Tea Bread and Treasure

The Honey, Sultana and Pecan Tea Bread from Tea at Fortnum & Mason filled the kitchen with the aroma of Christmas yesterday.  My shorts, tank top and the sound of lawnmowers buzzing in the background set the record straight that it was most definitely not December!  There were some slight modifications, I had to investigate what "mixed spice" was (it's an English term) and had to do a bit of mixing of my own from jars of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.  And I didn't have Earl Grey on hand so regular black tea it was with a splash of brandy for interest.  It tastes absolutely delicious!

I've been pulling my copy of Taste  from my bedside table in the morning before Deacon decides it's time to haul everyone out of bed.  This morning I read about wartime rationing and recipes for mock this and that leaving me quite thankful for a full pantry.

"Icing was illegal, wedding cakes were more often cardboard than edible, and, as Christmas Day dawned, 'Austerity Pudding' was likely to be made with potato, grated carrot and apple, as much dried fruit as you could get your hands on, dried egg, flour, breadcrumbs, cooking fat and a scraping of precious golden syrup or marmalade."

On a related kitchen matter, my good friend and colleague, Roberta, picked up this cup and saucer from one of her treasure hunting jaunts because she thought I would like it.  R loves to tease that over the years of her gifting treasures she hasn't lightened her purse by more than $7 to date.  We ignore him.  The exact reason for two handles, other than looking quite pretty, had us wondering.  With a bit of searching the internet we now know it's actually a cream soup bowl and stand.  My everyday china doesn't come with anything so pretty or so dedicated, it's all about simply making do.  I read that two handles also make tea drinking easier for the infirm.  Knock on wood, I won't need it for that reason for quite some time.