I have a ridiculous amount of such paraphernalia--so today, I shall share in teapots, tea lore, and other fun enchantments! Welcome to my Mad Tea Party! (As always, click any picture to enlarge!)
What would tea be without proper tea service? Here is one of my mother's tea services. Old bone china from Europe. Alas, for some reason the saucers have been lost in time. As is the sugar pot. Hmm, perhaps not quite the typical tea service, after all! Perhaps a lovely tea for two!
What better way to have tea than pair them with scones, by the way? If you are the baker sort, you might have a go at this lovely pumpkin scone recipe. I WISH I had time to make these more often than I do, they are just wonderful!
Pumpkin Scones
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin (if canned, be sure there are no spices or sugar added)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix together flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and cut into flour. Mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl mix together the pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together (don't overmix).
Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead gently 3-4 times, and then shap dough into a circle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Slice in half, and then cut each half into 3 equal pie-shaped wedges.
Brush with egg glaze (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk), and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
Bake on a cookie sheet for 375° for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 6 scones.
Optional: Add white chocolate chips or chopped pecans or cranberries or ALL THREE into dough before baking. YUM!
Of course for a change of scenery, why not visit Japan to watch their tea ceremonies? Here is my Japanese tea set, complete with decorative (Zen) quail and dove eggs (yes they are real!) Incense holder, incense cones, cups and tea kettle.
Japanese Tea Ceremony Procedures (Simplified)
The steps to the ceremony are quite simple: clean the serving bowls, boil a pot of water, serve a sweet treat to guests before the tea, mix powdered bitter green tea (Matcha) and water to make a frothy tea, serve the tea to guests. The flavors of the sweets and bitter tea compliment each other. This is a sign of harmony.
- Bow when you receive the cup of tea which is called a chawan.
- Take the chawan with your right hand and place it in the palm of your left hand.
- Turn the chawan clockwise three times before you take a drink.
- When the tea is gone, make a loud slurp to tell the host that the tea was truly enjoyed.
- Wipe the part of the chawan your lips touched with your right hand.
- Turn the chawan counterclockwise and return to the host
Of course, one can always go back to England--or is it Neverland? Here is a unique and whimsical tea kettle and set that I picked up in an old cooking store in the city. It was the LAST one they had--I fell in love immediately with its unique design:
If you look closely the tea kettle top, itself, depicts a tea setting with a little tea set and flowers on top!
Surrounding the set are "sugar bears"--little sugar shakers (which are great for holding salt, but something about the design says "sugar" to me), which is part of a vintage collection I picked up long ago, at an estate sale. You can also see the sugar spoons next to the bears.... a nice Victorian scene...
Speaking of Victorian (or was it England?) and sugar, why not replicate the practice of creating floral sugars? In this case, the love of scented flowers/herbs plays well with the sugar. Common practices of making lavender sugar, verbena sugar and more were a staple of the Victorian tea service:
6cups sugar
6 teaspoons dried lavender buds (make sure they are Culinary lavender, which is lavender approved for eating/not treated with any dangerous chemicals).
Take dried lavender buds and mix with sugar. Store in airtight jars, place in cool dry place. Shake once every few days. It will be ready to use after 4 weeks. Strain/sift out lavender from sugar before using.
A small heart shaped sugarspoon with its own tray--both in pewter:
Two more magical spoons, also of pewter. These can scoop other dry goods such as coffee, dry tea, flour, and sugar:
....Ahh, one day perhaps I shall open a little tea shoppe to show these things off....And of course, the love of tea wouldn't be complete without tracing our love back to our childhood--literally! Here is one of my childhood tea sets! Ahh, how many dolls lived through drinking endless cups of Imaginary Tea!
And finally--here is a tea set I call "Wonderland"--how appropriate for this post! Here are some interesting miniature cups and a charming little tea server! And notice, they sit upon a tea imprinted tablecloth!
How colorful, how enchanted....perfect for.....
A Clown-Fish....wait...WHAT?!To be continued.....
