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Post by tourmaline on Sept 7, 2018 22:43:50 GMT
I have been questioning the experts in the Diary Threads about High Tea for my 60th Birthday Party. (My birthday was in August, but people are away in Aug so the party got put off til now)
Perhaps I should have put the thread in here...
What kind of Tea? I have Creamy Earl Grey and a Lemon Ginger Roobios
I have from my garden things that one could add.....red clover, sage, rosemary, lavender but I'm not sure that I should actually complicate things... it seems Tea is about easy to prepare yet elegant....
Do I also go for an English Breakfast, or a Darjeeling? or Green?
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Post by spaceflower on Sept 8, 2018 15:22:51 GMT
Will you have one kind of tea or several kinds? (My favourite tea is Formosa Oolong but that's just me.
And what will people eat? Sandwiches?
I have a dream of having traditional tea in London sometimes: tea and scones with clotted cream and jam. "Too unhealthy", says my daughter, "have a wholemeal bread with vegetables instead".
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Post by tangent on Sept 8, 2018 16:22:19 GMT
Cucumber sandwiches. Thinly sliced (1mm) and with the skin removed and a little salt. Slices layered two or three deep inbetween the bread. No garnish, no sauces and definitely no Marmite. Maybe a sprig of parsley on top for decoration. White bread, thinly sliced (4mm) with the crusts removed, and with real butter. Each sandwich cut diagonally into four triangles.
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 8, 2018 18:55:02 GMT
Cucumber sandwiches. Thinly sliced (1mm) and with the skin removed and a little salt. Slices layered two or three deep inbetween the bread. No garnish, no sauces and definitely no Marmite. Maybe a sprig of parsley on top for decoration. White bread, thinly sliced (4mm) with the crusts removed, and with real butter. Each sandwich cut diagonally into four triangles. Thank You. I was wondering about that. I have a green cucumber and a new one, called a lemon cucumber that is yellow, and very thin skinned so I'm tempted to keep the skins on. What I did not know was that I was to layer them 2 or 3 deep, nor did I know about adding salt so that definitely helps. I read somewhere that I should add a bit of mayonaise to them, but I don't remember ever eating them that way back in the day... I do have parsley in my garden so that is no problem.
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 8, 2018 18:57:46 GMT
Will you have one kind of tea or several kinds? (My favourite tea is Formosa Oolong but that's just me. And what will people eat? Sandwiches? I have a dream of having traditional tea in London sometimes: tea and scones with clotted cream and jam. "Too unhealthy", says my daughter, "have a wholemeal bread with vegetables instead". I'm off to buy the clotted cream now... Have decided to buy one bottle of regular clotted cream and another of double clotted cream. I've already bought decadent chocolate cookies but plan on making (if I have time) Haystack cookies (coconut and oatmeal chocolate no back cookies) and a cake. I have one gluten free guest and bought gluten free squares for her, and this afternoon I'm making gluten free bread....I hope it turns out
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Post by Moose on Sept 8, 2018 23:26:53 GMT
I would never de-skin a cuke I like the skin ...
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Post by whollygoats on Sept 9, 2018 1:40:47 GMT
Well, here in the US, cukes are often heavily waxed for retail sale. It makes them look more enticing.
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Post by tangent on Sept 9, 2018 11:58:08 GMT
Crumbs, I've not seen any waxed cucumbers in the UK. Supermarket cucumbers are usually shrink-wrapped in plastic and this avoids the need for waxing.
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Post by spaceflower on Sept 9, 2018 22:10:41 GMT
Cucumber sandwiches. Thinly sliced (1mm) and with the skin removed and a little salt. Slices layered two or three deep inbetween the bread. No garnish, no sauces and definitely no Marmite. Maybe a sprig of parsley on top for decoration. White bread, thinly sliced (4mm) with the crusts removed, and with real butter. Each sandwich cut diagonally into four triangles. Sounds very British. But which kind of white bread? I still remember the sandwiches I got during my first trip to London as a teenager. The white bread only tasted good when toasted. When not toasted, it was spongy and tasted paper.
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Post by tangent on Sept 9, 2018 23:17:55 GMT
I find this a difficult question because to me, all white bread tastes more or less the same.
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Post by JoeP on Sept 10, 2018 5:29:32 GMT
This all sounds great. Tangent is correct about the cucumber sandwiches.
