Tea Room the Ninth: I love rock and roll, put another dime in the juke box baby

[MadBadandDangerousToKnow]

Welome to the ninth incarnation of the tea room. It's been a long and eventful road, from a tea room overlooking a cathedral garden to a beachside cafe, with a diversion via a yurt. Now - voila - we are in a music lounge. We cater for all tastes and, as this is a tea room of requirement, it manages simultaneously to be many things at once. For some, it is a 70s glam rock disco with a cool boho edge - glitter balls, smoke machine and much wearing of platform shoes and eyeliner. For others, a jazz bar where mellow music is played as cocktails are served. For still others, it's a concert performance of Spem In Allium. We still have a garden, with shady parasols for the summer, and a menagerie of pets. Our membership is international.

The tea room has few rules. Everyone is welcome. But anyone visiting with the sole intention of causing hurt or shouting abuse will be ejected by Mellors, the multi-talented gardener-handyman who (it turns out) is also a guitar wizard and rock god.

Please come in.

Ooh thank you, Cmot. There's nothing more pathetic, I fear, than an elderly woman drinking alone on her birthday.

I love the idea of a pudding club, too.

I bring you as a gift a pudding platter - I saw this in the US, little shot glasses of lots of pudding - I think there is banoffee pie, lemon meringue, brownie sundae, apple crumble, raspberry and white chocolate trifle, chocolate mousse, and lemon posset.

Not sure if domestic goddess is really my thing.

Although I did produce for Sunday lunch a suprisingly delicious courgette pate, courgette bread and ratatouille containing ... yep ... a couple of courgettes.

We have a bit of a glut here. Have just attended two fetes, and at both there were people trying to sell courgettes! Here we have guerilla raiding parties leaving heaps of the varmints on friends' doorsteps before dawn.

Quite sure that I have just seen Wriggle's cat Marmite in the tea room garden, stalking guinea pigs.

Oh you are so lovely and kind. But I can't eat all these delightful mini-puddings single-handed. Would you like to share?

And I wonder if we might square the circle by devising a courgette-based dessert? After all, we can and do use carrots in cake. And courgette ice cream can't be any less palatable than garlic ice cream (which I have heard mentioned) surely?

Courgette apparently goes in chocolate cake - I have a recipe for courgette and chocolate muffins, but have never used it.

Am sitting on a dining chair as the citoons (DD's spelling) have taken over the office chair. Cats in charge? Never!

I don't think they'd have much luck stalking guinea pigs, as they're about the size of a guinea pig. They're very good at clinging to things - I'm actually beginning to wish they'd discover the curtains, to give my legs a rest. The main culprit looks particularly creepy when scaling my thighs, like a double-jointed spider cat or something.

WHAAAAAAT IS HAPPENING???????

All the lights have gone out!!!!??????????!!!!

The stage lights in a soft and fuzzy way and all we can see is Mellors sitting on a tall stall with a beautiful acustic guitar on his knee.

With a tear in his eye he begins to meaningfully strum...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajyPvPKi2GY

SUDDENLY Disco lights start to flash and everyone begins to dance in honour of her royal birthdayness MADBAD!!! Woooo hoooo!!!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82hCDGkKo8

Hipy birfdi tow yow Ms Dangeroustoknow!!!! x x x

These pudding shots are lovely - let's all have another!!! I am going for one of the (true recipe) chocolate and courgette muffins - yum yum!!!

Happy birthday MadBad!

OH!! Do I spy a kitten swinging on the curtain??

He appears to be a ginger tabby with a small mischievous triangular face. He bears a distinct resemblance to my little old-man cat. I wonder if he'd object to being named after him?

Dammit, I am too late to say Happy Birthday to MadBad on the right day! Well, Happy Birthday anyway and I'll share a glass of Prosecco with you and a mini-cheesecake (sans base)

CMOTD - have you tried MrsCrimble's double chocolate brownies? (Have I said this to you before?) I miss them already, they are so fabulously chocolatey and lovely and yummy and of course totally gluten-free.

We seem to have been invaded by kittens - how lovely! So long as the NMBs don't start racing them. I wouldn't worry about the guineapigs though - my Mum's cat was always slightly nervous around my g'pigs - you could almost see her thinking "Eeek, giant mice! Stay awaaaay from the Giant Mice of Doom...."

Anyone seen Daisy recently?

btw, can one stuff courgettes in a similar fashion to marrows?
I never used to like the things until I worked in Italy as an au pair - my boss did this amazing slow cook thing with them in oil, salt and garlic and they were lovely! I have tried to recreate it but can't seem to get it quite right - but they are definitely better for being a bit toasted, if you see what I mean. In butter and garlic. Yum.

I do prefer my own brownies to Mrs Crimbles tbh, but they are v good. You, on the other hand, get the wonder of Byron Bay gf cookies. The white choc and macadamia nut ones are particularly morish

Nigella does a lovely courgette cake. And one of our local ice cream makers does an asparagus ice cream that is suprisingly nice.

corgette and carrot muffins on teh table.

they go rather nicely in corgette and paramsan bread rolls too. ask if you want the recipe. We had a glut earlier in teh summer. DH won;t let me stuff them , brings back to many memories of his mothers ( failry awful) cooking I fear.

Happy Birthday for yesterday. hows teh hang under.

boy is playing nicely with his cars, so I'm delaying our playground and shop walk in the hope it will stop raining. fat chance, tis datmoor.

