Back in 2022 some friends and I had a tea party every month.
It all started when my friend was gifted the book,“The Twelve Teas of Celebration”, a book that has themes to hold a tea each month of the year. She decided she wanted to do this, and had people sign up to share in hosting, planning, and preparing food and games. This inspired both my Valentea and Hallotean Party.
And eat scones!
The first month’s theme was Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night refers to how people would celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, ending on the twelfth night or epiphany. Epiphany commemorates the coming of the magi. The book suggested several recipes (which we ignored) and a couple games. The first game was to write down your goal for the year and then one person would read them out and we had to try and guess who went with which goal.
The second game was a Shakespeare themed game. My friend had me check out as many different copies of his work as I could and then we were given a random page from a random book to read. Whoever had the best presentation won the game.
For our tea we had sandwiches, fruit, soup, scones and cupcakes. I was on scones and made Teatime Magazine’s Hot Cross Scones and David Atherton’s Heart-Stopper Scones.
I shared the Hot Cross buns/Hot Cross Scones recipe the other day and now am sharing the Heart-Stopper Scones. We added the book Bake, Make, & Learn to Cook at the library and I checked it out to read as I thought it might be a good gift for a friend who had just started baking with his daughter and was a fan of The Great British Bake-Off. When I looked through the book this recipe jumped out at me and I had to try it.
Ingredients:
3 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp butter (diced)
¾ cup milk
Some extra milk
A jar of strawberry jam
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In a bowl, rub the butter, flour, baking powder, and sugar until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
3) Pour in the milk.
4) Mix until it just forms a dough and let sit for 10 minutes.
5) On a floured surface roll out the dough until roughly 1/4 inch thick.
6) Cut out scones using a 2 inch cookie cutter.
7) In half of the scones, cut out a heart using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter.
8) Brush a little milk onto each scone.
9) Place a heart scone on top of each complete scone and fill the hole with jam (not quite to the top).
10) Transfer to a lined baking sheet for 15 minutes.
11) Leave to cool on a cooling rack before eating. (The jam will be very, very hot.)
These were okay. They weren’t as loved as the other scones but were eaten.
Back in 2022 some friends and I had a tea party every month.
Party time!
It all started when my friend was gifted the book,“The Twelve Teas of Celebration”, a book that has themes to hold a tea each month of the year. She decided she wanted to do this, and had people sign up to share in hosting, planning, and preparing food and games. This inspired my Hallotean Party.
The first month’s theme was Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night refers to how people would celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, ending on the twelfth night or epiphany. Epiphany commemorates the coming of the magi. The book suggested several recipes (which we ignored) and a couple games. The first game was to write down your goal for the year and then one person would read them out and we had to try and guess who went with which goal.
The second game was a Shakespeare themed game. My friend had me check out as many different copies of his work as I could and then we were given a random page from a random book to read. Whoever had the best presentation won the game.
For our tea we had sandwiches, fruit, soup, scones and cupcakes. I was on scones and made Teatime Magazine’s Hot Cross Scones and David Atherton’s Heart-Stopper Scones.
Even though Hot Cross buns/Hot Cross Scones are an Easter item, as they represent the body of Christ and the breaking of it symbolizes the Last Supper. I thought that since we were celebrating Epiphany the Hot Cross Scones fit with it. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, but made a few changes.
Ingredients:
1½ cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup cold butter
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, allspice, nutmeg, and sugar, whisking well. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Combine cream and vanilla. Add cream mixture to flour mixture, stirring lightly with a spoon until dough comes together. (If mixture seems dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a dough forms.)
Using a ¼-cup scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake until edges are light brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
In a medium bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar and milk, stirring until mixture is smooth. (Mixture should be somewhat thick. If necessary, add another teaspoon milk to achieve desired consistency.) Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip or to a squeeze bottle. Pipe a cross onto each scone.
