Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea. Not sure when this will finally get posted, we have had high winds and lots of power outages since Friday...hope I get it out in time! My Welcome sign I painted years ago is up by the door and it is definitely looking like Christmas!
We had a tea time in the sunroom in a brief flash of sun between fronts...and we had my year round favorite green tea Candy Cane Lane by Celestial Seasonings. I buy a case at this time of year and use it all year. We try to have a cup of green tea a day, and this is delicious! I am having it with the classic and ever popular Christmas Tree pattern teacup from Spode, England....always good sellers this time of year in my webstore Antiques And Teacups.
Christmas Tree was developed by Spode...then Copeland Spode...in 1938, and has been a best seller since then. It is still being made, but no longer in England. It is just so homey!
I paired it today with some macarons from our favorite organic bakery, and the folded ribbon pinecone I made years ago that I love. They are so easy, and so versatile.
As it is December now...amazing! I have been reading...or rather, re-reading my favorite Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden which sits by my sunroom tea chair. I love her observations and lovely drawings. I posted a photo on my Facebook page and a friend commented....imagine what she would have accomplished if she hadn't dies so young. A very talented young lady!
Besides her drawings and diary of everyday occurrences she shares poetry, mottoes and some humorous observations as well. A complete joy!
The Christmas wreath is on the door...December is definitely here!
I
As I prepared dinner last night talking to a friend on the phone I mentioned I was making Toad In The Hole.....dead silence. "You are making WHAT?" So I figured I'd better explain.
A dish from my childhood for English nursery tea with a funny name, Toad in the Hole is nothing more that Yorkshire pudding cooked with embedded bangers which are sausages to Yanks. The dish has become a fortnightly (2 weeks) favorite for my husband and myself with our hoarded English bangers we can occasionally find at a QFC market or buy at Central Market in Poulsbo, WA coming home from Seattle.
Yorkshire pudding is traditionally served with roast beef, preferably...but no healthily...cooked in the fat in the pan at the end of the roasting time. Yorkshire pudding becomes popovers when cooked in smaller portions, but it's delicious how ever you cook it. So...here is a recipe I have adapeted to feed the 2 of us from my grandmother's recipe omitting most of the eggs & fat. This can be used for supper with salad and vegetables and can be legitimately served at tea....meat tea or high tea or as a great breakfast dish. It was traditionally a children's dish, hence the fun name.
Toad In The Hole for 2
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees or 400 degrees if convection oven is used. Lightly grease a heavy pie plate...I use a Corning Ware one I treasure.
Break up or slice one large sausage...preferably an 4-6 inch long English banger but any mild sausage will work...after removing the casing...and space around bottom of the pan. You can also use link sausages or kielbasa slices if desired. Place into pre heated oven for 5 minutes.
In small bowl beat 1 egg and 1 egg white until well blended. Add 1/2 cup milk and beat in. Add a dash of salt and 1/2 cup sifted flour in portions, beating well until well mixed with no lumps.
After the 5 mins, remove the pan with sausage and add the batter all at once and return the pan to the oven, baking 15 minutes.
Turn down the oven after the 115 minutes to 350 degrees or 325 if convection without opening the door for 15 minutes longer. Remove, cut and serve. If desired serve with butter or margarine and pepper (my favorite).
Came across this quote from Charles Dickens I thought I would share with you:
The the circle of our Christmas
associations and the lesson that they
bring expands! Let us welcome every one of them
and summon them to take
their place by the Christmas hearth.
Charles Dickens
taken from Victoria's A Woman's Christmas pg. 36
And.....
And this from Country Living magazine that I shared on my Facebook page this week:
"The first snowfall is not only an event, but it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world, and wake up to find yourself in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment, where is it to be found?"
J. B. Priestley
And.....
And this from Country Living magazine that I shared on my Facebook page this week:
"The first snowfall is not only an event, but it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world, and wake up to find yourself in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment, where is it to be found?"
