Tips for a "Patriotic Evening Affair"

Image from http.clipart.edigg.com

This information is from the Woman's Home Companion magazine from 1919:

“For a Patriotic Evening Affair”

Open Sandwiches, Allied Style
South Park Sweetbreads or Veal Souffle
Pineapple Mousse
Coffee or Shrub Punch

Titanic Survivors' Reunion Picnic and Commemoration

"Wild Blue Yonder" rose

We had a lovely time at the Rose Garden on Saturday.  A small group of us gathered at a shady picnic table and enjoyed a menu inspired by the "Last Dinner on the Titanic" menu, as well as some recipes from Mrs. Rorer's cookbook from 1912.  Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the table or the food, but you can imagine from the menu:

Ginger Ale and Tea Punch
Iced Black Tea

Cucumber, Mint and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

view of the Rose Garden

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
Creole Sandwiches (cream cheese, cheddar, tomato, and sweet pepper)
Stone-ground Wheat Crackers (standing in for the Cabin Biscuits from the Titanic menu)

Fresh Strawberries
Fresh Cherries
Coconut Cake
Coconut Lemon Sandwich Cookies

I wore my partially-restored antique lingerie blouse, with my walking skirt made from Sense & Sensibility's Beatrix Potter pattern.  It actually has a higher waistline, more in line with 1912 fashions, but because of the drape of the blouse, and the fact that my ribbon belt slid down to my natural waist, you can't tell from the photos.  I'll have to put it on again and take better photos of the line of the skirt.

"Europeana" roses

My friend Sara also wore a vintage dress; she actually took a vintage nightgown, made a slip out of vintage fabric to wear underneath, and wore it as a summer day dress with a vintage hat and parasol!  When I get the photos from the other ladies who were present, I'll post them.

It was extra fun because Saturday was Senior Prom for the local high schools, and there were a bunch of young ladies and gentlemen in evening dress, taking photos in the garden!  

Take time out this week with a tea party!

Photo: Nikolay Dimitrov. www.e-Cobo.com

Most of us across the United States are gearing up for Thanksgiving in the next week.  A quintessentially American holiday, with a profoundly religious background, the Thanksgiving feast, shared with as many friends and relatives as possible, can be a very stressful project.  It's easy to get hung up on the details and forget the purpose of the holiday: to set aside the difficulties and celebrate the blessings of family, friends, food and good deeds for an entire day.  Celebrate those who have provided for you and helped you to become the person that you are today.  Keep yourself in an attitude of gratefulness and appreciation by delegating some work to those who will share the meal with you, and put your feet up once in a while with a cup of tea! 

You can "taste-test" some of the treats for the big day by making them ahead of time and enjoying them before the frenzy of preparation.  A Thanksgiving High Tea is also the perfect way to use up leftovers after the holiday!  Here are some recipes you might want to add to your tea table; they would also make great additions to a special breakfast on Thanksgiving day.

Cranberry Orange scones
Butterscotch-Ginger scones
Cream scones
Pumpkin butter
Apple butter
Mock clotted cream
Spiced-Tea Cranberry Sauce

Mushroom Croustades
Pumpkin Fritters
Maple Shortbread

Interesting links:
“Thanksgiving tea ideas”
“Thanksgiving meal tea and food pairings”
“Hostess a Thanksgiving Tea Party” by Sheila Kosmicki
“A Thanksgiving Tea Party, Relax and Enjoy!”

Give a Halloween tea party instead of a gore-fest!

image from Halloween Cavern of Clipart

A whimsical Halloween tea party is a great reason to enjoy some season-appropriate activities: scrap-booking, knitting and crocheting, and Victorian projects like paper decoupage and cutting silhouettes.  You can also rent classic mysteries by Agatha Christie, or even Carolyn Keene (creator of Nancy Drew) on DVD to watch while you enjoy your tea.  Along with some chai, smoky Lapsang Souchong or other black tea, you could enjoy a selection of foods, including traditional tea sandwiches and scones as well as other comforting choices.  Some tasty menu suggestions:

Squash soup, garnished with sour cream, fresh basil and cilantro
Portobello Mushroom Puffs
Carrot Ginger Tea Sandwiches
Sliced Granny Smith Apples and Cheddar

Ginger Scones
Candied Orange Scones
Savory Black Olive Scones

Chai Tea Cookies 
Midnight Monster Munchies 
Mini Apple or Pumpkin Tarts
Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding with Cream Cheese Filling

Baked Pumpkin Custard
Pumpkin Cookies  

Many of these selections can be purchased ready-made, for your tea party pantry.  For example, butternut squash soup can be purchased in cans and pour-spout boxes, portobello mushroom puffs can be found in the freezer section, and there are several scone mixes, including a nice Ginger flavored one from Santa Cruz company Iveta Gourmet.  Just add a beautiful farmer's market bouquet of sunflowers or chrysanthemums to the table, and maybe some colorful dried (and cleaned) leaves, and you're ready to go! 

