Custard Creams and our new Teatime

 

As most of you know, tea is a regular occurrence in our home.  For over 30 years, Sir Knight and I have had tea in the morning before starting our day and come together again in the evening for another cuppa.  

Our lifestyle has changed so drastically in the last few years that we've had to come up with a new rhythm for our daily lives.  We still begin our day with tea (now in the snug) and come together for tea in the evening, however, our evening tea has now taken the place of "dinner".  When the children were small, Sir Knight and I needed a few moments of quiet, without kids, to reconnect at the end of the day.  Now, as our lives have changed so have our needs.  Our quiet start to the day, teacups in hand, has become our cherished time together, and our evening tea has become a family affair.

Our evening "tea" has truly become tea in the best sense of the word.  Our teatime now includes a full dinner, followed by cups of tea, conversation and a sweet end to a savory meal.  Every evening, after a full day at the butcher shop, we gather around a gracefully set kitchen table,  and enjoy a family meal together.  While we eat, the kettle boils away with water to heat the pot and then again with freshly boiled water for our evening tea.  As soon as our meal is finished, we whisk the dishes away and replace them with teacups, a full teapot and our evening nibble - the best part of the day!

Although three of our children are grown, tea time seems to call them home.  More often than not our table is full and the kitchen is alive with good food and better conversation.  Although changed, the ritual of teatime has grown with our family and remains ingrained in our very fabric.

One lightly perfect tea time treat that often graces our after-dinner tea table is Custard Creams.  Custard Creams are a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread sandwich cookie that comes together quickly and is a delightful tea accompaniment.  These cookies do require an ingredient not commonly found in American kitchens, however it is readily available online - custard powder.  My favorite is Bird's, which can be ordered from a number of online sources, it's fairly inexpensive and worth keeping on the kitchen shelf.

Custard Creams

Cookies

2 2/3 C Flour

1 C Custard Flour

1 1/2 C Butter

1 C Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

Filling

1/2 C Butter

1 C Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions

For the cookie:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Sift the flour, custard powder and baking soda into a bowl.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes in a stand mixer.

Add the sifted flour, custard powder and baking soda to the butter mixture and mix well.

Roll the dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thick.  Cut with round or square cookie cutter.

Bake in center of oven for 8 - 11 minutes or until just starting to brown on the edges.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

Mix the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy (it will be very stiff).  Sandwich the buttercream between two cookies.  Repeat until all of the cookies have been used.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week (if they last that long).

Our best life is lived around the table, with cups of tea in our hands and laughter on our lips.  May you too, live your best life.....

The Dog Days of Summer

 

Our summer has been bizarrely mild, with only a handful of really hot days tempered with cooler and even rainy spells.  Now a distinctive nip in the evening air hints at the coming of refreshingly crisp, cool fall days. 

This time of the year, as autumn swiftly approaches, life becomes increasingly hectic.  We are fully immersed in preserving the garden harvest and getting firewood split and stacked as insurance against winter's cold embrace.  The apple press is awaiting the first apples of the season and my pressure canner has taken up permanent residence in the kitchen in anticipation of quart upon quart of bountiful garden produce.   I have school books spread across the kitchen table as I sort through curriculum and write lesson plans for the upcoming school year.  Our shouse is bustling with activity as we enjoy the simple rhythm of life on the homestead.

Freshly canned green beans

What's left of our log deck

Sawed wood ready to be split and stacked

One wood hut almost full

The log splitter ready for the next batch of wood

During the these warm, productive days of late summer I often try to come up with ways I can prepare meals for my family with a minimum of effort.  This past Sunday I didn't really want to cook a big meal and I wasn't feeling particularly inspired to come up with a creative, no fuss, hot weather meal so I fell back on an old world favorite, the Ploughman's Platter. 

 

Ploughman's Platter



While I heated water for tea, I laid out a tray full of cold cuts, cheeses, crackers, bagels, fruit and herbed cream cheese.  It was a perfect meal for a quiet Sunday - light and simple, but somehow inherently filling.  It was just the thing for the dog days of summer.

