Crossing the teas project - Volunteer and visit!

It’s no secret that the British love a good cup of tea, but who ever though it was a fact worth exploring to the extent of an art project? From this month until June, ART;sync; a network of creative professionals, are building a collection of memories based purely on the concept of drinking tea.

Funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund, ART;sync have partnered up with several Brighton-based associations to bring us a fascinating study of the tradition that so many of us simply see as an every day part of life! From a cuppa and cake on an afternoon with friends to the celebrations during Iranian New Year, the project involves nine groups of people with varied cultures and backgrounds hosting their very own tea party. The stories captured will then be on display in Jubilee Library from 22nd June until 16th July 2015.  It's also a chance to see some beautiful and historical crockery from around the world, as well as the stories behind them!

Sound interesting? Good news! The organisation, whose vision is to "mainstream cultural diversity in the arts", is accepting volunteers to get involved right now!. They are on the lookout for Memory Collectors, Community Heritage Facilitators, and Photographic Assistants. So if you're handy with a camera, fancy gathering stories or just looking to find out more about the whole idea, head over to ART:sync to find out more!

Tasty Tea Time Treat

Settle down to tea with Rock Cakes, the always enjoyed teatime favourite.

It's always nice to get baking in the kitchen, and rock cakes compliment a lovely cup of tea or latte perfectly, especially when they are still warm from the oven!

The ingredients for rock cakes are cupboard staples, so you may only have to go and get one ingredient and voi la, a tasty tea time treat is yours.

Ingredients:

Self-raising flour

Caster Sugar

Baking Powder

Unsalted Butter

Dried Fruit

Free-range Egg

Milk

Vanilla Extract

To bake these tasty treats:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/350F/Gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment

2. Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter (cut into cubes) until you get a breadcrumb looking mixture

3. Mix in the dried fruit to the mixture

4. In another bowl, beat the egg and milk together with the vanilla extract

5. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until it's thick and lumpy (add more milk if needed)

6. Place golf ball sized spoons of the mixture onto the baking tray, remember to leave space between them as they will spread out when cooking.

7. Bake for 15-20mins, allow to cool and tuck in!

You can see the full recipe here!