(Cameo Tea Set From Victorian Trading Co.)
I went for a walk this morning in the fog and took this picture. I discovered that you don't have to worry about getting a "clear" picture of fog. It always looks blurry, no matter how carefully it is photographed.
Today I prepared blueberry tea by pouring boiling water over blueberries. The reason I chose blueberry tea is that the fog sometimes takes on a blue color.
With the blueberry tea we are having foggy pudding. I made up the name so that the family would say "Bring us a foggy pudding."It is made with layers of cake (using a nut-bread recipe minus the nuts), custard (I made tapioca pudding for the custard) topped with fog cream. The cake, custard and cream were all flavored with almond extract. There is no recipe for foggy pudding. It is whatever the hostess wants it to be and can be made of any combination of foods. Fog cream is whipped cream dusted with almond flour (ground almonds) and there is no official recipe for that, either. These fog recipes and menus are all experimental and I am trying to make them compliment the fog as well as create special memories.
One day the shabby-chic industry will capitalize on fog, as it should. Then someone will write a book called "Fog-Chic," because so many things look like fog and could be included in special books and magazines. I can see in my mind's eye the beautiful pages of such a magazine filled with outdoor fog scenes and special indoor events and fog things.
I have a friend who told me how she grew up on the coast where it was almost always foggy. Her mother made a cinnamon tea to serve the children when they came in from outside. Since they had been in the fog, she wanted them to be warm, so she boiled cinnamon sticks on the stove several hours ahead of time to make this tea. She also prepared a hot bath for each of them before they had their tea, because she believed it would prevent illness. While my friend was growing up she said she and her siblings never had the colds and flue and coughs that were going around. Since she grew up in that foggy climate she always loved the fog.
I'm really enjoying your Foggy Tea Series. The foods are mouth watering and the tea sets look so warm and inviting.
ReplyDeleteWe live up in the mountains and our foggy mornings haven't been as thick as yours have, but during the evening you can see it rising from the creek and the fields. It hangs low to the ground.
I love the Foggy Cream you made. A friend of mine who spent time in England said the women there make something similar and call it a Trifle. They layer custard, some sort of cake pieces and whipped cream.
I'm looking forward to more Foggy Tea creations,
Mrs. J.
That blueberry tea is such a gorgeous color!
ReplyDeleteIt is foggy here this morning - I am about to step out onto the balcony and have my breakfast tea (Lipton's Vanilla Caramel Truffle today) and oatmeal on the balcony. Thank you for sharing all your "fog tea" ideas. I look forward to reading your blog so much, it's always uplifting.
I'm really getting into this fog thing with your neat foggy posts! :) I, too, love the fog. What a neat idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm hosting my Homemaking Linkup Weekend and would love to have you join, if you'd like!
Have a great day!
Mrs. Sarah Coller
Lady Lydia.. perhaps you should write the book! Your blog is my favorite..your writing is always interesting and you post beautiful pictures, I love your original ideas. Thank you so much for the time you out in it!
ReplyDeleteLydia;
ReplyDeleteYour foggy pudding looks good. I was looking through my recipes and came across a recipe for Tapioca Cream, I haven't made it in a while but I think when I make it, I'll give it a dusting with almond flour. Thanks for sharing your idea. Here is the link for the recipe if you're interested.
http://bjcronmiller.blogspot.com/2013/02/recipe-for-tapioca-cream.html
Beautiful tea set,and creative food! Fog is beautiful,and I too could imagine many things that magazines could do with it.
ReplyDeleteThat was very interesting about your friends childhood. Thank-you for sharing.
Christina
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteI love your thoughts and appreciation of fog! I do love waking up to fog every once in a while. It happened recently over here in the middle of Washington state and my younger children were delighted with it. They appreciated it just as you have in your posts. The cinnamon tea you mentioned reminded me of something I have done often in dreary weather. I sprinkle cloves and cinnamon (or use the whole herb) into water and simmer it on the stove to make the home smell "happy." It doesn't cost much and it is one of those extras that a mother at home can do to change the atmosphere when it is dreary. Our 18 year old daughter lived with a family this summer and delighted the mother of the family by simmering cinnamon one rainy day. I didn't think there was anything unusual or unique about it but it has become one of that family's special things to do!
You have inspired me to invent a fog treat such as the whipped creme delight that you made. It looks delicious!
Jill Farris
Tapioca is a natural fruit from South America. Thank you for posting the recipe on your blog. One caution for anyone making it. It looks like such a small amount called for on the recipe; sometimes 3 tablespoons, but do not be fooled into putting more in your mixing pan. That small amount will thicken a large amount of milk. You can also make this without sugar and without vanilla and it can be used to thicken berry pies. I use my little electric coffee grinder that I do not grind coffee in--the one that I set aside only for grains and nuts, and I refine the tapioca beads into a powder so that they will cook into a smooth pudding. You do have to grind about a half a cup of it in order for the blade to work, but it can be stored in a container for further use.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you do not have to use eggs if you prefer not to. I've experimented with tapioca and found it to work well without added ingredients, but it won't have the same flavor.
ReplyDeleteYour pudding looks so "light" and tasty! I've seen almond flour in the stores by Bob's Red Mill, but have never bought it. Do you have to add anything to almond flour for it to rise in recipes? I've heard of people using Xanthum Gum & etc with almond flour. Hope you have a great day!
ReplyDeletevery good health practices when living in fog...and I simply MUST make your pudding!
ReplyDeleteLM
English Trifle, Mrs. J. is outstanding. Make with pound cake chunks soaked in brandy (I think) , raspberries, custard pudding and whipped cream topped with slivered almonds. All ingredients are layered in a large glass pedestal bowl, so you can see all the layers. (How do you spell that??!) Rather decadent.
ReplyDeleteLM
English Trifle, Mrs. J. is outstanding. Make with pound cake chunks soaked in brandy (I think) , raspberries, custard pudding and whipped cream topped with slivered almonds. All ingredients are layered in a large glass pedestal bowl, so you can see all the layers. (How do you spell that??!) Rather decadent.
ReplyDeleteLM
Dear Lady--I can think of no one else who could write a book entitled FOG CHIC as well as you could. Perhaps this could be a part of your cottage industry?
ReplyDeleteLovely photographs, and the FOGGY PUDDING looks wonderful.