August Country Diary And Poppies!

August

I have been remiss the last months not starting out the month with my favorite Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady, but...life happens! I had a birthday last week...so I am definitely vintage +++! But here it is...

The reason I try to share the book, is that I get it out at the first of every month...and urge you to find a copy! It is such a window into a bygone era, and I love seeing familiar places...albeit changed...because aout families did and still do live in this area of Warwickshire, England, at the top of the Cotswolds. What an amazing observer and artist Edith Holden was!

The book is full of poems, mottos, quotes, Bible verses and folk wisdom...a joy to revisit often...

And this page is my focus this week, because it features Poppies, and they are the chosen flower of the August Flower Of The Month series teacup from Royal Albert, England...

Pretty ponk poppies and blut cornflowers which are also called batchelor buttons, which I love because they are blue...

I always love finding a Flower of the Month teacups! So fun!

Poppies in the lavender fields at one of our local lavender farms we visited last year... didn't visit this year with all the isolating....

Not especially for a month, but there are lots of poppy themed china... here are a few we have...

Ambleside teacup by Roslyn, England from the 1950s... with pink poppies, daisies and lavender flowers...

a matching cake serving plate....

And poppies in red or orange...

1880s Antique Staffordshire teacup...

Circa 1900 artist painted Haviland. Limoges poppies serving plate...

or even blue poppues... although this plate by Shelley from 1900 in a pattern called Sprays Of Poppies is almost turquoise blue...

And as a blue lover, this is a variety I found which is amazing! Called a Himalayan Blue poppy... I need some for my garden!

I hope you have enjoyed a lovely week and that the poppies bring a bit of cheer to your eyes.
The hot weather is difficult for my husband's disease, and our county is spiking with covid-19 at the moment with new cases so have been unable to spend time with our kids.
But we are content, cocooned and grateful for everything we do have!

Ending with the joy of a lovely poppy collage from Collages My Passion on Facebook

Welcome February with Groundhogs, Valentines and Winter Still

Welcome to February!

With the possibility of new life beginning.

February is usually our most wintry month, and it is starting out that way with more than average rain and snow flurries....

The above is from Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden, a year round favorite.

1935 February cover of Good Housekeeping magazine, reminds us February 2nd was Groundhog Day, and supposedly an early spring is in view...

I won't mind!

And for a February tea, this was tea time yesterday, while my Honey was watching the Super Bowl. I often have only one teacup in my photos, because my Honey always has a mug as it is so much easier for him with Parkinson's Disease and his tremor.

This is a gorgeous cup and saucer with matching plate in a version of Royal Albert, England's Old English Roses that is rarely seen. This was part of a series called Treasure Chest which had the most expensive wide sponged gold trim along with the usual lush Roses the pattern is known for.

The particular cup and saucer has the seems to have been made earlier than the plate as the cup and saucer has the earlier Royal Albert Crown China mark which dates from 1927-1935, but the plate is the first mark after the Crown was dropped from the name, dating it to 1935 to 1946.

I found this fun woven metallic red fabric tubes heart a few years ago and still love it!

I was wanting to make something different, and remember a recipe from my childhood I hadn't made for years. The reminder for me was finding it pass by on my Facebook feed from Marie Rayner of TheEnglish Kitchen.
My grandmother... my English Nana who infused me with her love of afternoon tea... used to make these. I found Marie's recipe years ago when she was Oak Cottage, and it was very close to my Nan's.

She has updated it and made them in a heart pan, as I did above too!

So tasty, not too sweet, but with no preservatives, have to be eaten fairly quickly. I made some leftover batter into a small loaf cake, which froze well, and we cut that into pieces and had with butter and jam... 

Her recipe:
*Queen Cakes*
Makes 12 small buns
or 8 heart shaped cakes

Dating from the 18th century, these cakes have always been baked in small individual tins, either patty pans or individual heart shaped molds.   Sweet and buttery, flavoured with lemon, and stogged full of lovely dried currants

125g soft butter (generous half cup)
125g caster sugar (2/3 cup)
2 large free range eggs
150g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon
125g of dried currants (scant cup)
a splash of milk

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.   Butter a 12 hole patty pan, or 8 heart shaped pans.  Line the bottoms of the heart tins with baking paper, and the patty pans with paper cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, eating well after each addition.   Beat in the lemon zest.  Sift together the flour and baking powder.  Stir in the currants.  Using a large metal spoon, fold in the flour mixture, along with a splash of milk, to give a gentle dropping consistency.   Spoon into the prepared cases, filling each no more than 2/3 full.

Bake in the heated oven for 20 minutes, until well risen and the tops spring back when lightly touched.  Allow to cool in the tins for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Delicious when fresh, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to two days.

https://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/01/queen-cakes.html

Have a lovely week! 

January Hot Tea Month Winding Down, Story Of Blue Willow

January is close to ending, and the official Hot Tea Month is ending...

but not in this house!

Never!

On Saturday, for Chinese Lunar New year, I had a small tea to celebrate with a new teacup and some Chinese Almond cookies from the shop... along with green tea.