History Park’s Halloween event
“10 pumpkin facts: fun trivia and nutritional information”
San Jose’s Halloween articles

What would Jane Austen eat with her tea?

Tea with toast and jam. Image from FreeFoto.com
Tea-drinkers in Jane Austen’s time liked to have a bit of food with their beverages just like we do, but tea time was not the feast of pastries that it often is today. One or two kinds of tea, bread and butter, and one kind of cake were about all you could expect to have with tea, otherwise you were approaching a proper meal. Tea was enjoyed with breakfast, and served more formally after dinner, especially if there were guests, and it's a lovely custom to revive. If you want to enjoy tea the way Jane Austen might have done, here are some menu suggestions:

Rose congou (Chinese black tea scented with roses)
Bohea (Chinese large-leaf black tea) or Pekoe (known as “orange pekoe”)
Hyson (Chinese large-leaf green tea)

Toast (homemade or country-style bread) or Toasted English muffins
Butter

Pound cake or fruit cake

China was basically the only tea supplier to England during Jane Austen's lifetime, so choose a loose-leaf, unflavored Chinese black or green tea. Twinings is one well-known tea company that was in business from the late 1700s. Offer sugar cubes instead of granulated sugar with the tea, and whole or skim milk if your guests want it (Jane didn’t have 2% or lowfat!). Save the cream for your coffee; it will cover up the flavor of the tea. Have a CD of classical music, especially piano or harp, playing in the background, and you will be ready for a wonderful tea experience in the style of Jane Austen and her contemporaries! You can also check out _Tea with Jane Austen_ for more great ideas, including recipes.

If you want to go all out and have a Regency-style tea served to you, and you're in California, you can go to Capitola and attend the Jane Austen Tea at Bloomsbury Tea Room:

Jane Austen Tea
Friday, August 6, 6:30 p.m.
Bloomsbury Tea Room,
911-B Capitola Ave
Capitola, CA
831-477-1798
Cost: $34.95 per adult guest, $15.95 for children.
Limited Seating - Reservations Required
http://www.bloomsburytearoom.com/upcoming-events.html

“Tea history: what type of tea did American Founders drink?”
“Teas of Yore: Bohea, Hyson and Congou”
Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson
“To Make Bread” Regency recipe from the Jane Austen Centre, Bath, England
“English Muffins” Regency recipe from the Jane Austen Centre, Bath, England
“To Make An Excellent Cake” Regency recipe from the Jane Austen Centre
“Jane Austen Historic Reciepts”

Have a summer-time traditional English tea!

Beatrix Potter Tea table setting, May 2007. Elizabeth Urbach.
Now that the weather is staying warm for the season, it is the time of year for spending the day in the fresh air. Whether in your back yard or in a local park or garden, a traditional English-style tea party is an enchanting way to entertain. Taking inspiration from beloved author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, one can put together a lovely tea party. Here are some menu suggestions for a Beatrix Potter Tea:

Black tea with milk and sugar
Chamomile tisane with honey
Lemon Squash

Scones
Strawberry preserves
Clotted Cream

Cucumber sandwiches
Egg and Cress sandwiches
Welsh Rabbit (Rarebit)
Sausage rolls

Tea Cakes
Trifle
Summer Pudding
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Berries and cream

Decorate with vintage linens (if you have any) or at least cloth napkins and tablecloth, and floral china. Casual bunches and nosegays of fresh flowers, tied with ribbons, would also be appropriate. Stuffed animals, especially rabbits, ducks, mice, hedgehogs and other traditionally English creatures would also be a fun addition. Make sure to tie ribbon bows around their necks to dress them up for the party!

Use up holiday leftovers by having a tea party (or two)!

Now that Easter is over, and Passover is drawing to a close, most of us have plenty of leftover food to use up. Rather than just reheat it for days, or let it sit in the fridge until it goes bad, why not use the leftovers as ingredients in new dishes? Putting together some treats for afternoon teas and brunches for this week can make the holiday spirit last longer, especially during the current storm that's (hopefully) supposed to go away later this week. Here are some quick and easy brunch and tea party suggestions:

Hot tea

Scones
Lemon curd

(Leftover) ham and apricot tea sandwiches
Grilled leftover ham and pineapple sandwiches
(Leftover) roast lamb tea sandwiches
Cucumber mint tea sandwiches
Savory breakfast casserole

Cinnamon-raisin cream cheese bread pudding
Lemon and blueberry cake
(Leftover) Easter chocolate

“How to make the most of a restaurant cup of tea”
“What to expect from a restaurant cup of tea”
“How to add flavor to a restaurant cup of tea”
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
“Orange cookie cups recipe”

How about an Irish Tea for St. Patrick's Day?

