Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Autumn Tea, Scones and Clotted Cream, Fall Decorating

Hello and welcome to another fall edition of my tea things meme Tuesday Cuppa Tea...

Today I spent my afternoon tea time...more about that later...looking at the new October Victoria magazine. Beautiful. 

Their inside thematic photo page which always sets the stage for the issue was a gorgeous basket of autumn gourds...

And the quote:

"Thy beauty shines in autumn unconfined

And spreads a common feast

for all who live."

by James Thomson

I am joining Sandi's tea party today....

My teacup today is one I recently found and fell in love with. The colors were just a rich fall palette to me, so that's why I am sharing it today...

The pattern is difficult to photograph because of the paneled shape and gold foliage overlay over the forest green and white panels....

The teacup and saucer are by an English maker called Elizabethan which is a trade name of Taylor and Kent, England. The mark dates it to the 1960-1978. Taylor and Kent were taken over by the Churchill group in 1991, but was later closed and demolished in 1996. Very sad!  Another good pottery gone.

I am pretty passionate about teacups...I consider them as works of art. And as many of the manufacturers are now gone, I am afraid they will disappear unless we love them!

But on a brighter note, my afternoon tea today has a great new tea....

An organic Paisley Brand English Breakfast from Two Leaves...or Two Leaves And A Bud as they are also known. I got in Victoria, BC recently and it is a good strong black tea with a lovely complex flavor. I can taste some Darjeeling in there, and love it!

And of course...scones and clotted cream!

I used to make both from scratch often, but nowadays, that doesn't happen much. I always have some Green's Scone Mix from England on hand, and mix that up for a teatime goody if I am pressed for time...

I make them in the wedge shape usually...they seem simpler to me...but just as tasty as round...here is the dough are just being cut and just about to be glazed and sugared...

and cooling on the rack cooling...

And the Taa-Daa moment with cream and peach preserves...

The ingredient I also no longer make...because it doesn't keep more than a few days from the home made recipe I grew up with...is the clotted cream...but, this is a fairly good substitute...

We used to stock this in the bricks-and-mortar antiques and tea items shop we had. It doesn't quite taste the same as the stuff you make yourself, but it is a lot easier.  If you want to try to make it at hope:

1 pint double cream...full fat whipping cream...at least 40% butterfat which is very hard to find.

Have a rectangular glass baking dish handy. Pour in the cream, making sure you have at least 1-2 inch clearance to top. Also, the more surface area the better.

Put it in a 180 degree oven overnight...at LEAST 8 hours up to 10-12 hours, just check it doesn't dry out. A yellow crust will form on the top...that's the clotted cream. 

Remove from oven and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for an hour or 2 until firm. With a spoon, take the cream with yellow crust layer out and put in covered jars in the fridge. If any liquid remains below the cream layer, it can be used like buttermilk, but the thick stuff with the yellow crust is the clotted cream.

So thanks for joining me today. Remember to join Sandi for her Autumn Tea. I'll be visiting these blogs and others which is such a treat!  The linky is below for your tea related blog posts...as usual, remember it is SSSLLLOOOOOOOWW but it does appear and work. I love to hear from you! Have a wonderful week.

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi 

Tea in the Garden with Bernideen 

Teacup Tuesday with Martha & Terri

Return To Loveliness With Kathy

Tea With Friends With Angela

Tuesday Teatime with Judith

Tea Cup Tuesday with Mary

Teacup Tuesday with Kitty

Teacup Tuesday With Nancy

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