A Message from Ruth at Antiques And Teacups

Welcome to the blog of Antiques And Teacups! Let's share a cup of tea and talk about the things we love...like teacups, antiques, collectibles, visiting England, antiquing and learning about victoriana and quirky gadgets. Fun!

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Summer Peaches Tea, Angela Thirkell, Tender Peach Scones

What a glorious summer week it has been! Sunny and warm! 
And lots of organic fresh fruit in the local farm shops... doin' the happy dance!
Had hoped to post this Sunday, but we had a ...joy, joy... water heater leak, so things have been a bit distracted. 
But...


I was moving the position of  a print I love, and thought I would share it with you. 
And so combined with a couple of newly found teacups and the Tender Peach Scones I made from a new recipe to use up a couple of getting-very-ripe peaches...


The print is one I bought from the artist, Barbara Fox, matted print of a watercolor by living listed artist Barbara Fox that was purchased from the Loey're Gallery, Sheridan Oregon during the artist's exhibition at the Angels Camp, CA., The Best of Calaveras County Annual Exhibition in 1999.


The print is titled San Francisco, '98, and is the glass Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, and was done as a fundraiser for restoration after the 1998 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Having grown up a few miles away in what is now known as Silicon Valley, and having spent many happy hours growing up visiting with my nurseryman uncle,  I couldn't pass it up.


I am always on the look out for teacups, and found a few lovely ones.
This is a gorgeous peachy pink floral chintz teacup by Aynsley, England is what is known as a corset shape.


The mark dates it to the early 1950-1960s, and includes a pattern number, which isn't always the case. Aynsley is now owned by Belleek since 1997.


The other teacup is a gorgeous one from Paragon, England with French blue and white, gold overlay and fruit centers...including peaches!


I think it is gorgeous!


The Royal Warrant on this Paragon teacup is for Queen Elizabeth II. The mark dates to the early part of her reign, which began in 1953. The mark changed a few years later.



I used a chose a chrome basket for my sugar cubes... and an antique pair of English Regency or Georgian period hallmarked sterling silver sugar tongs in the fiddle pattern.


The sugar tongs or nips are hallmarked for London, England 1835 and the maker ABS for Adey Bellamy Savory and measure 5.75 inches long.
They have the script monogram of P T on the bow. Could Jane Austen have used them????

I love to read. And over the years have found authors I have really enjoyed, and collected their books. The book I was currently reading when I did this tea is The Duke's Daighter by Angela Thirkell. Although the cover is from a ptr-Rapaelite Victorian painter, the story is placed in world war 2 time England and is charming.


The pre Raphaelite cover is apropos, as Anela Thirkell's mother was the daughter of the painter Edward Burne-Jones, and her mother is probably the model for his painting on the cover.
If you enjoy Miss Read, English country life, a bit of romance and gently humor, the books are a delight.
And for a tea treat... Tender Peach Scones from King Arthur Flour....

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (241g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg,* to taste
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 3/8 cup (6 tablespoons, 85g) cold butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup (74g) full-fat or low-fat (not nonfat) vanilla yogurt or sour cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup (142g) diced peach, peeled or not; fresh, frozen/thawed, or canned
  • coarse white sparkling sugar, optional; for sprinkling on top
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*Don't like nutmeg? Substitute ground cinnamon, or simply leave out the spice altogether.

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and baking powder.
  3. Work in the butter, using your fingers, a fork, or a pastry blender.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt or sour cream, and the extracts.
  5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  6. Add the peaches, stirring just until everything is combined. This is a wet, sticky dough.
  7. Drop the dough by the 1/4-cupful onto the prepared pan; a muffin scoopworks well here.
  8. Sprinkle the scones with coarse sugar, if desired.
  9. Bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
  10. Serve warm, or at room temperature. Store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for several days; freeze for longer storage.

  11. They were lovely and moist, more cake-like than many scones, and reminded me more of scones we have had in Germany rather than England, but lovely indeed, and tasting of summer!
  12. Thanks for joining me, and have a lovely week!

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Golden Summer Tea Tray, Chocolate and Orange Traditional Jaffa Cakes

Summer is in full swing, we survived the Lavender Fair... other than a rental in the neighborhood partying hearty on Saturday night until 4 am!  
We really dragged it on Sunday!
Getting too old for that! Lol!


Put together a summer golden tea tray a couple of days ago... the temperature is lovely and warm and the sun is bright...


And I recently found some of a favorite... and definitely blingy... Golden Age pattern pieces from Royal Winton Grimwades, England from the 1950-1960s.


The pattern is certainly not shy! A high gloss gold luster. They have always been popular, and don't hang around long. And it is difficult to find the teapot. 


This is a nice large one.


Although they are better known for their chintz patterns, Royal Winton did many different lines since going into business in 1885.
Golden Age was in their Luster Ware line, joining their other popular and distinctive patterns in the 1950s.


The pieces were popular as they went with most other patterns and were very popular for weddings, anniversaries and formal tea parties.


The pattern also included teacups and demitasse cups and saucers...


And even some home decor items....



I found this Daisies theme teacup recently too, and it just seems like a summer joy! Love the fancy gold overlay pattern!


This summery teacup was made by Windsor, England... which was a trade mark used by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, Ltd. in Longton, or CWS, which operated from 1911-1971. The 2 best known trade names of the group are Clarence and Windsor.
The Windsor pattery was acquired by Hammersley in 1971 and Windsor was then phased out as a trademark.


Definitely tasting of summer, I found a packet of my favorite Jaffa Cakes... chocolate orange heaven for a teatime treat...


And also found a funny Jaffa Cake graphic...