Celtic cross on the Rock of Cashel, Ireland. From www.pdphoto.com.
Irish Blessings and Sayings
May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!

Everyone is an honorary Irishman or Irishwoman on St. Patrick’s Day! While most people think of beer as the St. Patrick's Day accompaniment, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water, and in Ireland, it is the most popular drink, with Guinness stout coming in second! What better way to spend St. Patrick’s Day, especially if you don’t care for green beer, than having a tea party, Irish-style? Here are some menu suggestions, including variations on traditional Irish foods:

Gleninagh Castle, Ireland. From www.pdphoto.com

Irish Breakfast Tea
Green tea
Lime-flavored mineral water

Irish Scones
Black Treacle Scones
Soda Bread
Oatcakes
Kerrygold Butter
Honey
Blackberry jam
Dundee Orange marmalade

Cucumber Mint tea sandwiches
Avocado tea sandwiches with bacon
Corned Beef and Cabbage tea sandwiches
Mini Shepherd’s Pies
Boxty (Irish Potato Cakes)
Green grapes and Dubliner Cheese

Irish Lace Cookies
Lime Tarts
Irish Shortbread
Barm Brack
Raisin Tea Cake
Irish country path. From www.pdphoto.com
Of course, the decorations for such a tea should feature green, white, orange and gold as much as possible. Items decorated with rainbows and shamrocks are other obvious choices. Chocolate gold coins make a perfect tea party favor for this tea! Whether you are enjoying a bit of early spring or are still buried in winter snow, an Irish tea party can be a cheery break from the everyday routine, and a real treat as we prepare -- as St. Patrick did -- for the Easter season.

"Celebrity tea drinkers: Irish-American author Frank McCourt."
Irish Recipes and Baking
“Irish Tea Traditions,” by Brenda Hyde
Irish Tea recipe
“St Patrick’s Day Afternoon Tea Party Ideas: Irish Style Party Planning Tips” by Janienne Jennrich
“St. Patrick’s Day Recipes, with thanks to an Irish Aunt”
“Pot of Tea” recipe

Veteran's Day in San Jose.

Elizabeth Urbach. Veterans' Day Tea table.
So many people enjoyed the simple comfort of a cup of tea during the years devoted to World Wars 1 and 2, whether they were fighting at the front or working at home. When we celebrate Veterans’ Day, we tell the brave men and women in our armed forces that their sacrifice is valuable and appreciated, even if it goes unnoticed, or even is mocked, by the media. Pull out some things from your tea party pantry (if you have one), or take a look at my tea shopping list before you go to the store, and put together a tea party, a great way to recognize their sacrifice!

You could even take the day, see the parade (at 11 a.m.) and ceremony at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown San Jose, and visit the Home Front exhibit at History Park, to see some Santa Clara Valley artifacts from the 1920s through 1940s. Then return home for a Veteran’s Day High Tea.

The decorations for a Veterans’ Day Tea should be patriotic and nostalgic, with lots of red, white and blue. If you have family heirlooms from the early 1900s, like crocheted doilies, embroidered tablecloths and napkins, and vintage dishes and flatware, this is the perfect time to pull it out and use it. Play a CD of World War I and II-era songs and musical pieces for ambiance, and for dancing if you like, and try serving some foods made from period recipes. Here are some World War 1 and World War 2-era foods that you could add to your menu:

Toast Triangles
Pineapple-Apricot Jam
Raspberry Jam
Date Nut Bread
English Scones
Whole Wheat Raisin Biscuits
Buttermilk Cornmeal Muffins

Crackers and Blue Cheese
Cucumber sandwiches
Potted Ham (Spam!) and Mayonnise sandwiches
Anchovy Canapes
Potted Meat and Toast Canapes
Sardine Canapes
Jelly and Cream Cheese sandwiches
Banana sandwiches
Date-nut sandwiches

1943 Victory Cake
Baked Apples and Prunes
Jumbles
Cornstarch Pudding
Homemade Fudge

Armistice Day Tea Party
“Have a 1940s style tea party!”
“Have a real ‘high tea’ for Labor Day!”
“Tea-time 101: what do we mean when we talk about tea?”
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
Home Front exhibit at History Park, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose.
World War 2 video tribute on YouTube
“Recipe for Victory: Food and Cooking in Wartime” recipe collection
Foods That Will Win The War and How to Cook Them, 1918
“San Jose celebrates the 90th annual Veterans’ Day with a parade”
“Veterans’ Day 11/11/09”
“Ride VTA downtown San Jose to the Veterans’ Day Parade”
“San Jose Veterans Day Parade, other events”
United Veterans Council of Santa Clara County
American Legion Post 419, Santa Clara, CA

Columbus Day Italian tea party!

