Wicked Wednesday....

I declare Wednesdays the day to be Wicked.

For me that means indulging in the better things in life. Well, not just better, but the best of everything. For me, one of those things is eating out at good restaurants.

I wonder at this obsession with eating out. What is it that makes us want to pay 5 times the price of the ingredients we could prepare at home, to have others wait on us. Even more puzzling, why pay to get up and down like a yo-yo to eat food we'd never consider at any other time as in ....cue scary music....The Buffet Dinner.

I lost interest in randomly eating out, after my first big overseas trip. I mentally calculated how much I'd spent on lukewarm latte`s, tacky toasted sandwiches, fair to middling Fettuccines, and crusty cakes in crowded cafe`s, and cursed my old ways. Give me a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower or a stroll through Kensington Gardens or shopping at a Thrift shop at Notting Hill any day.

Then I went through a stage of trying to recreate the experience of the Café` Latte` by concocting a series of powdered mixes to which one added hot water to make the 'latte'....well, what can I say but Bleeeeugh....!

Finally I sat down and wrote out all the things I used to love about going to my favourite Cafe`s...

Soothing music

Fine China

Linen Serviettes

Quiet Corners

Dim lighting

Glossy Magazines to browse for free

Fresh flowers and lush pots of greenery

Water features or the sound of tinkling water

Comfortable chairs with squishy cushions

Gleaming wood and brass

Hushed conversations

Antique Lace

Organza teabags

Water in pretty decanters

Sugar cubes

Ornate utensils

Someone to wait on me

An interesting list...because I have all those things in my own home...except for the person to wait on me.  He's not always here...

So I've set about creating my own Cafe` at home. Because at the end of the day, it's got nothing to do with the coffee and cake...it has to do with feeling special. It's those few moments of being the Princess..."yes Madam, of course you can have your Jasmine Tea in a gilt pot, with cucumber sandwiches and crystallised rose petals on the side all delivered by a handsome man in a tuxedo"...well, you know what I mean.

*News Flash*... I can do that right here. Well there could be a problem with getting the man of the house into a tux to serve my tea, but other than that, I'm looking good.

Today I'm setting up my coffee corner...stay tuned for luxe photos and instructions for setting up your own and start putting the money you save towards your next overseas trip....or your first one.

And as for eating out...well for me, if I can be bothered and the budget bends enough, it's five star or nothing. Why would I pay for someone to serve me food that's just 'ordinary'?

What's on your Tray of Bliss today?

...Mimi...