Tuesday Cuppa Tea Warwickshire Teacup, Stratford England, A Winner & Pecan Steeler Cookies

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea. We are back to raining the is weekend here in the Pacific Northwest, so I baked cookies for tea....

This is such a busy time for interesting things for the blog! I celebrated Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday HERE

Celebrated Shakespeare's birthday and death anniversary HERE

And told you about my Right Royal Blog Giveaway HERE and the winner is:

Margie

from Tea In The Valley!

Congratulations!  Please send me your snail mail address and I will get it out to you speedy fast! You can email me using the EMAIL symbol on the left sidebar of the blog. 

I even forgot to mention that April 23rd is also Saint George Day in England...named for their patron saint and symbol, credited with slaying the dragon. The red cross on white is the English flag, rather than the red, white and blue of the Union Jack.

So, because I have been immersed in England the last few weeks and more to come in the next few days, my teacup this week is a Royal Albert with a pattern called Warwickshire, the name of the county in England, just at the north of the Cotswolds, where my Honey's family is from....

The design is from a series called English Country Cottages, and features a typical Warwickshire example. There was a teacup for each county in the series which has been released at least twice over the years that I know of, and I have had all of them at one time or another at Antiques And Teacups...

The back has the local flowers of the county as well....

This is of the more recent series that was released in 1996 and was most likely made in Indonesia...as Royal Albert moved production there starting in 1994-1996...but it is still pretty. And I LOVE cottage teacups! Don't you?

That is quintessential Stratford. We have to pass through Stratford each time we go to the various family homes in the Midlands. Stratford is at the top of the Cotswolds. We could go the motorway route, but it is too stressy  for us as well as missing all the gorgeous villages on the way up from London. Yes...it takes a lot longer, but we usually make the trip in 2-3 days using only A and B roads and avoiding the motorways, stopping at favorite places, like Lower Slaughter. 

The one thing that we don't like, is the A422, I think, has to go through the center of Stratford and crosses a humpback bridge that is a real bottleneck. We try to avoid going through on weekends when Stratford is packed.

Stratford is a great place to visit. The pubs and restaurants along the Avon are lovely. Just don't go during a Bank Holiday weekend. Chaos. At the best of times, the humpback bridge over the Avon is a major bottleneck if traffic is heavy as it is the main non-motorway route through the Cotswolds from London to the Midlands. We are always glad when we've gotten through without losing too much time if we are just in transit...but we always came this way on our annual antique buying trips...MUCH more scenic on the A and B roads than the M roads which are Motorways...the rest are just country roads through the villages...narrow yes, longer, but wonderful...except for occasionally having to stop for a flock of sheep to transit one field to another...

This is the Queen's Head pub in Stratford where we have stopped for lunch.

The RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) has fabulous productions. This is the Royal Shakespeare Theater above in Stratford which is a wonderful year round venue. We have seen Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren and other famous actors at work here. The theatre tour is fun too!

I thought this sign was fun, and certainly shows you the options. All the major Shakespeare sites are quite walkable.

Above is a favorite...Harvard House, the founder of Harvard University who emigrated to escape religious prosecution.

Just outside Stratford is the Bancroft Boat Basin on The Avon River where several canals cross the river. We love canals, and often stop here with a picnic lunch before heading through Stratford...if the weather is good...if not a pub or tea room...ah, such a shame! :)

Okay...now we have had a tour, how about some cookies????!

On one of my embroidered vintage tea cloths, I have placed them on a Shakespeare Country transferware saucer I use for a cookie plate when there is just the two of us for tea. The cookies are called Pecan Steelers, and are adapted from a recipe I found at Harvest Lane Cottage a while ago....

I wanted to make oatmeal cookies, but found I was out of rolled oats, and remembered I had this recipe using steel cut oats...

Pecan Steelers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the following in a large mixing bowl...(electric mixer ideal, or cream butter with sugar into crumbs before adding wet)
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar....(I used 1 and a bit of unrefined sugar so as to be not as sweet)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbs water
1 large egg

Combine the following into a medium bowl:
1 Cups all purpose flour
2 cups steel cut oats (I used Bob's Red Barn Organic Quick Oats)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
8 oz chopped pecans

Combine, mix well, and drop by tablespoonfuls on an ungreased baking sheet...they spread a bit. Bake 8-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Remove immediately to racks to cool.  

I hope you have a wonderful week...says she with cup of tea in hand and cookie in the other! Here are some of the parties I am joining....

No Place Like Home

 Tea Cup Tuesday 
 Bernideen’s Teatime, Cottage and Garden

Here 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! Thanks so much for joining me for tea!

An InLinkz Link-up