I actually didn’t have time to make the frosting to pipe and bought some instead. These were a nice solid scone. I think they would have been better if I had used homemade frosting but I definitely enjoyed them and would make them again. Everyone enjoyed them as they were all gone by the end of the tea party.
We have finally come to it my friends. The last of my Ireland posts. ☹️
Back in September of last year, after many years of saving, I was finally able to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons). My sister and I had planned years ago to “one day” do this and we purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, especially as when we actually were able to get on Ireland all seemed well in Cork.
However, we discovered that the “rough weather” we faced was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise Line; it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.
The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.
Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
We managed to finally have some Irish tea in Dun Laoghaire at the historic People’s Park.
But before you knew it, time was over and we were heading back to England to return home. It had rained while we were in Belfast so I was not feeling good that last day, with a headaches from Dun Laoghaire’s sun and very sure of having an ear infection. I stayed the last day mostly in the room, while my sister (who had had terrible seasickness from the hurricane) was feeling better and exploring the ship. Due to my two cats, I am an early riser. My sister, however, sleeps in. She went to lunch much later than I had been and discovered that our cruise ship offered a afternoon tea.
Every day the ship would post in their app (the only thing we could access for free, anything else we needed to pay for wifi) and while it listed out the restaurants it never mentioned offering tea in the Garden Cafè; just breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also had checked their website before we left and did not see any mention of it. I’m not sure if they did this every day or just on perhaps the last day?
Oh well…
The Garden Café is the buffet that is included with your cruise line price. On the Norwegian Star, our ship, the Garden Café can be accessed from either side of the floor but was shaped strange so you cannot fully circle the cafe without exiting and walking down or up a floor to then enter from the opposite side.
I’m not really a buffet person and did enjoy some food from it, but I also ate a lot from a resturant that was also included in our cruise price.
The Café looked like your standard buffet place. It had these large windows so you could look out, but for most of the trip there was nothing for see due to the fog or rain. It was very difficult to get one of the seats by the window as they were always the first to be taken.
The didn’t after too many choices for tea. Everything was Lipton standard tea; although I did manage to root out some Earl Grey. I was so happy as that is my favorite.
For the tea treats there was current and plain scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, or strawberry jam. They also had some egg salad sandwiches.
When I arrived it was clear the sandwiches had been sitting out and were not in anything to keep their temperature cool, so I decided to skip those and just have the scones.
The scones were very delicious and so was the clotted cream and lemon curd. I found everything enjoyable and had my only wish was that they had either offered tea more on the cruise if this was the only time, or if it was a reoccurring thing they had let us know about it so I could have enjoyed it all those days I was trapped on the boat.
It definitely would have made those days a better experience…but at least it made the last day a better one.
That’s it for our Ireland trip. To read the other posts, click on one of the below links:
I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all. But when we got on the island all seemed well with us in Cork.
However, we discovered that our “rough weather” we faced was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise Line; it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.
The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.
Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
We managed to finally have some Irish tea in Dun Laoghaire at the historic People’s Park.
The other thing we had hoped to achieve, now that we knew the cruise line wouldn’t toss our tea, was to purchase some loose leaf tea. However we couldn’t find a single tea shop, just coffee shops or coffee roaster shops.
Sigh!
Ireland is number two in the world for most tea consumption, but we couldn’t find a tea shop in Killeybegs, Belfast, or Dun Laoghaire. Belfast might have had some, but we had been far too busy with the Titanic Museum we didn’t get to spend a lot of time in the city.
Oh well…
We did ask one of the shopkeepers at the Irish Design Studio and she recommended going to SuperValu in the mall to pick some up or another convenience store. That was something that I found a bit of a culture shock in Ireland, so many malls had grocery stores or thrift stores. We headed over there and were given many choices of tea, but I wanted something that was distinctly Irish or only something I could get in the United Kingdom.
The shopkeeper had suggested either Lyons Tea or Barry’s, Barry’s being her favorite; but as soon as I saw Lyons Tea I decided on it as they mention it in one of my favorite books, The Secret Adversary.
