Victoria, B.C and The Gentle Art of Afternoon Tea - Part II

"Thank God for tea ! What would the world do without tea! How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea."   Sydney Smith, "Lady Holland's Memoir"

For someone like me being from a small California town near the Mexican border, afternoon tea was a different and unique way of socially eating. As we continue here with the foods served at afternoon tea, a little focus on scones. Many Americans are familiar with the dry, crusty versions and tend to shy away from eating them. I always received favorable comments from the students in my tea
classes after sampling my take on scones.

There are many varieties of scones. Some are baked with currants, cream, sweet spices or savory with cheese. They come in different shapes; round, wedged or dropped-batter on a hot griddle. I suggest choosing one flavor and serve it with jam and cream. The secret ingredient is the buttermilk that keeps the scone moist. Even a low-fat buttermilk will bring good results.

                                             Cinnamon Buttermilk Scones  

3 cups all purpose flour 
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 3/4 cup butter, chilled cut in pieces  (1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup buttermilk
 1/4 cup milk (use to brush top of cut scones)
      
Topping: mix 1 tablespoon cinnamon with 1 cup sugar  (This will produce more than you need. Keep extra stored in a small jar with a tight lid.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, stir all the dry ingredients.
With a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the butter until it becomes crumbly.
Slowly add the buttermilk and gently stir with a fork. Form a large ball.
On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough 1/2 thick. 
Cut out the scone with a 2" deep cookie cutter.
Place an a greased baking sheet. Parchment paper can also be used.
Brush tops of scones with a little milk.
Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon topping.
Bake for about 15-18 minutes, let cool on a baking rack.   

Clotted cream can be purchased from a kitchen gourmet store. The clotted cream is skimmed from the top of milk; much like the cream that "floats" to the top of fresh bottled milk or yogurt. It is high in fat content but only a small spoonful is needed for those watching their calories. The small jars of cream can be a bit expensive if you are serving a large crowd of people as I was doing for my tea classes. So I came up with a thriftier version, a mock-clotted cream, that, although not authentic is quite tasty.   

My favorite part of tea are the "sweets". Sweets should be small and dainty. Pick three that vary in taste and texture. For example, lemon mini-tarts, two-bite brownies, and shortbread are a good selection. These can be hand-baked or purchased to save time. Again, three sweets are simple. Try to always include chocolate as one of your selections. 

                                              Mock-clotted Cream

          1 cup whipping cream
          1/4 cup sour cream
          4 tablespoons powdered sugar
          1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
         
          Mix all ingredients in a deep bowl.  
          Beat with an electric mixer until thick.
          Refrigerate , covered, for 1 hour.  

Obviously, afternoon tea requires a good pot of brewed tea to compliment the food. The most favorable afternoon tea is Earl Grey. English Breakfast and Darjeeling follow in popularity. Herbal and fruit teas are not traditional but are perfectly acceptable at the tea table if that is what you prefer.

                                          How to Brew a Proper Pot of Tea  

 First, measure how many cups of water fill your teapot. Write the number on a small piece of paper and tape it on the bottom of your teapot. This will help you from having to re-measure every time you want to make a pot of tea. 

Fill the kettle with fresh, cold water.
Warm your teapot by filling it with hot water.
When the kettle water comes to a boil, empty the previous hot water from your teapot.
Fill your warmed, empty teapot with tea leaves. Use 1 teaspoon of loose tea per cup, adjusting the quantity to suit your taste.
Pour the boiled water over the leaves, cover with lid, and let step for 3-5 minutes.
Give the tea a stir to ensure an even brew.
Use a tea strainer placed over the teacup and pour the tea.
Serve with milk (not cream), or lemon and sugar cubes.   

I happily urge you to give afternoon tea a try. I know it will be the beginning of a wonderful tradition for you, your family and friends!
 

Victoria B. C. and The Gentle Art Of Afternoon Tea - Part l

 The Joy of Afternoon Tea

A few days ago I finished my chapter about afternoon tea for my upcoming book, "The Travel Writer's Wife". One may wonder, how does afternoon tea relate to travel?  Well...

#1. I taught classes on this subject for several years all around Colorado and Wyoming. Teaching these classes on my own time gave me the flexibility to travel with my travel writer husband, Ron.

#2. Wherever we traveled, if the opportunity arose, we would visit a tea room.

We have partaken of this lovely centuries-old ritual in Canada, Europe, and the United States. One of the loveliest tea rooms we visited was in Shreveport, Louisiana (the Glenwood Village & Tearoom). The decor was elegant and all the tea foods served prettily presented.

We had tea at the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada, where our server was a very proper gentleman who had worked in the tea room for over 30 years. His serving and the tea itself was impeccable.

A unique tea was the Fashionista Tea At The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, London. All the tea foods served were designed with inspiration from London's fashion week's runways. Quite clever!

