Indulge with Crabtree & Evelyn Fine Foods ( Crabtree & Evelyn Typewriter Project )

Sitting in the garden surrounded with plants and flowers, listening to birds chirping, sipping a cup of tea with a relax mind is just an indulgence for a mom with kids that are ever so active. Once a while, I will pamper myself to have a ‘me time’ while my boys are still in bed or taking their nap by having an English breakfast or afternoon tea in the garden. This is the time when my Crabtree & Evelyn precious fine food collection will be served.

Not only does Crabtree & Evelyn have a wide range of luxurious toiletries, they have gourmet foods too, like cookies and biscuits, fruits jam and tea. You will see them under the Fine Food corner. Frankly speaking, initially when I first stepped into the shop, I dare not ask or even walk close to Fine Food corner. Why? It was because of the word ‘FINE’. Fine Dining, ooohhh then Fine Foods must be referring to expensive stuffs. Furthermore, all the products are so…..nicely presented. They will definitely mark up the price for that. But then, surprisingly they were actually at an affordable price, not expensive as what I thought of. From there onwards, every time I shop at Crabtree & Evelyn, I will definitely patronize  the Fine Food corner. All the beautiful tins and boxes, bottles and jars, and some special barrels seemed ‘waving’ and ‘whispering’ to me: “Come and touch me! Bring me home! Taste me!” Sometimes I just can’t resist and I will bring back one or two.

Crabtree & Evelyn Fine Foods Corner

The story of

Fine Foods

Celebrate the holiday season with our banquet of fine foods, made with love and care in England. Inspired by the very best of festive British fare, these flavourful goodies use only the finest natural ingredients and traditional cooking methods for wonderfully intense flavour. Beautifully hand-drawn illustrations have been transformed into charming wrapping for gifts that will brighten any winter pantry. 

~ Crabtree & Evelyn

Let’s have a mini tour to this corner. They have cookies & biscuits, preserves and tea. Of course, they will have festive food for some special occasions or holidays like Christmas and so forth. They will come out some special flavors with special packaging available for own consumption, collections or as gifts.

Cookies & Biscuits

Crabtree & Evelyn has a wide range of cookies and biscuits. They have Traditional Shortbread Biscuits, White Chocolate and Raspberry Biscuits, Strawberries and Cream Biscuits, All Butter Almonds & Vanilla, All Butter Chocolate Chip, All Butter Lemon, All Butter Orange, Double Chocolate Chip, Lemon & White Chocolate Biscuits, Honey and Oat Biscuits. Triple Chocolate Chunk Biscuits is the new flavor.

At present they have Dark Chocolate Chunk & Hazelnut Biscuits, Christmas Pudding Biscuits and Gingerbread men for Christmas. They also have limited edition biscuits – All Butter Tarocco Orange Biscuits.

I have not tasted all of them, especially those new arrivals and special editions. My friend Jess recommended  me the Strawberries and Cream Biscuits and it became my favorite one. It is made in Great Britain. 

Oh my, these biscuits are a great excuse to pop the kettle on. The biscuits are crumbly and chunky. Hmm… the strawberry flavor is so aromatic. And I get to bite the cubed strawberries which blended so well with the smooth cream. Each bite just melts in my mouth. 

Nonetheless, I find the biscuits a little bit sweet but it is just nice if we eat the biscuits and pair it with a cuppa Crabtree & Evelyn’s tea. They are perfectly matched.  The tea will offset the sweetness but it will not shadow the flavor of the biscuits.

Tea

Crabtree & Evelyn has two types of tea – black tea and flavor tea.

Afternoon Tea, Earl Grey Tea and English Breakfast Tea are the black teas. Their black teas are smooth and mild compare to other brands. Basically, these teas goes well with any flavors of biscuits and cookies. For scented tea, they have Green Tea Scented with Jasmine, Organic Camomile Tea and Organic Peppermint Tea. Now, they have new flavors – Mint Green Tea and Blackberry Green Tea. I have not tasted the new ones but I heard that the response to the Blackberry Green Tea was great.

