Mini Museum Soirée (Bonus)
Thursday, April 8th at 5pm Eastern Time

Next to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s London palace, beside the River Thames, sits a mediaeval church that houses an extraordinary museum. Just near here lived the Tradescants, father and son, who were gardeners to the Stuart monarchs and avid collectors in their own right, and their tomb is in the graveyard. So it seems appropriate that this is now home to the Garden Museum, which celebrates all things English gardening and has recently been refurbished with a new cafe, shop and garden.

We are asking our friends to fill out two short surveys to determine where we go next, and we would love to know what you think! You will find the Virtual Soirée Survey here and the in-person Soirée Survey here. Once you have completed a survey, you will receive a complimentary invitation to this tour!

Mini Museum Soirée (2/3)
Monday, February 8th at 5pm Eastern Time

Florence Nightingale Museum, Waterloo: arguably the world's most famous nurse, Nightingale was a well-born young woman who refused to conform and went on to set up not only her famous hospital at Scutari but also the world's first nursing school at St Thomas's Hospital, originally in east London but now in Waterloo.

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (4/4)
Sunday, January 31st at 4pm Eastern Time

Get your aprons and join British cookery expert Sophie “Straw” Berry with guest epicureans Adam “Tea for” Tooze, Tim “Jammy” Jepson and Julian “Bakeoff” Brown for a deeply serious discussion on the history and economic significance of the British afternoon tea.

This will include when to put in the milk, why American-English muffins differ from English-English muffins, the great Marmite vs Gentleman's Relish debate and whether to put jam (not jelly) or cream on first when eating scones, which could get very ugly.

And you are not just spectators at the feast - oh no, no. You are invited to join in with our very own C&S Soiree Scone-Off. Chef-Patron Strawberry will conduct the messy bit and as the scones brown in ovens on either side of the Atlantic the debate will begin.

Ingredients: flour, butter, milk, caster sugar, vanilla essence, jam, cream and YOU!

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (3/4)
Thursday, January 28th at 5pm Eastern Time

How did an entire nation become fixated on a drink that no other nation either liked or drank in the same way? How did strong Indian tea become the driver of a nation and has coffee really usurped its position as the nation's favourite? Who puts the milk in first? Not to mention where did the cakes come from, who invented the cucumber sandwich and what exactly is Gentleman's Relish? This is your chance to find out.

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (2/4)
Thursday, January 21st at 5pm Eastern Time

You could call this treading on eggshells, because it makes Brits really nervous, especially if they are with people they don't know. But it's time to examine the evidence and work out what makes somebody posh: we'll go right back to the 1066 invasion by the Norman French and work our way forward using clothing, accents, eating habits, furniture names and pronunciation as our guide. Cheers, dears!

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (1/4)
Thursday, January 14th at 5pm Eastern Time

The rollercoaster ride of English food: the pleasure, the pain, the politics... We'll look at the original English diet, the arrival and subsequent disappearance of olive oil, the philosophical battle of food v fuel and, brace yourselves, THE 1970s, the great nadir, followed by a slow and uphill struggle to present glory in London, if not all the regions.

Mini Museum Soirée (1/3)
Monday, January 11th at 5pm Eastern Time

William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow: This fine collection occupies the rather grand (for an early Socialist) childhood home of the driven, workaholic polymath who tried to turn back the tide of industrialisation and bring craftsmanship back into the English home. Designer, furniture maker, printer, factory owner and founder of one of the first Socialist groups in Britain - meet Mr Morris.