Italian tea plate with figs, Stella d'Oro cookies, Sicilian Orange marmalade, Blood Orange soda, and Earl Gray tea.
Most Italian-Americans don’t see Columbus Day as a celebration of the subjugation of native peoples, as many others do, because Italians have experienced their own share of subjugation at the hands of foreigners, over the yeas, and they know that's nothing to celebrate. For them, Columbus Day is a memorial to Cristofero Colombo, one of the “little people” (i.e. common Italian, not foreign aristocrat) who had big ideas, and who braved ridicule, danger, poverty and complete ruin to bring his idea to life. The day is also a memorial to, and celebration of, the other Italians who have done the very same thing, repudiating the easy life of crime, and making a better life for themselves and their families through hard work, faith and dedication.

While Italy is better known as a coffee-drinking country, tea has a long-standing, although small, presence in the hearts of many Italians, both in Italy and in the wider world. Italian-Americans comprise 6% of the U.S. population (as of 2006), the 4th largest European ethnic community in the United States, as passionate in their love of food, family, culture, and community as they ever have been. These are values that all cultures can share and celebrate, so what better way to do that, than with an Italian-inspired tea party on Columbus Day?

Italian Tea Party menu:
Antipasto plate -- green & black olives, pickles, salami slices, prosciutto slices, peperoncini, sweet yellow peppers, pickled baby corn, marinated artichoke hearts.

Earl Grey tea (bergamot is grown in Sicily)
Italian mineral water
Orange or Pomegranite Juice with sparkling water

Foccacia topped with melted mozzarella, sauteed portobello mushroom and onion
Open-faced tuna salad sandwiches on ciabatta bread, with sliced fresh tomato and basil
Roast beef and roasted red pepper tea sandwiches with Parmesan cheese
Zucchini bread
Mushroom Bruschetta
Eggplant, Tomato and Mozzarella Panini

Grapes, figs, blood oranges and melon balls in sugar syrup flavored with rose water
Dates stuffed with Mascarpone cheese or Stilton
Biscotti, amaretti, cuccidati, or Stella d'Oro cookies
Sliced Strawberries marinated in Balsamic Vinegar, Sugar, and Pepper
Jordan almonds

“Belguardo for refined relaxation Italian-style: Afternoon tea and Italian delights”
“Tea in Tuscany” by Mary Caliendo
“Tea’s popularity grows in Italy” by Jane Pettigrew, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal
"Columbus: fact vs. fiction"
"Columbus: a biography"
"Columbus and the Indians: friend or foe?"

Having tea parties is easy if you have a tea pantry!

image from ClipartETC.
This is an article I wrote for another website, but it answers a question that several people have asked me: "Isn't it a lot of work to put on a tea party?" Not if you keep it simple and prepare in advance; while it is a lot of fun to put on a big, fancy, to-do, it is also easy to get carried away! In order to be able to pull together a simple tea party with minimal stress and planning -- even at the last minute -- it’s a good idea to keep certain items and products in the house, set aside in what some people call a “tea party pantry” so that they don’t get used for anything else and are there when you need them. Keep them wherever you have space, but label them and make sure you can find them at a moment's notice. Apart from tea, a kettle, tea pot, mugs or cups and saucers, and a tea strainer, your tea party supply collection can contain any or all of the following:

1. some bottled water, if your tap water is full of minerals or bad-tasting (it will affect the flavor of the tea)
2. sugar cubes
3. packaged fancy cookies
4. store-bought jam and lemon curd
5. imported clotted cream, or Mexican crema or table cream (in the International food section in some grocery stores)
6. packaged scone mixes
7. dried cherries, cranberries, currants and/or apricots
8. store-bought chutney, tapenade, and gourmet spreads or sauces
9. boxed cake mixes, pudding mixes, and canned pie filling
10. confections like chocolate chips and candied ginger
11. cream cheese and unsalted butter, which you can store in the freezer
12. loaf of pound cake or fruit cake, sliced, which you can store in the freezer
13. frozen appetizers like mini quiches, mini veggie turnovers, rolled sandwiches, and turkey sausage
14. frozen puff pastry, pie dough, crumpets and tart shells
15. frozen desserts like mini cream puffs, mini eclairs, and ice cream bonbons

With all of these things, you only have to buy fresh sandwich bread, cucumber, milk (to put in the tea), and some seasonal fruit and flowers, and you're ready for tea! For a traditional afternoon tea, you’ll need bread (scones or crumpets) with jam and cream, savories (tea sandwiches and other savory bites), and sweets (desserts). For a cream tea, you’ll only need scones with cream and jam, and maybe one small dessert. Keep everything small and dainty in size, trim the crusts off of all bread slices for toast and tea sandwiches, and avoid overly messy finger food. (Hot wings are too messy for a tea party!) Here are some suggestions using items from the above list:

Bread: scones (from a mix), frozen or packaged crumpets (heat in the toaster) or toast – trim off the crusts and cut into triangles. You can add dried fruit, chocolate chips, or chopped candied ginger to the scone mix before baking. Serve with clotted cream, table cream or whipped unsalted butter, jam and/or lemon curd.

