The search for a good cuppa

Week 2: Field Trip - A Good Cuppa ( a lesson on tea)

England is a tea-loving nation.  Each year about 144,000 TONS of tea are imported but it was not always so.  While tea has been drinken (drunk?) in China since about 3000 BC, it didn't make it to England until about 1650.  Tea quickly became popular and has become the unofficial drink of England.

The custom of Afternoon tea, which is as much about the food as the tea, became popular because of one woman.   Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, was getting a little snackish during the long gap between lunch and the late night dinner parties that her social circles often had, and so she made it her custom to have tea and a light meal around 4pm.  The idea quickly became fashionable and a custom was born.  The traditional meal usually consists of tea, scones with cream and jam, tiny little sanwiches with the crust cut off (like the kid's like), and some assorted pastries and biscuits (cookies).  Well thank you Duchess Bedford ! That is totally my kind of meal, so for our first field trip - Afternoon Tea in the city.

 The kids were very excited by the idea, my daughter liked the idea that I was going to let her have real tea (so grown-up!) and my son like the idea that cookies were involved. After choosing our selections - the kiddie plate for them and "Bedford's Delight" for my husband and I, we goofed around trying on the fancy hats they had for the guests and practicing our "pinky-in-the-air" tea cup posture. 

Once the food came it got real quiet for a little while as we all savored our teeny-tiny sandwiches and drank our chocolate raspberry flavored tea :)  The kids really enjoyed the food, the tea not so much, but the adventure was one we would do again!!



So ends our trip to jolly old England, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did....Cheers!



Biscuits? Flapjacks? I want a cookie! (and other quirks of the "English" language)

Project 4: The Biscuit Monster?

So on this little jaunt to England we have come across some fun differences between the "American" english language and the "English" english language.  Now, I guess since they were the original developers of the language theirs is the proper (proppah) way to say things but that is neither here nor there.  Differences are what makes the world fun!  As the song goes, you say to-MAY-to, I say to-MAH-to...or the other way around, whatever!!  Here are a few more fun differences and a great recipe for Flapjacks (and NO, they are not pancakes)

Biscuits = cookies            Bun = muffin          chips = fries
jumper = sweater            nappy = diaper         crisps = chips
loo = bathroom              wardrobe = closet       boot = car trunk
lift = elevator                spanner = wrench        queue = line
mobile = cell phone         lorry = truck       headmaster = principal

     Flapjacks = delicious bar cookie made from oats :)

For the recipe you will need:

• 1 stick of unsalted butter (I used salted, it was fine)
• 1/4 cup Golden Syrup - this is from England and came in a cute little tin but I think Dark Karo syrup is maybe the same thing?
• 1/2 cup golden brown sugar ( I used dark. I'm a rebel.)
• 2 1/3 cups quick cooking oats (not instant or old fashioned)
• pinch of salt ( I used salted butter and added the salt - oops, oh well they were still delicious)

Preheat oven to 350' or whatever the celsius equivalent is. 
1. Butter (heavily) an 8x8 metal baking pan.  HEAVILY
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in medium saucepan and stir   constantly until everything is dissolved and smooth.
3.  Remove from heat and add oats and salt. Stir until coated.
4.  Transfer to pan and spread in even layer.  Taste a little to see how yummy it is even at this stage :)
5.  Bake until top is golden = about 20 mins.
6.  Cool on rack for 5 mins and then score into pieces.
7.  Let cool completely and then, depending on how heavily you greased your pan, either serve in nice triangle pieces or as a pile of yummy and delicious crumbs.  Either way they were SOOO GOOD!

An interesting note, if you noticed on the ingredients picture there was a white flag with a red cross, that is the flag of England.  Most often the flag associated with England is the Union Flag (aka Union Jack)but that is the flag of the United Kingdom, which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  I had never seen the St. George's Cross flag before and I'll bet many of you haven't either...interesting huh?

Flag of England.  St. George's Cross

Flag of Great Britain.  The Union Flag

Guarding the Crown Jewels!

