• Home
  • Food
  • Film
  • Travel
  • About

TEA and TAKES

~ Food, Film & Travel Blog

TEA and TAKES

Category Archives: events

Filippo Berio’s New Fennel and Garlic Crostini’s with Mackerel Pâté

28 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christmas appetisers, easy to make Pâté, fennel and garlic crostini, Filippo Berio, Filippo Berio crostini's, filippo berio olive oil, mackerel Pâté recipe, olive oil, Pâté recipe, The food sauce

A crostini is that perfect snack for when your friends come round, have at parties, or even just pack a few in a lunch box to snack on at work. They are made from freshly baked bread, sprinkled with sea salt and drizzled with olive oil. Fillipo Berio, known for his famous olive oil has launched a new range of crostini’s using his signature oil and combining it with some fantastic flavours consisting of fennel and garlic, sun dried tomato, rosemary and sea salt as well as formaggio. I was fortunate to discover them at The Food Sauce Christmas Party a few weeks ago and have been snacking on them since!

For Christmas dinner we always have a starter, main and far too many desserts and this year were going to make our usual of prawn cocktail and stuffed mushrooms however I thought I’d try something a little different using the crostini’s and making a dip to go with them.

My mum makes an amazing mackerel pâté and I thought that would be a perfect accompaniment for the fennel and garlic crostini’s and so gave it a go. Both the pate and crostini are very flavoursome however, they do not overpower the other. Rather the freshness and smoothness of the pâté is delicious with the garlic and the crunch texture of the crostini. Give it a go and let me know what you think!


This recipe needs to be made the day before serving to give the pâté time to set. You will also need a blender.

Ingredients (To fill 6 little pots)

4 mackerel fillets

250g soft cream cheese

Juice of 1 lemon

Sprinkle of pepper

Method

  1. Peel the skin off the mackerel fillets and break the hard bit of skin at the bottom of the fish off and throw away. Break the mackerel fillets into small pieces and put into the blender.
  2. Empty the contents of the cream cheese into the blender with the mackerel. Squeeze the lemon juice over and sprinkle with a pinch of pepper.
  3. Blend all the ingredients up together for a few minutes ensuring there are no big bits of mackerel but rather it forms a smooth consistency. Use a spoon to mix the paste around to let you see if it is completely smooth.
  4. Spoon your pâté mixture into the 6 little serving pots and leave in the fridge overnight to set.
  5. Serve with your crostini’s for a delicious appetiser!

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

The No bake, Oh wait I baked it Pumpkin Pie

24 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Free From, Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

50 shades of autumn, Autumn, cake club, cakes gone wrong, camden, clandestine cake club, coconut cream, dairy free, gluten free pumpkin pie, look bad taste good, pumpkin puree, raw banofee pie, raw cakes, themed cakes

The nights are getting darker, the clocks are going back next week, it’s safe to say it’s officially autumn and with that it seemed pretty fitting to have 50 shades of autumn as the theme for Cake Club this month.

When I first found this out, I thought right I’m going to make something ambitious this time, some sort of pie or cake perhaps, different shades in colour with leaves made out of rolled icing which I would paint gold. That doesn’t sound too amazing but for the past few months with cake club I’ve always found that I’ve either forgotten the date and it’s got to the day before and I’m like crap what can I make so have whipped up something simple or have just picked quite safe options.

So, I thought about what I would make and then, a week before as I was looking into pumpkin pie recipes I thought, as Amanda who comes to cake club is dairy free, I would make a cake so that she could have another option to eat, rather than just her own. I have made raw cakes and some gluten and dairy free cakes in the past which actually turned out quite nice (you can read about my adventure with the banoffe raw cake I made at Easter!) so I thought I’ll find a dairy free pumpkin recipe to make and I can still decorate it and make it look fab!

Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Food Sauce’s 3rd Birthday celebrates with a Blogger’s Bake Off!

30 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blogger’s Bake off, ConneXus, disco soup, Flapjacks, Ginger bisuits, gluten free biscuits, Jim jams, Little pod, Mercato Metropoli, Mr Sherick's Shakes, Pancakes, popcorn, Riddle's Tequilla Iced tea, Sweetpea Pantry, Ten acre, The food sauce, vanilla beer ice cream, volunteer, white chocolate biscuit

The Food Sauce celebrated its third birthday with a Blogger’s Bake off last Sunday held at Mercato Metropolitano, a 45,000 square foot market space offering a mixture of Italian and London based artisan producers.

I hadn’t heard of Mercato Metropolitano therefore looked it up before going and discovered that they held a ‘disco soup’ a few weeks ago where hundreds of volunteers gathered to prepare soup and dance as part of global movement to inspire action against food waste. Well, they already had my vote. The space is beautiful too. Close to Borough station, Mercato Metropiolitano is located just a 7 minute walk away and is a beautiful space with outdoor seating, fairy lights, amazing mini campervan looking bars and so much fresh, locally sourced delicious food!

