Tea and Cake and Sympathy

Been a quiet couple of days around here.  Mama back at work; kids back at school.  Chores to do but not much else.  So I sit and drink my favorite Taylor's of Harrogate Rose tea in my new-to-me "vintage" 1988 Japanese Shafford creamware teapot and my NYC Starbuck's mug, both of which I got this weekend.




And notice that my sweet couch buddy, who kept me company everyday after my surgery, is gone.

Thankfully, Mama Teacher came for a visit today and we had a wonderful, comforting chat . . . and cake!  This delicious Orange Marmalade Cake from the NYTimes (I'll grab the recipe another time.)  It was even better than the Orange Poundcake I like so much (that was definitely fine, dense poundcake; this was coarse, buttery yellow cake.)  It was great to try the cake and have such a good friend with whom to share it.  A recipe for healing, for sure.


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Orange Marmalade Cake
adapted from the NYTimes (I changed the zests)

2/3 cup coarse-cut orange marmalade, divided (though plain ol’ Smuckers Sweet Orange Marmalade is what I had and it worked)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus 1/2 tablespoon for glaze

¾ cup granulated sugar 

2 ½ teaspoons orange zest

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt 

4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

Beat together softened butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in 1/3 cup marmalade and the orange juice.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined. 

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until surface of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack.

Cool 10 minutes; turn cake out of pan and place on rack right-side up. Place a rimmed baking sheet under rack to catch the glaze. 

GLAZE:

Heat remaining 1/3 cup marmalade in a small pot over low heat until melted; whisk in confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 tablespoon butter until smooth. Slather warm glaze over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down the sides. Cool completely before slicing. 

Happy Tea Day!

I saw a funny joke on my FB feed recently, from Twitter, I think.

Brit:  Put the kettle on.

American:  Americans don't have kettles.

Brit:  Then how do you make tea?

American:  We throw it in the harbor.

Actually, most of the tea we drink is iced, something like 80%.  Like shrubs, iced tea began as an ingredient in a boozy colonial punch, until Temperance, Prohibition, and the 1904 World's Fair combined to popularize iced tea by mid-century (for more information, see this NPR piece.)  

I love iced tea and in the fifteen or so years that I've been up north, I've noticed that iced tea--and actual good iced tea--has become widely available.  And most of it is fresh brewed!  You can even get sweet tea at a few places, though nothing like Texas sweet tea.

The stuff I make at home--and I'm making a pitcher right now--isn't quite as sweet.  I used to like sun tea or cold steeped in the fridge, but I've read too much about it not being safe because the tea is not heated; fine--my way is quicker.  (And you know how much I like a cup of hot tea and an afternoon tea party), but that's not what we're celebrating today.)  Anyway you like it though, it's wonderful . . . and perhaps even more American than baseball and apple pie.

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Mommy Hungry's Iced Tea

2-3 tea bags (right now I'm using two Lipton decaf and one Celestial Seasonings Tangerine Dream; lemon and mint are good, too.)

2 sugar cubes, to taste

2 cups boiling water

4 cups ice

Steep tea bags and sugar cubes in boiling water (I used it straight out of my Keurig) for approximately 2-3 minutes.  Remove tea bags and stir until all sugar is dissolved.  Pour into heat-proof pitcher filled halfway with ice cubes.  Drink.

My Tea Party

I overstuffed my Victoria Sponge, but it's delicious.  And no one at my pre-Mother's Day tea party today seemed to mind!  No one else had tea, either; they're all coffee drinkers!  But I knew that and was prepared.  We're a casual group and it was a relaxed affair, despite the name, just a chance for old playgroup friends to get together to catch up.  I love how we can connect even if it's been awhile.  And we've been doing it for almost nine years!  I am grateful for my mommy friends (both those who came and those who couldn't.)

Victoria Sponge/Sandwich a la Tea & Sympathy

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

a few drops of vanilla extract

2 cups sifted flour (or 2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons flour)

1 heaping teaspoonful baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease and flour two 8" round pans (I greased, put down parchment rounds, and greased and floured.)  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately two minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour and baking soda and stir til smooth.  Divide batter into two prepared pans.  Bake 20-25, until cake tester comes out clean.   Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

Filling:

heavy whipping cream

strawberry jam

fresh strawberries, sliced or diced

Spread jam on one cake round.  Distribute cut-up strawberries.  Whip heavy cream until thick and spread on top of jam level.  Place second cake round on top.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Serve.  (I overstuffed my sponge--it should be a reserved thin layer, but, well, no.)

adapted from Anita Naughton and Nicola Perry, Tea and Sympathy:  The Life of an English Teashop in New York

Tea for Me

I used to order a tea latte at Starbucks--Earl Grey tea and some other flavorings, sweet and creamy and warm.  But I'd forgotten about the drink until seeing Heather Bruggeman's FB post about the London Fog, which she found on another website.  And, sure enough, that's the drink.  I made it last night and again this morning, my own simplified recipe.  It's a wonderful, warming drink.

