http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agfZ3eD_jnE
Shostakovich wrote this adaptation of Tea for Two in 45 minutes. Sheer genius and one of my favorite versions of popular tune.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
tea cup organization
Note to self: Always re-sort the tea china immediately after each catering job, otherwise you WILL spend hours sorting hundreds of bloody tea cups and saucers.
Which is precisely what I've been doing all afternoon.
Right now if I were bloody Martha Stuart I'd be fixing myself a Teatini, but I'm not, so I'm slugging back a large glass of vodka and pomegranate juice. In theory the pomegranate juice has some redeeming qualities. But it's the vodka that really gets me where I need to go after an afternoon of mind numbing, china matching madness.
Which is precisely what I've been doing all afternoon.
Right now if I were bloody Martha Stuart I'd be fixing myself a Teatini, but I'm not, so I'm slugging back a large glass of vodka and pomegranate juice. In theory the pomegranate juice has some redeeming qualities. But it's the vodka that really gets me where I need to go after an afternoon of mind numbing, china matching madness.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tea party rentals
A new shipment of china arrived today from the UK - all purchased while I was there a few weeks ago. I'd forgotten exactly what I'd bought, so it was like opening a gift that someone had sent me! I found most of it at a junk store in a tiny village in Suffolk called Hatcheston, which is truly in the middle of bloody nowhere, but what a treasure trove of beautiful tea sets were hidden there! Now it all needs to be washed, sorted, packed and stored. We now have enough china for 200.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A rainy day scone day
It's pissing down with rain here in Malibu. No catering duties today and I gave the LA marathon a wide berth this year... Running in the rain does so not appeal. I'm English, I've had more than my fair share of running in the rain, usually for a bus or a train and it's not fun.
So I've done what any sensible person should do to counteract a piss awful day and baked up a batch of cherry, almond scones. Time to brew a pot of tea, put my feet up, eat and read the Sunday paper. Bliss.
Tip for making feathery light scones: Don't maul the dough. Treat it almost like pastry dough. The less you touch it with your hands the better. Use either a pastry blender or a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment. And make sure the butter is icy cold. Same goes for the eggs & buttermilk. Also I find that if you let the crumb mixture chill for an hour or so before adding the wet mixture you get a much lighter final product.
Cherry Almond Scones:
Ingredients:
2 cups almond meal (Trader Joes is fab)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I love King Arthur flours)
1/2 tsp salt (kosher) God I sound like Ina Garten.
1 Tbsp & 3/4 tsp of baking powder
2 sticks icy cold butter (keep it in the freezer)
1 1/4 cups chopped dried bing cherries
3 large eggs (chilled)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp almond essence
3/4 cup buttermilk (chilled, but shake to combine)
1 egg (well beaten for your egg wash & a little extra sugar for sprinkling)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine almond meal, flour, baking powder, salt in a large mixing bowl
3. Cut the butter into small pieces. Add to dry ingredients. Blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Use a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment - the secret is to not man handle the dough - kind of like pastry - keep it light and don't get it all hotted up)
4. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, buttermilk & almond essence.
5. Add the chopped cherries to the dry mix & combine - make sure you don't get great clumps of cherries.
6. Add the wet mix to the dry and stir until combined. Don't overmix!
7. Pull it all together with your hands, again, don't manhandle. If it all looks a bit sloppy add a little more flour. You should have a dough that's fairly sturdy and can be rolled out.
8. Flour your pastry board, dump the dough out of the bowl and roll to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut with a very sharp pastry cutter - 1/2" is good, but don't make them too big. You don't want hockey pucks.
9. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Brush with your egg wash, sprinkle each scone with a little sugar.
Bake on the middle rack for about 15 minutes.They should be golden brown and cooked through. Let them cool for as long as you can restrain yourself.
Enjoy!
So I've done what any sensible person should do to counteract a piss awful day and baked up a batch of cherry, almond scones. Time to brew a pot of tea, put my feet up, eat and read the Sunday paper. Bliss.