Welsh Cakes...Sweet Perfection

Welsh cakes - even the name evokes images of cozy kitchens, dreary weather and steaming cups of tea.  And, oh, they do live up to expectations! 

Welsh cakes are quick bread cakes that are quickly mixed together and are baked on a griddle (or in a frying pan).  The ingredients are similar to those of baking powder biscuits but the taste and consistency, oh so delightfully different.  The butter to flour ratio is very high, producing a flaky, delicate cake.  Welsh cakes are slightly sweet, but not so sweet that they are reserved only for the dessert course - they are very nice alongside a savory dinner.

These cakes are one of my favorite "emergency" tea treats (someone unexpectedly drives up the driveway - and I mix up Welsh cakes while the kettle heats) that seem to have universal appeal.  And of course the ingredients are basic, so I always have them on hand.  Slathered with butter and served with homemade jam, they are humble perfection.

Welsh Cakes
1 C flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
pinch salt
1/2 C butter, cold
1/4 C sugar
1/3 C currents or raisins (optional)
1 egg
2 T milk
Powdered sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, nutmeg (if using) and salt.  Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs.  Stir in the sugar and currents or raisins (if using).  Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the egg and milk.  Using a fork, mix the ingredients until the dough comes together.  Flour  a work surface and roll the dough out about 3/4 inch thick. 

Cut with a round cookie cutter (fluted is traditional), gathering up the bits and cutting cakes out until you have used all of the dough.  Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat.  Lightly grease the griddle (or skillet) and place as many rounds as will fit without touching.  Bake approximately 3 - 4 minutes on first side (until brown) and then carefully flip over.  Cook for another 3 - 4 minutes (until browned).  Remove from griddle onto wire rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar (if desired), or place directly unto a platter and serve.

Butter added (I always double the recipe!)

Cutting in the butter

Stirring in the egg and milk

On a floured surface

Rolled to 3/4 inch thick

Cut (with a fluted edge!)

Ready for the griddle

Just flipped

Welsh cakes are served!

With Dublin Coddle

We have a tendency to keep it simple when it comes to Welsh cakes.  I rarely put currents or raisins in them (my family aren't fond of either) and I leave out the nutmeg.  Occasionally, I will add nutmeg or cinnamon, just to spice it up, but only if I will be serving them with tea, not alongside dinner.  We love them warm, fresh from the griddle, and cold, with a bit of butter and jam (although lemon curd is quite nice, too!). 

I hope you try these delightful little cakes and find, as we have, that they are bites of sweet perfection!

Cheesecake in a Cookie Cup

Often during our afternoon tea, we simply sip on a hot cuppa and forego tea-treats altogether.  Occasionally I have cookies available for a nibble but every once in a while I take the time to make a real, honest-to-goodness delicacy to accompany our tea time.   These Cheesecake Cookie Cups definitely fit the bill of a tea time delicacy!

The recipe is simple and remarkably quick.  The original recipe  makes 16 cheesecakes however I easily made 20 and could have scrimped on cookie dough and made 24.  They are adaptable to whatever fruit is in season (or what you have canned on the shelf) and are even good served plain, with no berries at all. 

And so, for your tea time pleasure.....

Cheesecake Cookie Cups

For the Cups
3/4 C butter
1 C sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cornstarch

For the Cheesecake
12 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease (regular size) cupcake pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla.  Beat until well combined.  Add the flour, baking soda and cornstarch and mix until smooth. The dough will be thick.  Make balls of about 2 tbps.  of dough and press into the bottom of the prepared muffin tin and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the sides.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool (in the pan) for about 5 minutes.   Turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to fully cool. 

Once the cookies have cooled, make the cheesecake filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and blending until smooth.

Scoop the cheesecake filling into the cookie cups and top with fruit.  Fresh fruit is wonderful, however I used frozen berries.  I thawed about 1 cup of berries, added just a bit (2 T) of powdered sugar, drained the liquid and added a few berries to each cheesecake.  Canned fruit can be used also.  Drain liquid and arrange.

Store these cheesecakes in the refrigerator, taking them out about 1/2 hour before ready to serve.  I think they are just the right size and improve with flavor overnight.