Project 2: The Queen's Guards

No trip to England would be complete without a visit to a castle, right?  We're going to visit Buckingham Palace.

The palace, which was built in 1702 by the Duke of Buckingham and later sold to King George III, is Queen Elizabeth II's official London home.  It is also where official and ceremonial occasions are held.  You can tell when the Queen is home by looking at the flagpole on top of the palace.  When she is there her special flag will be flying.
The palace is guarded by special members of the British Army.  They are not just prop actors in costume but actual guards from different regiments who all take turns keeping their Queen safe.  They all wear a similar uniform - black pants, red tunic and a very distinctive tall, black bearskin cap!! Since the kids have a castle they play dolls in, I thought the castle should have a few guards.  Our next project :  The Queen's Guard !

For the project you will need:

• Toilet or paper towel rolls.  Cut paper towel ones in half.
• Red, black and yellow felt.  I used sticky-back kind.
• Eyes or a pen to draw them on
• Something fluffy and black for the hat.  I found a small black boa at Michaels but was originally going to go to the fabric store and buy some black fur.
• Glue if you are not using the sticky-back felt.

Cut a piece of felt about 1 1/2 inches wide and wrap around bottom of paper roll.  Cut another piece of red felt about the same size and wrap around middle of roll. Cut two arms from the red felt and glue or stick them in the proper position.

Next glue,stick or draw on some eyes and a mouth. The guards aren't supposed to smile- they are always very serious, but my son's ended up with a big smile :) For the hat we glued some of the fluffy boa onto a piece of felt and stuck it to the top of the roll.  Sorry, I missed that step in the photos!  Then, voila!

Isn't he cute?  The kids and I each made one and now our castle has it's own regiment of guards.  Barbie will sleep safely tonite :)

Project 3: the Crown Jewels

Seen by millions of visitors each year, the crown jewels are kept in the Tower of London, where they have been kept under guard since the early 14th century.  The collection contains the ceremonial and symbolic sceptres, orbs, rings, swords, spurs, bracelets, and robes that have been used in the coronation ceremonies of British rulers for centuries.  The oldest piece is the 12th century Anointing Spoon which is used to anoint the newly crowned king or queen with holy oil.  The jewel in the crown (pun intended) of the collection is St. Edward's crown.  Last worn by Elizabeth II during her coronation on June 2, 1953, it is made of gold and decorated with sapphires,tourmalines,amethysts, topazes and citrines!!

Our project, while equally as beautiful (yeah right) will cost you only a fraction of the cost of this beautiful crown!  You will need:



• Foam or paper crowns.  These are from Michaels and were very cheap and nicer than paper I think.
• Glue
• Sequins and plastic gemstones.  You can use the real thing if you have a bunch of gems lying around, but in our castle the kids get plastic gems :) Diamonds are for mommy.

You probably already guessed it.  Glue the gems and sequins to crowns and let dry.  Then have an elaborate coronation ceremony complete with parades and fireworks to celebrate the crowning of the new King and Queen!! Or just make them pose for a picture.

Three cheers for the new King and Queen!!  The queen looks like she's about to have me beheaded!! Someone tell her our next post has treats ...

A brief history of England ?!

I have attempted to condense over 500,000 years of history into one post - here it goes...

• 500,000 BC 1st people arrived from Europe on landbridge.
• 6500 BC Sea level rises and landbridge flooded - Isle of Britain is formed
• 2000 BC  Stonehenge is completed
• wars, wars, wars
• 43 BC Romans ivade and rule for next 400 years
• 50 BC  London is founded
• 410 AD Romans leave but Anglo-Saxons invade
• wars, wars, wars
• 1055 AD Westminster Abbey is completed
• 1348 Black Death (bubonic plague) kills half of population
• wars, wars,wars
• 1591 William Shakespeare's 1st play is performed
• 1620  Pilgrims set sail for America aboard the Mayflower
• 1652  Tea is introduced.
• wars, conflicts, strife
• 1868  NJoseph Lister invents disinfectant
• 1876  Alexander Graham Bell invents telephone
• 1991  Sir Tim Berners Lee invents World Wide Web !!!