Jaffa Cakes are a British tradition. The name derives from oranges brought back to England from Jaffa, which is now Tel Aviv, Israel, famous for it's citrus.
Here is a recipe I found for my favorite Jaffa Cakes... a wonderful British confection of a sponge layer, orange jelly layer and dark chocolate. 
Totally addictive! 
There are several different makers, but we love McVitties best...although most are quite good.
You can find them at British stores or stores with British food sections, or, use this recipe and make them yourself!



From the blog The Spruce Eats:




Have a wonderful weekend, and a lovely cup of tea with a friend... or a Jaffa Cake!

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Sequim Lavender Festival, Lemon-Lavender Bars, Prince George's Birthday

Hi there! It has been summer here in the Pacific Northwest...and I have been happily up to my ears in farm fresh lavender, blueberries and peaches!
And... It's Sequim's 23rd annual Lavender Festival weekend!
But first...




July 22 is Prince George's 6th birthday...amazing! Love the Getty image above...so cute.




It really does seem like a few months ago, instead of July 2013 that he was born...




And he is certainly a typical little boy! 




The Cambridge Mom Catherine, Prince George and Princess Charlotte together earlier this month


Just released by his Mum for his 6th birthday...
So fun!


 Here are a few Lavender Fair photos...




Outdoor Sequim band concert in the park...




I'd call this outdoor sculpture...at a Cedarbrook Lavender...





At Purple Haze Lavender...a mini Lavender market, with food and live music as well...





Lavender quilts at one of the booths...what a fun long weekend it always is!
There is a driftwood art show, farmer's market, concerts in the park, the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt show, car show, lavender crafts and basically entertainment every minute. And if anything can be made to eat with lavender in it... it'll be available!
There is a huge food court, mostly with vender...


Our favorite is the Swiss Chocolate Lavender ice cream!






Just a few more photos I took of the festival and a few venues...

Ad speaking of lavender goodies...


And while looking through old magazines I found this recipe for Lemon-Lavender Bars in the October 2013 issue of Country Living:





The recipe link is here:



And we have a few Lavender themed Adderley, England bone china mugs at Antiques And Teacups as well..



Hope you are having a lovely summer week... we are in for our hottest this year so far apparently... which for most of you won't seem very hot... 80s and possibly a 90... but that's hot for us!
Iced Harney & Sons Tropical Green in a large pitcher in the fridge, so all is good!

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Strawberries, Strawberry Scones And Summer With Miss Read



Isn't that a wonderful strawberry collage? It is from Beth Style Book. Love her work...
I love strawberries, and they are on our menu as much as possible this time of year... from atop the breakfast oatmeal, on french toast, in salads, or on the tea table.
I have strawberry scones for tea today...actually had it all ready last week, but...good thing I had photographed it already as the goodies are all gone!



As I was deciding what to use for this tea, I got to a Shelley tea set I have and decided to use it, because I love the aqua and white of the Drifting Leaves pattern...




This set is in the Gainsborough shape and so the teapot is very curvy...
which I love!



The pattern was a true mid century design with it's stylized leaves a "snow crystals? and was only made from 1956 to 1966 when the pottery closed. The pattern number is number 13848.


The teacups are so sweet...I love the Gainsborough shape...actually one of my favorites!


 The mark again...the set was made late enough in Shelley's history that the pieces are always marked with the pattern name.


Many earlier china only had numbers, not marks, and then they became more consistent with marking with the name.


I am using another of my embroidered tea cloths...this has multicolored Daisies. It has a few stains, so I have a project next week to see if I can get those out. I recently found a forgotten box of linens in the back of the closet I brought home from an England trip just before a move that I had completely forgotten about! Just like Christmas!




I also have luncheon plates in the Drifting Leaves pattern, and a creamer and sugar basin and a cake plateau which I forgot to get out, although I remembered the sandwich tray!....






And a rectangular sandwich tray...those are really hard to find... on the tray are the fresh Strawberry Scones I made...the recipe is below...





And a perfect book to read for tea time...

Summer At Fairacre by Miss Read.

I have collected the entire series of her books. The series features school teachers in small Cotswolds villages of Fairacre, Thrush Green, Caxley and surrounding areas and cover from the late Victorian to the 1970s in various books. They are wonderful! I was first given one by my new sister-in-law after marrying my husband in 1974 and visiting his family in England, and was instantly hooked.




I think I have all Miss Read books...and regularly re-read them, whether seasonally... like this one for summer, or just by what appeals... The stories are so charming!





But back to strawberries!



We get 2 kinds of organic strawberries here...the larger American variety seen at the top of the blog...perfect sliced for pies or dipped in chocolate...and the smaller English variety seen in the photo above, with a different and more intense strawberry flavor that we love. They are the straberries I used in this recipe, although both are good!



The Strawberry Shortcake Scones recipe I used is from the blog BellyFull at




STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE SCONES

PREP TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
Tender flaky scones with fresh strawberries throughout and a dreamy glaze!
Serves: 12
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 12 small strawberries, hulled and diced
  • 3/4 cup half and half
For the glaze
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup half and half
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender (or your hands) until mixture resembles crumbs.
  3. Toss in strawberries and coat lightly with the flour mixture. Add half and half and fold together gently until the mixture just begins to come together and form a soft dough. (Do not knead or over mix the dough.)
  4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 1-inch thick rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 6 squares, then cut the squares on the diagonal to form 12 triangles. Place scones on prepared baking sheet and bake 16-18 minutes or until cooked through and golden.
  5. Place a sheet of parchment on a work surface, then place a cooling rack over top of parchment. Remove scones from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
  6. In the meantime, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, vanilla, and half and half until smooth. (If glaze is too thick, add a bit more cream. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.)
  7. Generously drizzle scones with the glaze. (Glaze will firm up when scones are completely cool.) Eat and enjoy!


There you go! They didn't last around here! Moist and tender...delicious!
Thanks so much for dropping by!

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