Have Some Pie, Leave The Tea

A perfect day for tea - cool and rainy.  I am so happy to see this weather.  My only difficulty is choosing a tea.  If only all my decisions were so hard - between 2 good things!  Hmm, I have some Adagio Earl Grey Lavender.  It has what it says plus orange peels, vanilla, blue cornflowers and creme flavoring.  Hmm, too bad I made it before I read it, as I am now predisposed to not like it.  It is pretty with the blue and lavender flowers and the bits of orange peel.  It does smell very odd however, like the bergamot and orange peel are fighting each other.  The lavender seems to have gotten lost.

However, the real test is the taste, which I am eagerly (?!) awaiting.  I can't say I care for the smell of the brewed tea.   Well, here goes - first sip - orange peel and chemicals.  But I press on for your sakes, dear readers.  My tongue is feeling like a bunch of little tiny needles are poking it and all I can still taste is orange peel and fake vanilla.  I put some cream in it and that has helped, but after about 1/3 of my cup, I have to say I think it it is horrible and the Earl will definitely not be leaving his calling card here!   I am going to make myself some of that lovely unknown Assam.  Himself says he doesn't mind it and "It's interesting".  He will have my share.

I found a really good recipe that would be a lovely savory for a tea.  It makes use of some of those tomatoes that are flooding our gardens.  It came from a small Upstate New York garden magazine I can't remember the name of.  It is delicious!  I got rave reviews when I served it.

Fresh Tomato Pie  
Oven at 400 degrees.

Core and slice about 4-5 medium to large ripe tomatoes, drain on several layers of paper towels for 15-20 minutes or more.

Make a pie crust for a 9" pie, prick it and bake for about 8 minutes  (until a bit dry and pale tan).

Turn the oven down to 350 when you take it out.

Spread the crust with 2 Tablespoons of Dijon mustard.

Layer the tomatoes in the crust, sprinkling only with  pepper.

Mix  3/4 cup of mayonnaise mixed with 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, spread on top of the tomatoes.

Bake about 1/2-3/4 hour.  You probably will need to cover the top with foil for the last half.
Cool and serve at room temperature.

Note: It called for 8 ounces of grated cheddar cheese under the mayo mix, but I thought that was too much, so I left it out.  This way is more delicate and it is very pretty when you slice it.  plus, you can make it the day before, if you are using a crust that resists sogginess, or you can brush the crust with beaten egg white before you put it in the oven.  Actually, I think the mustard also serves that function.


My lavender bed really took off this summer.  I am so pleased, because it is a brand-new bed and this was a tough summer.  I got a few flowers, which are drying, but just this week the plants were big enough to give off the lovely, heady scent of lavender as we go by.  Next summer, with the lavender, alyssum, day lilies, and roses, our noses will be in heaven.  I try to plant as many scented flowers and herbs as I can, so there is something nice wafting around the garden all season.

A golden High Gothic Altar panel in the Liebfraukirche (Dear or Beloved Lady's Church) along the Rhine in Germany.  I do like Gothic in all it's soaring pointiness.

Tisanes and Tea

For those of you who are herbal tea or tisane fans, I found this recipe in Susan Wittig Albert's novel, Bleeding Hearts, p. 243 (in paperback):

China's Lemon-Lavender Tea
Mix 1/4 cup of each of the following  dried herbs: chopped lemon grass, lemon verbena, lemon balm.lavender flowers, and spearmint.
Store in an  opaque airtight container.
Use 2 teaspoons per cup, steep for 5 minutes

You can, of course, alter the recipe, just make sure everything has not been sprayed.

Most of these herbs can be easily grown, although some may have to be houseplants, at least where I live.  I am going to make some this summer.  I can imagine it to be very cooling, iced, on a summer day.

Today, however, I am feeling the need for warmth and strength, so I am having Assam Harmony from Adagio Teas.  When I opened the packet, I thought it smelled like crackers or not-too-sweet cookies.  The leaf was relatively small and a pretty mix of brown, gold and black.  I only brewed it for 3 minutes, as sometimes Assam can get tannic and astringent too early to suit me.  Besides, I have more of it to play with until it is just right for me.

This Assam brewed up on the red side of amber, with a good fresh air aroma.  Sadly, I didn't brew it long enough, so it was too weak to suit me.  Guess I'd better go for at least 3.5 or 4 minutes, as the information bills this as a quite hearty tea.  Tune in Thursday for an update.

This sort of a canyon on the side of one of Sorrento, Italy's main streets.  Under all that greenery are abandoned stone houses.  I don't know if it is left over from the bombing in WWII or if they are much earlier.  We did not go down and look.

Baking, Baking, Baking

First of all, my very nice sister-in-law sent me this website that you all need to go look at www.joyofbaking.com/EnglishTeaParty.html  So many really good recipes, complete with many videos - a real treasure trove.

To continue that theme I am going to give you "Gramma Geores Blueberry Buckle" That's pronounced Jor-.rees  It's Swedish, but rare.  Supposedly only our relatives here in the US have it, but I have found a few unrelated ones.  Buckle is an old name for a fruited coffee cake, in the same family, sort of, as grunts and slumps.  In my other grandmother's recipe book - the one from Switzerland, who had hotel service training - a coffee cake was made with coffee.

Anyway, back to the recipe.  This is good anytime and is wonderful for tea.