Savories: cucumber sandwiches, sausage rolls (puff pastry strips filled with sausage and baked), chutney or tapenade spread on toast rounds or squares, frozen mini appetizers (defrost and bake as needed), or cream cheese mixed with some spicy gourmet sauce and used as a sandwich spread.

Sweets: packaged cookies, cupcakes (boxed cake mix), tart shells filled with pie filling or pudding, sliced pound cake or mini desserts (thaw as needed), pie dough or puff pastry turnovers filled with jam or pie filling (bake as needed), or frozen ice cream bonbons.

What to do with fresh peaches? Have them with tea!

1895 "Berry" peach from Wikipedia.

While peach season is technically in August, they are still available in September around San Jose! Don’t forget to enjoy them right now, either fresh (with cream and sugar), or made into savory dishes and salsas to accompany meat, and many delectable desserts. Why not even give a tea party featuring peaches? You can purchase any one of the many peach flavored tea blends available in the supermarkets or online, or you can make your own. I suggest a nice Taiwanese oolong tea as the base for your peach tea.

To make your own peach tea at home, you should have:

• fresh or dried peaches, or peach juice
  
• granulated sugar
  
• fresh water
• unflavored oolong tea (from Taiwan, if you can get it), or other unflavored tea
  

First, fill your kettle with fresh water and put it on to boil. Meanwhile, pour hot tap water into your teapot, swirl the water around inside to warm it, and set it aside for a few minutes. If using dried peaches, chop them into small pieces. If using a fresh peach, take out the pit and chop it into small pieces, then sprinkle a few tablespoons of sugar over the fruit and let it sit for a few minutes. When the water in the kettle boils, take it off the heat. Empty the hot water out of your teapot, and measure 1 tablespoon of tea leaves, and at least 1 tablespoon of chopped peaches into the teapot. Pour the just-boiled water over it and let it steep for 3 minutes, then strain into teacups. You can add some more peach pieces to the bottom of each teacup before you pour in the tea, if you want. If using peach juice, omit putting peach pieces into the teapot with the tea, and brew the tea as usual. Strain the peach juice through cheesecloth, if desired, to remove the pulp, and add a teaspoon or two of juice to each teacup after you've filled it 3/4 of the way with tea. Add more peach juice or sugar as desired, to flavor the tea, and enjoy!

Here are a variety of menu choices for your own Peach Tea party!

Oolong tea or Peach flavored tea

Clotted cream or Mexican crema
Peach jam
Peaches and Cream Scones

Grilled Peaches Wrapped in Prosciutto
Peach mint salsa on crostini
Sliced peach and turkey sandwiches

Peaches and cream
Peach cobbler
Individual Peach Pies
Peach ice cream
Peach pound cake

More links:
“Tea tasting 101: characteristics of good quality oolong tea”
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
“Which foods go with oolong or pu-erh tea?”
Peach Iced Tea recipe
Prize-winning Peach Pie recipe
Pickled Peaches recipe
The Lady & Sons Peach Cobbler recipe

Recap of birthday chocolate cherry cake and lamb skewers.

Cream cheese-filled raisin bread pudding.
Well, my mom's birthday cooking spree went pretty well, I think, although she ended up grilling the lamb herself instead of teaching me how to work her Y2K propane grill (she bought it during the Y2K sales). The marinated grilled lamb was tasty, and I substituted burgundy wine for the sherry, and added mint, garlic, rosemary, and oregano to the original vintage recipe; I do think it needed more onion, more black pepper, and next time I'll be marinating the meat for at least 48 hours. My mom also made the executive decision to cook the meat at a higher temperature for 15 minutes, rather than follow the recipe, which called for the meat to be barbecued for 30 minutes, at an unspecified low temperature. I thought the meat wasn't as tender as it should be, and next time I make this, I'll also try to par-cook the meat in the marinade first, in the oven, then put it on the skewers and finish it on the grill.

My mom did find her chocolate-cherry cake recipe, and it's one of those easy, yummy "doctored-up" cake mix things: take one dark chocolate cake boxed cake mix, put it in a bowl with 3 eggs and 1 can of cherry pie filling, mix thoroughly, and bake in a 9 by 13 pan. Cover with your favorite chocolate frosting, or melt 6 oz. of chocolate chips with about 1/3 cup of sugar, a little vanilla, a pinch of salt, and enough milk to make it a thick, spreadable consistency when all melted and mixed together. Spread/pour on top of the cake while hot. Really good.

