Taking tea with Valerie - Patisserie Valerie afternoon tea, Durham

Among my friends and family, I'm known as someone who goes out for food quite often. Anywhere someone is interested in going, I've probably been and can give an in-depth review, or direct them to my blog (#pageviews). So when Christmas rolled around, Matt's Uncle decided it would be a great idea to buy us an afternoon tea for two at Patisserie Valerie, which has not long opened in Middlesbrough. Having only ever been for cake and a warmed croissant sandwich, I couldn't wait to try their afternoon tea.

After an especially busy period at work, I took a random Friday off and we ventured to Durham for the day to redeem our afternoon tea. From where we'd parked, we walked up the stairs to ground level and Patisserie Valerie was staring us right in the face.

We ventured to the cafe around 2.30pm, after a wander around the town, trying to spot the Marvel Avengers cast, and were seated immediately. Our afternoon tea didn't take long to come out and it looked packed with yummy treats.

We switched out a few of the sandwiches and were left with chicken, sun-dried tomato and pesto, egg mayonnaise and ham and mustard. As an extra in this afternoon tea, we both had a small, warm, vegetable quiche which was a lovely addition. Having worked our way through the sandwiches, which were very fresh and tasty, we were on to the scone level.

We had a plain and a fruit scone accompanied by four different mini pots of jam, clotted cream and butter. The scones were the perfect mix of firm, yet soft, and when accompanied by unlimited cups of tea, were great.

Finally, we reached the top level, the cake! It was a bit disappointing that we only had one of each type of cake, apart from the chocolate eclair, which meant we had to split the small servings of cake. I tried the chocolate and the carrot which were both very nice.

Overall for a 'chain' cafe, this afternoon tea was of a very high standard. Patisserie Valerie pride themselves on their top-notch cakes and their afternoon tea didn't falter on creativity or quality. For £25 for two, this afternoon tea is very reasonable and could be taken whenever you fancy it.

Spa life | Ramside Spa, Durham

I'd never visited a spa until I was kindly invited along to try Ramside Spa. Going to a spa had always been on my list to do, but with the cost and the time associated with it, I had just never got round to booking an experience.

When an email dropped into my mailbox to go along with other local bloggers to try out the luxurious Ramside Spa, I instantly responded saying YES, please!

Opened last year, the spa was part of a £16M redevelopment of Ramside Hall bringing a whole host of added extras for guests and locals. The spa boasts five pools, one of which is a full size 25m swimming pool, a wellness spa, 14 treatment rooms with a long list of gorgeous treatments available and a number of thermal suites.

We were given a tour around the facility by membership co-ordinator, Jasmin, who showed us the extensive gym which has a number of fitness classes daily as well as the latest technology, gave us a tour around the spa with highlights of a gorgeous manicure/pedicure hub and dreamy treatment rooms then walked us back through the spa's on-site restaurant, Fusion, serving Pan Asian cuisine.

When the tour was complete we had a few nibbles and then got our robes and flip flops to enjoy the spa. I think the spa is like a playground of adults, full of interesting parts which you want to try out as soon as possible, getting excited as to which one you will start with. Myself and my friend, Kirsty, got into our swimsuits and started in one of the UK's largest hydrotherapy pools testing out the numerous massage jets. It was such a relaxing experience that we could have spent all night just in that pool alone, but we knew we had more to try out!

From the hydrotherapy pool, we ventured outside searching for the outside vitality pool which was lit up like a disco. It was cold outside but once emerged into the pool it was boiling! A lovely experience to be in a warm pool surrounded by a cold breeze, this was another great pool. Although the pool was lovely, it got a little too warm for our liking so we braved the cold to go back inside.

Now it was time to try out the different steam/sauna rooms of which there are 5! There is a Herbal Sauna, Himalayan Salt Steam, Aroma Steam, Tepidarium and a Sunken Amphitheatre Sauna. We experienced all of these different rooms apart from the Tepidarium as we couldn't get the door open.  To save our embarrassment, we passed on that. They were all brilliant but my favourite was the Aroma Steam. I think because it was similar to other steam rooms I'd been in before but much more modern in comparison.

Finally, we topped off our visit with fruit water and another dip in our favourite, the hydrotherapy pool. After some more chatting, we went to get showered and set back off to Middlesbrough. I must add that the locker room and showers are top-notch. I could have stayed in the shower all night, and with the addition of ESPA products to use whilst in there, it was brilliant.

Overall I had an amazing first experience at a spa. It was so relaxing and turned into a really fun evening. I'd definitely visit another spa, and would definitely consider it being Ramside Spa. Although I don't have much to compare this against, Ramside Spa was super clean, very modern and offered all you would need for a relaxing time at the spa.

Four local North East foodie favourites

I love to visit local farmer's markets, food fairs and festivals. Discovering and supporting new independent businesses that operate from within the North East makes me really happy. I visit my local farmer's market at Stewart Park, have been to the Bishop Auckland food festival and also Living North live twice now. I want to get out and visit more so I can see what great foodies we have here in the North East.

I've picked out a few businesses to introduce you to that have become some of my favourites! A few of them I've mentioned before on my blog or on twitter. I've bought their products numerous times now and would go back again for more.

Pudding Parlour - I've written about these lovely cake makers before in my Living North Christmas haul post in which I bought the Ferrero rocher cake. It's delicious, so chocolatey and fluffy. There have so many amazing sounding cakes, I'm going to have to try them all.

The Gingerbread Mam - I first came upon the Stockton-based Gingerbread Mam when I attended the Butterwick Hospice's Ladies Afternoon Tea. At this she sold her products but also gave a small talk about how she got started and her future plans, it was really interesting. Best of all she passed around free samples! I picked up a ginger syrup sponge and loved it! When I saw that she'd be at the Living North Spring event I made sure to pick up another.

Geordie Banger Co. - When I'm at food fairs, I can't resist some local produce. I've had Geordie Bangers before after winning a twitter competition and I really enjoyed them. It's hard to get these as they are based in Newcastle but at the Living North Spring fair, I decided to stock up! I've tried all the packs I picked up now and they were very tasty.

Spicy Monkey - Based out of Durham, this company makes many curry sauces and chutneys that you can use at home. They are made with fresh ingredients and taste amazing. I've tried the medium monkey curry and mango chutney and they are both winners!

Have you tried any of these? Which ones do you like? Any others you'd recommend that I try?