Oven at 350, greased 9x12 pan
Mix in your mixer

3cups flour,
4 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup sugar

Add in the order given, mixing after each

2/3 cup of butter, softened
2 well-beaten eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 pint or more of blueberries

You can use frozen blueberries, but DO NOT thaw them before you add them.

Streusal topping 1/2 cup butter,
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
scant teaspoon cinnamon

There are 2 ways to do the streusal, either right away or 1/2 through the baking.  The former oozes into the cake, the latter remains more on top.  You choose.

Bake 35-40 minutes, turning once or twice for even baking.  Leave it in the pan to cool.

No tea today, I am just not up for tasting, just drinking

Ice Tea Pops and India

The Ar River, on the way to Meieringen, Switzerland, with my beloved
mountains in the rear.

This weekend is going to be very warm and, of course, there is ice tea in the fridge. However, I have been on a Popsicle kick of late. I happened to come across a recipe for a Peach Iced Tea frozen pop recipe in the magazine Every Day With Rachel Ray. Here it is:

Peach Iced Tea Pops - makes 10

1/2 cup sugar
3 bags English Breakfast tea
2 large sprigs mint
3/4 cup chilled peach nectar
1/2 cup drained diced canned peaches

1. Bring sugar and 2 cups of water to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Add the tea bags and mint and steep for 10 minutes. Discard the teabags and mint. Stir in the peach nectar.
2. Divide the peaches among the molds and fill with the mixture, freeze for about an hour and then redistribute the peaches to suspend them, if you want to. Put in the sticks and freeze until solid, about 4 hours. Run the molds under hot water to remove the pops.


I am sure by altering the type of tea and type of fruit, you could use this as a basic recipe for many kinds of tea pops. You can buy molds in a number of places like Walmart, Target, TJ Maxx and the like, they are quite inexpensive. You can get very snazzy ones on line.


I am reading an interesting book, Curries and Bugles by Jennifer Brennan, who grew up in the last days of the British Raj - before India got its freedom from the British Empire. It is part cookbook, part memoir. There is a chapter about afternoon tea.

She writes "As a meal, tea served more than the mere social habit of meeting and gossiping. It began to fulfil a uniquely useful function of providing an occasion wherein people could be entertained without the rigid social structures that invaded luncheons and dinners." It brought "home" to them every day and their cooks loved it because they could show off their skills with "sugar confectionery". She gives several recipes that are British and some that show the influence of India. The book is out of print, but you can get it at http://www.alibris.com/ , which has a huge assortment of tea books, good prices and good service.


I guess I had best have an Indian tea with this book. My selection is Upton Teas TM53, Wah Estate 1st Flush, Kangra SFTGFOP1. It comes from the Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh, near Dharmashala, in the far northeast, the land of the Dali Lama. It is one of the first spots that China tea plants were farmed. Unusual for a first flush, Upton's recommends 3 minutes at 212 degrees.


The dry scent is a very strong, almost pungent, green; perhaps like fresh-cut tangy weeds. The leaves are on the small side, ranging from a light, silvery green to very dark. It brews up to an ecru color and the aroma has morphed into something approaching asparagus, with a hint of lemon and toasted marshmallows. I really like the flavor, but I can't pin it down. It is unlike any first flush I have had, not that I have had a great many. It is definitely vegetal, but not grassy, a bit like roast corn, but not, perhaps more straw like. There is a bit of sweetness to it, but only a bit. I think I will just say it is very good and I am intrigued by its elusiveness.

From England to the Caribbean

This picture was taken from my grandfather's porch. That streak on the mountain on the other side of the valley is an avalanche run. Did you know that houses in an area of many avalanches are built with the peaks perpendicular to the mountain side so the avalanche will slide down the peaks? There is often a vee shaped structure between the house and mountain also. There will be many ramps and diversion structures built above a village.

Yesterday I felt the Kashmir Rose, while good and interesting, was missing something that would make it more appealing to more people. I added a bit of cinnamon to my last cup and wow! I thought it really brought it all together, making it warmer, somehow.

Today we're gonna zip over to an English style tea - Queen Mary from Culinary Teas. This is billed as a breakfast tea and indeed it is. After brewing it for less than 4 minutes, with boiling water, it nearly knocked my slippers off. It definitely reminded me of the tea I had the summer I worked in England. I used to run for tea break, hoping I could get some before they put sugar in it. This is a very straightforward tea, with not much in the way of nuances. Dry it smells a bit of chocolate and wine, but that doesn't come through in the cup. It is pretty tannic, which I am not crazy about, either in wine or tea. For me, I will keep it as a morning tea, especially on those mornings when I am just not waking up.

My husband and I came up with something that might do very nicely as part of the goodies for tea. We called it Plantains a Deux. We had 2 ripe - dead black - plantains to use up. We just had them for supper, with some ham.

2 very ripe plantains, mashed and beaten up with
about 1 cup chopped peanuts
about 3/4 cup coconut
2 eggs
1/4-1/2 cup flour, so the batter is about like that for potato pancakes
Lime juice to cut the sweetness a bit,
salt to taste
Sour cream for garnish, with a little sprig of something green or some toasted coconut

Fry in medium hot oil, making the little cakes pretty flat and being careful not to burn them. They should be cooked through, so they'll be a dark tan. Small ones will make about 24. Keep them warm in a 200 degree oven, on a paper towel until ready to serve.

For variation I think you could add a bit of curry powder or a little chili or some fresh coriander/cilantro, whatever sounds good to you.

Enjoy!