I also ended up making up a recipe for her birthday breakfast since she couldn't find the one she wanted. The recipe she was thinking of was a type of bread pudding made with raisin bread and filled with cream cheese. This is what I did:

Get an 8 inch square baking dish, and butter the inside. Get a loaf of raisin cinnamon swirl bread and line the bottom of the dish with slices of bread (I left the crusts on, but would remove them if I made this again since they were hard to slice through when serving). Get a package of plain, unflavored cream cheese and use the back of a spoon to spread cream cheese on top of the bread in the dish, from edge to edge. Cover the cream cheese layer with another layer of cinnamon raisin bread. In a separate bowl, beat 4 eggs until they're a uniform yellow color and add 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 3/4 cup milk. You could add some cinnamon or other spices, too, but I didn't. Blend egg mixture well, then pour over the bread and cream cheese in the dish. I would have sprinkled coarse sugar crystals on top at this point, but I didn't have any. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until the bread is soft, but not soggy, there is no liquid egg on top, and the cream cheese is melted. Again, really yummy. Serve warm for breakfast, or for dessert with whipped cream or ice cream. Or caramel sauce ...

Baking for my mommy!

It's my mom's birthday today, but she's stuck in First Aid and CPR training classes all day. I usually make breakfast for her on her birthday, but since she didn't have time to eat breakfast today, I'll be doing the birthday breakfast tomorrow, and probably also cooking dinner for the family when they come over. I'm also making the cake today. My mom requested a chocolate cherry cake, and a raisin and cream cheese bread pudding -- both of which recipes are at her house -- but for dinner, I'm using a recipe from her mother's 1943 cookbook.

My mom's family is Sicilian, but she grew up in the Central Valley around tons of other Mediterranean people, and one of the dishes that became a tradition in our family is actually Armenian. There used to be an Armenian deli in a nearby town, and they made the most delicious, tender lamb shish-kabob, which we always had -- alongside the pasta and garlic bread -- with the turkey, ham or whatever holiday food we were eating for as long as I can remember. When the owner decided to retire and close the deli, we asked to buy the recipe from them but they wouldn't sell it, and we've been trying to re-create the flavor and tenderness of this lamb dish ever since! We've got the flavor pretty close, but the tenderness is still elusive.

Well, in my grandma's cookbook is a recipe for Skewered Lamb with a marinade that sounds similar to the one we've been trying to re-create. If I tweak the marinade recipe a bit and marinate the meat overnight, hopefully it will work. It would be better if I could marinate the meat for a few days, but I hope that the trick will be cooking the meat at a low enough temperature, for 30 minutes. Here's the recipe:

Skewered Lamb
Shish kabobs (skewered lamb) are made by putting 4 to 5 cubes of marinated lean lamb on long metal skewers and grilling 30 minutes or longer. The night before the barbecue, the meat from a leg of lamb (about a 5-pound leg) should be trimmed of fat and gristle and cut into 2-inch cubes. Put in a large bowl and mix with a sauce made by blending 1/2 pound onions, peeled and sliced, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 cup sherry wine, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon regoni.

I don't have any regoni, which I've never heard of but I assume is a cooking herb or spice. I notice that there's no rosemary, garlic, or mint in this recipe, and I know that it was part of the marinade for the shish-kebab that I ate as a child, so I'll be adding it -- plus more black pepper -- to this recipe. I don't know if my mom has sherry, so I'll be adding some other red wine, but I have high hopes for this vintage recipe!

Why not throw a Tour de France tea party?

French macarons. Image from www.pachd.com.
The Tour de France: beginning in Monaco last Saturday, international cycling teams will race through France, Spain, the small principality of Andorra, Switzerland and part of the Italian Alps, before they return to France for the final section, ending in Paris on the 26th of July. While San Jose’s bicycling and cycle racing scene is not what it once was – it was a wildly popular sport in the late 1889, when San Jose’s first bicycle club was founded – there are still a good number of cyclists and bicycle clubs in the city.

While I’m not a cyclist I know people who are, whose eyes are glued to the Tour de France reports on the television! In honor of my favorite cyclists, I’ve come up with a tea party menu, featuring foods from all of the countries that the Tour de France participants will ride through, as a way of celebrating their effort and the dedication it’s taken them to get this far! While many of these countries don’t have a long-standing tea tradition, they all have traditional appetizers, desserts, and other dishes that can be added to a tea party menu, and be accompanied by a nice cup of tea. So here it is -- my (American-style) Tour de France Tea menu:

Lapsang Souchong black tea
Green tea with mint and honey (Spain)
Tila tisane (Spain)
Verbena tisane (France)

Earl Grey-scented jelly (France and Italy)
Maria galletas (Spain)
Croissants with Creme Fraiche (France)

