Tag: cake

Categories
lifestyle

HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY BAB ABOUT TOWN

So it’s been a year today since I hit that publish button on my blog, I was a complete nervous wreck, I had to change my top twice as I was sweating like a sweating like a nun in a field of cucumbers and I consumed a whole tub of Marks and Spencer’s spicy chicken wings (no regrets) It’s funny because now I look back and think why the hell did I not do this earlier? Its been a hell of a journey and with this post, I want to be a little bit more open with you all, as to why I started this blog and what I have achieved from blogging.

BEFORE BAB ABOUT TOWN


Since the age of ten, I have also had an interest in writing, the number of stories I have written all crammed into my closet is crazy, many girls collect shoes, I collect scripts. My love for writing suddenly was put to the back of the mind when I was nineteen and was in a serious relationship. One thing I have learned from relationships is that love does distract us from our passions in life, sometimes we don’t notice because we are so wrapped up in love or the idea that we are in love. Suddenly my life was almost planned out for me, work in courts, marriage, kids and growing old together with my Ex. I do remember wanting to do the blog when I was in a relationship but as the years passed I seemed to lose a lot of confidence in myself and just cancelled out that dream.

I would call myself a bit of loner because I liked going out a lot on my own with my camera, taking pictures of Birmingham, it was sort of therapy for me really, creating a world that was in my mind that really, I wanted to live in, so weird because even in a relationship, I still felt very alone.

Due to the breakdown of my relationship, it sent me in a deep depression for months, the worse thing I did was hide it and that is the worse thing you can do when you are feeling down. I would say, I was punishing myself for the breakup, I stopped believing in myself, I was a complete NOB to myself and it was like my mind was bullying my body 24/7. It’s hard to look back because I look at that depressed Girl and God, I feel so sorry for her. I remember sitting in my room one night thinking “You either stop moaning and kill yourself or you get some balls and live your life to the fullest” Just like that, I did the sulking, I did all the crying in the world and I got some balls and wrote a list of things I wanted to achieve before thirty. Of course, getting over/dealing with depression is not as easy as that, it took a lot of time to finally forget the negative and focus on the positive, I really owe it to my friends and family who provided me with a blanket of love and support through such a horrible time.

WHY I STARTED BAB ABOUT TOWN


“Start a blog” was on my list to do before turning 30 so, I did some research and I went on Twitter and got some advice on how I could put together a blog. What was it going to be about? well, I thought I love photographing and talking about Birmingham, so why not combine them together and create a blog based on my City with reviews, beautiful photography and Brummie banter, I love my City and so, I wanted my readers to fall in love with Birmingham like me. People who know me well, know I am a bit of a Gobshite, so if I was going to put together a blog it had to be honest, true and pure Amy, The Amy who doesn’t think before she speaks, shouts Balls all the time and talks about how fucked up vaginas are. I remember drafting up my first post and thinking why would anyone read this? but then I thought well at least I’m going to give it a go and say at least I tried.

To be totally honest with you I think well, I know! I definitely underestimated the blog and myself. I thought maybe I will do this for a couple of weeks, maybe months and then get bored of it or just think no one is reading it so what’s the point? However as I kept up my writing and documenting my way through Birmingham and posting it on the blog/social media, I started to get followers, subscribed readers, business contacts regarding promotional/PR collaborations for the blog and invites to new business openings in and out of Birmingham, that is bloody crazy. The weirdest thing is going out in Birmingham and to have someone come up to you asking if your Bab about Town and then proceed to talk about your blog like your some big shot, That is bizarre to me, but its a nice bizarre! It just makes me think wow, people like you, they like your blog, your writing is actually interesting…Now, how the fuck do I become a millionaire from this?! 😛

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?


The main lesson I have learnt from Bab about Town is don’t be afraid and it’s never too late to achieve what you want in life. Why do we think of the negative before the positive? Sometimes you just got to tell that negativity in you to shut the fuck up and take a backseat because I remember all the negative thoughts on this day last year and all I can say is MAHA MOTHERFUCKER! Honestly is important in the blogging game, I panic if I have attended a venue or if I’m tasting out a new menu and it’s not up to scratch but you have to be honest, and there’s the disrespectful way or the professional way, A lot of people rely on me, to tell the truth, and I have always said that my blog will always be open and honest to my readers. Another lesson is that blogging is not easy, you can write a post about pretty much anything but it needs to grab readers, lucky for me I am a photographer and I do use a lot of photography to lure the reader into my blog posts but obviously, your words need to match. I am always researching, educating myself and not many people know that I am dyslexic. I’ll put a sentence together in my head and when it comes to writing it down, it makes no sense. I can sometimes sit on a sentence for 30 minutes, trying to work out if it makes sense or not, so this is something I am still learning to deal with but it never stopped me from blogging.

ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO GET INTO BLOGGING?


The best advice I can give is to be consistent, be true and remember to give yourself the credit you deserve once in a while because you bloody deserve it. It’s a tough world out there and starting this blog up when I was in two minds of ending life completely proved how strong I am, we all go through a rough patch in life and you either go forward or shutdown, I chose to go forward and use that negatively in my life to push forward and strive for positively in life. I know your probably thinking who the hell does this girl think she is, Jesus Christ or something but honestly, what I am telling you, it works, I am the proof in the pudding baby.

WHATS NEXT?


More content, more reviews, more laughs and more bad bitch vibes of course. My life is about to get REAL, maybe I am a bit behind in getting a house etc but I needed to do this before jumping into the serious stuff. How can anyone fall in love with you when you haven’t got love for yourself? 2020 has been a bloody bizarre year but I have made sure I have given myself the love I need, that lead to more people falling in love with me and the blog. The blog has helped me to grow up, and the girl last year to the woman now I don’t know at all, no confidence, always putting herself down. This blog post is quite emotional for me because it’s kind of saying goodbye to that person, it sounds morbid but it’s almost like putting her to sleep…
Who knows what will happen next? but I can only see Bab about Town growing and getting bigger, I have worked really hard on this blog and I will continue to work hard and remember to give myself a bit of loving and credit that I deserve now and again. You never know, I might have a sodding book by next year?! I might even be a Victoria Secret Model…Well, anything is possible if you got enough nerve right? the only thing is stopping you is you, and like I said before, sometimes you just got to tell the fear in you to shut the fuck up.

Thank you to everyone who’s believed in me, friends, family, and people who don’t even know me but saw the potential, really thank you. Its been a crazy and exciting journey, and I can’t wait to celebrate with you all next year!

Much love
BAB x

Categories
Birmingham Food review

BAB ABOUT TOWNS FAVOURITE BIRMINGHAM FOOD DELIVERIES IN LOCKDOWN

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So, for the past three months, I have been quite a busy girl supporting my independents and helping those who are isolating with putting together information on how they can get in their weekly shop, keep active, and seek free advice. So many Fantastic businesses agreed to be part of The North of Birmingham blog post and it has received a pretty amazing and overwhelming response by so many people. I can see so many of you using the blog daily and it is fantastic to hear that so many of you have said the blog has opened up their eyes to wanting to shop more independently which was the aim!

I regularly post about my food deliveries via social media and a lot of you have been wanting to know what independents I would recommend and what are my favourites. So, I thought why not put together a blog post of all my favourite independent food deliveries I have had in lockdown. I regularly review restaurants, venues, etc so why not start something new and review at home?! From scrumptious cakes to fantastic DIY food kits, it seems Bab about Towns blog has been burning a hole in your pockets for the last three months and apologies, the hole is just going to get bigger after reading this post!

SILVER TREE CATERING

Silver Tree Catering is a catering company based in Sutton Coldfield, who decided to deliver essentials such as fruit & veg hampers and treats to those in isolation. They have a variety of hampers on offer from Breakfast to Cheese hampers. My first purchase with Silver Tree Catering was the cheese hamper and the fruit & veg box. I ordered before 12 pm and it came the next day. The fruit & veg hamper offered a great variety of fresh produce, very impressed with the quality and the hamper lasted for around three weeks. The cheese hamper was just amazing, a great selection of cheeses with crackers and pots of chutney with grapes. It was nice sitting out in the garden tucking into it, it was like we were transported to a wine yard in Italy until I heard one of the neighbor’s shouting in a Brummie accent “Are you making a Brew Bab?”

I have ordered from Silver tree a couple of times (I regularly buy the freshly baked bread, and the cream tea was delightful!) and will continue to do so because they are so professional and the food is high quality, just fantastic value for money. I can tell there is a lot of passion and heart that’s gone into their products, so I am happy to support a hardworking business that deserves all the gratitude that they deserve any day

Order from Silver tree Catering here

WHAT THE CLUCK!

In the words of King Curtis “Chicken Nuggets is like my family” but more so “What the Cluck is like my family” This right here, is the breadwinner, my absolute favourite takeaway I have ever had and boy, I’ve had a bloody lot in my time, These guys smashed it. I ordered the chicken strips platter which comes with fried cauliflower covered in Buffalo sauce, BBQ pit beans, house slaw, and the sexiest Mac N Cheese I have ever tasted jeeeeez getting me all hot & bothered over here woo! What The Cluck didn’t just impress me but impressed my fussy bugga of a Mom who now withdraws her statement that “The Bingo is the best place for Fried Chicken” now Its “What The Cluck is the best place for fried chicken” so we have an all-round winner!

