Tuesday Cuppa Tea February Pot Pourri

Hello and welcome to a Tuesday Cuppa Tea of February things...

First of all... Happy President's Day!

And last week, of February 16th, 2 event....

one..

Chinese Lunar New Year...the year of the dog...

Years of the Dog include 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, and will be again in 2030.

If you were born in one of those years, the Chinese believe you share the characteristics of the dog...

inspiring, intelligent, honest, sensitive, helpful, straightforward and friendly..

February 1th was also our 44th wedding anniversary...

My goodness, we were young!

We had a bit of an anniversary elenses tea in the sunroom...no lunch, as we were going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant at 5:30...
and a few of the books I'd been revisiting from Victoria...

And there is the photo the closeup is taken from...usually sits on the mantle...

And for an appropriate teacup for our anniversary, I chose this Royal Albert cup and saucer in the Forget-Me-Not pattern from the 1950s...

And it's blue! I had Forget-Me-Nots as part of my bouquet....

For tea type...my favorite Fortnum & Mason Queen Anne...a lovely and complex black tea, that I discovered in England years ago, stocked when we had our bricks-and-mortar antiques and tea items shop, and used to bring home several tins on our annual UK visit. I found it was also available at Williams & Sonoma, which was nice, as I was getting it shipped from F&M.

And a happy and colorful hand colored on brown transferware teacup in a pattern called Royal Tudor by Royal Standard...

This teacup is also from the 1950s...love the colors!
This is the Book Of Afternoon Tea by Marika Hanbury Tenison...

I picked up this great English National Trust cookbook at a National Trust property in Cornwall sometime in the 1980s, but I can't remember exactly which one...but probably Knole, which is depicted in the painting on the front, which belongs to Queen Elizabeth II
called Country House Tea On The Lawn although I can't find the painter's name. 

I made a recipe from the book for us to have for tea....

Old English Cider Cake
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup fine granulated sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
5 fluid ounce cider (or water)
1/3 cup raisins (not in the original, but having made this before they are needed for moisture)

Beat the eggs over warm water; cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and gradually beat in eggs. Fold in the flour that was sifted with the baking powder and nutmeg. Add the cider.

Spoon the mixture into a 9 inch loaf pan with the bottom lined with parchment paper and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool.
Serve warm or cool, keep airtight. 
The cake is best eaten within a day or 2 or frozen, as it dries out quickly
Very good toasted/broiled and buttered as well.

Thanks so much for joining me for tea! 

I am joining:

 Tea Cup Tuesday 
 Bernideen’s Teatime, Cottage and Garden
Home Sweet Home

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