Lyons Tea was started earlier in England, but began their Irish business in 1902 in Dublin. They were also known for their tea shops all over England and Ireland from 1894 to 1981. I was excited to try it out.
According to an article I had read in Teatime Magazine Irish tea is strong; “so strong a cup can stand straight up in the cup”. Most are made with Assam and have a strong taste and are dark in color, often being compared to coffee. It is recommended to be served with sugar and cream/milk.
I have never enjoyed the Irish tea in the states, and was excited for this one. It took a long time but I was able to find a loose leaf version of the original blend. When we were home I tried it and loved it! It is so good and just like how I like my tea.
A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.
Of course I had to pair the tea with the book I always associate with Lyons, The Secret Adversary.
The Secret Adversary (The Adventures of Tommy and Tuppence #1) by Agatha Christie
This book is one of Christie’s mystery/adventure stories/thrillers. It different from her Poirot or Marple stories as there is the mysterious element but with a focus on the adventure side. Tommy and Tuppence are two of my favorite Christie detectives, in fact I wish she had written more stories with them as they are a delight.
Mystery, you say?
The mystery begins with an ill fated sea voyage, (something I can relate to more after my Irish experience and another reason why this tea and book go together); the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. When people start moving to the lifeboats, a man approaches Jane Finn, an ordinary American girl who was traveling to become a nurse and assist in WWI. The man asks her to carry some secret papers as she is much more likely to get on a lifeboat than him, and as the USA was a neutral country at the time. Being a patriot for the cause, she agrees and takes the packet; changing her life forever.
Five years pass and we are introduced to our main characters, old friends Lt. Thomas “Tommy” Beresford and Miss Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley. The two haven’t seen each other in three due to WWI. Both are down in the dumps as they have no work, have not been successful in finding any, and are growing near to their last coin. They decide to treat themselves to tea at Lyons, where they share their WWI adventures and Tommy mentions how he overheard two men mention a name “Jane Finn” the other day, he remembers the name as he finds it very odd.
Tuppence decides they need to find a way to make money as the two have no hope of inheriting it or marrying into it.
She comes up with the idea that the two could start their own business- The Young Adventures, Ltd.-and that they should run an advertisement.
Two young adventurers for hire.
Willing to do anything, go anywhere.
Pay must be good.
No reasonable offer refused.
They part ways, but then Tuppence is approached by a man with a job offer. They meet the next day and he offers £100 for her (he doesn’t want Tommy) to travel to Paris, speak in an American accent, and pretend to be Edward Whittington’s ward. Tuppence is cautious about it and decides to give a fake name (as she doesn’t want to cause a scandal for her parents), deciding on “Jane Finn”. As soon as she utters them name, everything changes. Mr. Whittington is angry, accuses her of trying to play him, and questions who could have squealed-Rita? Tuppence “blackmails” £50 out of him, hears him talk to a “Mr. Brown” and agrees to meet him the next day for further payment. However, when she returns with Tommy, Mr. Whittington has disappeared.
Tuppence is not about to lose this big fish and the opportunity and has Tommy to put in a new advertisement:
WANTED:
Any information respecting Jane Finn
Apply Young Adventurers, Ltd.
They end up receiving two replies. The first is Mr. Carter who Tommy recognizes as a member of the OSS, who reveals to them how they had an operative on the Lusitania with the draft of a secret agreement, by various countries. When the boat was sinking the operative passed the documents to a young girl-Jane Finn-and he did not survive, but no one knows what happened to the girl or the documents. The girl was listed as a survivor, but she has completely disappeared. They need the documents as if they were to go public today in 1920, it would be disastrous. Agreements made in war do not always do well in times of peace and lately there have been unrest, lead by the elusive and villainous mastermind, “Mr. Brown”.
Tuppence is able to put the pieces together and concludes that Mr. Whittington wanted her to pretend to be Jane Finn, that is until it seemed she knew all about their plan. The call from “Mr. Brown” was probably one of warning and that is why the group vanished.