London Fog

Just put a teaspoon or so of honey (you could also use sugar) in a mug with a teaspoon or so of vanilla, add hot water and an Earl Grey tea bag (or, as I do, run the Keurig to make a cup of tea directly into the mug with vanilla and honey).  Add milk.  I don't mess with steaming or frothing milk and I don't have whole or half & half; just pouring milk in works just fine.  Give it a try!

Our Autumn Adventure

Sis said she wanted to do something with a fall theme today--apple-picking, pumpkins, corn maze, hay ride, something.  And so we decided to head to Middletown to pick apples at our favorite orchard Lyman Orchards, recently featured in Family Fun magazine.  Instead of eating lunch there, however, we opted to go for Tibetan food at the Tibetan Kitchen, a first for us (which is amazing, because Mama's had almost every type of food!  Here is a great blog on Tibetan culture).

And it was amazing!  First, the restaurant was charming, with about 10 tables, an altar to the Dalai Lama, a Tibetan screen painting of Buddha's encounter with Mara and his enlightement, as well as posters for various movies about Tibet, including Seven Years in Tibet, The Cup,  and Cry of the Snow Lion.  The kids were very adventuresome and enthusiastic about trying new dishes.  We had mango dhara, like a lassi, and the best chai I've ever had, so cardamom-filled and creamy with milk.  I started with Thang, a soup with tofu, spinach and sweet potato noodles that the kids enjoyed, too.  Mama liked the Thukpa Dhrang-mo, a spicy cold noodle with sesame dressing.  For our main courses, I had the Shogo-ngopa, a Tibetan curry of potatoes and spinach--so wonderful and flavorful!  It was served with delicious flaky fried flat bread.   Mama enjoyed the Tibetan equivalent of hash browns, Shogo sip-si, of shredded potatoes sauteed with dried chili, garlic, and red onion.  It was served with a dense steamed bread we all liked.  Sis liked her Thukpa, rice noodle soup with vegetables and chicken (and maybe mint, as it reminded me of Vietnamese soups), while Bud liked his Sha-momo, steamed dumplings with chicken (read about momos here).  This was served with Dhang-tsel salad, rather like our "Sumi" sesame Ramen coleslaw.  And we even managed dessert, Tibetan Kheer rice pudding with cardamom, pistachios, and almonds and Drey-sil, which was sweetened rice with a side of yogurt all flavored with a sugar syrup.  Bud wasn't so interested, but Sis liked the latter.  And throughout it all, we talked about Tibet:  who the Dalai Lama was, the relationship of Tibet to China (starting with the Silk Road), Buddha's birth and childhood and then Nirvana.  It was an absolutely delightful experience for all of us; we can't wait to go back and try more new dishes.

Then we headed for the apples . . . .we loved the colorful foliage and tromping through the trees of Mutsu and Empire.  We picked three bags full, with plans for pie, pork and apples, and school snacks.  We have been going to Lyman since the kids were 1 1/2 (if not before, just the two of us) and this must have been the warmest apple-picking outing ever.

After picking apples, we went to the market store, which was so packed we almost couldn't get inside.  But we wanted cider doughnuts, cider, apple turnovers, and pot pies and so braved the crowds.  I found an absolutely delightful Apple Cider herbal tea from Republic of Tea.

And duck food.  Because you always have to feed the geese and ducks.  And pigeons.  And seagulls.  Just like when the kids were too little to see over the bottom fence post!  We called to do them and finally called Pop and Gommie to help us out!

And then we headed home, with the late-day sun illuminating the golden leaves.  A beautiful day.

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Miss V's Homemade Chai

The family recipe of my neighbor from New Delhi.  We had been talking about my addiction to chai and so she made some.  I won’t have the right teas so I write it up as I can replicate it.

darjeeling tea

green cardamom pods

sugar

milk

            Place tea and crushed green cardamom pods in water and boil gently on the stove.  When well heated, add sugar and milk to taste.  Serve.