Normally, I will take Green Tea Scented with Jasmine for breakfast and tea break; At night, I will end my day with Organic Camomile Tea. 

If you ask what’s my favorite tea? My answer will be Organic Camomile Tea. It is the chill-out drink for me. The calming, warming and comforting blend of camomile leaves helps to sooth and relaxed my senses after a busy day. Sometimes, I will add in a slice of lemon or honey to spice up my cup of tea. Organic Camomile Tea is produced in Germany.

Preserves

Crabtree & Evelyn has preserves that we used to call Jam. They have Blueberry Preserve, Breakfast Marmalade,Raspberry Preserve, Strawberry Preserve, Citron Curd, Tarocco Orange Marmalade, Strawberry and Rose Water Preserve and Wild Blueberry and Lavender Preserve. I love their preserves as they really add in fresh fruits. I get to bite into chunks of fruits and the taste just burst in my mouth. That’s why we called it Preserves. Pair them with toasted rustic bread or buttery crumpets. Superb! For Strawberry Preserve, it can be even served with a dollop of cream on a Devonshire scone. I love to toast the bread, spread a layer of butter, then followed by the preserves…wow! Such a heavenly bite! Seriously delicious!

My favorite will be the Wild Blueberry and Lavender Preserve. I love the combination of the flavors. With the first bite, you will taste the wild blueberry, then slowly and gently the light Lavender taste builds up in your mouth. Yummy! 

Actually it is slightly sweet but when served with a cup of tea from the Crabtree & Evelyn’s tea range, it will be a splendid blend!

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Above are the three of my favorite fine food products. Let’s indulge ourselves with Crabtree & Evelyn fine food too! Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

This is Tee's Crabtree & Evelyn Typewriter Project on Fine Foods.

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Visit Crabtree & Evelyn's website for more information.

Find Crabtree & Evelyn on Facebook.

For store locations, click HERE

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All the products of Crabtree & Evelyn are bought with my own pocket money.

All opinions expressed are my own.

The days in the hospital with my boys

As what I mentioned in my previous post, more challenges are waiting ahead. And Yes, the challenge is just right in front of me!

Baby Hang had slight fever before I left for Kaho meeting. After I left, he refused to eat and drink. He was very quiet, not like normal him. He was so sticky and always wanted Por Por to carry him, like a Koala bear. When I returned home from the meeting, Baby Hang still not willing to let me carried him. He seemed very tired. I noticed his palm and toes had some blisters. There were some ulcers in his mouth. Oh dear, Baby Hang had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease! Actually, Little Ze had it a few days before. He got it from school (his classmate had it) and his school closed for a week. We tried to separate Little Ze and Baby Hang. They were not sharing food, towel and so forth but still… sigh!

03 Nov 2014

Doctor confirmed Baby Hang had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Both my sons admitted hospital. Baby Hang more serious compared to his brother. At the same time, Hubby Jay was leaving for work. So, I had to stay with my kids in the hospital alone! I had very funny feeling inside me… worry, stress, anxiety and so forth but somehow I was quite cool and sturdy.

Before admitting the hospital, we had to go back home and send Hubby Jay to the airport. Luckily, my cousin sister Angie was around and she helped me to send Hubby Jay to the airport. Meanwhile, I settled my kids and packed our luggage. Later in the afternoon, my dad sent us to check-in the ‘hotel’.

We took 2-bedded room. We joined the beds. Oh dear, can you imagine how to survive staying within a room with 2 boys for days ? We had to quarantine ourselves in order not to spread the virus to others. I not dare to think much about it. 

Little Hang was more active compare to yesterday but he still refuse to drink and eat.  He kept putting his fingers into his mouth and tried to dig out something. His saliva kept dripping and wet his cloths. 