The Blogger’s event started at 4pm and I arrived to see fellow bloggers, some I’d already met before at other Food Sauce events and quite a few new faces too. Today we were baking from a choice of ginger biscuits, flapjacks or pancakes, using the mixtures from Sweetpea Pantry.

We were shown a demonstration of pancakes, which looked pretty simple and then set to work. It was fun to have everyone making different options and also great because it meant we’d be able to try a bit of everything.

We chose the pancakes which were very simple to make. We just needed to add an egg and some milk, heat some butter up on the pan and once the mixture was blended together, away we went. The mixture made four very thick pancakes which with Jim Jams hazelnut spread on were lovely and very filling.

Alongside our pancakes we got to try a new white chocolate biscuit bar called ConneXus. It’s basically a big bar of white chocolate with what looks like rich tea biscuit stuck to the back. Simple yet extremely effective. The bar was so moreish, I literally had three squares and then suddenly I’d eaten the whole bar. To add another layer of sweetness we were given Mr Sherick’s Shakes to sample. I made the mistake of sampling these at the last Food Sauce event and then taking 4 bottles home and drinking them all in a day. They are so delicious that although super filling you can’t just have a sip and put it back in the fridge, they’re too good, therefore you end up having the whole thing. The flavours we tried were Choco Latte and Pot au Choc with Belgian Chocolate Chips which are both delicious but as a chocoholic I think the Belgian chocolate wins slightly for me on flavour. They also have Cookies and Cream (probably my favourite), Strawberry Pavlova, Softly Banoffee and a A Hint of Mint. Tempted yet?

For refreshment Tg Green Tea were back with their different flavours of ginger and lemon zest and jujube and osmathus hot tea and we were also introduced toRiddles Tequilla Iced Tea. I loved this as I love tequila but wouldn’t be able to drink too much of it. Therefore a tequila iced tea at just 5.5% is a perfect combination to give you that flavour but water it down with the fresh taste of ice tea. I loved how they were described on the day, ‘you know how you go out, buy a 6 pack and wake up feeling hung-over the next day, well with these, you buy a 6 pack and wake up with a six pack!’

Last but not least Ten Acre were back with their healthy and unique flavoured popcorn. I’ve tried so many different flavours of popcorn but sweet n salty is still my favourite although lime and sea salt might come in as a close second. To finish off we tried Vanilla Beer flavoured ice cream from LittlePod. I love littlepod’s products, I have been using their vanilla paste in literally anything I bake lately and it makes such a difference therefore I was excited to see what product we would be sampling at the event.

Beer lovers you will love this, it literally tastes like beer but with cream. Ok that sounds pretty gross but somehow it really works! If you love an ice cream float you will love this. Funnily I don’t but still found myself eating half the tub.

All in all I had a great time again celebrating The Food Sauce’s 3rd birthday. The Food Sauce is a fantastic online platform connecting food brands and bloggers and I always love the events because they offer a chance to discover a new place, meet new people, get hands on with cooking/baking food and the best part, discovering new products and trying to think up recipes to use with them.

Next up, The Food Sauce’s Christmas party; I can’t wait to see what’s in store.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Bubblewrap, Curry Goat & Betsy’s Bakes – Brighton Foodies Festival is back!

02 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Free From

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2017, betsy's bakes, Brighton, Bubblewrap waffle, cakes, Caorunn gin, Caramella's, Chinatown, Coconut macaroons, curry goat, food producers, Foodie's Festival Brighton, Foodies Festival, Free From, Gin Liquor, ginger cocktails, healthy living, live music, Mama Jacques, pic n mix, Pimm's bar, Rhubarb and rose gin liquor, Rose Cottage Drinks, the mesmerist


It was the time of the year for Foodie’s Festival, Brighton again which is always such a treat as not only do I get to go to a brilliant food festival but I love going to Brighton for the atmosphere, be beside the sea and all the amazing independent food places too or and of course the pic n mix!

In fact my first stop of the day was at Caramella’s where I somehow, quite easily actually, filled a £5 bag full of my favourite pic n mix before heading off down the little lanes to the Foodie’s Festival.

The Foodie’s Festival is the UK’s biggest celebration of food, drink and wellbeing. The festival brings with it the best Michelin star chefs and MasterChef winners cooking their favourite recipes and giving visiting their top tips.

It was great to see a lot of new products and stalls this year as well as some favourites from last year such as Betsy’s bakes cakes, which were as delicious as ever.

Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Foodies Festival is coming to Brighton this weekend!