Tip for making feathery light scones: Don't maul the dough. Treat it almost like pastry dough. The less you touch it with your hands the better. Use either a pastry blender or a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment. And make sure the butter is icy cold. Same goes for the eggs & buttermilk. Also I find that if you let the crumb mixture chill for an hour or so before adding the wet mixture you get a much lighter final product.
Cherry Almond Scones:
Ingredients:
2 cups almond meal (Trader Joes is fab)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I love King Arthur flours)
1/2 tsp salt (kosher) God I sound like Ina Garten.
1 Tbsp & 3/4 tsp of baking powder
2 sticks icy cold butter (keep it in the freezer)
1 1/4 cups chopped dried bing cherries
3 large eggs (chilled)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp almond essence
3/4 cup buttermilk (chilled, but shake to combine)
1 egg (well beaten for your egg wash & a little extra sugar for sprinkling)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine almond meal, flour, baking powder, salt in a large mixing bowl
3. Cut the butter into small pieces. Add to dry ingredients. Blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Use a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment - the secret is to not man handle the dough - kind of like pastry - keep it light and don't get it all hotted up)
4. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, buttermilk & almond essence.
5. Add the chopped cherries to the dry mix & combine - make sure you don't get great clumps of cherries.
6. Add the wet mix to the dry and stir until combined. Don't overmix!
7. Pull it all together with your hands, again, don't manhandle. If it all looks a bit sloppy add a little more flour. You should have a dough that's fairly sturdy and can be rolled out.
8. Flour your pastry board, dump the dough out of the bowl and roll to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut with a very sharp pastry cutter - 1/2" is good, but don't make them too big. You don't want hockey pucks.
9. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Brush with your egg wash, sprinkle each scone with a little sugar.
Bake on the middle rack for about 15 minutes.They should be golden brown and cooked through. Let them cool for as long as you can restrain yourself.
Enjoy!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Why is a good scone so hard to find?
Surely I'm not alone in thinking that a good scone is hard to find!
Have you ever tasted one of those hideous objects that dares to masquerade as a scone in Starbucks (the worst offender) or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (easily first runner-up)? And don't even get me started on the "low fat" abominations. Come to think of it - have you ever seen anyone actually buy one of those incredibly dry, stick to the roof of your mouth, just about impossible to swallow, monster size hockey pucks? There always seem to be plenty of them left at the end of the day.
I say the time has come to revive the tarnished reputation thrust upon the unfortunate scone by corporate tea and coffee factories and allow it to take its place atop the culinary pedestal. Cupcakes are so yesterdays news. Pies (thanks to my friend Beth Howard ) have definitely earned their place in the spotlight and rightfully so. But now it's time for the nation to treat their collective taste buds to the joys of a beautiful, light, buttery, fruity scone! Join me in my crusade!!!
Recipe ideas to follow...
Have you ever tasted one of those hideous objects that dares to masquerade as a scone in Starbucks (the worst offender) or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (easily first runner-up)? And don't even get me started on the "low fat" abominations. Come to think of it - have you ever seen anyone actually buy one of those incredibly dry, stick to the roof of your mouth, just about impossible to swallow, monster size hockey pucks? There always seem to be plenty of them left at the end of the day.
I say the time has come to revive the tarnished reputation thrust upon the unfortunate scone by corporate tea and coffee factories and allow it to take its place atop the culinary pedestal. Cupcakes are so yesterdays news. Pies (thanks to my friend Beth Howard ) have definitely earned their place in the spotlight and rightfully so. But now it's time for the nation to treat their collective taste buds to the joys of a beautiful, light, buttery, fruity scone! Join me in my crusade!!!
Recipe ideas to follow...
Sunday, November 7, 2010
flea marketing
I spent the morning shopping for china at the Pasadena City College flea market.
Perfect day for it, cool and cloudy. Such a welcome relief after our midweek heatwave. Apparently a lot of other people felt the same way, because the place was a seething mass of humanity, an extraordinary parade of bargain hunters of all shapes, sizes, cultures and creeds...
I'm growing my vintage china rental business, expanding the existing rental page on my website and stocking the already jam-packed storeroom with more beautiful china. I'm afraid it's becoming a bit of an obsession...Spending far too much time and money on ebay and Craigslist.