I was first introduced to afternoon tea when I was an art student in London, England. I was so impressed with the style and the distinctive foods served. To my young southern Californian eyes, afternoon tea was so unique and it was fun to share this tradition with my friends back home.

At the time, I was a single young working girl on a tight budget, so I would purchase my teapots, tea cups and saucers at thrift stores. A used and washed lace curtain made do for a pretty and elegant looking tablecloth. I sewed napkins from remnants of fabric and ironed them with a touch of spray starch. A few colorful silk flowers made a simple center piece.

As a result of serving so many teas over the years at birthdays, weddings, and baby showers, I was able to easily design a class on the subject of afternoon tea. I taught these classes over a period of several years. One doesn't need a special occasion to have a tea. Purchase a small list of ingredients, invite a few friends, over and put on a kettle of hot water.

Traditional foods served at afternoon tea include scones with jam and cream, dainty finger sandwiches, and sweets. Add a freshly brewed pot of tea to wash it all down. Finger sandwiches can be made with an assortment of fillings. Chopped crab-meat, egg salad or curried chicken salad are just a few choices. The all-time favorite is cucumber which blends well with a cream cheese and dill spread.

I suggest three different fillings for your tea sandwiches. Use soft white and brown bread; multi and whole grain breads are too thick.Tea sandwiches are always best made on the same day. Start making them early, they do take time. Bring the filling to room temperature for easy spreading. Spread the filling on a slice of bread, almost to the edge. Top with another slice of bread. Do not cut the edges off at this time. Place sandwiches on a large tray. Wrap securely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate. About an hour before your guests arrive, trim off all edges and cut into desired shapes. These are some of the shapes you can use:  

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into thin slices, patted dry with paper towels  

Directions

• Soften cream cheese, mix with dill, blend well.
• Spread mixture on bread slices.   Place one layer of cucumber slices on filling. 
• Top with another slice of bread. With a serrated knife, neatly trim off edges.     

The next blog-post, The Gentle Art of Afternoon Tea - Part II, will include my scone recipe that I served at all my tea classes along with a recipe for mock-clotted cream. Also simple instructions on how to brew a perfect pot of tea is presented.  Cheers!

Square Slices              Triangle  Slices                Finger Slices

  Tea sandwiches can be cut into any of these   

  three shapes.

 

Global Gumshoe investigates Saskatchewan, Canada

Ron recently returned from a trip to Saskatchewan. He wrote several articles, with different slants, and published them in a variety of outlets.

He also put together a video of his best photos and video and you can see it at his Youtube channel...or better still, right here!

And be sure to check out his blog: Original Global Gumshoe. Not to mention his website at GlobalGumshoe.com

Eisenhower and Me

Is is just me? Or are potential candidates announcing their run for the office of President the United States of America coming forth earlier every four years?

In the previous months of this year, when the first person made their announcement, I immediately dreaded all the news and political media commercials that would be splattered in our faces day after day until November 2016.

President Eisenhower- Public Domain from Presidential Library

I can turn heads in a roomful of people when I mention that I once saw President Eisenhower in person and from only a few dozen feet away at that. I guess that really "dates" me. "Wasn't he the president before Lincoln?" some teasingly say.

When I was in the fourth grade my teacher announced that we would get the next day of school off. Whoopee! The President of the United States would be visiting our little town of Chula Vista and we could use the day to go see him with our parents.  

On the map of California, Chula Vista is the little dot located a speck north of the Tijuana dot. Within Chula Vista, the largest area of lawn to accommodate a big crowd of people was at the local Golf Club. For this special occasion, a temporary wooden stage was built, about ten feet above ground.

I remember the day as being warm with a beautiful blue sky and a few scattered puffy clouds. My single-working mother ran out the door calling,"You kids be good. Do your chores. Lunch is in the fridge!"  My younger sister went next door to play and I saw my big brother go off in another direction with his friends.

I decided this would be a great opportunity to see a real live president. I put on my best clean shorts and sleeveless summer blouse, slipped on my flip-flops, and brushed my hair into a neat ponytail.  I  cleaned the dust off  from my bike and rode down the street to the Chula Vista Golf Club. The ride is a few miles away so as I biked I checked out the neighborhoods to see if any friends were out playing in their front yards. Nope. So I continued toward my destination.  

Amazingly, this was the time before elaborate security checks were done. When I arrived at the golf course, I got off my bike and walked it along on the grass lawn to where a large crowd of people were gathered.and there HE was, standing at the podium on the makeshift stage. With my bike, I inched up through the crowds to get a better view of this important person. Honestly, I remember exactly what I thought at that moment: President Eisenhower looked old and bald and his speech was boring to my ten-year old mind.  

After a few minutes, I had enough. I carefully guided my bike out of the horde of people. About that time, the lunch back home in the fridge was calling to me. But not before I stopped at the 7-11 convenience store to get a cherry slurpee.

That evening my mom was in the kitchen busy cooking dinner. Over her shoulder she asked, "So, what did you kids do today?" My sister replied she played with Janice. My brother said he and his friends worked on model cars. I told her I went to see The President.