Mr. Carter hires them and the two start investigating. They begin by meeting the second person who answered their advertisement: Julius P. Hersheimmer. Julius is Jane’s cousin and a millionaire, who has been searching for her. He brought a picture to give to Scotland Yard but it turns out “Mr. Brown” tricked him out of it.
The three team up together as this case takes ups and downs and twists and turns. Kidnapping, imprisonments, mistaken identities, red herrings, Bolshevisks, amnesia, spy games, etc.
This is one of my favorite books and one I often reread. I love the story, the characters, the pacing, the reveal, etc.
I think it goes perfect with the tea as the characters are strong and I enjoy both of them the more I have them.
Now why for Jane Austen fans?
I recommend it for Jane Austen fans as first of all Tuppence reminds me a lot of Emma Woodhouse. She’s a strong character who believes she knows best, and while most of the time her intuition is correct she also has a hard time listening to other people. Besides being a strong capable person; she also loves adventure and watching/reading adventure stories. This reminds me of Catherine Morland, especially how she enjoys how quickly things are moving, along with not taking the consequences as seriously; believing it is all like a book and will work out.
Tommy has his own imaginative tendencies, like Henry Tilney, but tends to spend most of his life as calm collected and trying to keep Tuppence from going overboard; very similar to Mr. Knightley. Like Knightley, Tommy has to rein in some of Tuppence’s more extreme ideas.
The characters completely balance each other out; just like Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney and Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley. The started off as friends so they have a more joking relationship similar to Knightly and Emma; or much like how Tilney and Catherine started. Also like Knightley and Emma it’s obvious to many that the two have feelings for each other; but it takes time for them to realize it.
Julius is a genial guy but had been raised rich, believing he can just use money to take care of anything. He doesn’t always think, but reacts; his blunt and charge ahead attitude reminds me of Frank Churchill and Mr. Willoughby; this young men who have always lived wealthy lives with little responsibilities. Although Julius is nicer than them, like Frank he too doesn’t see the harm in a mild flirtation.
Like the Austen novels, our characters fall victim to trusting someone they shouldn’t because they appear to be someone who is good and strong, but secretly rotten, and luckily they discover the truth before something too terrible happens.
I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all.
However, we discovered that the “rough weather” was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise line, it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.
The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.
Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
After our walk in the heat, as Ireland turned out to have some unusually warm days (I guess we brought the California sunshine with us). We were both very hungry and wanting “real” Irish food, things we could not eat in California. Earlier in the day we had tried to have High Tea at the Royal Marine Hotel, but we were unable to get a reservation as you had to make it three days in advance. We tried to convince her to let us as we weren’t sure we could be here three days ago, but no dice.
We wandered around and finally stopped at The People’s Park.
The People’s Park was built in the late 1800s in the Victorian Era and has kept the style. It was planned out in a system of pedestrian pathways, a bandstand, iron fountains, and was so picturesque I felt like we had jumped into a Mary Poppins drawing.
In 2023, the Wrights group won the contract for the Café. The Café is available for eat in, “takeaway”, and to rent out for special events. The Café uses local produce, high quality coffee, and the menu is constantly changing.
Eating in is fun, but it was hot in there from the ovens and the windows.
I ordered a four cheese toastie (grilled cheese). It was really good and I later tried to make something similar at home, but couldn’t match it.
I also ordered a tea bun. I saw someone else with one, and was like “I have to have it!”. It was a delicious and beautiful lemon poppyseed.
Absolutely delicious! The only thing I didn’t have was tea to drink as it has been so hot on the pier, and so hot in the cafe, all I could drink was water.
The food was delicious and it turns out that every Sunday they have a little market outside. We walked along it, but most of the items were things we couldn’t take back on the ship or home to the USA.
If you ever are in Dun Laoghaire, I recommend stopping by here and grabbing a bite.
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