Miss V

Summer Fun: Keep Calm and Watch the Olympics

59.  Watch the Olympics.
60.  Host a culture night for England, Japan, India, Egypt, Thailand, Navajo, Ethiopia, or Carpatho-Russians.


With biscuits and candies from the European section of the regular grocery store, we spread out on the bed to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.  But we never saw the cows and sheep, only spotting the Clydesdales among the merry maypole revelers (did anyone else think Hobbits?).  I liked the four children's choirs from England, Scotland, Wales, and N. Ireland, as well as "Jerusalem." Sis and Bud enjoyed the fireworks but had a lot of questions about the Industrial Revolution--"Why would they build factories and tear up the grass?"  Indeed.  Interesting, as much as they've called it a celebration of Britain's gifts to the world (literature, music, healthcare, and industry.  And humor.), I wouldn't say the aesthetics of the factories and downtrodden workers actually made it look like a celebration of the Industrial Revolution; perhaps more an acknowledgment.  Of course, the significance of all the personages--Kenneth Brannagh, Simon Rattle, Mike Oldfield--save one, Harry Potter creator (and one of the only woman, save the hearing-impaired drummer whom we knew from "Sesame Street"), J.K. Rowling, were lost on them.  They (well, all of us) didn't get the giant baby, but we did like the focus on children's literature--but where was Winnie the Pooh?? (or Tolkien?  Or Narnia? Or Peter Rabbit?).  They found the 100' Voldemort entirely too upsetting and were glad that Mary Poppins got rid of him.  And you gotta love a country that celebrates its healthcare system, with real dancing doctors and nurses no less!  And they were good.  The kids didn't know Rowan Atkinson or "Chariots of Fire" but did appreciate his lightening up that section.  And Bud loved the fart!


Wait, I forgot to mention HRH The Queen.  But describing the mini-movie with James Bond and her very own corgis (it's been confirmed--those were her dogs and her actual page!) and especially the parachuting trick cannot be improved by my descriptions!  Talk about playing along.


We put them to bed after "Chariots of Fire" and watched the rest of it today.  Bud loved the music, though I'm not sure he cared much about the little love story.  Mama and I recognized the 80s music (No Wham!?  No Boy George?  No Elton? Much less that British creator of famous and successful musicals, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber??!!  Hopefully in the Closing Ceremony.) and some of the classics but none of the tv clips save Hugh Grant and Andie Macdowell.  Of course, we didn't know the inventor of the world wide web either (well, Mama might have).  I did like his "This is for everyone" message though--inclusive, like the rest of the ceremony.  


We raced through the parade of nations, stopping for Greece, China, Thailand, the United States, and Team GB, really liking how they planted their flags on the mock-up of Glastonbury Tor.  The speechifying and such were so-so but the torch coming in via Beckham and motor boat and then the cauldron being made of little cauldrons representing each nation was beautiful, especially being lit by young athletes!


After Paul McCartney, we began to watch some sports:  cycling road race (too bad about that crash), handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, table tennis, boxing, women's basketball, fencing (they liked that a lot), and swimming.  All while eating tasty British food we bought at the British shop a ways away:  beef and onion pies, beef and potato pies, Cornish pasties, Colliers cheddar cheese, Branston pickle, Fentiman's Rose Lemonade.  And we have a bunch more for later this fortnight, including a variety of chips (prawn, anyone?) and candy (Aero, which Sis likes).


We also pulled out our travel books and talked a bit about England--where it was, some of the history, what they might know from there.  Shakespeare was Bud's first contribution, then "the mother of Queen Elizabeth the first, who was beheaded by the man with all the wives" and "that's where the Pilgrims left from" and "They had so many taxes that the Americans left."  And "They had the Middle Ages!" There was also Robin Hood, King Arthur, Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall, castles, sheep, and discussions of my three visits there, twice with Mama.  We promised we'd try to take them there before they were 10.  I think that's when I called and left a message for you, Lambeth, my friend in England--are you going into London or staying well away for the next two weeks?


Tonight for dinner, being not very hungry, we had scones, jam, and clotted cream!  Which I prepared from a recipe from Nigella Lawson . . . while wearing my Jubilee apron!  (Bud thought I should get the tea towel that said, "Stay Calm and Drink Tea," even though he announced that he'd rather "Carry On" than "Drink Tea!")


God save the Queen!


