The Great British Baking Show

I recently discovered a new favorite T.V. show on PBS- The Great British Baking Show!

The version airing on PBS right now is actually the fifth season of a popular British show called the Great British Bake Off. The Bake Off is a competition in which British home bakers compete in weekly challenges to be named the top amateur baker in the U.K.

This season's bakers

The desserts are judged by two well known British bakers, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, and the show is hosted by two very kooky television and comedy personalities who ad lib commentary and interact with the bakers throughout the challenges.

The sweetly designed baking stations are set up in a huge tent on the grounds of Welford Park, a private country estate known for an annual display of snowdrop flowers every February.  The snowdrops were planted by Norman monks as symbols of purity and for use as medicine.

Now added to my travel wish list!

Previous seasons were filmed at Harptree Court, an old country house that is now a B&B.  The people seen wandering around behind the tent on the show are guests!

Each weekly episode challenges the bakers to create three "bakes" within that week's specific theme: a signature dessert, a technical challenge in which all the bakers follow the same vague and difficult recipe, and a showstopper in which they showcase their unique talents and artistic abilities.

One of my favorite technical bakes- a complicated Swedish princess cake!

My favorite part of the show is the overall sweet and happy atmosphere.  Unlike a lot of other cooking competition shows I've watched, the Bake Off focuses on the camaraderie among the bakers and their genuine love of baking.  The contestants support and applaud each other and often help and encourage others through difficult baking tasks.  Even the judges are kind and understanding in their critiques.

Episode 8 of 10 airs this Sunday!

Favorite Brands: Rifle Paper Co.

I love note cards and stationery and getting letters in the mail!  One of the stationery brands I have really been loving in recent years is Rifle Paper Co., a company started by a young husband and wife team in 2009 that has quickly become an internationally successful brand and one of my favorites.

The designs used for their postcards, calendars, notebooks and other products are based on co-owner Anna Bond's hand-painted illustrations.  I love the sweet, old-fashioned style of her designs.  Many of them are pretty enough to frame.

Recently, Anna Bond also partnered with Puffin Books to illustrate a new release of classic books.  I especially love the end papers!

Below are some of my other favorite products:

1. Valentine's Day Postcard
2. Passport Notebooks

3. Rose Notebook
4. Christmas Ski Scene Postcard
5. Vintage Mermaid
6. Marie Antoinette Print

And in the wishful thinking category, they also make wallpaper!

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Part Two!

London and Diagon Alley

The Hogwarts Express brings you into a pretty realistic replica of King's Cross Station and out into a little London area featuring Grimauld Place and the Knightbus!

"London"

12 Grimmauld Place

For some reason I couldn't get in...

The Knight Bus!

Hidden behind Leicester Square Station and next to the Leaky Cauldron is the "secret" entrance to Diagon Alley.

The Leaky Cauldron- that's in London

Passing through the crumbling brick archway into Diagon Alley

Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron!  The food was good British fare with a wizard world twist.  I had Toad in the Hole and Peachtree Fizzing Tea.

The amount of detail in Diagon Alley is amazing and shows the level of respect and care with which Universal approached the entire Wizarding World.  Shops come straight from the books and include Flourish and Blotts, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Like those in Hogsmeade, the shops are cozy and realistic.  The best details are in the storefront display windows, including advertisements for Gilderoy Lockhart's newest book and puking pastilles at Weasley's.  

Can you tell I love the Owl Post?

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor serves butterbeer and sticky toffee pudding ice cream, as well as my choice, Earl Grey and Lavender!

Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes!  This shop looked exactly like it does in the movies and sells little stuffed Pygmy Puffs and Skiving Snackboxes.

I wish they let you go upstairs!

Knockturn Alley is located down a narrow passageway next to the Leaky Cauldron and is perpetually dark, which is fitting for its creepy, Death Eater frequented shops!

Borgin and Burkes

Gringotts Bank dominates the back end of Diagon Alley and contains the other major ride in the Harry Potter areas, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. 

The dragon breathes fire every ten minutes
scaring the new tourists just arriving in Diagon Alley.

Like the Hogwarts ride, the time spent in the Gringotts line is almost as fun as the ride itself. You enter the line through the front of Gringotts Bank and make your way into the main lobby.  Again, it was striking to be in a setting so similar to the films.   The ride itself is a fun indoor roller coaster with a 3D video component vaguely following the Gringotts break-in plot in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

Pumpkin Juice to go!

Overall, I thought both areas of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter were fun,  impressive and very well executed.  I can't wait to go back!