From as way back as I can recall my Mother and I had four ‘o clock tea. I had calico tea, which was mostly hot milk and sugar with a dribble of tea. I would so look forward to our daily ritual when she would put out the tea pot, the cups and saucers, the nice napkins (my mother always said ‘nice’ napkin, sort of equating or melding etiquette, grooming and table manners packaged in one sound bite, in retrospect, highly effective) and some small treat.
This priceless memory and ritual I have attempted to pass on to my daughter, only my child wasn’t having any ‘tea’, no not for her, so in pursuit of perpetuating the passing of the rite of tea I flexed and gave her chocolate milk. I have bestowed upon her tea sets that visually delight the eyes of a small child and a reminiscence mother alike. Whilst being mindful of the ‘undertoad’ (World According to Garp movie reference) she is now requesting a modern adaptation, ‘chai tea’, - a wonderful addition to a tea lover’s répertoire. I can say proudly, sporting a Cheshire cat grin, chai tea closely resembles calico tea. Gotcha! Hurray for mothers everywhere. Doesn’t matter to me if it is environmental or genetic conditioning she is destined to be a tea drinker, with etiquette, grooming and table manners mix in. I am sure my mother, now referred to as Angel Grandma, had something to do with it.
The tea sandwich traditionally defined as two slender slices of bread, crusts removed, with assorted fillings in between, cut into triangles easily managed with one hand using only the index and middle finger balancing the top slice and the thumb effortlessly holding the bottom portion. Four o’clock tea is tea with light sandwiches, cucumber or butter. High tea is a meal and the sandwiches would be filled with meats. More information than you need, yes, but interesting tid bits are necessary to file away as you never know when you they might come in handy.
This is my mother’s interpretation of the cucumber sandwich
Angel Grandma’s Cucumber Tea Sandwich
1 cucumber sliced just under 1/4”
mayonnaise
white bread
salt and pepper to taste
Slather bread with Mayo
Place cucumber slices atop to fit
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Top off the sandwich with the last slice of bread
Trim crusts and any cucumber off
Slice diagonally into triangles, otherwise known fondly as ‘into sailboats’ - quite simple and good, actually, still to this day.
Date Nut Bread Tea Sandwiches
Too simple to have to explain: slice bread thin, spread with good quality cream cheese top slice the same way as cucumber sandwiches above - also simple and good.
Not my Mother’s Tea Sandwich: Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cheddar on Sourdough
Applewood smoked bacon, cooked traditionally
Aged Sharp Cheddar slice extremely thin, good quality,
Green apples, sliced thin, sprinkled with lemon
Mayonnaise
Sourdough Bread, thinly slices
Take two slices of sourdough bread, spread with mayo give each slice of bread a thin layer of cheddar, the top one slice of bread with the apples, then bacon*, marrying the two slices and trim as above or throw some butter in a pan, grill and it magically morphs from a tea sandwich into panini. Excellent!!!!!!
*at this point if you are wondering, what about the watercress?, feel free to add it here. If you decide to morph the tea sandwich into panini add the watercress at your own risk, as it will wilt.
The scone versus the biscuit. I know this issue has been keeping you up at night. Something of a controversy, but not at the level of making a sourdough starter, which borders on religion when lines get drawn, but that is another blog altogether. Scones are not my cup of tea, however when you talk tea you must consider scones, which I feel overpowers the tea and never saw the difference between that and the biscuit. I found both are quick breads which means a bread made with a leavening agent, such as baking powder, that expands during baking that requires no leavening period beforehand. They are both round in shape.
The basic scone recipe from Alton Brown:
Alton Brown Scones
Ingredients
* 2 cups flour
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons shortening
* 3/4 cup cream
* 1 egg
* Handful dried currants or dried cranberries
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Stir in fruit. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.
Paula Deen’s Biscuits
Ingredients
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 8 tablespoons butter, cubed
* 3/4 cup milk
Directions
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut butter into mixture until it begins to look like cornmeal.
Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle. Knead dough with your fingers and add milk when necessary. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter.
Butter bottom of skillet and place biscuits in pan. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Yields about 3 dozen biscuits
If you place the recipes side by side the scones have richer ingredients, in my eyes, not so different.
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