As for the varieties of tea, how many teapots do you have? You should (imho) serve some the standard teas like Earl Grey (a class of its own), English Breakfast (robust, strong) and/or Darjeeling (more delicate, and one of my favourites) in pots, and you can serve the fruity and herbal infusions for self-assembly (assuming you have them in bags not loose leaf). Ginger is popular. Some people seem to like peppermint tea.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Sept 15, 2018 12:42:11 GMT
I know you've had your party now, so an udate is in order. But I'll still put in my two cents and agree with JoeP that you need at a minimum an Earl Grey and an English Breakfast (or Irish Breakfast).
I also agree with Steve, that white bread pretty much all tastes the same when talking about sandwich bread.
Coincidently, I made scones this morning for breakfast because the weather was dreadful and we didn't have anything nice for brekkie and didn't want to go out as originally planned. I didn't have clotted cream though, so ended up with some cottage cheese.
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Post by JoeP on Sept 15, 2018 13:12:36 GMT
Yes! Update!
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 15, 2018 18:17:48 GMT
Pictures on Facebook on Robot Surfer site but I have a few more.... I had 8 kinds of tea but only 3 got used. There is a British Store here where I got Clotted Cream and Yorkshire Gold (loose leaf) Tea I also got a herbal tea called Thai Lemon Ginger And those two went in the big Royal Albert Tea pots. I also had Creamy Earl Grey Tea there....but it never got made.... as I only had 3 tea pots. Then I had Green tea in bags.... Peppermint from my Garden 2 kinds of Yoga Inspired Tea made by Tetley (blends) and then Red Clover eads for Red Clover Tea... The third tea pot got used for Green Tea. We had Regular Scones and Lemon Scones....and Clotted Cream...which most people put on first, then strawberry jam and black currant jam, and 3 other kinds of jam that never got opened. We also had fresh strawberries Next layer... sandwiches.... Yes Cucumber from an organic farm, so no wax and no pesky plastic shrink wrap.... so peelings stayed on... which suited me. Then Goat Cheese sandwiches, and egg salad, and salmon salad, and some ham sandwiches.... all with crusts cut off On White Bread made in my mother's Bread maker. She died 6 years ago, and I've had it ever since, but this is the first I've used it.... and then 50 percent whole wheat bread, again made in the Bread Maker, and some Pumpernikle bread from the shop.... because I like different colours. Top layer of the imaginary 3 tier tray..... Queen Elizabeth Cake that I made late the night before... and I must admit I scorched the coconut topping a bit, but it was otherwise really good. (She did pick a good cake to name after herself) Plus some Gluten Free squares I found at the market.... because the Yoga instructor and her kids have to be gluten free... and some of those no bake chocolate oatmeal coconut cookies that go by at least 4 names, Plus some boxed French Chocolate biscuits I bought. Overall.... Yes I'd do it again...It was fun, and lovely, and maybe I'd borrow more tea pots 3 was not enough. The Yoga was nice too. Perfectly appropriate for those of us in our "Wise" years. You see, on paddleboard Yoga it is perfectly acceptable to just spend the whole time lying on the paddleboard enjoying nature, and breathing the fresh air. Most of us did do the poses... None of which were standing because it was cold and no one wanted to risk falling in
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Post by tangent on Sept 15, 2018 21:47:17 GMT
What is paddleboard yoga and were you outside?
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Post by JoeP on Sept 15, 2018 23:42:25 GMT
That sounds brilliant. I think you did a perfect tea party.
Except for the paddleboard yoga, that sounds like a good party thing but not a tea party thing.
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Post by spaceflower on Sept 16, 2018 15:44:22 GMT
Ah, your tea party sounds delicious! The Queen Elizabeth cake included though I don't think I ever could make one (5 pans, cup?, 5 or 6"?, 350 F?, way too complicated) Paddleboard yoga looks demanding and a bit dangerous.
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 20, 2018 1:18:36 GMT
I tried the Handstand.... I can do one on a regular floor.... Did not come close... Just fell in. We did gentle yoga on the paddleboards Thanks for all the compliments. I think it went really well I had fun actually using all of my cups....
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Post by Alvamiga on Oct 8, 2018 17:36:20 GMT
I'd struggle with that even if the paddleboard was on the land!
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Post by tourmaline on Oct 9, 2018 6:01:33 GMT
I'd struggle with that even if the paddleboard was on the land! I really can't do it on the paddleboard, but on land.... I'm well practiced. I am a gymnastics coach after all.... and I've got a lot of years of kicking up my heels ...
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Post by tangent on Oct 10, 2018 11:29:12 GMT
What you can't see is a crane holding him upside down just above the paddleboard.
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