Friday, January 30, 2015

Cottages, Castles, and Clotted Cream

"Afternoon Tea at the Cottage"




Thursday January 29th, 2015 
Linda Burg presented highlights of her trip to England and Wales


 The Tea Plate:

Sweet Breads and Scones with Currants
 

 Grandma's Scones with Currants,
made with real butter, heavy cream, and sweet currants...
 (Linda sent the recipe home with all of us!)


We were encouraged to eat them as the 
Welsh do...
top the scone with Clotted Cream,
on top of that a drizzle of fruit preserves
MMMM!

 

It's impossible to find "real" Clotted Cream anymore,
so Linda shared her recipe for Easy Clotted Cream:

1 cup heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
1/3 cup sour cream
1 T confectioner's sugar

Whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
Remove from mixer and hand whisk in the sour cream
and confectioner's sugar until just combined.
Store in refrigerator.


After giving our mouths a blissful 
tour around the tea plate,
Linda gave us all a delightful virtual tour
of their travels through small villages in Wales.
Several cousins from her family traveled together
to seek information and history from their
great-Great-Grandparents born in Wales.

Along the way they visited
ancient Roman barracks and an amphitheater,
world famous Tintern Abbey,
the Museum of Welsh Life at St. Fagans,
St. Davids, home to the magnificent 
13th century
Cathedral and Bishops' Palace,
strolled through countless courtyards
and charming market towns,
and toured the original Anne Hathaway's cottage
at Stratford-upon-Avon


By the end of the talk we all wanted
to call the closest travel agency 
and book a trip to Wales.
(Or even better yet)
to the place of our own ancestors birthplace.
Linda not only provided us with 
delicious foods and beautiful descriptions
of the picturesque villages she and her
relatives originate,
she also spoke of the meaning and the importance
to honor those who came before us.
Their story is where we came from
we should honor it and carry it forward.
She shared this...


The Story Tellers
We are the chosen …
In each family there is one
who seems called to find the ancestors;
to put flesh on their bones
and make them live again,
to tell the family their story
and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
Genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts;
instead it is breathing life into
all who have gone before.
We are the story tellers of the tribe.
All tribes have one.
We have been called as if it were in our genes.
Those who have gone before cry out to us:
“Tell our story.”
And so we do … in them we find ourselves.

-Unknown

 Thank You to Linda and the Shakespeare Garden Society
for a lovely afternoon!
It's always a pleasure to share tea with you!

Mary Jane Dean Belz and Susan Arnott ready to serve tea.
To take home: a home made Welsh Biscuit and the recipes for Grandma's Scones and Clotted Cream