A week has flown past. I ended October with a few tasty treats in the form of buns and toffee apples which I hadn't made for years.
I took a selection of festive items to the Art & Rose Gallery in Pocklington, including these Harris Tweed landscape brooches with sheep.
I think when I made the biscuit brooches it was Anne who commented they would look good on a plate with biscuits so as I had a few jammy rings I popped mine on the same plate!
I managed a quick visit to the Warhol exhibition at Ferens Art Gallery in Hull which was pretty good with lots of different work and not just the soup cans.
On Friday I went to Harrogate to the Homebuilding exhibition which was rather good. It also allowed a trip to the best coffee shop in Harrogate, Bean & Bud. Had a most delicious sandwich and cranberry and white chocolate tiffin, with you know who as company!
Had also heard about La Maison Du Cafe so popped across there for a nice Red Brick espresso too.
Look what I spotted outside a butchers in Harrogate, these wonderful Nutcrackers.
And whilst on the subject of Nutcrackers, I'm currently stitching one up for a textile picture.
I've got a busy few days stitching as I need to make another gallery drop with festive goodies by the end of the week.
I had hoped to visit Woolfest but it didn't happen. All week I had been checking laterooms website to see if I could snaffle a cheap overnight stay in Carlisle or Penrith in order to visit the festival today but there were no cheap rooms.
So a last minute trip to Harrogate was the next best thing and of course a visit to Bean and Bud for some deliciously lush lemon drizzle cake and a cup of the new guest coffee, a Limini blend called Liscio which was very lovely, a sweet soft coffee with no bitterness. It's a blend of Brazil, Costa Rica & Indonesia.
Had a most enjoyable morning in Harrogate and this time didn't even have to worry about car parking as a bit of research on the internet last night showed up some free parking streets. It was just a 10-15 minute walk back into town and into Bean & Bud for refreshments.
I know this is only my second visit to Bean & Bud but they seem to have something new to tempt you with each time you walk in. I plumped for tea today and had the special China Oolong which had a lovely smoky taste to it. To eat I had the most delicious plum cake with a hint of almond, this is one of my favourite combinations, just lovely. Stocked up with some bags of coffee and teas.
The other thing I like about Bean & Bud, just a few doors along is that amazing fabric shop and I treated myself to a few fat quarters.
Weather not great this morning but the destination was Harrogate. It's usually only a place I drive through on the way to the Lakes and I haven't actually shopped in Harrogate centre for about 20 yrs. Eventually found some parking after driving around for nearly an hour, I hate it when you are not familiar with a place or its one way system and you keep going in circles or having to find somewhere to turn round. Anyway the plan was to find Bean & Bud cafe whose owners I met on the recent cupping course at Limini Coffee.
The cafe was near to the centre which was great as it was cold & drizzly and it was lovely inside, a warm welcoming red colour with groovy music to relax to. The owners Ruth & Hayden prepare all the drinks themselves to ensure the finest quality coffees & teas. I had a delicious flat white with a beautiful heart and I tucked into a delicious chocolate & pistachio cake. They had the most enormous and elaborate cup cakes but it was a bit early to do justice to one!
Came away with some of their loose tea to try.
It's a lovely cafe if you are in Harrogate and you'll find it on Commercial Street.
Had a really interesting & enjoyable evening yesterday as I attended a Cupping Event at Limini Coffee.
The idea was to sample a selection of 5 coffees of the world, to try and detect each coffees properties of sweetness, acidity, balance etc. etc. but just basically find out the type of coffee you like.
Youri roasted the fresh green beans in his table top roaster which took about 5 minutes for each batch, we did the smelling, aroma test first and then the slurping to sample the coffee (no spitting, why waste good coffee!).
We cupped 5 coffees individually and made our comments and gave ratings, then we cupped the same 5 altogether at the end (mixed up) to see if we had managed to figure out which was which.
I'll admit now that I did rubbish and didn't spot one of the coffees, fortunately I wasn't alone, this proves how difficult and what a skill it is. Amazingly one of the other girls on the course spotted all 5, she did so well and was rewarded with a prize of a latte art course.
It was all very fascinating, everyone enjoyed it, met some lovely people, a mixed bunch of home users and cafe owners. If you are looking for a good coffee or specialist tea in Harrogate, give Bettys a miss & check out this place as the people were on the course and they are very passionate about what they do.
http://www.beanandbud.co.uk/
As always a great event put on by Youri at Limini and hopefully they will be creating some more events in the future.
