Category: Food & Cooking

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A Fall Tea Party

Today we flavored, colored and whipped half a dozen different types of heavy cream, dumped a dozen macarons that were an odd blue color and made buttercream that was way too sweet.

For the past few weeks our kitchen has remained in a constant state of disarray. We are in the process of settling a menu for our Pumpkin Tea. Every fall we host an english tea party, a tradition that goes back to when our dining room couldn’t really seat all the people waiting to sip tea and butter scones.

I’m really not sure who christened it Pumpkin Tea, but this party recently started back up again. Usually mid to late September our house hosts a party generating a few dozen different baked goods and tables of goodies.

The crux of the event from our prospective is being able to try a lot of different baking techniques and recipes without eating too many calories. Of course too many calories is a relative term, but with Pumpkin Tea we get to play with a wide range of methods and flavors.

This year we are doing more traditional english tea party fare.

Think … finger sandwiches, tea cakes and tarts. There is also an almond cake with a variety of flavored creams and fresh berries as toppings. 

One year we made four different cakes to find the right flavor and texture.

This year we went through several batches of macarons, realizing how hard it is to get those cookies consistently right.

Over the course of a month the menu expands, contracts and shifts as the testing points out items that may be tasty but require too much work. It also presents bakes that never seem to work out.

However, in the end we have a party spread and lots of good tastes … and we hope a good time is had by all. 

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Just a couple of cookies, please

You know, there are times what’s needed is …

a cookie hot from the oven!

Rarely does this occur when you actually have time to make a batch.

The other issue? Once made, cookies, in our house at least, rarely last more than a day.

We’ve discovered a system that allows small amounts of cookies, oven fresh, anytime and eliminates a cookie jar full of temptation.

For fifteen bucks or less you can get two Casabella freezer cookie trays, enough for a batch. Order online at either Amazon or King Arthur Flour. Each tray holds 15 tablespoon sized scoops of your favorite dough (chocolate chip, right). Easy seal lids protect cookie nuggets from the taste of last month’s frozen burrito’s. The scoops pop out easily. We found that cooking time is maybe a minute or two longer than the original recipe. It may be a bit too easy, but very convenient.

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A basic scone recipe

Simple is good when it comes to getting scones on the table. This recipe can be brought together quickly in the food processor and it is pretty easy to add dried fruit and/or nuts at the end.

Print Recipe

Folkestone Inn Scones

Nice basic scone recipe
Course: Breakfast

Ingredients

  • 2 cups All purpose (AP) flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5½ Tablespoons butter chilled and cut into cubes
  • 1 egg
  • 1 yolk
  • ⅓ cup milk more if needed

glaze

  • 1 egg white
  • ¼ cup sugar use as needed for frosting

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to food processor and combine. Add cubes of butter to mixture and mix until the flour resembles a coarse crumb.
  • In separate bowl combine egg, yolk and 1/3 cup milk.
  • Add egg mixture to the food processor bowl and run until a ball forms. You can add more milk to soften the dough.
  • Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently. Form into a ball.
  • Roll out to 1/2 inch thick circle and cut into wedges about 2 inches wide. Place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet.
  • In a small bowl beat egg white until frothy and then brush over the top of dough wedges and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
  • Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
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A Picnic Lunch

Now you have all those salad recipes, here is what we do with them … we go for a picnic. No, really.

For starters, pick up some deli cups (and lids) at a restaurant supply store. We use two sizes 16 and 32 ounces, which is basically two or four servings.

The clear plastic cups chill quickly, don’t break, but still allow you to see what’s inside. And when empty they are are very stackable. They aren’t dishwasher safe, but they do wash easily. We’ve gotten numerous re-use out of an initial purchase.

The cups also freeze nicely so you can put several frozen dinner offerings into the cooler and they help with the chill.

On the most recent camping trip, a week on the road, we had a salad smorgasbord for lunch and dinner

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Pour Over coffee

There are many different ways to brew a cup of coffee.

We prefer black coffee and have found that pour over or drip style brewers works well.  Current brewer of choice is an Asobu  a Chemex style (we also have a classic Chemex pot) that has an insulated carafe. We also use a OXO coffee maker that is a Melta style drip brewer.

To make a really good pot of pour over you need to follow some basic rules. Start with fresh roasted whole beans. You are grinding at home right?  If not stop reading right now and buy a grinder. This alone will improve your morning joe regardless of brewing method.

The ratio of grounds to water is important, but you’ll need to find the right mix. Suggestion is that you start at 60 grams of coffee and 1000 grams of water. We are using a 75% mix ratio … dial it in to taste.

A scale is pretty important but the one you are using for everyday cooking is fine, if you don’t have one … why not?

We use stainless steel on the Chemex style brewers and paper on the OXO coffee maker. We find that the steel filters allow some fine particles to pass, but it really doesn’t affect the taste of the coffee.

Brewing method is a simple three step process. First you wet and bloom the coffee. Pour about 150 grams of 200 degree water over the grounds make sure they are all saturated. This stage is the bloom. Let that sit for about a minute or so.

Now add more water, bring the weight up to half of your finished amount.

Again let this sit a bit and then do a second pour. We do this because the full brew is more than the cone will hold.

If you are using a paper filter on a Chemex brewer you can just pour a steady stream into the middle of the grounds until the maximum water weight is reached. In the end you are trying to get this whole process finished in about five minutes.

If you want to watch some great vidoes on coffee techniques and styles here are a couple of YouTube links, enjoy.

Elemental Coffee co. 

James Hoffman

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