Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

National Coffee Day!

Isn't it wonderful that National Coffee Day - one of them, at least - falls on Chocolate Friday? That means we can celebrate MOCHA!  Again.  Heheh. 

Also, in honor of the day, I offer these icons for your use and viewing pleasure.  (Please don't just link to them, or you'll drain my batteries.  If you want one, copy and send it to your server, please and thank you very much.)

Now ... for MOCHA!

So, here's something I didn't know.  Mocha has, in the past, referred to a type of arabica coffee, grown near the port of Mocha in Yemen.  Apparently from the 15th through 17th centuries, Mocha (the city) was famous for being the major marketplace for coffee. Wiki says: "Even after other sources of coffee were found, Mocha (also called Sanani (meaning from Sana'a) or Mocha Sanani) beans continued to be prized for their strong, chocolate flavor - and remain so even today."

Now, lest anybody think I'm just waxing on useless minutia ... I am.  BUT ... Wiki also says: On the April 2003 Australian version of the TV show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" the one million Dollar question was "Mocha, a choice variety of coffee, takes its name from a seaport in which country? A: Somalia, B: Yemen, C: Oman, D: Djibouti". 

See?  You never know when you might need some trivia like this. 

Anyway, supposedly the coffee itself, sans human intervention, actually has a chocolate flavor.  I'm ordering me some!  Today!  I found several places online to buy, but I'll start with Peet's.  We'll see if they really do. 

Now, of course, "mocha" generally means coffee with chocolate added.  Either espresso and chocolate syrup, or down-home style made with a hefty spoonful of Nestle's cocoa.  Or, in a pinch, a handful of chocolate chips in the bottom of the cup will do nicely. 

Topped with whipped cream, or maybe a dollop of ice cream, and you've got a delish dessert drink.  Add a splash of tequila and kahlua for a Mexican Mocha for an after dinner treat. 

No matter how you mix it up, chocolate and coffee are two of my favorite things that go really well together.  In a cup, or used to flavor a dish or dessert, give me chocolate and coffee together and I'm a happy girl.

Cranberry Harvest Tea

It's finally cooling down enough (although we're still in the triple digits) that I can have my tea in the afternoons again.  Yesterday I gave myself a treat - I pulled out this new rose china cup and saucer and my little tea-for-one teapot that I got from The English Tea Store and made some special, unique, made-to--my-own-taste tea.  I know, you can buy this kind of thing, but I wanted it NOW, and I had the makings on hand, so ... here's my version of the harvest tea:

Christine's Cranberry Harvest Tea

Start with your favorite black tea.  (I used Black Dragon Golden Yunnan the Tea Fairy sent me.)

Add to the infuser:
5-8 dried cranberries (cherry or orange flavored are great!)
Cinnamon stick (how much depends on how big your teapot is.  I used a 1 inch piece)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp orange zest
Steep for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Be sure to visit this week's Harvest Edition of the Carnival of the Recipes, hosted at Booklore, where you'll also find a really cool coffee icon-ette called Pumpkin Spice.  Too cute.

Cream Tea

I've mentioned before that I'm a pc gamer.  I'll play almost anything ... well, as long as it doesn't involve shooting or blowing things up.  I like historic stuff, mysteries, puzzlers and fantasy games. 

What has this to do with cream tea, you ask.  Well, this little tidbit showed up in one of my games (Dark Fall: Lights Out) that has a historic setting.  It wasn't a clue, just an interesting aside written on a piece of paper in a drawer.  That's just the kind of detaily thing that drives some gamers nuts but that I love:

Cream Teas

A cream tea is an indulgent version of afternoon tea.  It's a treat that's as popular with tourists as it is with Britons themselves

The gentility of the event comes from the fine china and the ceremony of the tea pouring.  The indulgence comes from the delicacies that go with them.

To accompany their pot of tea, diners eat scones, clotted cream, and ideally home-made strawberry jam.  The scone (pronounced "skon') is a traditional form of baked bun, with a sweet and crumbly texture halfway between bread and cake.  Diners split their scone horizontally, then spread each half with generous helpings of jam and clotted cream.

