High Tea, Cream Tea, and Scones I've had around the world. 

By: Victoria L. Cooksey

Greetings and welcome to the Fall season!  Cooler weather begs for hot cups of tea and scones. I've been fortunate enough to have sampled scones in both Ireland and England, so I always end up comparing the taste of those to the ones I find in the U.S.  (Far too often our versions of scones are very sweet, and covered in icing, where the ones overseas are more biscuit like).  Thank goodness there is a fantastic place to get authentic tasting scones with homemade clotted cream in the town I live in.  

These first three pics are from Pippas's Real Tea here in Port Townsend, WA.  I've gotten scones there before, but last Saturday was my birthday, so I went all out and had their high tea.  

High teas typically include crustless sandwiches, scones, tempting little pastries, and your choice of tea.  I must confess, Pippa's sandwiches tasted better than any I've ever had with high tea in England. (They even gave King Louis, my puppy, his own little dish of clotted cream, and some dog treats.  He loved it!). 

Pippa's Real Tea is also the place that turned me into a lover of Earl Grey Tea when I first moved here, and they even give you a timer, so your tea steeps the correct amount.  I love that attention to detail! It's also a great place to pop into for a cookie, or other treat.  I had a lovely cookie there a couple weeks ago that was an unusual combo of pistachio, lemon and rosemary. Amazing!  Chicken Pot Pie lovers must check out their version available Fridays in the winter only.  Place your orders in advance! Whether you want tea only, or to celebrate any day by going for the high tea (Saturday's only), be sure to check out Pippa's!

Pippa's Real Tea:

http://www.pippasrealtea.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PippasRealTea?fref=ts

The next two pictures are from the high tea served in the Pump Room in Bath, England.  I had this on my first trip to Bath.  The Pump Room is also where you can taste the so called curative waters that people used to come here for.

The Pump Room:
http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/pump-room-restaurant

The fanciest high tea I've ever attended was when my husband, and I spent a few nights at Thornbury Castle (not to far from Bristol, England). For some reason I didn't take a picture of the food itself, but I did capture the room we had it in.  Gorgeous!!   I also recommend the restaurant there too, so even if you don't get a chance to stay at this castle (and everyone should at least once!) it would be so worth it to have high tea, or a dinner there.

Thornbury Castle:
http://www.thornburycastle.co.uk/

Each time I stay in Bath, England I have to go to the Jane Austen Centre for cream tea.  Cream tea is basically tea with scones served with clotted cream and jam.  (In England if you see "scone with fruit" on the menu that is usually a scone with raisins in it.  Or, when I bought a scone at Stonehenge it was a "rock cake", a scone with chocolate chips in it).   This is the perfect place to step back in time and pretend you are having tea with Mr. Darcy.  :) This is also the place I tried smoky teas for the first time which included Russian caravan tea, and lapsang suchong tea, and I loved them!

Jane Austen Centre:
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/the-jane-austen-centre/exhibition/

It's not a high tea, or a cream tea, but I had to include a picture of one of the many scones I've had in Ireland.  Sometimes you just want a scone with butter to go with tea or coffee.   The scone in this pic was one I had for lunch.  That's how I roll! (or, how I scone).

In this pic I'm in Northern Ireland at Dunluce Castle.  

My puppy, King Louis, enjoying his own clotted cream at Pippa's Real Tea.

Here is a video of my recipe for scones (sort of a scones meets muffin version), followed by a video of my recipe for orange curd.  (Typically, you will see lemon curd, but I wanted to be a bit different, and it is yummy!). Victoria Cooksey's Random Dish is my comedy cooking show on YouTube.  (I also have non-comedy one on Youtube under Victoria Cooksey).

I hope this has inspired you to seek out tea and scones around the world, or maybe make some yourself.  Go out there and try some new teas too.  You never know which one may become your new favorite.

Cheers!!

Victoria

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Wooden Boat Festival

Last night I strolled down to Local's Night which is on the Thursday before the true start of the Wooden Boat Festival here in Port Townsend, WA.  This event takes place for one weekend each September.  In fact, this is the 39th one to take place!  (If you are in the area this festival runs Sept. 11-13, 2015.).

I don't own a boat, but I certainly enjoy looking at them.  So many styles, and lovely ones at this event!

Parking;  I usually park up on Washington Street and walk down to events here in town.  Another option is the park and ride.  Look for signs for this on your way into town ( park and ride bus area is near Safeway). 

For more information visit; 

http://nwmaritime.org/events/wooden-boat-festival/ 

Be sure to check out one of my coffee favs, Gypsy Coffee, at "the point".  Gypsy Coffee is normally the Farmer's Market on Saturdays, except the one for this event. https://www.facebook.com/Java-Gypsies-269635213075854/timeline/ 

Enjoy these pictures, and be sure to check out my video on the event at the end of this post.  Enjoy!

Victoria Cooksey

I could so become a pirate if I had this cute little boat!

Besides boats there are plenty of food and other vendors to keep you busy too.

Here is my easy recipe for making gluten-free dog treats.  They are also salt-free, and meatless. Enjoy!  My puppy, King Louis, loves them.  He is a French bulldog and Boston terrier mix, and he was 15 weeks old in this video (see the video on making these treats at the end of this post).

Recipe by Victoria Cooksey

Ingredients:

1/3 cup smooth/creamy peanut butter
4 ounces (snack cup size) unsweetened applesauce
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, finely chopped
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Whisk together the peanut butter, applesauce, and olive oil in a large bowl.  Whisk in the chopped dried rosemary.  Next, add the brown rice flour, followed by the old fashioned oats.

Once everything is combined dust a cutting board, or a countertop, with some brown rice flour.  Place the dough on top, and then sprinkle with a little more brown rice flour.  Roll out the dough with a rolling pin.  You may need to squish the dough together a time or two when first starting to roll it out.  Use small cookie cutters (solid shapes like hearts and circles work best) to cut out shapes, and then place onto a parchment paper lined cookie  sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time.  Remove from the oven and place the dog treats onto a cooling rack.  Once cool give them to your sweet dog.

Store treats in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.

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