Sunday, July 14, 2013

HERE'S AN EXTRA TO FEAST UPON

No, I have not been away, though, I have been silent for a little while.  There have been a few interesting things happen which, have kept me otherwise occupied.  I am therefore, storing up quite a number of possible future write-ups, colloquially-speaking. 

I did go visit the tea shop again, (see here: http://myword1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/of-bone-chinatea-and-cakes-and.html ) that serves goodies on and in old bone china, mostly mismatches, nevertheless, they are rather delightful pieces of crockery a-a-n-d make for good talking points.  The weather being really lovely, I sat  at one of the wooden tables outside, revelling in a rare al fresco opportunity.

This plate was adorned with my choice of a luscious more-ish piece of  home made Lemon Drizzle cake and served with a proper cake fork. There were obviously a few available, it was a quiet time;  if the tea shop is busy, you might get a short and dainty fine pronged fork, also nice to work into the cake with which to obtain a morsel to munch.

Here's an extra to feast upon ...the whole slice on the plate, both plate and slice of cake glistening in the sun.


Enjoy!



18 comments:

David Oliver said...

It sounds like a scene from a movie, maybe "The Painted Veil," "Out of Africa," one of those...I love them by the way.

The plate is pretty. Why did they place the cake on the napkin? It seems like it would be a little trouble extricating it.

Jennytc said...

I'm hungry already!

mira said...

What a treat . You got it all - scrumptious cake , pretty china and the perfect cake fork is lovely surroundings :) xxx

Anonymous said...

Oh don't, my taste buds are already working overtime - lemon drizzle is my favourite!

Anonymous said...

I think that you're teasing us as I'm sure that you enjoyed it more than we ever could! Flighty xx

Vincent said...

I'm looking at your two photos. Is it "spot the difference"?

ZACL said...

Hello David,

You make a point about the napkin, which I have given up mentioning now. It seems to be a habit here, where I live. I can only think sticking a napkin under a moist slice of cake, (well, anything really) replaces a doilie. You're obviously going to have difficulty using it for anything else, as you rightly point out. Another is wrapped around the cutlery which, is usable.

As the plates at the teashop are hand washed, I can hazard a guess that there is an attempt at keeping the amount of gunge down that has to be washed off. Other than that ...who knows.

ZACL said...

Well, Jennyta, time for a bikkie, or, your very own piece of cake. :)

ZACL said...

Oh yes Mira, it is delightful to be served with this lovely crockery and all the bits that accompany it. xx

ZACL said...

I only tried lemon drizzle for the first time, recently, GillyK. It was quite a good cake, which, is why I decided to try the lemon drizzle cake at the tea shop. It was miles better than the first one.

Absolute Yum!!

ZACL said...

Mr F,

You are right, I did thoroughly enjoy the cake, every crumb!

xx

ZACL said...

Hi Vincent,

How are you?

Apart from the visual scrumptiousness of the baking, yes, there is a difference between the two pictures.

:)

Snowbird said...

Oh my! I WANT that....and I WANT it now!!!xxxx

ZACL said...

Hi Snowbird,

I can fully understand that sentiment. I could easily thicken up in waist size very quickly if the teashop were next door! Fortunately, it isn't. :)

xx

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear your enjoying the summer time. The cake looks delicious.

ZACL said...

Yes, Shimon,

We can say that there is a period of summery weather to enjoy here, first time in years! People were getting weary of the lack of warmth and sun. It is lovely to have it.

the cake was very good indeed. I shan't make a regular habit of eating it though. It's like the old saying, 'a little of what you fancy does you good'.

David Oliver said...

Ah, I didn't realize they gave you another napkin. So I bet you are right about making the plate easier to wash. Seemed incredible to me they would wash those by hand until I thought about it. It being fine china of course the would.

ZACL said...

Hi David,

I have no idea why most of the local eateries and hostelries use more paper than essential, It is not something I was aware of until I moved to where I am. It does seem to be a common event now. Between you and me, I do wonder how many cents/pennies could be saved if there was only one serviette given and the 'nosh' was directly on the crockery. After all, that is what such lovely crockery was intended for.

The old fine bone china and newer fine BC with any silver or gold work on it, should not be cleaned in dishwashers. The old painting and varnishing techniques would not withstand the washing process for very long without causing loss of patterning and maybe damage to the china itself. As for the silver and gold finish stuff of yesteryear and today, it would soon begin to flake and fade.

Modern BC usually has some instruction about whether it is dishwasher proof (suitable) or not. Some current very fine Japanese china might not withstand machine dishwashing.