Clotted cream is a specialty of the South West of England.  The counties of Devon and Cornwall vie with each other over who makes the best - and over how to dress a scone.  Devonians put the jam on top of the cream;  in Cornwall, they put the cream on top of the jam.

I was so tickled to find this in a computer game of all things.  It sparked my "need to know", so I went in search of further info.

The History
The origins of the term "cream tea" are a little muddy.  Cream tea is also sometimes called Devonshire Tea.  Some say that's because of the clotted cream - apparently if you're a true aficionado of clotted cream, there's nothing better than Devonshire clotted cream - but others say it's because the tea-scone-clotted cream-jam tradition started in the county of Devon in England. 

According to Wikipedia:

The name "Devonshire tea", used in Australia, comes from the county of Devon in England, where it is a local speciality, although it is disputed that this type of tea is original to Devon. Indeed many people call it a Cornish cream tea. In Cornwall, however, it is traditionally served with a split, a type of soft white bread roll, rather than a scone (although most commercially-served cream teas come with scones, even in Cornwall). The Cornish traditionally always put the cream on top of the jam, whereas in other parts of the country the jam is often put on top of the cream.

One variation to a cream tea is called Thunder and Lightning which consists of a round of bread, topped with Clotted Cream and Golden Syrup. In this case, even the Cornish put the cream on the bread first to stop the syrup passing right through.

But this article may answer the question as to origins - Local historians in Tavistock, a town in West Devon, while studying ancient manuscripts, discovered that cream tea originated with the monks of Tavistock's Benedictine Abbey in 981 AD.  The monks rewarded local workers who were helping to restore the abbey with bread, clotted cream and strawberry preserves.  Voila!  Cream tea was born.

Here's something interesting: Lots of places serve "cream tea", but how do you know if it's an authentic cream tea?  Check this list.

What IS Clotted Cream?
I was wondering about making my own clotted cream just for grins, so I started investigating how it's made.  Answers.com says it's a thick cream made primarily in England by heating milk until a layer of cream forms on its surface that is then cooled and skimmed off.

...made by gently heating rich, unpasteurized milk until a semisolid layer of cream forms on the surface. After cooling, the thickened cream is removed. Clotted cream can be spread on bread or spooned atop fresh fruit or desserts.

A reasonable facsimile may be made by combining two parts whole milk with one part whipping (heavy) cream, heating at the very lowest possible heat for a couple of hours until a skin forms, leaving it undisturbed overnght, and then harvesting the skin and its underclots—one may do whatever one likes with the remaining milk.

I think I'll just buy me some good Devonshire clotted cream, that's what I think.  I'm still mostly a one-dot cook, or two-dot at the most.  And lazy to boot.

Many thanks to Tom at Tea Room Appreciators for the use of two of their cream tea photos!

Carnival of the Recipes #110

Nice round number for this week's Carnival, hosted at Men in Aprons.  There are two chicken soup-ish recipes I absolutely must try: KeeWee's chicken & dumpling soup and Stephanie's Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Soup with Wild Mushrooms.  Both made my mouse waddle, it must be getting close to dinner time.  And Audrey the Coffee Sage has a yummy sounding recipe for Hazelnut Choco-Espresso Cookies that I have got to try.

Next week's Carnival will be a Harvest theme, hosted at by Bernadette at Booklore. Get yer Fall-ish recipes in to mailto:recipe.carnival@gmail.com by noon CST on Saturday.

Then... mark the date - Halloween weekend - yours truly will be hosting the Carnival.  So get out your best Halloween recipes, treats or tricks!

MORE Blogs to Visit

Before I forget (mind like a sieve, doncha know), here are a couple of blogs to add to your must-visit list:

NOTE: To folx who like to play linky, I really HATE it when you just post your links in the comments. It's so impersonal and one-sided and I feel so used.  I'll probably delete those kinds of comments from now on.  If you want me to look at your blog and play linky with you, email me!