Later, he was called to put on drip. I stood outside the treatment room. He was crying like hell and my heart was so pain!!! I could imagine what was happening inside. He was very strong and he kept turning and pulling. 3 nurses needed to get him on-drip.

When the door opened, he saw me and he was liked crying for help. Both hands covered with bandage like mummies. His left hand was on-drip and right hand was covered, like Doraemon palm. My heart was so pain and my tears dropped. He kept trying to pull out everything on him, even the clothes. He cried till he fell asleep.

Though Little Ze had mild one but he could not eat much because of the ulcers in his mouth that cause the pain. He was quite tired and slept for whole day.

After half an hour, Baby Hang awoke from his short nap. He hardly took his rest. He started pulling again. There and then, whenever he saw nurses or doctor, he would cry. The moment they stepped in, he would cry. Nurses also noticed that and scared of him. Haha…

Around 11 something at night, Baby Hang managed to pull out his right hand’s bandage using his teeth. Oh my! Since the bandage was loosen, I asked him to move his fingers, open and close, and played with his little fingers. I was thinking to free his hand but actually not able to, as he started to pull his drip and clothes again. No choice.

Baby Hang was cranky. He could not sleep well during the day and night as well. I was exhausted. 

04 Nov 2014

Both my boys no longer fever. They played around. 

About noon, the alarm of the dripping machine kept beeping! Baby Hang’s drip out of its position. The nurse needed to take out his drip and change to another hand. She suggested me to monitor whether he could eat and drink accordingly. If yes, then we stopped dripping. Baby Hang was so excited and energetic after the nurse took out his drip. He kept walked around so freely and he crawled under the beds! My dad had to chase him while I was taking my bath.

However, Baby Hang refused to eat and drink except for my milk which was not enough for him. Doctor worried that he might get dehydrated. Without any other choice, Baby Hang had to put on drip again! Oh no! He have to through the pain once again! And of course the pulling things as well. My heart pain too!

Both of them were so wanted to take some food but when the food went into their mouths, they felt the pain. Little Ze slowly picked up and started to eat some soft food like oats but not Baby Hang. The only food that they really enjoyed was ICE CREAM! Both of them so happy and excited for that!

I would say Baby Hang cried a lot. Imagine you keep crying for two days. What will happen to your voice? Yes, he had rough voice and swollen eyes.

Here's the photo taken in the room:

At night, Baby Hang was given some mild sleeping medicine to put him sleep, in order to boost up his immune system. Baby Hang slept through the night.

05 Nov 2014

Baby Hang slowly got used to the drip and no longer pulling here and there. No more Doraemon palm! He can move his fingers. He saw me pushing the drip here and there and he wanted to push by himself. 

Oh, I was thankful that my aunt Nee purposely took leave to accompany my boys for half a day. Phew! At least I could take a breath and relaxed a bit. A bit only because it was my turn to get the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease! I started to have some blisters on my hand and legs. I had ulcers in my mouth and tongue. Oh, it really hurt! I couldn’t really swallow! Now I 100% understood the pain that my boys had been through.

06 Nov 2014 

Little Ze discharged from Hospital. He was fit enough and ready to go for his school concert rehearsal! Finally! 

Baby Hang getting better and more energetic. He ate more. Talk about medicine, actually there was no medicine that directly cure the disease. The progress of recovering all depends on the body immune system. There were only some medicine such as drops, spray or gel to apply to the mouth and tongue to relief them from pain and be able to swallow. I would say Baby Hang was so tough and brave. From Day 1 he admitted, he refused to apply any medicine. He split out all the medicine we applied. Today, he even threw out all the food he taken whenever I apply the medicine. He rather suffered from the pain while swallowing the food. So, I decided to stop applying the medicine. I told his doctor about it and she said ok, as long as he be able to take his food. Yeah, Baby Hang started to suck more milk and eat more soft food like porridge.

Baby Hang was so bored and kept searching for new things to play. 

He changed the setting of the dripping machine! I had to call the nurse to reset. Cheeky boy!

