It's not often that Linsey and I get extended time away from the tearoom.  In our first year we didn't take any time at all, but we have allowed ourselves a Christmas break since then and this year we also took some time off in April for Linsey's friend's wedding.  We are in the very lucky position at the moment of having the lovely Rebecca working for us full time until she goes to America with YWAM.  This means that Linsey and I have been able to give ourselves an extra day off a week, which has been amazing and a great luxury.  But we have also made sure that we get a whole 5 days away to do with as we please.  It was my turn first mid October when I went to Carcassonne in France for a yoga retreat with my very good friend and fellow business owner, Sarah Luerken.  She, along with her husband Tom recently celebrated their first year in business.

I was lucky enough to get to go on their very first retreat and it was the most relaxing time away, and just what the doctor ordered. We stayed at Domaine de Mournac near Carcassonne.  A beautiful guest house with yoga studio.  Facilities were exceptional and the view outsanding.  Lots of walks to be had and places to visit.

The nearby Mont Sec trail was enjoyed and offered up some breathtaking views, and for when I wasn't feeling so energetic the view from my room was beautiful in itself.

We spent a day exploring the old city of Carcassonne, with a tour of the castle, a spot of impromptu yoga and some delicious food, even for me, finding vegan food was possible; like summer on a plate!

At Bread and Butterflies we have stocked some eco friendly products for a few months now and you have really embraced them.  But the whole community of Lady Bay has been inspired even further with the opening of the new, zero waste store, The Good Weigh.  It is a beautiful, well designed shop that is cutting down on plastic and waste.  What is not to like?

They've had a great start with lots of support and the people of Lady Bay really embracing the idea of cutting down on their waste. 

So to tap in to this enthusiasm started by The Good Weigh we decided to get our customers involved!  We get told we ask a lot of questions when customers are placing their orders, but this is because we want to make sure you get what you want and we are not wasting ingredients and food unnecessarily!
As a rule this is what we might ask:

Customer:  Hi, can I get a coffee?
Bread and Butterflies: Of course, what sort of coffee would you like? An americano?
Customer:  Yes, please.
Bread and Butterflies:  Would you like a large or regular?
Customer:  I'd like a large, please
Bread and Butterflies:  Would you like milk with that?
Customer:  Yes. please
Bread and Butterflies:  Anything else?
Customer:  Yes.  I'd like salmon and scrambled egg.
Bread and Butterflies:  Would you like granary or white sliced toast with that?
Customer:  Granary.
Bread and Butterflies:  Would you like one or two slices of toast?
Customer: Two, please.
Bread and Butterflies: Would you like butter for your toast?
Customer:  No thank you.
Bread and Butterflies:  Anything else?
Customer: Yes, I would like a toasted teacake, please.
Bread and Butterflies:  Would you like just butter with your teacake or some jam as well?
​Customer: Just butter, thank you.

Phew!  It's around the question about milk with the americano that customers can start wondering why we ask so many questions.  At Bread and Butterflies we throw away a ridiculous amount of butter, jam, milk and toast.  We obviously want you to have a great experience with us and are happy for you to have as much of all of those things as you'd like, but in the interest of cutting down on waste please be prepared for the long list of questions at the counter!  Feel free to preempt them and give us all the information at once!  It's all on the menu; the bread choices, the type of milk we do, different prices for large or regular coffees etc

It is also standard practice to serve a side salad and coleslaw with your sandwiches.  If you hate coleslaw, let us know and we can leave it off your plate.  

Every day we throw away our used coffee grounds.  But apparently they are great for your soil and your garden!  Why not come by the tearoom at about 4 to collect the day's grounds, it saves it going to landfill and will make your flowers blooming lovely!

Sometimes food waste is unavoidable, and the ideal would be for us to have a compost at Bread and Butterflies, but we are limited to outside space.  For all our customers who have a compost why not come by Bread and Butterflies at the end of the day and collect our food waste to add to your compost? Just bring a tub!

One of the brides has a severe nut allergy and is also coeliac, as are a number of her relatives. There were also a number of vegans attending the wedding and a guest who was coeliac and allergic to dairy!  At Bread and Butterflies we were able to devise a recipe for the wedding cake that ticked 3 out of the 4 boxes, and prepared separate cupcakes for the vegans.  So after tasting a number of options the brides chose a gluten free sponge that was also nut free and dairy free, filled with strawberry jam and covered with a dairy free frosting. 