Ok, now I know I skipped all the kings and queens, and the great wars, and the many, many different invasions and conquests that occurred but I would have had to fill many pages and I just couldn't do that to you (or myself).  If you would like to learn more please visit your library or google "history of England".  England is a country with a rich and diverse background which is probably why so many books, plays, movies and songs have been written about it.  Please accept my apologies for abbreviating it so harshly.
Now let's EAT!!

Project 1: Toad in a Hole

When I told people we were going to eat English food this week I got so many moans and comments about how bad English food is...well, they were wrong!! So far we've had Fish and Chips, which were delicious, and Toad in a Hole :)  When I told my daughter we were making Toad in a Hole, she looked at me and told me straight out that she was NOT going to eat a toad!!  Luckily for her real toad is not part of the recipe.  You will need:

• 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of pepper
• 3 eggs beaten (I only have 2 in the picture)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 T melted butter
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 lb of Bangers (sausage made with pork and breadcrumbs) or any other good, mild sausage

We live in the SF Bay Area and have access to many international ingredients.  I realize many of you may not so I will try to make recipes that have easily substitutable (sp?) ingredients :)  Now on with the show.

 

1.  Combine flour, salt and pepper in bowl.  Add beaten eggs, milk and melted butter and stir until everything is smooth.  Cover and let stand 30 mins.

2.  Coat bottom and sides of baking dish with oil and put in bottom third of oven .  Preheat oven and dish to 425'.

3.  Brown sausages in skillet.  I didn't feel like there was going to be enough sausage (and I wasn't sure if we'd like bangers) so I added 3 hot dogs too :)

4.  When oven and pan is preheated, pull rack out slightly and (carefully) add sausages to pan.  Pour batter over the top of the sausages and cook for about 25-30 mis until golden and puffed up!!

 

 

Isn't it lovely! It was super yummy too!! The batter cooks up and around the sausages and makes it's own little bun.  The bread part was crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.  The bangers were very good too.  I used this brand but I think it would

work well with any kind of sausage.  The kids ate it and the husband ate it, so it is a recipe I will have to remember!!  Plus the look on your friends' faces when you serve them Toad in a Hole is priceless :)  Enjoy!!   

Week 2: Tally Ho! We're off to England!

Week 2:  Tally Ho!  We're off to England! (and a lesson in latitude and longitude)

Pip, pip cheerio and all that, today we are going to start our adventure in England!  We are going to start all our adventures by finding them on our map.  Do you have a map or a globe? There are many online or you can purchase a large wall map at most office or educational stores- kids love to see where they live and it will be fun to put a sticker on every country as we visit! 

 Ok, how do you find a country on a map if you don't know where it is?  Latitude and Longitude! Ok, but what is that?  It is a system for charting locations on a map where the Earth is divided up into a grid.  The horizontal lines are Latitudes (aka parallels) and they are all equally spaced 69 miles (111 km) apart, with the equator being the middle.  An easy way to remember is to think of latitude as being a ladder up and down the earth- get it? "ladder"tude :)

Longitude (aka meridians) are always the second coordinate given and they are the vertical lines that meet at the poles and are widest at the equator (also 69 miles or 111km).  0' is located at Greenwich, England and known as the Prime Meridian.  The lines extend east and west from there and meet at 180'E and 180'W at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. 

So now you should be able to find any place you are looking to find, as long as you have the coordinates :) 

 London (the capital of England) has the coordinates of  51N, 0.1W

Because of it's distance from the Equator and the fact that it is an island country, England's weather is usually fairly mild and sometimes downright wet and chilly. In fact, since recorded history, the summer of 2003 was the first time temperatures hit the 100' mark.  Better wear layers...and carry an umbrella!