‘Cuppa anyone?’ Considering we English claim tea as an integral part of our culture, we frequently sell ourselves short. ‘Builder’s tea’ really doesn’t count.  There are so many different varieties, which can be blended in many different ways.  Even the time of year when the leaves are plucked matters, with first flush tea, consisting of the youngest, most tender part of the plants, has a special flavour, reflected in the cost.

Like a good wine, a great tea can command a very high price and the taste and numerous health benefit claims of different teas are appreciated in tea-growing countries such as India and China, where tea-houses will offer you an incredible number of varieties and blends depending on your taste and needs.

In the UK we have been palmed off with cheap tea bags for too long. A good friend, who grew up on a Tea Plantation in Assam told me that these are often filled with tea dust, left over after processing the decent stuff. Is that all you’re worth?

You can get a very nice quality tea without paying the earth – just as you don’t necessarily have to splash out on a Château Lafitte to enjoy a good red.

So why not pop that supermarket special offer back on the shelf where it belongs, and head to the Newby website?

They have a large range of teas – green, black, flowering and many others, including caffeine-free such as rooibos.

Newby have just announced a collaboration with Matthew Williamson who has designed some beautiful tea caddies, available on the website. Each caddy design containing a different, quality tea and they make a really special gift.

Williamson comments, “Newby is such a wonderful heritage brand. They epitomise luxury in every sense of the word and do things with passion and flair. I’ve loved the process from start to finish of creating this collection, including learning so much more about the history of tea and visiting their amazing Chitra Collection for inspiration.”

Newby is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, committed to improving the lives and environment of tea workers and making tea production better, fairer and more environmentally sustainable. It’s substantially owned by the N Sethia Foundation, a UK registered charity which has supported medical research, youth activities and disaster relief management.

So not only will you give your body and mind a treat, but you will be helping many people, and even the future of tea itself with every cup of Newby’s.

Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co,uk

‘The lighting’s good, isn’t it?’

I couldn’t wait to see this production. Two years ago I sat in the same church and was riveted by the same company’s Richard III. My fault – it could only be a let down in comparison. The same atmosphere welcomes us, though. It is exciting and different to be inside a church which is a theatrical venue. The same promenade stage, with audience down the two sides. To be so close to the action, to be part of it.

Sadly not. I spent the evening feeling I was being performed at.

Antic Disposition’s directors – Ben Horslen and John Riseboro – have set the play in Victorian times. The costumes give an air of patriarchal control and a squeezed sense of formality and restriction. Then Macbeth enters – completely the opposite – promising so much more. He prowls the stage, looking for answers, mumbling and growling like a caged bear.

Harry Anton plays the part. All rugged, macho and looking like he’s just stepped off the set of Poldark. Well, hello, Macbeth!! Ding Dong! But he’s dour and lacklustre. [Blast.] Lady Macbeth, however, played by Helen Millar, has a shining presence – a brilliant beacon of light in a dark production, even when dressed completely in black for the first half. Once she is Queen, she then dresses in the brightest of blood red. This is in itself a shock to the eyes, as all costumes are black or the darkest of greys and browns.

The use of the witches is clever. Throughout, they are also the house servants of the Macbeths – always on hand to assist or hinder as the play requires. Louise Templeton, Bryony Tebbutt and Robyn Holdaway excel by their underplaying and choreography, subtly manipulating the characters around them. The rest of the cast – Chris Courtenay, Nathan Hamilton, Robert Bradley, Peter Collis and Andrew Hislop – come across as ‘actors in a Shakespeare play’ – there is the usual shouting and finger pointing, seemingly placing emotion before meaning.

Overall, I found too many of the actors annoyingly hard to hear as they fought the acoustics. Much of the staging was, surprisingly, quite unimaginative and dull. Static and filmic. Monologues were done to no one in particular, even though the eager audience was sitting there, right in front of them. Macbeth’s solo musings were slow and monotone. Two-dimensional. But I want action, power and a crispness of performance – I want my Macbeth to be enigmatic, not contemplative.

I want the actors to take a risk and use the environment they find themselves in. Instead, they play this version inwardly and safe. I want danger, all I got was contemplation. No doubt, as the run settles into the space, the pace will pick up, the actors will relax and the drama will increase. I realise I come across as grumpy and, excepting Max Bialystock, no one ever sets out to do a bad stage production, but Shakespeare is so often performed and comparisons abound. And everyone has an opinion. One gent in the queue for the interval toilets could genuinely only muster, ‘The lighting’s good, isn’t it?’

