Aga Fabulous Fish Class

Here is the table set for us to enjoy the food's cooked at today's Aga Class.

Sarah was here to cook us a feast of Fabulous Fish, whilst showing us our way around an Aga at the same time.

There were plenty of Aga tips and cookery ideas shared during the demonstration.

It was a delicious spread.

Here are some photos of the Fab Fish.

Firstly a Seafood Cassoulet, fantastic with some crusty chunks of bread.

Followed by a Smoky Fish Pie, a hint of stilton in the mash and a hint of horseradish in the sauce, really turned this into something special. 

Sarah always demonstrates a tart, to show that in Aga-Land we don't blind bake, your tarts and quiches can just go straight into the Aga on the floor of the Roasting Oven, which is such a time saving revelation!

Today's tart was Smoked Mackerel and Spring Onion.

Next is a Steamed Sea Bass with an amazing tangy sauce.  Today, Sarah also had some Poulting fish which she used too.  We roasted the fish for this recipe.

There were other dishes such as scallops with cauliflower, sesame crusted tuna, slow roasted dill salmon and a chunky baked cod with a rocket crust

Sarah is back at Treetops on Friday 21 September for Effortless Entertaining, from 9.45am - 1.30pm.  

£65

And also for Christmas Aga (Turkey this year) on Friday 9 November.

Coming Up - Two Day Watercolour Retreat

We are holding a two day Watercolour class in June.

Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 June.

Two days to get away from it all, to come and relax, enjoy the peace, quiet and setting of Treetops, and paint.

Over the two days, Claire will cover drawing skills, building up your sketch pad - how to capture a sketch and how to use it later on, watercolour and painting techniques.

Having the two days enables you and Claire to get into greater depth with your work.

I'm sure that over the two days, there will be some sunshine, and we can spend time outside sketching and using parts of the garden as inspiration.

The days start at 9.30am and finish at approximately 3pm.

The price includes all of your materials, lunch and wine on both days and teas, coffees and home made biscuits.

(I can recommend a nearby B&B if you would like to stay nearby).

Watercolour Bluebells

We had Claire with us yesterday for another Watercolour Class

 - Bluebells -

The paintings were all lovely, full of light, dappled shade, meandering pathways and pretty bluebells.

The trees were painted in last, so the paintings looked very strange until they were painted in, then the paintings came alive.

We worked with 3 shades of purples, greens and browns, so we spent alot of time mixing and getting the right balance of paint pigment and water.

We also mixed up a tiny bit of pink, as it's always nice to add a bit of pink!  Whether it's in skies or bluebells woods.

We also loved hearing how one of our artists came to the class because her husband proposed to her in a Bluebell wood .... aaaahhhh!

Claire will be back for a two-day Watercolour Class in June, where we will be doing some exciting things, please email or call for details, we still have some spaces available.  I can recommend a great B&B nearby.

Sunny Flower Class

It was lovely to have Susanna from Tiger Rose back today, for a Spring/Summer Flower Class.

Susanna started the morning with a few demonstrations, including the beautiful lavender basket above.

There were beautiful peonies and sweet peas nestled inside.

We spoke alot about plants in the garden that are useful to plant for foliage and their flower, and how to condition and look after our cut flowers, whether from the garden or the flower shop.  

Susanna then showed everyone how to make a pretty hand-tied posy.

The key was in the preparation; clean stems, key flowers, secondary flowers and complementary foliage.

We had some bright gerberas, hyacinths and frilly tulips.

When everyone had finished their posy, Susanna showed them how to wrap the arrangement in a water-bag and co-ordinating tissue paper and cellophane.

The posies were then popped inside a vibrant green bag.

They looked stunning!

After lunch we had some creative time around the table. 

Susanna had spoken in the morning about using different containers around the house for flowers, not just our usual vases.

Taking this a step further, she had an assortment of jam jars and tin cans for us to decorate for flowers.  (This is a look that is currently very popular at weddings).

Using strong carpet tape (today's floral top tip!) and an array of ribbons, lace, buttons, a needle and thread and a hot glue gun, there were some beautiful creations.

Below are just some shots of some of today's flowers, they were so pretty.

Susanna is back for Christmas Flowers in December.

Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 December

£80

9.45am - 2pm

This includes all of your materials, a simple lunch with a glass of wine, refreshments and home made biscuits throughout the day.

Chocolate Cupcake Class - 28 April

We had a delicious Chocolate Cupcake Class this morning at Treetops.

We made some chocolate decorations, a rich chocolate ganache, coloured fondant icing decorations, chocolate buttercream and spent time decorating them to perfection!

To see more of the class's creations, please visit the Colourful Cupcakes Blog

Upcoming Watercolour Classes for you

Our Watercolour classes start next week with an exciting term of themes.

We start on Thursday 3 May with Bluebells, suitable for all levels, this is a particularly good class to come to if you have recently been to one of our Beginner classes.

The following week on Tuesday 8 May we are doing a landscape painting, very useful for you to come and pick up lots of tips and ideas to help you with your landscapes.  We are going to be painting Lavender Fields.

There are 2 spaces left on our Beginners Watercolour class on Thursday 21 June.  If you've never painted before,  haven't ever picked up a paintbrush before or are just lacking in confidence and need a refresher class, then this will be perfect for you.

Claire will explain all about the different papers, brushes, paints and techniques needed to master a beautiful painting in watercolour.

Claire teaches in a step by step style, it's a relaxed pace and by the end of the day you will have a finished painting to take home with you.

In June we have a 2-day Watercolour Class, great fun, we'll be painting inside and outside of Treetops, learning lots of new techniques and styles.  This will be held on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June.

We end the term with a great Cornish painting on Thursday 12 July.

All our classes run from 9.30am until approximately 3pm.

The price is £70 and this includes all of your materials, home made biscuits and refreshments throughout the day and a 2 course lunch with a glass of wine.

To book please call Emily 01635 44850.

Cupcake Class with Vectorworks

This morning we had a group in from Vectorworks in Newbury

They made some delicious cupcakes, and some great fondant decorations.

To see their work visit the Colourful Cupcakes blog

If you have a group of 6 people and would like to book your own private group, please get in touch.