• Tea Party Diva - "From Cupcakes & Chocolate to Tea Party Paraphenalia & Lifestyle".  I'm pretty sure the term Tea Party Diva corresponds to what I call my Tea Party Lady. 
• Kwaffee - the name comes from Nat's Aussie way of saying "coffee".  Hey Nat, record that, and put an mp3 of it on your blog!  (I love an aussie accent)
• Tea Room Appreciators - Gemmie and Tom serve up reviews and other assorted tea stuff
• Insani-tea - Fun new blog about tea.  For some reason this isn't coming up right in IE.  Use Firefox to view.
• Coffee & Tea gifts - it doesn't get better than a gift basket full of coffee or tea.  Or both.  Add a little chocolate, and I'm in heaven!
• Fresh Coffee Jones
• BaristaBlog - I can't remember if I blogged this before...

Tell 'em Christine sent you!

Chocolate for Health

This week's Chocolate Friday offering is healthy stuff.   

Personally, I've taken a Vow of Indulgence.  I follow the advice of one of my favorite quotes: "Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it I wash my mouth out with chocolate"   -- Charles M. Schultz

But I know there are others who occasionally need to be relieved of guilt, and/or given a healthy alternative to the decadence of choco-indulgences.  I did this once before for our buddy D who was trying hard to keep his girlish figure.  This time I'm doing it for KeeWee poor KeeWee who is counting every ... whatever it is you count when you're on Weight Watchers.
Note: pic stolen from Kelly's Iblio site

Firstly, I just gotta note that chocolate isn't bad for you.  It's the fats and sugars that chocolate is usually bundled with that cause all the problems.  But chocolate has lots of good stuff in it: antioxidants and polyphenols and flavanoids.  Research has shown that chocolate and cocoa can help your heart, keep your cholesterol down, keep you young, boost your sex life, and even help you grow new hair. 

Ok, I'm exaggerating.  But only a little.

According to this article:

Good quality chocolates are made with cocoa butter, which is comprised of about one-third oleic acid, a fat like that found in olive oil. Oleic acid has been shown to lower both total and LDL cholesterol.

It's important to read the labels, though, because not all chocolate is made with cocoa butter.

Chocolate is also rich in antioxidants. Studies have shown that flavonoids, which are found in cocoa, lower the risks of heart disease, lung and prostate cancer and type- 2 diabetes.

And of course, dark chocolate is the way to go, says What's Cooking America:  "a study by market research publisher Packaged Facts titled Market Trends: The U.S. Market for Gourmet Chocolate reports that the higher cocoa, lower sugar content and antioxidant properties of premium dark chocolate are making it a more attractive treat for health-conscious Americans, especially those counting carbs.

S'wenyway, if you're trying to keep your fat and sugar intake down but still want your choco-fix, here are a few "healthy" recipe sources for you:

• Healthy Fudgy Brownies - from Recipezaar.com made with wheat germ and oatmeal
• Healthy Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe - from BellyBytes.com's Healthy Chocolate Recipes List
• Chocolate Monkey - Heh, it's a sort of chocolate banana smoothie
• Healthy Chocolate Mousse -non dairy - from The Worlds Healthiest Foods
• Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding - from Cooking Light's Chocolate Recipes
• Healthy Chocolate Souffle - low fat and low calorie, from DIY Network

Whew!  That's all I can manage.  Too much healthy stuff and my eyes start to roll back in my head.  You all can live long and healthy.  I think I'll make chocolate pancakes for brekky this morning.  With chocolate syrup.  Yeah, that's the ticket!

Bavarian Apple Torte... for brekky?

Another winning recipe from my SIL.  I guess probably it's too rich for breakfast.  Late brunch maybe, with good strong coffee.  Definitely dessert or afternoon tea treats.  If it were up to me though, it would be an all-day kind of thing.  B's Bavarian Apple Torte is truly delicious, delectable, delightful and dewonderful.  The cream cheese insides are to die for.