Ouch.

Photographer    Scott Rylander

Directors           Ben Horslen and John Risebero

Producer           Antic Disposition

Designer           John Risebero

Composer         James Burrows

Performances   Until 7th September – Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm

Matinees: Saturday at 3pm

Venue               Temple Church, London EC4Y 7BB

Nearest Tubes  Temple or Blackfriars (Circle and District lines)

Tickets              Box Office 0333 666 3366 or online at www.anticdisposition.co.uk

Price                 £25 – £40

Running Time   2 hours 15 (including an interval)

Twitter              @anticdispo

Windfalls is the beautiful magical land where fairies live.

The fairies live in their own little mushroom homes which they keep immaculate and sleep on a fresh bed of petals each night. Each fairy is assigned to an apprentice upon finishing school, some jobs just like us humans, teaching and carpentry and other not so much, dust collecting and wing repairs.

The fairies are kind, helpful and gentle beings. However not every fairy is happy with their way of life. Chyme and Emmaline are sisters but are completely opposite, Chyme is the perfect fairy she is helpful, smart and generous, Emmaline however is not what one would call your perfect fairy, she is resentful of her sister, she skips school and loves to cause trouble.

They are forced to put their differences aside, A threat looms in the shadows. Can Chyme and Emmaline save their village from a mutual enemy? A glorious and magical escape to the land of Windfalls. A beautiful story of sisterhood, teamwork, bravery and determination.

Available on Amazon.co.uk 

Natalie Jayne Peeke. The Bookworm mother.

I love working as a correspondent for Frost Magazine and sampling and reviewing Opies Foods products is always a pleasure.

The 140 year old company is based in Kent, the garden of England, and this is no coincidence. Local fruits and vegetables have inspired many Opie products, which range from traditional, but top-quality favourites, such as cocktail cherries and various pickles, including gherkins, cornichons and onions, and even green peppercorns, to some very modern twists on bottled fruits.  They also have an organic range, and many of their fruits and vegetables are sourced in the UK.

As I stared at the jars of Peaches with Courvoisier and Black Cherries with Luxado Kirsch, which I’d been sent to review, my creative juices (and digestive juices) began to flow. But how to enjoy them best? A generous helping accompanied with ice-cream is always the easiest option – and totally delicious, but I was feeling adventurous. My kids’ expressions morphed from excited anticipation to raw dread as I picked up my ancient recipe book, and pleas of ‘we just want them with ice-cream, Mum’ and ‘step away from the oven’ made me question whether they trusted my culinary skills.

Naturally I ignored them and continued leafing through the recipes.

Clafoutis – of course – this French desert was just made for these delicious fruit preserves. So, oven warming nicely, I teetered on the kitchen stool and found some flour at the back of a top cupboard shelf, a little milk, butter, sugar (not too much, I planned to substitute with the yummy cognac- and kirsch-infused syrups from the fruits) and now I just needed some vanilla extract. I was sure I had some. On my knees I reached to the dark recesses of the corner unit and grabbed a handful of small bottles – cochineal (crikey that must be old), almond essence and, yes, vanilla extract.

I emerged, smiling, to be greeted by insolent and miserable stares, but I ploughed on. The batter was made in a jiff with the help of my blender (top tip) and I poured half into each of two buttered flan dishes. I sliced the peaches and arranged them on the batter of one,  put the black cherries on the other.  Around half an hour in the oven (190degC) and I was delighted with the results. Two very professional deserts  – the fruits looked and tasted amazing and the cognac and kirsh-infused syrup gave the clafoutis a really special taste – simply heaven. Even the kids were impressed.

If you want more recipes (from professional chefs) check out the Opies Foods website, where you can also read about their quite unique range of products. These make great gifts for anyone (including yourself, of course). The two fruit preserves I used in my clafoutis are available at Tesco.

Something else you may want to consider is putting some Opies Mixed Fruits With Prosecco into the bottom of a glass, and adding more … of course … prosecco – it makes a very impressive drink for a special occasion.

Photos provided by Splat Marketing

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk