Do you wish you could shop at a farmer's market every week but either don't have one near enough or just don't have the time? Well the Virtual Farmers Market is the next best thing. The VFM is a fabulous new website that allows you to 'meet' the people that produce their food & drink via video streams and buy delicious produce from the comfort of your own home. There are over 50 of the UK's finest food and drink producers (including teapigs) to choose from and if you place an order before 31st March quoting the promotion code TP1003 you'll get a lovely 20% off anything you order. So click here and start filling up your basket with some scrummy foods.

Between 18th and 21st March we will be at Earl's Court London showing off our super duper matcha at The Vitality Show. We have not one, not two but SEVEN pairs of tickets for some lucky teapigs fans to get their hands on!
Now, our lovely friend Catty has been making and blogging about lots of delicious recipes involving teapigs matcha....so all we want you to do is come up with some scrumtious recipe ideas of your own that include matcha!
The person who comes up with the recipe idea that we think sounds the yummiest will win a pair of tickets for the day of their choice AND get their recipe made by Catty! Six runners up will then each win a pair of weekday tickets to the show.

Please send all entries to hannah@teapigs.com... Good luck everyone!
So lots of you have been asking for whoopee pie ( well perhaps not lots... just a few).
Not having the faintest idea how to make a whoopie pie we enlisted the help of catty the domestic goddess to fashion a wonderful matcha whoopie pie......

How to make these beauties in your own kitchen.
matcha whoopie pies
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup teapigs matcha powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk (I used natural yoghurt as a buttermilk substitute)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
110 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
For the filling:
110 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
2 cups marshmallow fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.
Mix together flour, baking soda, matcha powder and salt in a bowl until combined.
In another bowl, stir together buttermilk (or substitute) and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), then add the egg and beat until well combined.
Reduce the speed to low and mix in the flour, alternately adding the buttermilk mixture as well. Mix until smooth.
Scoop 1/4 cup portions of batter and lay on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 12 minutes, or until the cake bounces back when touched.
When ready, remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
For the filling, beat together the butter, icing sugar, marshmallow fluff and vanilla extract until smooth.
Spread the filling on a flat side of a cake, and top with another portion of cake.
see how catty did it...
We are sooo trendy here at teapigs! Actually, I'm not sure about us being super fashionable, but our lovely little teapigs envelopes certainly are!
The lucky people of London Fashion Week 2010 received a fantastic YSH goody bag which featured lots of bits and pieces, including our very own teapigs tea temples.

As well as being on the front row benches of shows, the goody bags were given away outside Somerset House. British actress Joely Richardson, Sarah Brown the PM's wife and Harold Tillman the chief of fashion label Jaeger were among some of the famous faces to get their hands on a precious teapigs tea temple. We are continuing to work with YSH and in our latest competition have asked budding arties to desgin us a wonderful poster for our ongoing real tea mission....get the kettle on and the creative juices flowing!
by Hannah
Since the start of the year teapigs organic matcha has literally been flying off our shelves and onto yours! It seems like you guys and girls can't get enough of the super power green stuff (understandable of course!) and this big popularity has lead to us currently being out of stock :(

Please accept a big teapigs apology for this and rest assured that we are working round the clock to get it back in our teapigs online shop. As we are expecting to have our amazing matcha back in next week, it is still possible to make an order via our matcha pages which will be dispatched as soon as the new stock arrives.
If you have any queries then please don't hesitate to get in touch with us directly: hannah@teapigs.co.uk or 020 560 0312
Our new friend, Catty from thecattylife.com, which, by the way, is blog heaven for anyone who loves their food - like us.
She has come up with a recipe for the prettiest rice krispie cakes ever!
For more matcha recipes click here.

Umami - might sound like something from shooting stars but it is actually the fifth taste.
What is that? so we all know sweet, sour, salty and bitter are the 4 'primary' tastes. Umami meaning ' pleasant taste' is technically in-between sweet and savoury and has been pinpointed as the fifth primary taste. Umami gives a rounded pleasent taste to lots of recipes.
If you are looking to experience this fifth taste .... look know further than our umami filled matcha.
Using matcha as an ingredient ( have a look at our recipes) and impress your friends
with food that touches their fifth taste!
A round-of-applause for Tracy please, she has won our Valentines competition!

Tracy sent me a very funny and imaginative email where she by-passed Brad Pitt and opted for a nice cup of teapigs English breakfast with the one and only Bruce Forsyth!

Well done Tracy, your teapigs teapot and Valentine's cheeky deal are winging their way to you now! (by Hannah)
Love it or loath it, we all know that it is Valtentine's day this Sunday.

Named after early Christian martyrs called Valentine, the day was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. Traditionally it's a day on which lovers express their love for each other by giving flowers, choccies, cards and maybe even some lovely teapigs tea!

A pack of 'HOT' chilli chai, delicious mao feng and a beautiful scented candle - perfect for a cosy night in with a loved one. But don't panic you lovely singletons out there, our valentine's cheeky deal is great for anyone...and if it's just for you - there's more to go round! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
(by Hannah)
teapigs named on My Vintage Dresser's "Must-Have Monday" feature
http://myvintagedresser.co.uk/?p=329



