers church/synagogue/mosque/temple/meeting room while I've been loitering in the back. What brings you here today? Would you like a cup of tea?

How does sweet potato and rosemary soup sound? And ds has been doing some more cooking (with dh at home ()) so I have some more interestingly shaped rolls to offer...

Hi Amber, Hi Naswm (I see that you've not yet deserted us in search of 'the other' establishment!). What brings you here apart from a liking of cakes, coffe and red wine? (sorry Amber, coffee and red wine for Naswm - we only know that you've come bearing cakes so far (which means that you're very welcome of course))

Well, coffee and red wine sound good too, but never in the same mug .

What brings me here? Invitation from the Rev threads that says it's a safe argument-free place to be.

After all the excitement of the Rev situation and the Super Race thread, could definitely do with a cuppa/cake/hiding in a cupboard for a while.

Fancy some soup and a lewd roll?

We've done quite a bit about books recently... any favourites that you're looking forward to introducing to your child(ren)?

Justabout - am joining you for some soup too - favoured lunch here in the tearoom. Often served with one of ds's contributions - he likes making rolls in the shape of things like rockets, or sometimes carrots or parsnips... (perhaps I shouldn't offer you that one, though... you might get the wrong idea of the teashop )

Justabout, lol! I'd like to say that as I work for the same church, I'm not advocating cakes either, and people are free to have a lewd roll any time they like

For me, a plate of salad awaits for lunch.

Books...hmm...teenage son tends to read various sci-fi or fantasy-genre offerings. I've been trying to recommend "Improve your French" to him since he's doing his GCSEs but to no avail .

I wonder whether you can get appropriate fantasy stories but in French? Might need to get a slightly less advanced storyline but still one that is suitable for his agegroup (and a good dictionary)...

Amber, lovely to see you! You can definitely put your name on the cake rota. I am at present debating whether these are real recipes or an elaborate spoof. They seem to be combining more and more exotic ingredients. In which case I shall quickly knock up a batch of prawn and chocolate chip drop scones to contribute to the tea room lunch menu, and dash off to count the force meters for the forthcoming lesson on friction.

Apple and sunflower scones are delicious... the sunflower seeds go more nutty when they are cooked and the apple keeps them nice and moist...

Sweet potato and rosemary - well, the potato was skulking at the back of the fridge (although I didn't really want to announce that) and we have to keep on picking the rosemary otherwise it takes over....

Glory be, you lot take some catching!
Sorry to miss the chats and stuff last night, but have a few things to add:

Mallory Towers- love love love and one of the best things about pregnancy was a friend gave me the set on tape and I used to lie awake and listen...heaven.

Racing I too was horse mad. Silver Brumby, Black Stallion (and all the others, did you know you cure a horse biting by holding out a hot potato - watch out Earl Grey!)

My favourite was "A Pony For Jean" old book of my mums, she's an only Bocca (been reading your only book thread too)...

but so many books I haven't heard of!

Bocca was initially scared of your Gerund tag, remembering you are an academic and all, plucked up courage and laughed a lot thank you

JM you must talk German to baby jack, I second Racing (although of course whatever you do will be right ) we have just come back from 3 weeks in France and DaisyBoy is saying bonjour, merci, voila, lots of bits and pieces without even thinking about it - and it's your culture!

By the way, do you do Christmas on Christmas Eve in that proper MittelEuropan way, come to think of it you tried to but got snowed in didn't you? You see, you can't help your German-ness IYSWIM - it's so much more than just a language

And I am deeply impressed by Racing's whole brain influence kinda thing, I clearly don't think about parenting enough....

Mistle I am keen for soup and have missed those lewd rolls!

Oh, and Bocca as you probably know, Audrey Hepburn didn't know they were going to grab her hand in Roman Holiday - the screams are real!

Have Dastardly and Muttley been around lately?

Prawn and choc chip scones?

The mind boggles. My cake-making skills aren't going to stretch much beyond a slightly lopsided Vanilla Sponge or a fruit cake with all the fruit at the bottom, but they taste good .

My cups of tea are legendary, though...

Racing thank you for the prawn and chocolate chip drop scones, such an interesting flavour!

oh, sorry to hear there have been shinanigans elsewhere in MN, I am such a wimp I rarely get off the distressed Tea Shop sofa these days (except to extract RacingPig or goose Mellors of course )

Yes, poor Rev had a really bad session which was totally uncalled for.

You might have gathered that I'm not very inspired by work today....

ah, but the soup is definitely inspired

I'll have one thanks Daisy

Here you go Mistle!

you can have the one that Tea swiped from the nick left behind!

And thanks for lopsided sponge Amber!

Oh, have I missed the last of the prawn and chocolate chip drop scones?

Voila! A Victoria sponge with pilchard and banana filling. Enjoy!

I am a firm believer in the restorative power of food and, particularly, of eating together. It is no coincidence, I think, that both international diplomacy and major world religions often use the communal meal and rituals around food as a means of cementing relationships.

I am not even going to ask what the super race thread was all about. I tend to avoid all the In The News threads, for example, because although I have opinions on almost every matter under the sun, I have no more appetite for big MN punch-ups. I am still rather non-plussed by (I thought) a very mild thread in which someone said, quite light-heartedly, that they were disappointed when their husband poured scorn on their plan to take lessons in burlesque dancing, and the MN Millie Tants and their Radical Consciences then piled in to say that she was a traitor to womankind (I paraphrase slightly). OK, that's a point of view but it was hardly the theme of the thread.

I'm off to think about happy, fluffy things. Speaking of which, has anyone fed or exercised Earl Grey the tea room horse today? And has Mellors done anything productive at all in the potager?

Nice Sponge Bocca

I can just vouch for the extreme, umm, athleticism of Mellors in the potager today

I have been, umm, supervising his umm, activities

As for EarlGrey? Well, DaisyBoy is just giving him a quick run for his money before puddle plashing time!

Gawd, I had better go and hide my belly dancing gear from the keener eyed MNetters!

There's a tea room horse?! This is the most intriguing virtual tea room I've ever been in. . Well, now, if it's virtual horse-looking-after skills you want, that's something I can provide...pass me that Happy Hoof mix and a couple of carrots, will you?

I think someone needs to excercise Earl Grey.
I have tried to tuck into what I thought was a frgrant muffin.

This place looks nice since christmas. It looks different? Where is the aspidistra?

I have brought some beautiful chocolate and praline cupcakes which i nicked bought from a cafe near home.But they don't sell gin so I thought I would bring them here.

Seriously. Will someone take Early Grey out for some fresh air

A stable girl's job is never done...aye aye boss, will take Earl Grey out for a bit of a walk as long as he behaves nicely...

Amber - Earl Grey always behaves nicely (and he knows that 'nicely' is different for each of us - in fact, he seems to change size/shape/colour too remarkably ) its Mellors that you've got to watch out for!