[Cyclefrance]

Tea? TEA? Don't mention tea. You can hardly see a minute pass in its entirety without the M-I-L plonking another cup in your hand. Remember a two week holiday in Spain a few years back, when she took a 360 bag box of PG Tips tea bags with her and we ran out after the tenth day. All right, there were four of us but that still works out at an average 9 cups a day each!

Tend to go for loose tea brewed in a good sized pot - standard tea-making procedure, Boil kettle, pot to kettle, warm pot with small amount of boiling water swirled around then discarded, two generous teaspoons per person plus a bit 'for the pot', pot back to kettle, top up pot to required level (you get to know this with practice), leave to stand under tea cosy for five minutes, prepare cups (milk in first) and pour through tea-strainer.

Some go for second cup top-up of pot with more water but quallity deteriorates and we make a fresh brew each serving.

We stick with standard breakfast tea - normally PG Tips. That's the Brits for you! Oh, and not to forget the irresistable pleasure of dunking biscuits !!!