Pressing the dough into a muffin tin

The cookie cups cooling

Filled with the cheesecake mixture

Yum!

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Enjoy your Cheesecake Cookie Cups with your next tea and savor the beauty of the moment.

Tea Shopping - and a Surprise!

As many of you know, I am a serial romantic.  I love beauty and see it everywhere.  And if I can't find beauty, I make my own.  As a romantic, one of my favorite creative outlets is hosting tea parties.  For years I have invited ladies into my home and we have shared our hearts over simple cups of tea.  But then I started thinking....

The guys miss out on the good stuff - tea with the ladies! We needed to remedy this travesty immediately of course.  And so, an idea was born - Tea and a Skeet Shoot!  After talking with Sir Knight, I set a date, made a guest list and began compiling ideas for the perfect event.  A cross between "Out of Africa" (you know, the quail hunting scene) and a Scottish Highland Hunt is what I have in mind - I can't wait!!!

First things first,  we had to go shopping for tea accoutrements - clay pigeons and shotgun shells.  Miss Serenity and I headed to a local sporting good store and bought a few cases of clay pigeons and a case of "target load" shotgun shells.  These aren't for the actual tea - these are for practice!  The few times I have shot skeet have been, well, consistent.  I consistently miss.  Every.  Single.  Shot.

Cases of clay pigeons and shot

Pink shells!  They must have known they were for a tea party!

We don't own an appropriate shotgun, but that didn't stop us.  As soon as we got home, Sir Knight, all of the children and I took to the range and commenced a practice session.  Oh, how humble our children keep us!  In my customary manner, I didn't hit one clay pigeon.  Not one!  Master Hand Grenade, however, hit every one he shot at, even when the thrower was loaded with two clays at a time.  Miss Serenity didn't miss one - not one!  And Maid Elizabeth was the surprise shot of the evening.  She had never had an opportunity to shoot clay pigeons, but in true Maid Elizabeth fashion, she shouldered a shotgun and let the bird shot fly.  She hit her first pigeon.  And her second.  And her third.  She hit EVEY clay she had in her sights!  Every one!  Sir Knight, of course, hit his targets, leaving me alone to wallow in my skeet shooting failure. 

In spite of my inability to hit a flying target, we had the time of our lives!  The littles were in charge of pushing the foot peddle on the skeet thrower (they even had an opportunity to shoot a few rounds) and collecting clay pigeons that had not been shot (mostly mine).  The older kids, Sir Knight and I quickly shot over 100 rounds, laughing and clapping and having fun, until it was too dark to shoot.

Miss Serenity running the skeet thrower with her foot

Determined to master the craft, I spent time looking at various sites trying to find some helpful hints.  Within days, Sir Knight and I again set up the skeet thrower and I was able to hit at least a few clay pigeons.  Success!

Last Friday Sir Knight had the day off work and we were supposed to head out in the morning to drive to my parents where we were spending Easter weekend.  After tea, however, instead of getting into the truck and heading out, Sir Knight and Maid Elizabeth left saying they would be back later!  What?  Oh, well.  I waited patiently and we left for my folks at about noon, rather than in the morning.  I was more than a little curious about their sudden side trip, but I figured they had a good reason to take their excursion, so I didn't ask too many questions. 

Later that evening, after Maid Elizabeth and Miss Serenity had arrived at my parents home, Sir Knight and Maid Elizabeth quickly ducked out to her car and came back carrying a box.  Sir Knight called me to the table and said "Enola - for you and your  tea party".  The box had me confused.  It said "Winchester" across the bottom, however, it was too small to hold a rifle.  Questioningly I opened the latches and lifted the lid.  There, nestled in the box was the most beautiful shotgun I had ever seen.  It was an over/under (something I had coveted since seeing "Out of Africa" for the first time) with a ported barrel and a highly polished stock.  It was gorgeous!  I couldn't believe that my wonderful family had bought such a gift just for me!

The Winchester 101

Look at that engraving!

