Hello! It’s Wednesday – half way there! Not that I’m living for the weekend or anything… 
This week I’m joining the blogging link-up What I Ate Wednesday and share the delightful treats and meals I’ve been loving lately. Pop over to Jenn’s blog to see what’s going down 
So here’s a recap of Saturday’s eats as they were pretty damn good. As I mentioned in my last post, I didn’t run Parkrun on Saturday. This was really hard and sad for me. Without sounding overly dramatic, it sucked. Ben went but I went to spin instead. I could have volunteered but I wanted to get the endorphins going and to be honest I was in a bad mood.
And let me tell you, spin was hard core. The usual person was sick apparently so we had a stand-by person do it. I assumed it would be a cop-out session. Ha. Usually we have little breaks between songs but not this time. It was just non-stop. And then the instructor goes “right, time for a 5 minute sprint”. Seriously?! It was 30 seconds of sprints, with about 10 seconds recovery, over 5 minutes. I was a sweaty mess.
After this I had my usual breakfast:
Same old same old. Porridge (oatmeal), almond milk and chia seeds.
Then after getting ready and usual house stuff, Ben and me headed to my parent’s where I dropped Ben off for some ‘man-time’ with my dad to watch the football and play Xbox. I picked my mum up and we headed off for a lovely spot of afternoon tea for lunch.
Besides from getting immensely stressed out trying to find a car park in the world’s smallest village square and ending up giving up and parking in a ditch, we arrived at Lilly’s Tearoom in Wickham in one piece (not always guaranteed when I drive).
We ordered soup to start because we weren’t sure afternoon tea would be an adequate lunch (rookie error right there).
Delicious pea and ham soup
I loved how beautiful all the crockery was. In fact, the whole tearoom was beautifully decorated and the service was fabulous.
Obviously we had tea
And then our ‘main’…
Heaven! We had the choice of so many different cakes (carrot, chocolate, lemon drizzle, coffee and walnut, rocky road, millionaire shortbread or Victoria sponge). Well, my mum and me both adore Victoria sponge so we both went for a slice of that. It also came with crustless chicken sandwiches and crustless cucumber sandwiches (but of course!) and scones with clotted cream and jam.
Yeah so we clearly did not need that soup!! We were both quite full by the end, only leaving a couple of the sandwiches (choose your battles I say – cakes all the way). It was perfect.
And then we looked round the little square at all the lovely little shops. And lo and behold I found the most amazing chocolate shop.
Because after so much cake, surely this makes sense??
So many beautiful and tasty looking chocolates! Well, I pushed the boat out and went crazy. I bought Ben and me a box to share.
I forgot to take a photo of inside, but I will share soon as it’s pretty impressive
The shopkeeper thought it was hilarious that I was buying this for just Ben and me to eat ourselves. How terribly indulgent, I know
Well, dinner wasn’t needed for quite a long time afterwards! Luckily Ben had had a pub lunch so we were both happy to have a nice late dinner.
I kept it simple and had roasted vegetables and sausages. I threw in a chopped cooking apple as well (because I don’t eat enough apples – it’s something I’m trying to work on ). I threw some herbs on it (rosemary and thyme) and then drizzled it with some oil and balsamic vinegar. LOVED this. Definitely happening again. And so easy – everything just went in a casserole dish and then in the oven for 20ish minutes.
And that’s that!
Last night I went for an easy 8 mile run and it felt pretty good. No pain, no major discomfort. Just a bit of aching but I was more concerned with the raging thunderstorm going around me! But more on that another day.
Have you ever had afternoon tea? I think it’s pretty much the best thing in the world. OK I’m easily swayed by anything cake-related.
What treats do you like to buy? A box of chocolates is fairly extravagant for us, but I just couldn’t help myself. Usually it’s Cadbury’s chocolate or Lindt!
What’s your favourite filling in a sandwich? I am a bit turkey or chicken fan, with loads of salad. And cranberry sauce.
I love, love, love afternoon tea! My Mum is coming to visit this weekend and I definitely intend on taking her for afternoon tea post-ultra!
I love cranberry sauce in a sandwich. Loads of bacon, brie and cranberry sandwiches have recently been popping up and I can’t resist! I’m also a sucker for pesto, mozzarella and tomato. Yum.
I’m also a big fan of roasted veggies, especially now it’s cold out.
It’s such a mum and daughter thing isn’t it?
Ohhhh your sandwich sounds divine!!! Cranberry, bacon and brie…yummm!
The tea time with your mom sounds perfect! I need to plan a day like that with my mother. Stress free 🙂
That array of cakes is unreal. So big. So many. So delicious.
That chocolate shop owner has apparentally never met Anna “the machine.” Haha.
Hahaha yes that is true, she was not aware of my machine status 😀
I’ve never been for afternoon tea 🙁 Yours looks amazing! I’m a member of the Hotel Chocolat Tasting club, which is our main indulgence as it’s a little pricey – but…we have it every other month to try and mitigate the extravagance guilt! Sandwiches, I really like a good BLT, or good old cheese salad. Glad to hear your 8 miles were pain/discomfort free.
You need to have afternoon tea pronto! It is quintessentially British
Goat’s cheese salad sandwich – YES.
I’ve never been for an afternoon tea, but there are some lovely places in town that do them. It’s definitely on my list of things to do. Yours looks amazing, great selection!
Definitely do it because it’s just so tasty and you feel so dainty and elegant hehe. Sandwiches and cake…perfect.
I’ve never had afternoon tea, as a Vegan I don’t think I would have much luck 😛 Yours looks great! I like raw chocolate as a treat, I save it for post races! Glad your run was ok!
Ahh yeah vegan afternoon tea might be a hard one to find. Potential business prospect right there!!
I have never actually had afternoon tea anywhere, if I could find somewhere that did it for the gluten intolerant I would be digging in straight away!
Hmmm chocolate is a regular offender in my house but cake is a real treat, favourite sandwich filling would have to be cheese and pickle : )
Loving the blog, looking forward to reading more!
I’ve seen quite a few places that sell gluten free cake now which is quite impressive – not necessarilly gluten free afternoon tea though 🙁 I suppose sandwiches are a hard one.
Cheese and pickle – a classic but a good ‘un.
I love afternoon tea! Although often if the two of us go somewhere I end up with a scone or some cake, as you have to be very hungry to take on all 3 layers. And yes, I would leave the sandwiches too. I like a nice chutney in a sandwich, or some sundried tomato, or pesto, or avocado.
You are my afternoon tea idol – you always seem to be having a lovely slice of cake and tea and I get so jealous hehe.
Sundried tomatoes!! Lovely in a sandwich :))
This looks like so much fun Anna! I love seeing afternoon tea selections, the difference in them between places is quite extraordinary – great to see all the little touches each place makes! I love buying boxes of choc for myself (sometimes James is allowed to share haha), there’s something lovely and extravagant about stretching out with a good book and delicious truffles.
Yeah I’ve heard some afternoon teas are really rubbish – usually the ones using certain vouchers I believe… I was pleasantly surprised by ours. Very good value for money.
Good book + chocolates = perfect night in 😀
This. Looks. Like. Heaven.
It certainly was 😀
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