Mother's Day Cream Tea - Pick up only (May 13)

A cream tea belongs to the West Country. Devon and Cornwall have argued for generations about whether the cream or the jam goes on first, and the rest of Britain has quietly got on with eating it either way.

When mum is in Canada, the tea room is an ocean away. A cream tea on Mother's Day brings the afternoon to the kitchen table instead, which also means nobody has to queue for a window seat.

This one is collected in person from the shop in Halifax on the pick-up day in the title, so there is no box to wait on and no parcel to chase. Get it home, put the kettle on and lay the table properly. A cream tea is not something to save for later, and it rarely gets the chance.

Most people who come in for it end up leaving with something for the cupboard as well: a box of British tea, a jar of something for the toast, a packet of biscuits for the week after. Mum will not complain.