Chokes and choke key

Assembled

Ported barrels

Maid Elizabeth quickly showed me how to assemble the shotgun and within minutes I was holding a Winchester 101 - my very first "hunting" shotgun!  They had acquired the shotgun from a fellow Redoubter and an avid Radio Free Redoubt listener!  And to top it off - the previous owner was a blog reader as well! 

We spent a wonderful weekend with my parents and had more than one skeet shooting excursion.  We all shot, including my parents and their pastor and his wife!  My shooting is improving and the shotgun worked flawlessly.

Now, I am working on the menu for the shoot (I'm thinking of something rather British) and we are all putting together shooting outfits.  I favor a long, linen skirt with a shooting vest while Sir Knight will be wearing a tartan kilt.  Hopefully, the weather at the end of April will provide the perfect backdrop for our Tea and Skeet Shoot!

Sometimes we have to take time out of the upside world in which we live to enjoy the beauty of the moment.  And we will enjoy this moment - with Tea and a Skeet Shoot!

Sunday Afternoon Tea

Years ago, I felt compelled to continue the traditions I had been raised with -  namely the Sunday Afternoon Dinner.  You know the one - Roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, freshly baked rolls - the tradition many of us grew up cherishing.  I loved walking in from church and breathing in the heady aromas emanating from my cozy kitchen.  I loved the familiarity of Sunday Dinner and the memories it would build for my children.  I loved that I always had dinner in the oven for spur of the moment hospitality opportunities.  But I didn't love the work - the hurried, even frantic Sunday mornings spent barking out orders to my children, just to keep things moving along so that I could have everything ready before we walked out the door for church.  I didn't love the mountains of dishes that awaited me after our big dinner.  And I didn't love never really getting a day of rest.

And so, I changed our tradition.  I began to cook our big family dinner on Saturday.  I varied the menu and rotated between roast, ham, chicken and even pork chops.   Knowing there would be leftovers, I began to plan soups for Sunday dinner.  Making roll dough the night before, I was able to turn Sunday into a true day of rest.  Now, Sunday morning is peaceful, no rushing or hurrying about and with a big pot of soup on the stove and rolls raising in the warming oven, we always have a meal ready for guests.  Sunday has become restful indeed.

Every once in a while, instead of soup, I will make Tea on Sunday afternoon.  Tea is generally light, not involving a lot of work.  Sunday Tea, served on our best china, bathed in firelight, is the highlight of a dreary winter afternoon.

This Sunday, Maid Elizabeth and I served a simple tea of Bacon Onion Galette and Biscuits with Raspberry Jam.  A Galette is nothing more than a savory, rustic tart with a fancy name.  It is quite simple to make - here is a rough recipe.

Bacon Onion Galette

1 pound bacon, chopped (or bacon bits)
3 large sweet onions
1/3 C butter (optional)
Chives
2 bulbs garlic, chopped
1 tsp. (or more to taste) Dijon Mustard
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1 C Parmesan cheese

1 pie crust (I used my buttermilk pie crust recipe cut in half).

Chop bacon into small chunks and saute in large saucepan until just beginning to cook.  Add onion, sliced into rings.  Cover and continue to cook for 15 minutes, adding butter if more fat is needed.  Remove cover and continue to saute, adding chives (optional) and garlic.  Saute until the onions until they are caramelized.  Add the Dijon mustard and salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Roll out pie crust into a rectangle (on a cookie sheet or rectangle baking stone).  Sprinkle the crust with about 1/3 C Parmesan.  Pour the onion/bacon mixture into the middle of the pie crust and spread to within 2 inches of the edge.  Sprinkle with another 1/3 C of Parmesan.  Fold the excess pie crust back onto the Galette.

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 C Parmesan and return to the oven for 15 more minutes.  Serve warm.

Sauteing the bacon

Adding onions

Almost there...

Rolling out the pie crust

Parmesan added

I spread out the bacon/onion mixture and sprinkled with Parmesan

The crust has been folded over the Galette

Biscuits fresh from the wood cookstove

Tea is served!

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This Galette is rich - you can only eat a small piece - but it is wonderfully flavorful!  Served with veg and a biscuit, it is perfect for Sunday Tea.