However, I have to say that the flea market is really not the place for bargains anymore. Full of horribly overpriced crap. Most vendors want around $25 for a not very attractive cup and saucer and really won't budge on their prices. Ten years ago when I first started going to that particular flea market there were bargains to be had, but not anymore.
I did pick up a few dinner plates from the same crazy guy who's there every month. He looks like a huge bull frog and is probably totally incapable of moving from the chair that his bulky form is spewing out of. He's like an actor in his own, never ending, one man show, making the same outrageous speech over and over again; "treasures galore, picked up from an exclusive estate sale in Beverly Hills, old lady was 99 years old, blah, blah, blah...!" You'd think he'd realize that people are onto him by now! But no....Hey, he obviously thinks it's a good sales pitch and that we're all idiotic enough to buy into his story. No harm done and he certainly adds color to the rainbow of characters that make up the flea market scene.
What I'm really looking forward to is February of next year when I'm off to the UK for a bonanza crockery buying spree. I make a bee line for the small towns in East Anglia where my parents live - the charity shops like Oxfam and Save the Children are always a good bet. Growing up in England and being dragged off to antique fairs as a child has left me an incurable vintage addict.
Believe it or not the English, famed for their afternoon teas, really don't give a toss about that tradition anymore, at least not in their own homes. They'd much rather meet up at Starbucks or Costa Coffee, such a shame. Apparently they now drink more coffee than tea.
Afternoon tea is reserved for special occasions and generally served in the more upscale restaurants and hotels. So when Granny, the last of that generation of lace and doily tea sippers passes on to that tea-room in the sky, her family members don't know what to do with that precious tea set, so, they donate it to the local charity shop, which is where I swoop down and pick up the bargains. Most of the sets are hardly used, because the English have this thing about "saving things for best" - which means they were only used on high days and holidays
And here's where my obsession kicks in: I just adore my collection of crockery! I remember where I purchased them and the stories the elderly ladies in the charity shops told me about their past owners. I have to admit to getting quietly upset when something gets broken and give each a little blessing before I carefully place it in its final resting place. Hey, perhaps I should learn to make those crockery mosaic tables or something,and never have to actually throw any of them away...But I think not, I'm afraid I'm no Martha Stewart.
Maybe this is what happens when your child grows up and goes to college, you have to transfer your love somewhere else...Maybe it's time to get a dog!
Perfect day for it, cool and cloudy. Such a welcome relief after our midweek heatwave. Apparently a lot of other people felt the same way, because the place was a seething mass of humanity, an extraordinary parade of bargain hunters of all shapes, sizes, cultures and creeds...
I'm growing my vintage china rental business, expanding the existing rental page on my website and stocking the already jam-packed storeroom with more beautiful china. I'm afraid it's becoming a bit of an obsession...Spending far too much time and money on ebay and Craigslist.
However, I have to say that the flea market is really not the place for bargains anymore. Full of horribly overpriced crap. Most vendors want around $25 for a not very attractive cup and saucer and really won't budge on their prices. Ten years ago when I first started going to that particular flea market there were bargains to be had, but not anymore.
I did pick up a few dinner plates from the same crazy guy who's there every month. He looks like a huge bull frog and is probably totally incapable of moving from the chair that his bulky form is spewing out of. He's like an actor in his own, never ending, one man show, making the same outrageous speech over and over again; "treasures galore, picked up from an exclusive estate sale in Beverly Hills, old lady was 99 years old, blah, blah, blah...!" You'd think he'd realize that people are onto him by now! But no....Hey, he obviously thinks it's a good sales pitch and that we're all idiotic enough to buy into his story. No harm done and he certainly adds color to the rainbow of characters that make up the flea market scene.
What I'm really looking forward to is February of next year when I'm off to the UK for a bonanza crockery buying spree. I make a bee line for the small towns in East Anglia where my parents live - the charity shops like Oxfam and Save the Children are always a good bet. Growing up in England and being dragged off to antique fairs as a child has left me an incurable vintage addict.