25 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bake off, Bank Holiday Weekend, Brighton, Cakes and Desserts Theatre, Candice Brown, chocolatier Fiona Sciolti, Cook with Critters, detox coach Amanda Hamilton, Foodies Festival, Foodies Festival VIP experience, Gastronomic Glastonbury, healthy living, Katy Beskow, kids cookery school, Matt Gillan, Michelin-starred chef, mixologists, Psychedelic Pavlovas, street food, vegan, Vintage Tea Room, yoga

Brighton’s favourite food and drink festival returns to Hove Lawns this May Bank Holiday weekend

  • Star-studded Chef line up including Great MasterChef Winner 2016 Jane Devonshire, Michael Bremner of 64 Degrees, Michelin starred Matt Gillan & Adam Simmonds and local favourites Alun Sperring of Chilli Pickle, Stephen Crane of Ockenden Manor and Doug McMaster of SILO; 
  • New Healthy Living Zone with yoga classes hosted by The Float Spa and recipe inspiration Kate Moss’ detox coach Amanda Hamilton & winner of Vegan Bake-Off Katy Beskow;

 

  • Bigger and better Music Stage and a brand new acoustic music stage

 

  • A show-stopping VIP experience with Borgo Molino, kitted out by luxury furniture company RAFT furniture and Ginger Lilly Florists;

 

  • Champagne, wine and craft beer and food pairing masterclasses;

 

  • A re-launched Cakes and Desserts Theatre with top bakers and patisserie chefs starring Candice Brown, Great British Bake off Winner 2016

 

Candice Brown, Winner of Great British Bake Off 2016, lippy in one hand and spatula in the other, will be baking up a storm in the Cakes and Desserts Theatre for two demonstrations. Candice says: “I’m excited to return Foodies Festival for 8 of their festivals across the UK this summer, with two baking demonstrations a day giving me the chance to share my favourite recipes with so many of my fans and fellow bakers”.


Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Charcoal Cake & Forbidden Fruit Cocktails – Naughty by Nature’s healthy living pop up comes to Vauxhall

18 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Free From

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

BLOOMON, buddha bowl, Cake & Cucumber, charcoal cake, first healthy living pop up, forbidden forest, free from festival, gluten free, healthy living, jack fruit, Naughty by nature, nbynbar, Pomodoro E Basilico, pop up, pop up bar, pop up bar with a twist, press launch, South London Food Events, strawberry fields cocktail, The Bedford in Balham, Toshka, vegan is the new black, vegan twix bars, veggie hash

Naughty By Nature, London’s first healthy living pop up bar launched last week in Vauxhall and was the perfect event to attend on a sunny Saturday evening.

Greeted at the door with a glass of skinny prosecco we were welcomed into a hidden space that was filled with beautiful flowers from Bloomon and delicious smells from Toshka, Pomodoro E Basilico and Cake and Cucumber.

Having given up chocolate, well trying to give up sugar for lent, this was the perfect event to attend as it meant I could still have delicious cake that didn’t contain sugar. Cake and Cucumber’s selection of banana, chocolate (these looked incredible) and (my favourite) charcoal cake looked too good not to try and did not disappoint. I had never tried charcoal cake and this was something I couldn’t get enough of. Rather I ended up buying a slice which came with a salted caramel sauce which complimented the cake perfectly giving it that extra bit of sweetness.

Pomodoro E Basilico – Italian home-made artisan vegan food – had some amazing Buddha bowls as well as jack fruit burgers. I had never tried jack fruit before so these were a bit of a treat especially as they were accompanied by peanut butter, slaw & strawberry bbq kale. Their twix bars made with dates, peanut butter, coconut and dark chocolate proved super popular and looked amazing too. Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Naughty By Nature: New Healthy Living Pop Up Bar Launches in Vauxhall

07 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Free From

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

BLOOMON, buddha bowl, Cake & Cucumber, free from festival, gluten free, healthy living, Naughty by nature, nbynbar, Pomodoro E Basilico, pop up bar, pop up bar with a twist, press launch, South London Food Events, The Bedford in Balham, Toshka

NEW POP UP BAR WITH A TWIST INSPIRED BY NATURE LAUNCHES IN VAUXHALL


The Founders Of The ‘Free From Festival’ Are Launching A New Concept In Healthy Living From April 8th. A pop bar with a natural twist, as well as an event space offering allergy savvy brunch clubs and much more, all within an adventurous atmosphere hidden behind a secret door in Vauxhall.
“NAUGHTY BY NATURE”, will be London’s first pop-up bar to embrace healthy living and
a fabulous party spirit all under one roof. Catering for those with a passion for fine quality free-from food and featuring cocktails with all ingredients selected or produced uniquely for Naughty by Nature to exclude artificial additives, colours and flavours, high fructose, corn-syrup and unnecessary sugar.