Hubby Jay updated me that he started to have blister on his hand and ulcer in his mouth.

07 Nov 2014

Doctor stopped Baby Hang’s drip. Hooray! And he could walk, run, jump and crawl under the bed freely! Then, the poor Mummy had to chase him around in the room. He played every corner in the room. He even opened up the cupboard and sat inside. Cool! 

This was the photo taken when I lay down on the bed.

In the evening, Hubby Jay finally came back and visited us in the hospital. “Papa!” Baby Hang called his dad in a very sweet tone.

08 Nov 2014

Baby Hang ate a lot! Biscuits, bread, oats, breast milk and he drank water! He just can’t wait for me to feed him. He so eagerly wanted the food! This meant that he recovered! And great news was he could discharge from hospital! He was able to attend his brother concert the next day! Hooray!

Oh yes! I survived! How could I survive in the four wall room for 6 days with the kids? We draw, read, hide and sick, watching cartoons shown in TV, role play … from caveman to snowman, from car transformed to ship and even spaceship…  almost anything! Anything that could made my kids happy and had fun! 

I was thankful that I being at home! Oh I missed my bed so much! I was exhausted! All I needed was a good night sleep!

At last, I could breathe the fresh air, hear the birds sing…

I was thankful that I could go back to the world with internet! The Wifi in the hospital super duper lousy and slower than a crawling tortoise. I was in the world without internet for 6 days! Well, look at the bright side, no internet access meant no distraction or disturbance. I could fully concentrate on my boys and rest more. 

Most import, I was home for my Hubby Jay's birthday and our wedding anniversary! No celebration because Hubby Jay had serious ulcers in his mouth and tongue. He could not even swallow and talk. Me? I was recovering as I had mild one as Little Ze. It seemed that Hubby Jay got the most serious one.


Last but not least, I was most thankful to both my parents. They were so busy with their work but still rushing to the hospital to help me out during lunch and dinner time. They came with some home cooked food and looked after my boys while I took my bath. They also took care of Little Ze when I was not around. Thank you, Daddy and Mummy!  

Yay! I completed Kaho Training 2014

Two more days to say good bye to November and welcoming December! Oh no, again, I have been quiet for more than a month! November 2014 is such a challenging month for me! I have so much to write but … time! Time! Time! Tee, slow down! Take it easy! Hehe….

After the previous post, I challenged myself to create 41 easel cards in less than a week time. These cards were actually a little surprise from me to my Soka comrades, Kaho Graduates 2014 to congratulate them. You know, life as a Mom is not easy. Not much free time but still I wanna push myself for this. Hehe... Luckily, I managed to complete the cards on time. I was so delighted and felt so worth it to burn my midnight oil for nights to complete these cards when I saw their expressions the moment they received my cards. The graduates were so touched and happy! I had the same feeling as well! I was thankful for having the opportunity to create and contribute. I was pleased to have their compliments towards my cards and my effort being appreciated.

Actually I had a sharing session for that meeting and you know what… I managed to prepare my speech on that morning itself. I was a bit nervous because I felt that I don’t have enough preparation. Furthermore, both my sons fall sick. I was quite worried about them. However, I knew that all these were just some obstacles that trying to stop me from attending the meeting. I was thankful to have great and supportive parents and husband to help me out. And yes! I made it. I attended the meeting and gained a lot from there. For the sharing session, I did pretty well and everything went smoothly. I was sturdy and calmed down once I grabbed the microphone. Phew!!!

I felt so great to complete the Kaho training and graduated during the Kaho General Meet 2014. In fact, Kaho training had been stopped for 10 years and just started back early this year. I was glad that I was one of the chosen ones in the list. We are the first batch of graduates after 10 years of cessation. I much appreciated it. Such a meaningful and memorable day for me! That’s why I volunteered to handmade those special cards for all the graduates. Congratulations to all the graduates and keep it up for the rest!

Well, I know that gonna be my new beginning and more challenges are waiting right ahead of me. I'm ready!