The teacup is a pretty and unusual Blue Willow variation... because it is pink!

The teacup is by Royal Albert, England from the 1930s according to the mark.

The funny thing to me, is that the pattern name is Mikado, which is a Japanese term, but the pattern is a Willow design, which had it's origin in China.

Do you know the Willow legend behind the pattern?

The history of the pattern, Blue Willow and all it's variations goes much farther back...actually the 1770s.  Blue Willow comes from a Chinese legend of 2 lovers, forbidden to marry who elope and are chased by the emperor. At the end, the boy is killed defending his fiance and the girl commits suicide. Sigh...not too cheerful.  There are some elements that usually turn up are the bridge they crossed to elude pursuers...often with the lovers or with 3 people being variously the lovers and a helper or the lovers and the emperor, a house they took refuge in and always includes 2 birds, doves flying together representing the 2 lovers which has become a symbol of undying love.

gif from Dallas Art Dealers Assoc

Willow comes in many colors with varying names...Willow, Old Willow, Red, Blue and Green Willow, as well as polychrome...or more than one color...versions...all basically have a pagoda, a bridge and 2 birds...this rhyme...one of many...tells the story...

Two big birds flying high
a little ship, passing by
three men standing on the shore,
a willow tree hanging o'er
an idle temple, there it stands
it wasn't built without hands,
an orange tree with oranges on,
and iron railings right along.

author unknown...1798

The Chinese Almond cookies are a favorite, as I love almond flavor. I found several recipes online to make them, but I didn't have to time with a spate of doctors, labs and pharmacies for my husband and annual tests this week. Ah... the New Year! 

During a tea time this week, I came across this enjoyable and informative book on my bookshelf...
Christie's Teapots...

Each page has another featured teapot of historical significance in the history of tea and teapots....

The book is very interesting and a great read, in short info bytes... perfect for a read while having an afternoon cup of tea...

UK National Cream Tea Day and Royal Albert Winsome, Blueberry Dutch Baby

A wonderful and busy week for us this week. Our daughter and son-in-law were here from out of state again looking for property.

They left Friday, hopefully to return for the summer in the next month...so excited!

And, June 8th is National Cream Tea Day in the UK.... according to some sources, or June 28th to others... and the whole month is Cream Tea Month....

This strawberry cream tea is from Burleigh, UK advertising their limited edition Black Willow. Burleigh is famous for it's Blue Calico pattern... not sure about the Black Willow though, as I love the Blue Willow.

If you wonder what a cream tea is... just think scones, jam and ideally clotted cream. The above photo is from Cornish clotted cream producer Rodda... one of the best you can get commercially in the UK... almost as good as in the Devon and Cornish tea shops and farmhouses offering afternoon tea. The photo also includes Tiptree Strawberry jam... another English staple. Tiptree is purported to be Queen Elizabeth's favorite jam maker...

There is a controversy between Devon and Cornwall as to which goes on first... the jam or the cream. As both are equally delicious, I am not bothered....

And I didn't make scones a cream when the kids were here... too much gallivanting around and spending time together in their trailer at a nearby stsate park. But to cheer us up after they had left... I made our favorite Blueberry Dutch Baby dessert with the biggest organic Blueberries we have had! 

And used the Royal Albert Winsome pattern china, which is a new acquisition...

Love the floral bands of pink Roses and blue Forget-Me-Nots...

This pretty pattern was made from 1966 to 1997, but this is the older mark which dates to 1966-1970s. 
Love it!

I used a Royal Winton, England Golden Age cream, sugar and tray set. I love this pattern... and it doesn't stay around long!

And, of course, I used one of my Royal Albert Old Country Roses plates for our 2 pieces of my Blueberry Dutch Baby...

The Blueberries are huge! This is a handful on a full sized saucer...
some are almost as big as a quarter! And they are delicious!

The recipe, a family favorite, calls for it to be made in a frying pan... but I have always used an old Pyrex 9.75 inch deep dish pie plate....

Blueberry Yorkshire Pudding Dessert

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour...I use either unbleached or our local organic white Wheat

1/2 cup milk...only almond milk in this kitchen

2 large eggs

2 Tbs granulated sugar

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

3 Tbs butter

1/2 cup blueberries, either fresh or frozen...any fruit can be substituted

juice from a lemon

powdered sugar

maple syrup if desired...we use organic pure

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees or 400 if convection with rack in lowest position. 

Beat flour, milk, eggs, salt, sugar and nutmeg, which may be a bit lumpy. Let sit and rest while you prepare pan.

The original calls for a cast iron skillet, but I have never used one...instead using a 9.5 inch Pyrex pie plate I got in 1974 as a wedding present.

Place butter in pan in oven until melted, then remove, pour in the batter and distribute the berries. Return pan to oven and bake until puffy and golden, about 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with lemon juice, powdered sugar and eat warm with maple syrup, if desired. Serves 4...although we have been known to finish it in one go...blush...blush!

Well, enjoy your cream tea whatever way you choose!