J. B. Priestley
Hope you have a wonderful week preparing for Christ-mas!
Below is the list of some of the blog
parties I will be part of and there is the linky for your tea related
posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are
patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and can find you to
visit!
I think I would respond like your friend did Ruth as I have never heard of that dish either. That is amazing. I'm sure if you made it - it must be delicious! Your cookies - macaroons - sure look good too! Your wreath and Welcome sign are lovely too!
ReplyDeleteRuth, your Welcome sign is so pretty! Love those colourful macaroons and of course I love the Spode Christmas Tree cup and saucer! Your Toad in the Hole is certainly different from the one we make here in Atlantic Canada! Ours is simply a slice of buttered bread with a hole cut out in the middle and you break an egg into it then fry in the frying pan. I think I would much more prepfer yours. It sounds absolutely delicious! I love Yorkshire pudding so perhaps I will give this a go for Christmas morning. Thank you for sharing your lovely post and have a splendid week.
ReplyDeleteChristmas blessings,
Sandi
I love your Spode teacup, Ruth! It's a pretty pattern for Christmas time for sure, and so timeless. Your Toad in the Hole looks like a perfect, breakfast, lunch, dinner or teatime treat. I have to tell you that I bought some Holiday tea and I do love it, too. Your pine cone ornament is so pretty, and one that I've never seen. Thanks so much for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThat is the best Spode Christmas cup! I have loved that pattern but do not have it yet. Toad in the hole looks interesting. I haven never had that before! I am sorry about all your dodgy weather. I hope it clears up for you soon.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Terri
I have been eyeing those Spode teacups Ruth but have settled for the two cardinal ones I picked up last month. My mother used to make toad in the hole and I have a few times, my hubby would like it more often.
ReplyDeleteA box of the Candy Cane Lane came in a Christmas parcel and it is delightful, I'd not tried it before. Thanks for hosting, I actually remembered to link this week.
Hi Ruth,
ReplyDeleteYour Christmas Spode is lovely. I don't have many Spode pieces at all. I do have the same book though. It was a gift from my dear mother-in-law and it really is a lovely book. Your Yorkshire pudding looks delish! Happy Tuesday Cuppa Tea and thank you for hosting! Karen
Wonderful images and lovely tea cups. The tea and macaroons sound delightful too. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!
ReplyDeleteLove your post! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCandy Cane Lane is my all-time favourite Christmas tea. I served the tea to family and friends yesterday and they loved it too! Thank you for hosting and have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful December collage, Ruth. Your Spode 'Christmas Tree' china is lovely, and the macarons look delicious! Your toad in the hole is a reminder that it's been way too long since I've made it, and I need to do so soon. May you be blessed at this wonderful season. Thank you for hosting. ~ Phyllis
ReplyDeleteWhat happy Christmas images! I love your handpainted sign, your ribbon ornament, your charming books, your Spode and homemade foods ... and you share my love of Candy Cane Lane, I see! It's all so very merry!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome sign painting is really lovely and cheerful! I do adore that Spode pattern and I'm tempted to save for a set one cup at a time. I must continue to look for that Candy Cane tea at some different grocery stores. Thank you for hosting and hope your winds calms down.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth: I missed reading your posts. I am sharing the same cup this week. Thank you so much for all your prayers for my son. You will never know how much I appreciated them. Sending hugs your way, Martha
ReplyDeleteRuth, it's been too long since I've had toad in the hole -- thanks for the reminder! I've linked to something I'm sure you've had many times.
ReplyDeleteThe toad in the hole that I make is very different; maybe not authentic, but that's what my mother always called it and I do too. Butter both sides of a slice of bread and cut the center out. Put in fry pan and crack an egg into the "hole;" cook, and then flip to brown the other side. The "hole" that you cut out can be fried too. My kids always liked this, I'm sure partly because of the name!!
ReplyDelete