The colour theme was rose gold.  I also got hold of edible gold leaf to make the cake special.  Really hard to work with!  But I think the effect was good.  The rosettes I did in a variety of shades of rose gold.  I knew the bridesmaids were all wearing different dresses in different shades, so thought this would work really well. I also used the same shades to graduate the frosting from dark to light.  I covered some of the cupcakes with a pink powder to give them a bit of shine!

It was a bit of a production line, but everything got decorated and boxed up ready for me to drop off to the venue.  We had also got hold of a perspex stand for the day, with the cupcakes on the lower layers and the 9 inch cake on the top.  There were 80 wedding guests and there was plenty for everyone, with the cake feeding 30, 46 vanilla cupcakes and 4 vegan chocolate cupcakes.

The wedding was a blast, with a lovely venue, beautiful brides and a delicious cake. If you would like to have a chat with us about ordering a wedding cake, and learning of our limitations, then drop in and we'd be very happy to help you.

At Bread and Butterflies we value all of our customers for supporting us since opening in 2015.  Without them, we would not be able to continue running our business or help numerous charities along the way. 
Every so often, however, we are blessed with the company of some well known clientele.

Throughout the last year we have had regular visits from the lovely Shane Meadows.  Linsey and Lisa have always been big fans of his work and so it is always a pleasure to see him. Chatty and friendly and didn't mind having his photo taken.  If you've not had a chance to see his latest work, The Virtues, do see it on Channel 4 catch up. Very thought provoking and powerful.

Throughout the month of July we will be accepting donations to the White Elephant Raffle, so please give what you can: bottles of wine, cans of beans, toys, smellies...We're hoping it will be a huge success and thank you all in advance for your support!

At Bread and Butterflies we want to ensure you enjoy all your spectating opportunities this summer.  We want to take away the stress of putting together your lunch by providing you and your friends or family with a made up picnic hamper. Whether it be for a cricket event, a rugby match, football friendly or some watersports we want to ensure you can relax and enjoy delicious food and cake without the hassle.

All of this and we'll ensure you have a blanket to sit on if needed.

The cost of the hamper will be £8 per person and we will need at least 2 days notice at which time your deposit will be required.  Please ensure you let us know the time you wish to collect your hamper so we can ensure everything is ready for you.

We have developed quite a repertoire of cakes during the time that we have been open.  Including offering more gluten free, dairy free and vegan cakes.  Although some of our recipes don't go to plan we are always happy to try out new recipes to see how they go down with our customers.  We have however got some very popular cakes that our customers can't seem to get enough of, and can be disappointed when they're not on the counter.  So here goes with our count down of our top 10 Bread and Butterflies cakes!

We take all of our recipes from a number of trusted baking books and Pinterest.  We are happy to share any of our recipes!

We believe in the vintage experience at Bread and Butterflies and play vinyl throughout the day on our record player.  We trawl second hand shops and antique fairs to pick up bargains.  Some of our records are donated by our lovely customers and if anyone has any vinyl to re home you can ensure it will be enjoyed at our tearoom!  We try to play an eclectic mix at the tearoom, from 50s classics to motown to 70s and 80s pop.  

We try to match albums and artists to the customers in our tearoom. Any requests are very welcome and we will accommodate if we can.  Beatles is always an easy one and Bob Dylan has been requested as well as Nick Drake.

But forgive us if you hear us singing along.  Whatever record is on you'll be sure that it's something that either Linsey or I like and we can only apologise for our singing voices!

In Lady Bay we feel so lucky to be surrounded by a community that is so happy to help with all our charity endeavours.
Since opening inn October 2015 we have helped the RSPCA 

The Friary

Help raise money Angelman Syndrome

Macmillan Cancer Support

Trent District CFR

Tara's Angels

And The Red Box Project

We are still collecting for Tara's Angels and The Red Box Project so if you have any toiletries, pants, tampons or sanitary products you would like to donate please drop them in to Bread and Butterflies.
We also have a few collection boxes on our counter, why not throw in some loose change!

Thank you

I love February.The 14th is a lovely day to spread around some love. Here at Bread and Butterflies we ensure we have the guys and the gals covered with a whole host of gifts that are sure to impress!  Bath bombs and hand made soaps from Nottingham Soapbox, beautiful aromatherapy products from Cherry's Essentials and our own range of hand drawn wares.

We also have a line of new products from Dorothy Plater. Something for everyone's budget and taste.

If you want to treat them to something sweet you can either get them gift vouchers to spend on our delicious cake menu or you could order a cake especially for them.  Let us know what flavour they like and we will sort it.  We can even bake gluten free and vegan cake too!

We'll also have some delightful cards for you to send anonymously if you want to impress someone and be their best secret admirer!