Barbagiuans (Monaco -- pan-fried vegetable-filled pastry)
Beignets de Sauge (Swiss sage fritters)
Bread with Mushrooms and Alioli (Spain)
Pa amb tomaquet (Andorra -- toast with tomato)
Petite Crustless Quiches with Fines Herbes and Chevre (France)

Getränker Zitronencake (Switzerland -- lemon cake)
Les zestes d’orange confites (France -- candied orange peel)
Prince Albert Millefeuille Pastry with Strawberries and Pastry Cream (Monaco)
Macarons (France)
Madeleines (France)
Spitzbuben (Switzerland -- jam cookie)
Sorbet au champagne (France)
Tea Cake with Pignoli and Almonds (Italy)

Of course, the cyclists will be working out in hot summer weather and will need lots of cold beverages to keep them going. You can sympathize with them and drink your tea iced! I wonder which team and which cyclist will win?

“Mariage Freres: charming tea in Paris”
Laduree’s “Story of the Macaroon”

A spring menu from 1860.

image from ClipartEtc.com
I always find it interesting to read domestic magazines and see the editors' recommendations for things like menus and home decorating. Here is one of the suggested menus from the April 1860 issue of Godey's Lady's Book:

"Green pea soup, chicken pie, broiled ham, peas, asparagus, beans; biscuit pudding, gooseberry fool."

It looks like the pea soup, chicken pie, broiled ham and vegetables are pretty straightforward; most recipes that I've seen seem to call for boiling or stewing the vegetables, and serving them with butter and salt, the pea soup can be made with fresh peas or regular dried split peas, the chicken pie can be a chicken pot pie, etc., and according to Godey's Lady's Book, broiling in 1860 is what we'd call "char-broiling" or "grilling" these days. Here's the definition, and cooking instructions: "Broiling differs from frying in that there is no addition of oil or fat, and that the effect is produced by the direct radiation of heat from a clear fire, the broiling article being supported over it by a gridiron. ... In broiling, after heating and larding the gridiron, put on the steak, chop, or other article, and continually turn it every half minute, moving it gently all the time, to avoid the marks left by the bars if suffered to remain still."

As for the desserts:

"Gooseberry Fool.
Two quarts of gooseberries; one quart of water; sugar to taste; two quarts of new milk; yolks of four eggs; a little grated nutmeg.

Put two quarts of gooseberries into a stewpan with a quart of water; when they begin to turn yellow and swell, drain the water from them and press them with the back of a spoon through a colander, sweeten them to your taste, and set them to cool. Put two quarts of milk over the fire beaten up with the yolks of four eggs, and a little grated nutmeg; stir it over the fire until it begins to simmer, then take it off, and stir it gradually into the cold gooseberries, let it stand until cold, and serve it. The eggs may be left out and milk only be used. Half this quantity makes a good dishful."
--from Warne’s Model Cookery, ca. 1891.

and

"Biscuit Pudding, Without Re-baking.—
Take water 1 qt; sugar ¼ lb.; butter the size of a hen’s egg; flour 4 table-spoons; nutmeg, grated 1/2 of one. [plus some leftover biscuits]

Mix the flour with just sufficient cold water to rub up all the lumps while the balance of the water is heating, mix all, and split the biscuit once or twice, and put into this gravy while it is hot, and keep hot until used at table. It uses up cold biscuit, and I prefer it to richer puddings. It is indeed worth a trial. This makes a nice dip gravy also for other puddings."
-- from Dr. Chase’s Recipes or Information for Everybody, by A.W. Chase, M.D., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 38th edition, 1866; reprinted 1970.

Lemon Curd recipes (part 2)

Unfortunately, while updating this blog today, Blogger deleted my earlier post about lemon curd, which has been a popular post with readers! I will attempt to re-create it here:

The traditional English tea fare tends to be slightly different from the menu that has become traditional on American tea tables. When I was a student in the south of England in 2000, I indulged my love of tea with good old PG Tips with milk and sugar, and a digestive biscuit on the side. In tea shops, where I loved to stop when it rained (even for 5 minutes), the usual offering was a pot of tea and a plain (unflavored) scone served with Devon cream and strawberry preserves. A variety of cakes and sandwiches were available, as well, but my English friends said that cakes and things were for holidays and other special occasions. Tea (as in, the everyday mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack) was a simple affair: a pot or cup of tea and a biscuit or two, or a piece of toast. The combination of tea, scone, cream and jam comprise the traditional English Cream Tea. The addition of egg and cress, and cucumber sandwiches, with perhaps some biscuits and one kind of cake, made the menu into a traditional English Afternoon Tea.