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Lily's Scones
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt and tbsp caster sugar if you prefer a sweeter scone
2 tsp baking soda
4 ½ tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons margarine or more butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 large egg beaten for egg wash


Preheat oven to 425F.  Sift the dry ingredients together and rub in the butter thoroughly. Add the milk and stir very briefly. Knead lightly together on a floured surface. [It's important not to overwork scone dough] Roll out to approx 1 - 1 1/4" thickness and then cut into 12 scones.  Wash with egg wash.   Bake for 10mins until wonderfully soft and slightly golden.  Best eaten warm!

Variations:  3 oz. raisins, sultanas or cherries with zest of 1/2 an orange; OR 3 oz. mature cheddar and pinch of mustard powder 

'Lily's scones' from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess
Makes 12

Tea Party of Five

The neighbors who cared for our cats while we were in Boston came over for a tea party today.  The kids spent the morning cleaning the living room, setting the table, and creating place cards. There were even places for Mr. Big (the stuffed penguin) and Felicity, Sis's American Girl doll.  And Bud decorated the table with nesting penguin figurines.  Sis places the gifts we'd gotten them at their spots--a penguin mug for Miss K and a bracelet and some chocolate for M.  We'd made brown-sugar shortbread the day before.  But we added some chewy pralines, jam thumbprints (from the store), and freshly-popped popcorn.

We had a delightful time chowing down--few people can say no to popcorn!  We talked about our trip to Boston and M's new school.  And the young people took turns telling jokes.

• What's black and white and red all over?  A sun-burned penguin!  (If you said newspaper, you are behind the times 'cos papers are in color now!)
• What do you call a baby martial artist?  Young Fu Fighter.
• Why did the chicken cross the playground?  To get to the other slide!
• Imagine you are in a car teetering on the edge of a cliff--what do you do?  [Refute all guesses about backing up, jumping out, etc.]  Stop imagining!
• You are a school bus driver.   You pick up six kids.  You let off three.  You pick up five.  You let off four.  What is the bus driver's name?  Yep, your name.
• You are in a mansion and the power has gone out.  You can go through four doors--pink, blue, yellow, green.  Choose one.  Now you see a hallway with two doors--in one is a monster that might kill you and in the other is an electric chair that will kill you.  Which do you choose?  Yep, electric chair--because the power is out!

And those were the good ones!  The rest were some made-up ones.  But I think those might have made us laugh harder (but since they made so little sense, I can't relay them here!).  We all cleared the table and then the kids went out to play while Miss K and I talked a bit, so nice to get that chance.  

Only the cats were no shows, to our surprise, considering how much they liked our neighbors.  I guess they were upstairs recovering from having us home again!

T is for Tisane

I mentioned that Mama and I like to share a cuppa in the evenings. It goes without saying, I think, that I drink tea throughout the day, usually Earl Grey with milk, but sometimes other blends, herbal or flavored. Now, I'm experimenting with my own mixtures, inspired by an article in the NYTimes as well as by our Friday Friend's lemon-mint water. I've tried the lemon-mint, finding it very refreshing as long as I drank it all relatively quickly (too much lemon, otherwise, I think). And now I've made a mint tea like a former museum associate of mine, who made it with huge handfuls of mint, tea bags, and sugar, preferring it cold right now. I had heard, somewhere, though I can't find where, about a Californian tradition of putting fresh fruit right inside a watercooler (but, really, wouldn't the fruit get gross before the cooler was emptied??). Instead, trying to find it right now, I found an infusion pitcher that has a pierced tube in the middle. But I think I can save myself $29 and put mint, berries, citrus, cucumber, melon, herbs, whatever, in my little water pitcher directly. And, drinking 8 glasses of water a day, I can change the blend frequently!

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AZ's Mint Tea

2 black teabags

bunch of mint, washed

sugar to taste

Boil 2 quarts of water. Pour water into heat-proof pitcher. Add teabags and mint, stems and leaves. Remove teabags within 1-2 minutes; tea is almost entirely for color and under flavor. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of sugar. Serve hot or cold.

Tea for Two

Usually when Mama and I enjoy a formal tea time together (not just grabbing a mug of decaf Earl Grey when the kids are off to bed), we go English--with crumpets or scones, marmalade and clotted cream, or just a good cuppa slowly sipped with care. But Friday night, we opted for something out of the ordinary--Armenian Spiced Rose Petal Tea from my Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij. I had the rose petals from Kalustyan's and all the other spices as well, and so we brewed the tea and enjoyed reading through some of our Silk Road books, since it's rather a topic du jour at our house right now. And the tea was so fragrant, with the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and rose blending so subtly together. We even liked the leftovers iced, which is good because it's almost too hot to enjoy a cuppa--English, Silk Road, or Chinese--anything but Southern iced!