Working with culinary innovators like Toshka (country food, for veggies and non-veggies), Pomodoro E Basilico (homemade artisan vegan Italian food) and Cake + Cucumber (flavours inspired by tastes of East Africa), Naughty By Nature will feature Brunch Club Specials allowing people to try a Free-From taste of every culture accompanied by their unique signature series of Naughty by Nature cocktails.
With carefully curated music playlists and inspirational flower creations by BLOOMON, the whole space has been designed to make you feel like you are stepping into another world.
All the hot and cold food will be free-from gluten, dairy and refined sugar and the cocktails have been created to compliment both the environment as well as the spirit of healthy, clean living and partying.

Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Feast for all at Taste of London – Festive Edition

29 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Fiona in events, Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Angela Hartnett, Blondies Kitchen, Bubbledogs, Café Spice Namaste, Chi Kitchen, chin chin lab, coconut brownie, Darbaar, expresso amaretto martini, His, Kurobuta, Mole Taco Bar, mulled cider, mulled wine, Patissier’s Pantry, Pizarro, pogues, pogues irish whiskey, t2 tea emporium, Taste of London, Taste of London festive edition, the dessert bar, Tobacco Dock, Tom Kerridge, Tom’s Kitchen, Tredwell’s

campbell-lovevegan-gluten-free-coconut-power-ballsvegan-cake_taste-festivaltobacco-dock

Last weekend at Tobacco Dock, Taste of London brought an amazing selection of food stalls, party atmosphere & delicious mulled wine for their Festive Edition to celebrate the Christmas season.

The event fell across three days with the option of going for the morning/afternoon slot or evening slot. The incredible venue, Tobacco Dock, was decorated with plenty of tinsel, lights and housed 20 of London’s latest and top restaurants offering visitors a delicious menu of more than 80 dishes to try.

tobacco-dock-taste-festivalgospel-singers

Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

BBC Good Food Show 2016

16 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

aldi, BBC good food show, bbc good food show 2016, brown pecan butter ice cream, chai latte, chai milk, coconut oil, coconut water, creme brulee brownies. Jim jams, duke of delhi, elderflower cider, gin and tonic ice cream, heck, Ishara organic, jbe imports, Judes, kisag trio peelers, matcha latte, Miso Tasty, Narna's cakes, nitrogen ice cream, nutella and peanut butter brownie, olympia, peanuit butter ice cream, peanut butter bomb, perkier, prosecco, reduced fat chocolate spread, rum and chilli ginger beer, spiraliser, teaforia, The Brownie Bar, The food sauce, The original pizza company, Thistly cross cider, Tom Kerridge, Tomahawk Maple Whisky, truffle nuts, wagyu beef

img_3796img_3805perkier_No autumn is complete without the BBC Good Food Show. It’s one of those annual events you look forward to months before it even happens. When I was on the train on my way to the show there were so many mums with their daughters, families together, happy and excited on their way to the event.

Held at London Olympia, this was my third time at the BBC Good Food show and I loved it just as much as the first time going. I remember thinking right we’ll just go for two hours and that will be plenty. Five hours later we were still there! Olympia is huge and with over a hundred stands you can’t just whizz around it, well you can but then find you want to whizz around it five more times.

img_3790

tom-kerridge

miso-tastyimg_3808

I went with my friend Sarah who has never been before and had no idea what to expect and she absolutely loved it. Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

It’s tea, not potpourri – Tearoute Launches in London

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Fiona in events, Food, Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

albion, autumn sonata, black fragrant garden, farringdon, it's tea not potpourri, mastiha chai, Milena Bottero, potluck tea, press launch, red square tea, relax tea, tea, tea cocktail, Tearoute, vanilla tea, whole leaf teas

tearoute

tea_tearoutecakes_tearoute
As a huge fan of tea I was pretty excited to be invited to the press night of tearoute last Tuesday night which took place at the Albion in Farringdon. Tearoute is an online tea shop offering a Greek twist on teas with a choice of over 80, and home delivery now available across the UK and Europe. Set up by Milena Bottero, entrepreneur and tea enthusiast, tearoute introduces a beautifully aromatic selection of whole leaf teas inspired by the Mediterranean and top quality single origin teas from Asia. When choosing the tea of your choice not only does tearoute provide you with a beautiful image of the tea but you are informed about where the tea is from, how it makes you feel, what its scent is and what food pairing it can go with. Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts
Follow TEA and TAKES on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new recipes and reviews via email.

About Me

Hi I’m Fiona, a twenty something foodie living in London who loves nothing more than cooking, eating, listening to stories and exploring. I created Tea and Takes as a way of bringing my two loves together: food and film.
fi_

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Categories

  • events
  • Film
  • Food
  • Free From
  • Recipes
  • Thoughts
  • Travel
myTaste.com

Archives

  • May 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • TEA and TAKES
    • Join 92 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • TEA and TAKES
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: