A Very Special Teatime

 In winter time there usually is one teatime by the fireplace.

Yesterday was that day.

A day not too cold, but just right to sit for awhile and nibble.

 There was a bit of sipping too, tea in fact.

A lovely tea from India called Sungma Organic Musk, a second flush 2018 Darjeeling.

 An old family quilt served as a tablecloth.

Vintage teaware is my delight.

And a painting of roses, a bouquet from France.

 The nibbles were egg salad, always my favorite, and toasty hot mushroom on toast.

 Then a carrot cupcake with chocolate hearts on top,

a definite nod to the upcoming Valentine's.

What inspired me to make teatime in the middle of the week you say?

This old recipe box I have had sitting on my shelf for years.

One of my favorite tea sandwiches comes from this box; 

so I decided there must be more to explore.

So from time to time I will share a recipe as I try them.

Today was Hot Mushroom and I loved it.

The box comes from the very first time I went to afternoon tea many years ago.

A friend took me to the lunchroom of the Palo Alto Auxiliary at the Allied Arts Guild

in Menlo Park, California. The lunchroom was a non-profit project to maintain beds

for children at the Children's Hospital at Stanford University.

The Recipe for Hot Mushroom tea sandwiches:

2 cups chopped mushrooms, do not chop fine

2 green onions including some of tops, chopped

1/4 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup flour

white wine

1/3 cup sour cream

Saute mushrooms and onion in 1/4 cup butter. 

Cook about 2 minutes.

Add flour and cook 2 more minutes.

Combine mushroom juice with white wine to make 1 cup liquid,

add and cook 3 minutes. Cool. Add sour cream.

Spread on toast and broil.

My toast was cut with a heart cookie cutter,

but you cut the bread any way you would like.

Enjoy!

Take an afternoon off in the middle of the week
and have tea.

Garden Quotes 2019

 Happy First Day of Autumn!

Applesauce cake and a bracing cup of tea are calling me.
Flowers from my garden delight me.
Pumpkins and apples are my harvest joy.

"In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.  And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November."
-   Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden

 

I love the colors of both Spring and Autumn.

How about you?

I thought you might enjoy the gift of my favorite applesauce cake recipe.

Applesauce Cake

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 16-ounce (1 1/2 cups) applesauce

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup water

2 eggs

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans, but original recipe called for walnuts)

Into mixer bowl, sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, baking powder, and spices.

Add applesauce, shortening, and water; beat 2 minutes.

Add eggs; beat 2 more minutes.

Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9x5x3 inch loaf pans.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes.

I often make smaller loaves and freeze some of them for later.

Ice with a butter cream icing or sprinkle with powder sugar or eat plain. 

Enjoy the day and Happy Autumn to you, dear friends! 

Tea Time with Friends

 Leach Botanical Gardens is beautiful any day of the year,

but on lovely summer day with friends it was especially lovely.

There several flowers in bloom, which always touches my heart.

 What I was there for last Saturday was tea time with friends.

Each table on the patio was set with a different color theme.

I loved the cheerful, happy theme of our table.

The volunteers served their special black with roses tea.

It was made just right and not bitter at all.

Just about the time our teapot was getting low someone

would come along to refill it.

Having tea with tea friends means we drink a lot of tea.

 The sandwich plate had the following:

Chilled strawberry coconut soup

Mango chutney cream cheese

Chicken surprise*

 Ham and Slaw

Lemony pea pesto

 The scone was orange current with jam and Devonshire cream.

It was delicious!

 The dessert plate had the following:

Chocolate chai cake

Lemon curd tartlets

Butter mint patties

 I could say I had tea with my tea daughters, as they are all

my daughters age; but I love them dearly.

 It was a special day!

Leach Botanical Garden operates in partnership with the Portland Parks and Recreation.

A place of solitude and beauty, a place to spend walking and exploring alone, or

a place to spend over tea with friends.

*We asked for the recipe for the Chicken sandwich, but it is for 12 quarts.
Here are the ingredients:
Cooked chicken, chopped
Celery, chopped
Apple, shredded
Sliced almonds
Sliced green onion tops
Mayonnaise
cinnamon, cumin, coriander, salt
The spices is what made it unique.

 

Oatmeal Cake

One of my favorite cakes is Oatmeal Cake.

Now I never was a fan of coconut, but on the top of this cake it just works

and I love it. It's a great cake for a potluck or with tea.

Oatmeal Cake

1 1/3 c. boiling water      1/4 teas. salt    

1 c. quick oatmeal (I use regular oatmeal)

1 teas. vanilla             1/2 c. butter     

1 1/2 c. flour           1 c. each white & brown sugar    

1 teas. baking soda           2 eggs          1 teas. cinnamon   

Pour boiling water over oatmeal and let stand while mixing the cake.

Cream the butter with sugars.  Add eggs, salt, and vanilla and beat well.

Add oatmeal and beat until very light.  Sift together the flour,

baking soda, and cinnamon, add to batter, mixing well.

Bake in greased 13 X 9 pan 30 to 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Topping:

6 tblsp. butter         1/2 c. coconut

1/2 c. brown sugar            1/2 c. nuts, chopped

1/4 c. milk or cream         1/2 teas. vanilla

Melt or soften butter and combine with other ingredients,

spread over warm cake and return to oven or put under broiler

for a few minutes while frosting bubbles and coconut browns.

This recipe came from Delphian Delicacies.

The cookbook was made to celebrate Kansas centennial in 1970 

by the Delphian Jr. Woman's Club

I was living in Beloit, Kansas at the time

and several of my friends belonged to this group.

Happy weekend, dear friends!

My computer is back and running wonderfully.

Tea Outdoors and a Recipe

In the canister is Wild Lapsang from Wuyi Origin.

A really yummy tea.

One of the things I love to do is have tea outdoors.

Whether it is on a  hike, a lovely table somewhere,

or even in the back yard.

I am a nature girl at heart

and grew up spending most of my time outdoors.

So it isn't any surprise that as often as possible

I go outdoors with my canister of tea

and a simple goodie.

One of my favorite outdoor treats is granola bars.

Now I was certain I had shared my recipe,

but upon looking this week I found I had not shared it.

It was a recipe I found in the newspaper quite a few years ago,

but altered and I think improved it so it would stick together better.

I hope some of you try this recipe

and go ahead and take it outdoors for some nature time.

Granola Bars

3 cups quick or old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked

1 cup raw, unsalted peanuts

1 cup seedless raisins

1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds (no-shell)

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ cup melted and cooled unsalted butter

¼ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup peanut butter

1 -14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Note: It is easy to switch out the peanuts, raisins, and sunflower seeds with other dried fruit and nuts, just keep the same measurements.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line large jelly roll pan with parchment paper. In large bowl combine all ingredients until well blended. Pat mixture evenly, firmly, and smoothly onto parchment lined pan with rubber spatula. Bake 25 minutes until golden on edges. Cool 30 minutes. Lift out of pan and onto cutting board. Cut bars with pizza cutter. Store loosely covered at room temperature. (can be frozen)

 My back yard this week.
Getting ready for the celebration at an outdoor picnic this summer
with granola bars!

Chocolate Medallions!

Not long ago it was time for tea,

but a little sweet must do.

Remembering chocolate medallions from France

and having all the ingredients,

chocolate medallions were made.

Violets from the garden were covered in sugar

then dried fruit and nuts were added

to circles of chocolate melted in the microwave.

With some time to dry in the fridge,

it was time for tea.
A recipe of a simple chocolate delight,
just perfect for your next tea time.

A Yunnan Gold black was steeped in the pot.

Cups were set.

Ahh the delightfulness of tea time with a bit of sweet.

At 3PM we broke for tea,

it delighted my soul.

So come for tea at three

and I will set a sweet of chocolate just for you.

Which teapot should we use?
Spread the table with delight and celebrate each day!

Pumpkin Cake

About this time of year all things pumpkin tickle my thoughts

and I get hungry for pumpkin pie or pumpkin lattes;

so I went exploring for something pumpkiny and found the following.

It was quite delicious.

The recipe calls for icing on the cake, but I thought it was good enough without it

and eliminated a couple calories.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons butter

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter, softened

4 large eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 container (8 ounces) sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350degree

Grease and flour 12-cup bundt pan

Combine steusel brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice

in small bowl, then cut in butter with pastry blender.

Cake: Combine dry ingredients in small bowl.

Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until light

and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after

each addition. Add pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla; mix well.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Assemble: Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle

streusel over batter, not allowing streusel to touch sides of pan.

Top with remaining batter. Make sure batter layer touches

edges of pan.

Bake: 55-60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out

clean. Cool for 30 minutes in pan, invert onto rack to cool

completely. Sprinkle with powder sugar.

The recipe came from www.verybestbaking.com

It was the perfect slice of cake with a bracing cup of tea.

Are you thinking pumpkin these days?
What is drawing you to bake?
What cup of tea are you adding to your pumpkin?

A Visit to an Island

What island did you think? Hawaii, maybe!

But no! Last week I visited Whidbey Island with my "live-in gardener", a part of Washington State.

Primarily the stay took place in the south of the island, in and around Langley, WA.

 To get there we caught the ferry in Port Townsend.

Do you see the island in the distance?

  We were staying in a sweet AirBnB cottage with a garden

and trees all around.

One morning I actually got up just after 6AM, wrapped in a cozy blanket,

and sat out on the deck watching quietly for deer, birds, maybe an owl, or a coyote.

Not one was seen and I was disappointed,

but how I loved seeing the sun come up between the trees.

The quiet of the early morning was so amazing.

We were only there two nights, a very mini-vacation.

 We explored and found this beach full of driftwood.

It was a perfect sunshiny (blue sky) day.

The perfect kind of day to be out walking on the beach.

 We stopped for lunch at the Flower House Cafe.

Not very often do I recommend a restaurant here, but I must say

everything on the menu sounded delicious.

I brought the menu home, so I can try to replicate some of the combinations

of food. Even their scones were amazing the next morning.

My sandwich was on toasted sourdough bread with

roasted chicken, pickled currants, red onion and celery salad with

walnuts, apples and greens. It was all very fresh too.

My "live-in gardener" had smoked salmon, whipped goat cheese, pickled shallots,

basil oil and micro herbs on grilled whole grain baguette.

Thought you would like to know the ingredients to inspire a new sandwich too.

 And since it was the Flower House Cafe it was located at

a flower nursery, www.bayviewfarmandgarden.com.

 We loved strolling through the nursery and found several plants we were tempted to bring home.

I wrote down the names of the ones we loved and will look locally for them.

Isn't this arch gorgeous?

I guess it has clusters of yellow flowers that hang inside earlier in the season.

 Apples from the nursery tree were rolling on the ground

and ready to be picked.

 Later we strolled through the town of Langley and watched the sun set over the water.

 The chocolate rooster statue stood outside of the chocolate shop.

 Of course I had to have my picture taken to prove

I really am a butterfly or an angel.

 Then all to quickly it was time to fly away

or maybe we hopped another ferry and headed to Seattle for some tea.

Isn't the clouds and sunrise lovely from the ferry?

It was a very little respite, but much enjoyed.