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Armenian Spiced Rose Petal Tea

4 cups water

one 3" cinnamon stick

2 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 tablespoon organic rose petals

2 teaspoons loose black tea (we used 2 tea bags)

2 tablespoons sugar

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Add spices. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place the tea leaves and sugar in a teapot.

Fill the teapot, through a strainer, with the boiling spice water and steep for 5-10 minutes. Do not steep more than 10 minutes.

Before serving, pour a cup of tea and return it to the pot to make sure tea is evenly mixed.

Fill each glass with tea. Keep teapot warm

Najmieh Batmanglij, Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey

Connecticut Yankees in Sir Topham Hatt's Court

We had a hurricane on Saturday, the day we had bought tickets months ago to spend a Day out with Thomas. And despite the dismal weather, we went to Essex and had a wonderful time. Good yankees (even transplants like myself) aren't deterred by a little rain and 45 mph winds. Besides, it made it all more British. I mean, who expects perfect, sunny weather on the oh-so-Anglo Isle of Sodor? And our kiddos don't notice weather anyway.

Which is good, because it started to spit as we arrived in eastern CT. As a sign of good things to come, however, we got one of the last parking spots in the closest lot. From there, we entered the festival grounds and almost immediately saw Thomas the Tank Engine pulling in a passenger train. DD and DS were beside themselves--it was Big Thomas! And they were going to ride on him!

But first, they wanted to ride all the kiddie rides. Carousel, first. Up and down, around and around--their favorite ride at the zoos. Then they spotted the little train. Which parents aren't allowed to ride. Hmmm, two year olds alone on a questionable mechanical ride. But you have to let go sometime, and they seemed so determined as they climbed into the train car themselves and sat on the same side but not too close to one another. Stoically, they rode around on the jerky, miniature train, smiling each time they saw us wave. Our little kids were all grown up. And wanted to ride again. DS headed straight to the engine--he didn't even exit and re-enter, but luckily there was no line--and sat right now with the bell pull within reach. Sis sat across from him and they drove the train. And then moved on to the fire trucks, on which they were the only kids not crying like the visitors to Santa in A Christmas Story.

As the downpour picked up we headed to the Thomas shop. While not thrilled with the commercialism (or burgeoning brand loyalty), we perused the offerings and chose two little trains for our wooden track. A Thomas for DS and a purple train named Rosie for DD (her choice, because of the purple, no doubt. Though, when asked, she says her favorite color is green). And we loved watching the model train at the back of the shop. ImaginationStation downstairs was equally enthralling, with toy train sets and coloring sheets and free tattoos. Oddly, the kiddos, especially DD, were really excited about Sir Topham Hatt (though she calls him Sir Captain Hat). See, we don't really watch Thomas and Friends, they just like trains. So, I can't imagine how they really have any grasp of who the man in the morning suit is. But DD wanted to see him, though not enough to stand in line, and so we took her back over and over.

It was our ticket time to ride Thomas. "All Aboard," the conductor called. And we gleefully climbed aboard our passenger car. Sitting in facing seats, the kids jubilantly waved out the window at anyone, and most of them waved back. Soon the train pulled out of the station and we were on our way. I'll hand it to the organizers, the little stories they told during the trip made sense of why Thomas was in back of the train and then why we later reversed direction. There were also stories about being good. None of which my kiddos paid any attention to. They were driving their own Thomas and Rosie up and down the window ledges and across the seats, then drawing pictures in the condensation of the glass. DP draws a mean tank engine and several kids in nearby seats watched. The ride was just long enough that we enjoyed it but didn't get bored. We disembarked and waved goodbye to Thomas, soon heading to lunch in a nearby restaurant and home.

The epilogue of my story wraps up our very British day: we had a tea party at home. Using her pink and green tin tea set, DD served tea to myself and her brother, repeatedly. She'd pour the tea, we'd drink, she'd take the cups and pour again. Over and over. We added the milk bottle from the baby set because I like milk in my tea. There were even slices of cake, from the birthday cake set, and we ate those on pretty little plates, singing "Happy Birthday" for each of us, a few times. And when I told her how much I liked her tea, DD hopped up, grabbed a post it and crayon, and wrote out the recipe for me.

All in all, a marvelous day.