very twee, very me...

I've been thinking about some of the things that bring me joy this week, and surely towards the top of my list has to be Sunday night - Downton Abbey time!  My husband and I and our son and his girlfriend all gather in our family room to catch the latest exploits of the Grantham family.  We worry if Edith will ever find love again, we wonder if Thomas' efforts to gain respect in the family will ever be successful, we laugh out loud at Violet's pithy one liners.  Such fun!

I've always been a firm believer in wringing every last drop of fun possible out of any given situation, so I've enjoyed making our Sunday nights even more special by providing an elegant repast for our viewing pleasure.  It may not be a proper British tea, but I've really enjoyed trying new recipes from my English Tea & Cakes cookbook and creating something lovely for my family.  To welcome the final Downton season in January I baked my first tart ever - delicious Manchester tart with an unexpected jam and breadcrumb filling, topped with meringue.  Yummy!

The next week I experimented with blackberry tea bread and Florentine slices, which have coconut and dried fruit on a chocolate base.  Delicious!  The blue willow tea cups were a special gift from my husband when we were visiting Harrods in London.

The following week I baked a Chocolate Orange drizzle cake, with tea served in my lovely tea cups that I inherited from my beloved Great-Aunt Stella.  I used to take the bus from my college in Kansas to visit her and her sister Naomi in Missouri, and Aunt Stella always used this Johnson Brothers china set for my breakfast.  I felt so special!  Sipping tea in the pretty teacup always brings back special memories of two wonderful women.

We celebrated my birthday weekend and Downton Abbey tea time with a gorgeous lemon cake, with tea served in these pretty teacups I found in an antiques store.  They are from the 1920s, so I fondly call them my Downton Abbey tea set.  The beautiful hydrangea was a birthday gift from a work colleague, and the beautiful candle and heart napkins were gifts from my girlfriend.  I felt completely surrounded by love.

I had to "blur" this picture just a little, so you can't see that a cup was dropped on top of my Lancaster lemon tart before I could take a picture!  Real life, folks, real life...

And finally, last week I served a delicious raspberry layer cake, and showed off another birthday present, my "Carson" tea print!  The pretty napkins are from my mother's birthday celebration last April.  It's nice to gaze on pretty spring-y floral napkins in the middle of winter!  The tea pot was a gift many years ago from my dear friend Barbara, and I think of her lovingly every time I "pour a cuppa."  There are a few weeks left in the season, so I still need to tackle scones, Victoria sponge cake, and like the nanny in the song below, fairy cakes! 

Would you care to sit with me
For a cup of English tea?
Very twee, very me
Any sunny morning

What a pleasure it would be
Chatting so delightfully

Nanny bakes fairy cakes
Every Sunday morning

Miles of miles of English garden
Stretching past the willow tree
Lines of hollyhocks and roses
Listen most attentively

Do you know the game croquet?
Peradventure we might play
Very gay, hip hooray
Any sunny morning

Miles of miles of English garden
Stretching past the willow tree
Lines of hollyhocks and roses
Listen most attentively

As a rule the church bells chime
When it's almost supper time
Nanny bakes fairy cakes
On a Sunday morning

~~Sir Paul McCartney

Today is a good day for a good day!