The process is very simple, simply order via their website, choose what platter you want, What The Cluck will then send you a confirmation email with the date and time of delivery. When the food arrives its just a 20-minute oven job and that’s it. Super easy to make, super service & super satisfied, bloody well-done Guys that’s how you deliver a bad boy feast!!!

Order from What The Cluck! here

THE PATTY FREAKS

Fancy getting your freak on?
Well, now you can at home with these fine buns! When The Patty Freaks announced they were delivering to Sutton Coldfield it caused an outcry of cheers and relief after the devastation of losing our beloved M&S for good and the closure of TGIS [Insert troll face] due to Co-Vid. as a town we needed a pick me up and wow, did the Patty Freaks deliver!
Full of juice, dripping with flavour and topped with sexy buns, and gone within 10 minutes. The loaded chips are heavenly, just oozing with sauce. Oh yes, The patty Freaks delivered alright, and may I mention they delivered HOT and ON TIME food, I was given a time slot between 4.30 and 5.20 and it came dead on 4.30 so fantastic service and what a bloody treat this was! ⁣I ordered the following:


The O.G burger: Bacon, cheese, ketchup, mustard mayo and pickled onion.

⁣
Sweet Freak burger: Bacon, cheese, peanut butter, caramel waffle, and chilli jam.⁣

Cajun chips⁣
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Loaded chips with bacon, cheese, crispy onion, and BBQ sauce.⁣

You will need to keep up with them via social media to find out when they are next delivering and a little advice, be quick! these bad boys are like Willy Wonka golden tickets so don’t be a bad egg and feel too disappointed if you miss out because they are also popping up now and again at Digbeth Dining Club!

Stay up to date with The Patty Freaks and Order here

STRIPCLUB STREET FOOD

This kit comes with a parental warning as these buns are well naaaaaughty! Stripclub Streetfood is a very popular vendor at various food markets over the Midlands especially at Digbeth Dining Club, you will often have to queue but that first bite though is worth a thousand queue waits, trust me. So when Stripclub Streetfood announced they were back on selling burgers the whole of Birmingham kind of just lost their minds a bit…

Okay so it’s not ready-made burgers delivered straight to your door but they have come up with a fabulous idea of putting together these awesome burger DIY Kits in which, you can get down and dirty with, and attempt to create the worlds dirtiest burger, I was up for the challenge. You have all the ingredients you need and instructions to follow, you can make the kiss XXX or biscoff burger or get creative and do what you like! I think this is a fantastic kit and I really do hope they stick with it because I really enjoyed it and my family members loved taking the piss out of me getting all Gordon Ramsay on their ass.

The kit is priced at £40 and To get your hands on one of these kits, you got to download the app which you can find here and place your order just like that!

Really fun, really creative, and really bloody delicious these burgers. Get the family involved, get your mates involved, and just have a couple of beers and relax eating some seriously amazing burgers.

Stay up to date with Stripclub Street Food and download their app to order your DIY burger kits here

BITE ME CAKES

This was a first, an afternoon tea delivered to my door and I can tell you, It certainly won’t be the last. If you know me, you know I am a big lover of afternoon tea so when I heard you could get an afternoon tea delivered to your door, I first called BS and then slapped myself silly after receiving the amazing service that I received that day from Bite me Cakes.
The afternoon tea comes all prepared, from finger sandwiches to mini desserts just the perfect size, and just the way I like it! The afternoon tea that I received included the following:

A very generous portion of finger sandwiches with a variety of fillings: smoked salmon, chicken, cucumber & pepper, and cheese.

Scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Scones just needed to be heated up in the microwave, no fuss.

A great variety of cakes and treats such as brownies, lemon drizzle, chocolate strawberries, and more. all ready to be eaten and tasted fresh so simply serve.

Bite me Cakes caters to vegans as well, I didn’t opt for the vegan option but there were still lots of options for veggies and vegans with the afternoon tea we ordered. So this afternoon tea can be enjoyed by all, also any other allergies need to be addressed to Bite Me Cakes as they can also cater to gluten-free and dairy-free.

I was absolutely impressed with the service, the quality was fantastic, the variety was there and the amount we got, still a family of three could not finish it. Very simple to order just message Bite me Cakes and await your delivery, I was kept informed on the day regarding the time of delivery which was very helpful. The sandwiches were really tasty, the scones are big but soft and buttery, and the desserts are sweet yet VERY Satisfying and the brownies were oh so gooey! A hassle-free afternoon tea that would make the perfect treat to invite your friends and family over and to enjoy all together. So impressed, and you made our afternoon really lovely, so thank you so much for the incredible service and amazing afternoon.