"Oh, that's nice," she said. "Do you kids want more toast?"     

Drive-In Theater Thrill

This past weekend we didn't have to travel far to enjoy one of America's  vintage pastimes: the Drive-In Theater. We have one here in our home town of Fort Collins. At least once or twice every summer we try to make it over to the Holiday Twin Drive-In Theater where its motto is "the place to be!'

Growing up in southern California, our family frequently went to drive-in theaters to see movies. It was cheap admission and we could bring our own food. I was so delighted when we first moved to Fort Collins to find there was one here to take our own kids to.

Last I checked, there were about 400 drive-in theaters remaining in the United States. At one time there were as many as 4,000. This particular theater is only one of six still operating in Colorado. It's a family-owned business. The owners and staff are so well organized directing all the cars, vans, and trucks tucking them all neatly into their parking spots.

There are two screens each featuring the latest features and the sound is broadcast over your vehicle's radio (sadly, the old speakers perched on a pole are gone). The movie doesn't start until dusk which in summer hours can be as late as 9:30 p.m. . But the customers take advantage of this by throwing frisbees, footballs, and playing board games. Little toddlers run around wearing their pajamas and many pet dogs (on leashes) accompany their families for the evening.

Eating also helps to pass the time quite nicely. Many people have tailgate meals. Fold-up chairs, tables and blankets are brought along for their drive-in theater picnics. We no longer bring food from home because the snack bar has handcrafted burgers and bratwursts grilled on an outdoor barbeque. The aroma is hard to resist! Buttery (not artificial) popcorn is a movie-watching-must. On the car radio's frequency, the theater owners broadcast popular music tunes from the 1960's, which even entrenches more fun memories for me. Yes, summer life continues to be good here! 

Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan

My husband has gone on a press trip to Saskatchewan.

Here's a brief report of his first evening there - a medieval feast and a Shakespeare play!

http://originalglobalgumshoe.blogspot.com/2015/07/shakespeare-on-saskatchewan-river.html

A Summertime Memory

He was the last passenger to board the fully booked flight, yet, still lucky enough to get a window seat. My grandson, Chase, at nine years of age, was flying all by himself from San Diego, California, to Denver, Colorado, to visit Ron and I.

How brave!

I could hardly tie my shoes at nine years old! In fact, I can't recall anything at nine. I remember a few things at ten, but nine? A total blank.

I needed to think carefully about what we could do for a memorable week's vacation. I really didn't want to drive for hours in the car to get to an amusement park or travel on a long twisting road through the Rocky Mountains. I concluded we would find enough variety of activities locally.

Since we have over 126 miles of bike trails in our little college city, I decided that biking would be a fun and healthy activity to fill our cool summer mornings. We found a good deal on a used bike for Chase; $50. It's painted a pretty florescent turquoise with lime-green tire rims. Quite spiffy!

         

One morning we took off down the trail for what became a four-hour bike ride. We stopped frequently along the way. We threw small stones into the creek; Chase always threw further. We built a fort with dead tree branches but we didn't crawl under because there were bugs lurking underneath. Yuk! Two found lady-bugs brought us luck. A tiny frog, the size of a thumbnail amused us for awhile until Chase released him into a water puddle. The mini-frog quickly took refuge on a green leaf as we watched him float gently away down the creek. We build rock towers where a large bed of rocks laid along the water's edge. Chase got his tower up to nine rocks, mine only held eight, then tumbled over. A too-hot sun and a bit of hunger induced us back home. Despite legs decorated with mosquito bites, it was a good bike ride.

Two summer blockbuster movies helped cooled us off from the afternoon heat. We visited a video arcade where Chase scored up enough ticket points to win a neon orange stuffed toy tiger, whose name was christened, "Tiger", so apropos. An afternoon thunderstorm kept us inside playing with a toddler cousin. And an authentic English Afternoon Tea filled our tummies with scones, tea sandwiches, and hot Earl Grey Tea.
   

Silly faces in the photo booth

We watched old re-runs of the Twilight Zone series in the evenings eating bowls and bowls of popcorn. Chase liked the episode named, "To Serve Man". The "friendly" aliens convince the earth's people to board their spaceships, only to secretly fattened the passengers for good alien meals after take-off. "Eww, gross!" he said.

During the week's vacation we ate summer food: grilled hot dogs, barbeque beans, pizza, strawberry jello, cold chocolate milk, and two trips to Dairy Queen for dipped ice cream cones.

Yeah, a pretty simple week of everyday activities but so much more fun when sharing them together. I realize that some of my readers won't relate to this post. That's okay. I really wrote it so that, unlike me, Chase will have at least one week of memories in his ninth year of life.

HAPPY SUN

As I was packing his suitcase this morning, he said, "I had a really great time, Grandma!"

"We did too, honey". But I was also thinking, "bittersweet"; somewhat like the lemonade that kids sell at their stands in the summertime.