Spill the Tea: Chit Chat No 2

Dear friends,

I hope you are all well and ready to sit down with your friends for a good old chat. The weather is changing and warming up. The flowers that are blooming are just beautiful! The warmer weather brings a positive vibe, and everyone is looking forward to summer. I hope you are set with your tea and have your munchies ready.

Father’s Day is approaching, and I am looking forward to showing my husband my appreciation for all the time and effort he puts into our family. I did come up with some ideas which are on the Father’s Day page. I hope you find one that suits your loved that the whole family can participate in.

As we are all about Strawberries right now, I just love this combination of the pink tea set with matching vases and of course our Taylors of Harrogate Strawberry Vanilla Tea. What a great find, so elegant and pretty.

• British Royal Series Porcelain Tea Set Strawberry Vanilla Tea 2-piece Strawberry Table Vase

Snazzy Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 4 Eggs
• 8oz or 225g sugar
• 8oz or 225g baking flour or self-rising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 8oz or 225g softened Irish butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence.
• Cupcake liners

For the Strawberry Cream Cheese Topping

• 3/4 cup butter softened
• 3/4 cup cream cheese, softened, do not use light or fat-free
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of strawberry jam

Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix until well mixed.  Repeat with remaining powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

Add in strawberry puree, vanilla extract and jam. Beat with an electric mixer until well mixed. If a thicker frosting is needed, add more powdered sugar, until desired consistency is reached. Set aside until ready to use.  

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or Gas Mark 4. Line the pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until it forms a paste, then add flour, and baking powder, vanilla essence. You can use a mixer but don’t over mix. The finished mixture should fall off a spoon easily.
3. Divide the mixture evenly into the cupcake pan.
4. Bake on the middle shelf for 15-20 minutes; they are done when they are golden brown. You can stick a toothpick in the middle to make sure. If it comes out clean, they are done.
5. Set aside to cool on a cooling rack.
6. When completely cooled pipe on the frosting.

VOILA!

Chit Chat

IF ANYONE HAS A FUNNY STORY THEY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND SEND IT TO ME AND I MAY FEATURE IT ON SPILL THE TEA Chit Chat! 

For today’s chit chat let’s talk about a great story that pertains to your father. Here is mine!

Captain of the Boat!

Near the southern tip of England in Cornwall lies the seaside town of Falmouth.  My family and I would visit this beautiful place at least once or twice a year. We would take the 362-mile journey either by car or train. I loved taking the train because the route goes through some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK. There is so much to do in Falmouth and the harbor is the hub of the town. We would stay in a little guest house very close to the main street and harbor. Mrs. Penrose was the proprietor, and she was such a jolly lady, always positive and smiling. She did wear a brown wig that was very old, and it would sometimes be set atop of her head in a lopsided way. She would cook the most delicious breakfasts and evening meals.

After a fish and chip lunch at a pub in the harbor, my father, Terry, decided that he would rent a small motorboat and take us out around the harbor and beaches. Now my father was about 6ft and very slim. He had a very dry sense of humor and would tell funny jokes all the time. He liked to dress very nicely, and his leather brogue shoes were always polished and shiny. He did have a bad habit of smoking cigarettes, which used to drive my mother crazy. So, on this day, having paid for our boat, we headed down to the boat dock. It was a lovely boat, white and blue and could at the most fit six people, there were four of us.

My father joked that we should all salute him and whistle when he went aboard the boat as he wanted to be the Captain for the trip.  We were poised and ready. Terry happened to light a cigarette just before he was due to board the boat and instead of putting it out, he put it in his mouth. The owner of the boat was holding the tether as my father put his right leg in the boat and his left leg was still on the dock. He told the owner he could let out the tether. As we saluted and whistled, the boat began to drift outward and my father’s legs got wider, he attempted to pull his right leg out of the boat and back to the dock, but he slipped and plunged into the water between the boat and the dock. Some people screamed and some people laughed as my father swam up to the dock, all the while with his cigarette in his mouth which was still lit. We stood there in shock, not knowing what to do. My mother began to walk away with embarrassment. My father was so stubborn that instead of going back to change, he got us all into the boat and he took us for a ride while he was wet to the skin. When we returned to the Guesthouse and Mrs. Penrose took all my father’s paper money and pegged it on the washing line to dry while we sat outside and had a good cup of tea and cakes!