Order from Bite me Cakes here

VEERUS

New to Sutton Coldfield, Veeru’s is an Indian street food restaurant offering mouth-watering street food from Punjabi Wraps to Speciality naan pizzas! unfortunately, they didn’t have a chance to do a proper opening due to CO-VID but it didn’t let it stop them and opened up their delivery and collection services. I have had three takeaways since opening and every meal has been sensational, full of spice, full of flavour and just fantastic! My favourite dish I would say is the lamb kebab (got a nice kick to it!) but I also had the mixed grill the other week and wow, best-mixed grill I’ve had in a long time and the portion was so big that three people couldn’t even finish it.
I will say that delivery time was a bit long (1 hour 20 minutes) but if I’m getting amazing well cooked and full of flavour food then I don’t care about the waiting time. You can pre-order with Veerus so maybe this something for you to consider but this is a new business that has had to think fast on their feet and adapt to change to survive, and although waiting times are a little long, I think they are doing a fantastic job giving the people of Sutton Coldfield some bloody fine and fantastic Indian street food to enjoy in their homes

Veerus really did exceed my expectations, the quality is superb- second best to non and has quickly become my favourite Indian takeaway in Sutton Coldfield. I just can’t wait for the restaurant to open, a fantastic new addition to Sutton Coldfield that will no doubt in my mind will thrive.

Order from Veerus here

AMY ELIZA

Categories
Food review

AFTERNOON TEA AT CHATEAU IMPNEY

You don’t have to travel too far to feel like royalty these days. To many people royalty could be a fry up in your local pub, a free arm massage from your work colleague or an afternoon tea in an enchanting 1875 French Chateau surrounded by 140 acres of picturesque grounds. I know which one I would pick. Introducing Chateau Impney, a stunning venue located in Droitwich that offers accommodation and plays host to a variety of events in the Midlands. Me and my friend Sian were invited to try out the afternoon tea 2 for 1 offer and take a tour of the Chateau.

Upon arriving at the Chateau the first thing you will encounter is the 140 acres of land which is like something out of Downtown Abbey or a Jane Austin novel. Views of waterfalls, cherry blossom and swans taking a dip into the lake, now all we need is an enchanting castle to go with it..oh wait! Upon entering the Chateau, we were guided down to the Impney restaurant where the afternoon tea took place in a modern extension. We were greeted by the host and shown to our tables and were asked for what drinks we would like to be served with the afternoon tea. Once ordered we had a little wonder around the restaurant which seemed to have two different styles on either side. One side was very modern with leather chairs, purple walls and wooden tables. The other side had more of a rustic botanist theme with fairy lights and greenery covering the ceiling. Very different but strangely seemed to tie in quite well together, but not so much with the rest of the Chateau that boasts original french archtiecture. 

After 10 minutes the afternoon tea arrived at our table offering a very generous selection of sandwiches, cakes, and scones. There were many sandwiches with a variety of fillings such as cheese and caramelised onion, egg and cress, fresh salmon, ham and cheese, and cucumber. The sandwiches were fresh, filling and very tasty. The Scones are served with fresh cream and jam, and they were delightful. Perfectly sized cakes are on offer from cheesecake, caramel slice, fudge/chocolate cake and carrot cake. The staff are very attentive and are really friendly, the price of the afternoon tea is not high class but the quality of service and food you are receiving certainly is. The offer is 2 for 1 so it costs £20 which is an absolute steal for the afternoon tea you are getting. I have paid up to £35 in some restaurants and the quality/quantity doesn’t even come close to the Chateau.

After the afternoon tea, we were introduced to Peter who was the General Manager. He took us on a little tour of the Chateau. Peter was like a walking Wikipedia of Chateau Impney, he gave us so much information and went through the history of the Chateau. Peter showed us one of the luxury Chateau feature rooms which was just something out of a fairy tale. The room was possibly the size of my house, it also had one of those arty-farty bathtubs behind the bed that could fit a family of 6 in and a king-size bed that was fit for a King and Queen. The view of the grounds from the room is breath taking and even when you come away from the balcony the luxury of the room still makes it breath taking! On the tour, we also took a look at some of the exhibition rooms that can hold up to 800 people in. The hall that offers grand features where weddings are held and the beautiful gardens. The gardens were something that reminded me of a cross between Alice in Wonderland and The Secret garden. Sadly, the day was a bit dull so we didn’t stay long in gardens, but it would be lovely to come back in the summer to see the whole of the garden out in bloom in its full glory, bathed in sunlight. 

Chateau Impney is a venue that you could only imagine would exist in fairy tales. An enchanting building full of character and life that would make a stunning backdrop for any special event. The afternoon tea was delicious and for the price it is, I believe it to be far too generous. High-quality food, very generous portions and good value for money- it should be something you need to put on your list to do this month. Chateau Impney is a real fairytale to be explored by all, from the moment you drive into the grounds to the moment you step out, you are treated like royalty. Thank you Chateau Impney for inviting me, a tip-top royal experience I will never forget.

The Afternoon tea 2 for 1 offer ends on 27th February 2020.

AMY ELIZA