Believe it or not the English, famed for their afternoon teas, really don't give a toss about that tradition anymore, at least not in their own homes. They'd much rather meet up at Starbucks or Costa Coffee, such a shame. Apparently they now drink more coffee than tea.
Afternoon tea is reserved for special occasions and generally served in the more upscale restaurants and hotels. So when Granny, the last of that generation of lace and doily tea sippers passes on to that tea-room in the sky, her family members don't know what to do with that precious tea set, so, they donate it to the local charity shop, which is where I swoop down and pick up the bargains. Most of the sets are hardly used, because the English have this thing about "saving things for best" - which means they were only used on high days and holidays
And here's where my obsession kicks in: I just adore my collection of crockery! I remember where I purchased them and the stories the elderly ladies in the charity shops told me about their past owners. I have to admit to getting quietly upset when something gets broken and give each a little blessing before I carefully place it in its final resting place. Hey, perhaps I should learn to make those crockery mosaic tables or something,and never have to actually throw any of them away...But I think not, I'm afraid I'm no Martha Stewart.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Deconstructing the tea party...
I am on a one woman mission to remove the odious stigma that is associated with the phrase "tea party" - and I'm not talking about that flash in the pan political movement which is really buggering up my "tea party" google searches! Don't get me going on that! That's a whole other posting in the making.
Over the last nine years I've catered hundreds of tea parties - which have run the gamut from the traditional to the unconventional. And believe me I love them all. But most people (especially men) still tend to think of tea parties as stuffy, estrogen fueled social occasions. And that's fine, those occasions have their place on the social calendar. But tea parties can be so much more if just given a chance to shine!
They don't have to be all doilies and tinkling of tea cups affairs. Think about it, weekend afternoons are usually unclaimed real estate on the social calendar - and unlike a dinner party, where you can only invite as many people as you have chairs for bottoms, you can invite as many people as you like. Plus you can invite people for a fixed time, say between 4-6pm, which leaves both you and your guests with time on their busy social calendars for their dinner plans (or not).
And it really doesn't matter if baking is not your metier - go on, cheat! Use a packet scone mix and just buy jam & clotted cream (Cost Plus is brilliant for all three.) As for sandwiches, well, really, how difficult is it to slap some filling between a couple of pieces of bread and then cut the little the beggers into quarters - you don't even have to remove the crusts - tends to make chaps think they are not butch enough.
Make several pots of fabulous tea, just so that you can call it a "tea party", and then break out the champagne or even better make some cocktails, Pimms cups in the summer or maybe some marteanis?
Music - up to you, vintage tunes from the 20s and 30s are great, Noel Coward is a favorite. I think we should put Brunch on notice, let people sleep in on the weekends, afternoon Tea Parties are the next big thing!
Over the last nine years I've catered hundreds of tea parties - which have run the gamut from the traditional to the unconventional. And believe me I love them all. But most people (especially men) still tend to think of tea parties as stuffy, estrogen fueled social occasions. And that's fine, those occasions have their place on the social calendar. But tea parties can be so much more if just given a chance to shine!
They don't have to be all doilies and tinkling of tea cups affairs. Think about it, weekend afternoons are usually unclaimed real estate on the social calendar - and unlike a dinner party, where you can only invite as many people as you have chairs for bottoms, you can invite as many people as you like. Plus you can invite people for a fixed time, say between 4-6pm, which leaves both you and your guests with time on their busy social calendars for their dinner plans (or not).
And it really doesn't matter if baking is not your metier - go on, cheat! Use a packet scone mix and just buy jam & clotted cream (Cost Plus is brilliant for all three.) As for sandwiches, well, really, how difficult is it to slap some filling between a couple of pieces of bread and then cut the little the beggers into quarters - you don't even have to remove the crusts - tends to make chaps think they are not butch enough.
Make several pots of fabulous tea, just so that you can call it a "tea party", and then break out the champagne or even better make some cocktails, Pimms cups in the summer or maybe some marteanis?
Music - up to you, vintage tunes from the 20s and 30s are great, Noel Coward is a favorite. I think we should put Brunch on notice, let people sleep in on the weekends, afternoon Tea Parties are the next big thing!
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