I have now lined up work for one day a week for teh next few months. need to talk to a couple of other customers and try and sort out several days in dec and then 1 or 2 a week in Jan, feb, march. If I'm earning and boy is in ( free) preschool, I don't mind spending the petrol on getting to the city. DH cycled to work yesterday, and learnt a few hard lesons about doing a 50 mile commute. silly boy didn;t eat any more during teh day than he usually does and wondered why he bonked half way home.

Missed your birthday MadBad!! Happy Unbirthday!!!!!
Hello all. Wasn't well - long story, female things, you don't want to know.
Sort of back but brain not at full speed yet

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADBAD, I hope you had a good day yesterday

Sympathy for Amber and her misterious troubles. I hope you are felling a wee bit better.

Does anyone have a good recipe for zucchini (courgette) loaf? No wheat, egg, dairy and all-the-other-good-stuff concerns...

Good evening all. I did have a lovely birthday. I so enjoyed Mellors' late night guitar recital - he has obviously regained his strength after his stint unpacking for UniS. He is indeed, as I said at the start of the thread, a guitar hero and rock god.

Amber - sorry to hear of your (ahem) lady problems. Hope they're getting better.

I haven't seen Daisy for a while. I like to imagine that she and DaisyBoy, in their matching solar topees and safari suits, are yomping across the Okavanga Delta with DaisyBloke.

Would anyone care for a restorative glass of something and a dessert?

Hope you're better soon Amber!

MadBAd, I shall join you - in the tearoom all timeframes are magically synchronised (so I am not really a sad lush drinking at 4am) and a slice/lump of raspberry pavlova (one can't really slice pavlovas, can one?)

Am at the thought of the Daisyfamily in their matching outfits!

CMOTD - thanks for the heads up on the Byron Bay cookies - haven't seen them yet but have found these, although the ones I buy always seem to have chocolate cream. They are a sort of Penguin/Timtam replacement and rather yum.
(I don't "do" macadamias - it's the texture, a bit mushy or something, never got on with them sadly!) HOwever I have seen that they do a triple choc fudge variety so I'm sure that will find its way into my shopping soon!

Actually you have jsut reminded me - DH does a rather fab line in GF chocolate muffins - must get him to do some more - he has the touch for them!

One glass of prosecco and vast lump/delicate slice (depending on your preference) of pavlova coming right up. Why are you awake at 4am?

went to bed at 9pm to entice DS to sleep. I can't wait until we get into our own house so I can sort the sleeping arrangements out properly and get DS back to sleeping in his cot. He hasn't done it properly now for nearly 6 weeks, although it's only since we've been here that he has refused to even go in the cot at all. And since I have noticed that he can get one leg over the side of the travel cot, I'm not keen to try and leave him to it!

Ta for vast lump (I like your thinking!) of pav, I do love pavlova..nmmmnmm nmmnmm

Raspberry pavlova is quite possibly, I think, the ambrosia of the gods. I can imagine them all lolling around on Mount Olympus, scoffing raspberry pavlova.

Bummer about the disrupted sleeping arrangements, Thumb. It is indeed a turning point, when they learn to sling one leg over the rail of the cot and escape!

And ... while we're doing roll call, has anyone seen Mistle recently?

The choc fudge ones are v v nice too. You can get them in the UK, but to me they are the nice victorian style shopping centre in Sydney where I first ate them.

What does the tearoom think about attire for evening wedding receptions ? Is black a no no ? I have to go to colleagues evening reception on Saturday and have to take DS with me (long drive and no DH this weekend). So have bought a lovely silk ring sling (as expect to have DS asleep on me) in lavender and slate, and wondered if I could just wear my fave Phase Eight dress with it

Hmm. Have just been looking at another thread which muses on where ancient old crones like me should look for style and fashion advice. Was tempted to say that I rely on MN and, specifically, the tea room.

I don't think black is a no-no - although it would have been before the 1980s' adoption of the Henry Ford any-colour-as-long-as-it's-black dictum for fashion - but I think you need to ensure that you don't look funereal. Do you have other accessories in lavender, slate or silver which you could wear with it?

I love Phase Eight but I've heard some on MN decry it as frumpy and mumsy. Can you link to the dress?

I have worn black to a daytime summer wedding before, but offset it with light coloured accessories (a pale green jacket and scarf), both of which had to be discarded as the day turned into the hottest of the year! No one batted an eyelid.

I think if you do accessorise (ugh) with lighter or sparkly colours, it's fine - if it's unadulterated black it could look a bit dismal but if it's the evening, who's going to notice anyway? Sounds perfectly ok.

I suspect that accesoried with a sleeping babay you can wear black NO PROBLEM. every one will be far to impressed with your fantastic parenting and silk ( you did say silk didn't you) ring sling to remember what else you were attired in.

Any how, I tend to wear black for evening do's as I have a nice long black frock ( monsoon) that fits AND I like. It only fits cos I have a wardrobe mistress at work alter it, otherwise I stufggle to find things that fit across teh shoulders without gaping round teh bust.

Zuchini loaf recipe will follow when I find it again, not sure which book in which box at present. Its for a very savoury bread like thing, most of teh USA recipes were for sweet cake like loafs.

Ah, the kookaburra dawn chorus has kicked off, how lovely