In the United States, however, Tea has taken on another dimension. For many people, Tea is more of a special occasion than a part of everyday life. American tea tables tend to be well-filled with a variety of foods, under the misnomer "High Tea:" tea shops and individual tea hostesses usually offer a variety of teas -- especially flavored teas and "herbal teas" or tisanes -- to accompany the scones -- also often flavored or filled with dried fruit, chocolate bits or topped with thin icing -- and the most common toppings, which are whipped cream or "mock clotted cream" and lemon curd. Several kinds of sandwiches and savories (formerly known as canapes or mini finger foods), including cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, mini quiches and sausage rolls, and even, on occasion, bowls of soup, are served with cookies or pastries, and bon-bons, cakes, miniature tarts, and other tempting desserts.

While the traditional English tea table is characterized by elegance, quality, and comfort, the American tea table is an example of variety and abundant luxury, as well as practicality, oddly enough! Americans, in general, don't like to put a lot of effort or money into something if it's too simple; we like to get our money's worth, especially when we splurge on something special!

When I was in England, however -- and according to my English friends -- I hardly ever saw lemon curd, which I happen to love. When I did encounter lemon curd, it was used as a filling for tarts, but not served with scones at the tea table. Knowing that the traditional English Tea descends from the menu popularized by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, in 1840 or thereabouts, I began to wonder how lemon curd came to replace strawberry preserves as the preferred companion to scones, in the United States. Is lemon curd a 20th century delicacy, or did the Victorians know and enjoy it? I looked through my collection of vintage and antique reproduction cookbooks and found little to no mention of lemon curd, but the use of lemons as a flavoring for cakes, puddings, custards, beverages and desserts of all sorts was evident. Then I came upon some of Jane Austen's reprinted letters, which mention "lemon cheesecakes", and a recipe for something called "lemon cheese" and I wondered, is this the same thing as "lemon curd"?

Perhaps the following reciept is what Jane Austen and her friends enjoyed. It is from a Scottish cookbook from 1820, called _The Practice of Cookery, etc._

Lemon and Orange Cheese-cakes.
Grate four lemons or oranges, scrape out the pulp, boil the skins till they are very tender, then take them out and beat them fine in a mortar with four ounces of sweet butter and the grate [grated zest]. Cast [beat] six eggs (keeping out four of the whites) with six ounces of sugar beat and sifted until it is light and white; then mix the whole well together, with two-ounces of orange-peel cut in small pieces. Line some patty-pans with paste; fill them with the meat, and glaze them as before.

Here is another similar recipe, American, this time, from Godey's Lady's Book, May 1860:

Lemon Cheesecakes.--The rind of a large lemon; squeeze half of the juice, three eggs, half a pound of lump-sugar, quarter of a pound of butter, to be melted.

And here is a modern recipe from my friend Helen:

Lemon Curd
Grated rind and juice of 4 medium lemons
4 eggs
100g (4 oz/ ½ cup) butter
350g (12 oz/ 1 ½ cups) caster sugar
1. Place all the ingredients in the top of a double saucepan or in a bowl standing over a pan of simmering water
2. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and continue heating gently for about 20 minutes until the curd thickens
3. Strain into jars and cover (I just prepare the jars by heating them in the microwave and dropping the lids into the simmering water as I am straining the curd.)
Makes about 700 g (1 ½ lb)

A tempest in a teapot ...

photo of Susan B. Anthony is from Designed to a T.
Some Internet friends just reminded me that March is Women's History Month, with posts about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and it made me think about the Woman's Suffrage Tea that I gave back in 2007. Did you know that the battle for women's rights -- especially voting rights -- in the United States began at a tea party in New York in 1848? That meeting led to the first women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY, on July 19, 1848.

I wanted to honor Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and the other ladies who saw the need and led the struggle to do something about it, by hosting my own tea party in their memory. If you wanted to do the same thing, here are some notes I made from my tea, for your inspiration:

Decor and colors for the table and the food: Red, white and blue; Suffragist colors -- green, purple and white. Small American flags on the table, plain white cups, saucers and plates. Favor: a homemade “Votes for Women” badge?

Menu:
Cottage Cheese and Green Onion in Green Pepper cups
Peas, Onions and Prosciutto Turnovers
Basil-Lavender Egg Salad Sandwiches
Cold Chicken Sandwiches with Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions

Cream Scones
Strawberry Preserves
Clotted Cream
Blueberry Toast Rounds with Blueberry Cream Cheese
Grape Jelly
Lime Curd

Toasted Pound Cake with Rose Cream
Lavender Shortbread
Lime Bars or Lime cookies
Japanese Green Tea Cookies
Blackberry Custard tarts
Green Tea ice cream
Lime Sherbet

Also, PBS put out a documentary about the lives of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and their involvement with the Women's Rights movement; it has been released on DVD, and it's really interesting. You could watch it as you drink your tea!