Tea and Company

oh dear, a teabag

As a fan of the tea party from an early age, I had been curious about Tudor House for awhile but never actually found the right occasion to visit. A visiting friend's birthday and a rainy gray Sunday after New Year's seemed just right.

All in all, it was a nice tea service. Aspects of both the decor and the food were retro (coral wall, iceberg lettuce). I was not wowed, but I was not unhappy. It was pleasant and gently festive for a birthday with the tower o' treats.

For the best foodie experience I enthusiastically recommend Chado. I've only been to the one in Pasadena. Both the tea and the food are lovely and all  the surprises are nice ones (unfussy service, reasonable prices). Also it is probably the best afternoon tea to which to bring a man, since he will not be overcome with a fit of the vapors upon viewing the decor. For the best English Immersion (may induce feelings of dizziness in susceptible males) make a (mandatory) reservation at the Rose Tree Cottage. If in Santa Monica and looking for a pleasant tea experience without a commute, Tudor House will do nicely and you can can't beat the location..

Tudor House
1402 2nd St.
Santa Monica, CA
thetudorhouse.com

...and December is over

No blog posts for December. There should have been two, so here they are in digest form.


Sugar Cookies and Gingerbread
Pregnant postdoc and distracted psychologist attempt to frost cookies without frosting the carpet. Results varied from Martha-like to childrens' scribble drawings. I was inordinately proud of my rosemary-as-holly-and-trees concept, though Mr. Picky pointed out it was a lot of chewy pungent rosemary for actually eating with a bite of cookie. Projective content of sugar designs was interpreted. Only some of the colored sugar wound up on the floor.

Tipsy Spice Cake with Dried Fruit and Citrus Zest

Or, fruitcake with a makeover, courtesy of Alton Brown ("Free Range Fruitcake"). If you like spice cake and dried fruit, it's worth looking up.

All fruitcakes, whether using candied fruit, dried fruit, or both, involve macerating in some kind of liquor and then sprinkling with some kind of liquor. This recipe calls for macerating in rum and spritzing with brandy. I don't really like brandy so we set up a taste test for the sprinkling step. The macerating liquid was golden rum for all of them, as called for in the recipe.

Surprisingly, the much-maligned brandy did well--1st place for B. and 2nd place for me. B. noted the possible confound that since I don't like brandy as such, I may have used a more judicious hand in applying it. This may be true. I personally liked the sherry best. The bourbon was Woodbridge and I had high hopes, but it was just too harsh. The rum was even worse. Perhaps after one or two months of aging the harder stuff would have been good, but why go through all that when you can get a delicious result with a not-too-shabby sherry from Trader Joes and enjoy it within a day or (ideally) a week?