Monday, April 24, 2017

Clara's Sunday Tea for the Other Grad Assistants


 Coffee-Walnut Sponge Cake
Deviled Eggs
Cucumber Sandwiches
Scones with Crushed Raspberries and Thick Cream
Chocolate Macaroons
Decaff PG Tips Tea
Cream Earl Grey Tea



13 comments:

  1. What fun! Oh how I wish this was more common amongst women, such a lovely spread. I tire of the easiest Starbucks option most ladies offer. Not me, please fellowship in our homes, in a beautiful atmosphere, and with tea and treats!!

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  2. How lovely. Nothing nicer than a tradtional tea party. I'm somewhat amused by the choice of PG Tips as the de-caff option as PG Tips was always a popular choice with the British due to its strength! The British working man always favoured a good strong cup of tea and PG Tips was one of the strongest on the market. Did you know that in the UK it was advertised by chimpanzees? Seriously, it was, a series of comical adverts running over a period of about forty years. They're on YouTube if you want to see them :))

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  3. Very nice! Does Clara still have her yellow set of dishes?

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  4. Beautiful, Clara. I also approve of the menu. (The two tea choices happen to be my favorite two teas--with the close third being Yorkshire Gold, whenever I need to be Superwoman and climb the walls. Just finished my morning cup of PG Tips!)

    So the raspberries: first, I like that contraption they're in; second, are they crushed when you actually put them onto the scones? Because they look nice and plump in the photo. I've had many a scone-and-clotted cream in my day, but never have included crushed raspberries, and I'm interested!

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  5. How delicious! A spread like that communicates that the guests are valued -- in our age of hurry and instant gratification, it's especially lovely to see something slow and lovely and deliberate.

    And I remember those chimpanzee PG Tips ads on the telly when I spent a few years in England as a child! They were some of my favorites (along with the "Creature Comforts" claymation Heat Electric ads!).

    Cheers,
    Shannon

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  6. how absolutely lovely!!
    Tell me more about the scones with raspberries and cream - eaten split open in a bowl with a spoon and the berries and cream on top? Or were the berries and cream more like butter and jam with the scone eaten out of hand? Always interested in hearing about delicious ways to eat scones!

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  7. Curious about the coffee walnut sponge cake!!

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  8. And a Happy Birthday to you, Anna. :)

    Lisateresa

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  9. Clara: What an exquisite menu and presentation. The Grad Assistants were very fortunate. You have been given so many talents. (MD)

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  10. Clara does still have her bright yellow dishes but they are packed away under a bed at the moment.

    PG Tips--we love this tea because it is so stout! We always take it with milk.

    We crushed half the berries and left the other half whole. The scones were eaten on a plate with a fork.

    Coffee-walnut sponge cake: a Victoria sponge with some espresso powder and chopped walnuts in the batter, then espresso powder in a buttercream frosting, topped with walnuts.

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  11. It seems that we ladies really love our afternoon tea, great to see such enthusiasm. May I be very cheeky Anna and share my great-grandmother's very simple recipe for Victoria sponge? Four eggs and their weight in butter, sugar and flour. That's it! Don't forget some raising agent if you're using plain flour and of course the butter should be unsalted. Of course you can add anything you like to the batter such as grated lemon or orange zest or a spoon of cocoa powder or just go for the classic plain sponge with a jam filling. Best wishes, Angela.

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