Crumbs to Crunch

Books and tea are a winning combination. Our latest find is London Review Cake Shop , a tiny café part of the London Review Bookshop. It is just a stone's throw from the British Museum and is the perfect spot for a cuppa and a browse after visiting the museum.  This chic café takes tea ever so seriously and offers an extensive selection. I ordered the white peony tea with rose buds served on a gong fu tea set. I have to admit that I am not familiar with gong fu but from what I gather, gong fu is a Chinese tea ceremony which translates as 'the art of doing something well'. This means that the tea making process cannot be rushed in order to brew the perfect tea.  The tea set was a thing of beauty - a glass teapot, jug and cup served on a bamboo box. There were quite a few steps to follow, firstly I poured hot water into the teapot with the tea leaves and waited for the tea to infuse. The scent of the rose buds was divine. I then poured the tea into the glass jug ...

We have few obsessions that rival our love of food, but one that comes pretty close is our appreciation of stationery. Therefore imagine our excitement when we discovered that in Tokyo there is a stationery café, otherwise known as Bunbougu Café , near Harajuku.  As you descend the stairs into this basement café, you are surrounded by the amazing doodles that people have drawn in the café. The pictures are so good, be sure to have a look to give you some ideas for your own creations! The café itself is cosy and modern. There is such a relaxed atmosphere as everyone scribbles and doodles away. You can wander round the café and pick up various bits and pieces of stationery for your creations. If there's any pen or notepad that particularly takes your fancy, you can buy it in the shop after your meal. I particularly liked some crayons in the shape of hippopotamuses and some wonderful, thick and vibrant calligraphy pens.  The food is delicious too. With a menu tha...

January can be such a dreary month. The festive high is over and it is back to drizzly reality. Surrounded by adverts for gyms and dieting, it is so easy to punish yourself for your yuletide gluttony and feel down in this bleak month.  However, food needn't be the enemy. It is very important to look after yourself so you feel good. This post has been inspired by the video 1o Ways To Be Kind to Yourself where Rosianna Halse Rojas and Booksandquills give their tips on well-being. My favourite tip is about food, they recommend following a recipe and cooking for yourself.  We are always on the go so it can be therapeutic to slow down by following a recipe to create a lovely meal. With this in mind, I am going to share a few of my food related self-care things that I have found helpful.  If you are hungry, then eat! Don't feel guilty about wanting to eat! After all we do need to eat to survive. It is so hard to give up habits so instead of thinking about what you...

It's no secret that we're crazy about hot chocolate. We've traveled the world in search of the world's greatest cup. Our journey has taken us to many wonderful cities, such as  Winchester ,  Lyon ,   Paris , and  Dublin . However, we thought that it was about time to take our search out of Europe. It was time to taste the hot chocolate of Mexico.  We headed to Oaxaca (pronounced wah-ha-ka), a city about 300 miles south of Mexico City. It's a fascinating place with a real mix of cultural sights. You can admire colonialist architecture (our favourite was the stunning gold interior of the church of Santo Domingo de Guzman), visit Zapotec archaeological sites or browse through the wonderful artisan markets. The surrounding area is also very scenic. For example, many tourists enjoying going to Hierve el Agua, an amazing petrified waterfall. Despite our obvious enjoyment of these many touristic excursions, our primary interest when we travel is that of foo...