What is a torte, anyway?  According to the OChef, a torte is a flourless cake, traditionally made with ground nuts or breadcrumbs instead of flour and held together by lots and lots of eggs.  By that definition, I'm not sure this is really a torte.  Do I care?  Not really.  But just to head off those who like to pick nits, I'm picking them ahead of time.  Heh. 

B's Bavarian Apple Torte

CRUST:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (2/3 cup white, 1/3 cup whole wheat)
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

TOPPING:
2 cups peeled tart apples (sliced to 1/8" thickness)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 cup strained apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 375°.  Butter spring form 9" or 9" pie tin.

1.  Cream together butter & sugar until fluffy.  Add flour, salt and beat together.  Spread evenly over bottom of pan.

2.  Beat together cream cheese, egg, sugar & vanilla.  Pour over dough.

3.  Combine sugar, cinnamon and apples.  Arrange slices over filling in 2 overlapping circles.

4.  Warm up strained preserves and brush over apples.

Bake for 45-55 minutes until golden brown.  Serve warm or cold.  You can use other fruits for topping.  For softer fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, etc., bake the torte alone without fruit topping.  Then add fruit as it cools.

Enjoy!

Ahoy There Mateys!

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day!  Cute button, huh?  I stole it from the Wikipedia Pirate page.

For more information and lotsa good links about International Talk Like a Pirate Day, check my last year's Piratey post.  There's links for making grog, and plenty of other pirate stuff.

Arrrgh, swash my buckle, and shiver me timbers, it's hard to believe it's been a whole year. 

And stay away from my bootie!  Errr, booty.  Heh, but stay away from my bootie too.

Speaking of booty, you gotta see this video clip: Pirate vs. Ninja.  It's a mighty chuckle-fest and appropriate for the day.

To help you make it through the day, Jack Sparrow's Coffee is a must. 

And be it known that moderate doses of RUM help yer ability to talk like a pirate.  So get ye out there and celebrate, pirate-style.  Avast there!  Shove off and heave to.  Or something like that.

B's Apple Crisp

I decided I couldn't let another week go by without posting something for the Carnival of the Recipes.  So - a quicky without pics, I'm afraid - B's Apple Crisp. 

For some reasong I keep typo-ing Apple Crips.  Heheh.  Shades of some east LA gang or something.  We're flying colors in this recipe!  Just kidding.  No danger here.  This is one of my SIL's recipes.  I haven't tried making this yet, but she swears by it as the perfect morning coffee accompaniment, and boy does it sound EASY! 

B's Apple Crips

4 cups tart apples, sliced (about 4 med. apples)
2/3 - 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, melted

Place apples in 8" x 8" pan.  Mix together all other ingredients.  Sprinkle mixture oer apples, and pour melted butter over all.  Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Friday: ChocoLinkage

Found some interesting stuff on the net this morning. 
I offer these chocolinks for your perusing pleasure:

• The Official Rec.Food.Chocolate List of Frequently Asked Questions - HUGE list of q's and a's about eating, cooking with, and buying chocolate.
• In Honour of Chocolate Friday or Mutilated Cake Galore - feel the love!  This girl knows how to celebrate Chocolate Friday!
• All About Chocolate - Excellent collection of articles about chocolate from Happy News.  I especially enjoyed this one: How to Review and Compare Chocolate Taste.  Interesting stuff, although I mostly just go by those little bells that go off in my head when something tastes really really good to me.  :)
• All About Chocolate - good choco-info from Mr. Chocolate - Jacques Torres.  Geared toward "cooking with". 
• All About Chocolate - From FieldMuseum.org. I loved the section on choco-history.  The image here came from their website.

If you're interested in choco-chitsy-chatsy, check these links:

• Chocolate Forum from Topix
• rec.food.chocolate - newsgroup
• alt.food.chocolate - newsgroup
• CocoaJava Cafe - a LiveJournal community
• Chocolate Review Chocolate Forum - a UK forum
• 70%'s Chocolate Forum

That's enough chocolinkage for today.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back to cooking and baking and I'll have some delish chocolate recipes next week!