Tea for two

.
I finally found somewhere in Tampa to have High Tea. It seems there are a few tea houses around town. Nothing as grand as the Windsor, but there is a very cute place called Tea Rose Cottage.

Situatied in the old historic part of town, it's a shabby chic oasis. All white and pink, chandeliers and floral porcelain.

I dragged the Colonel along to share in the dainty delights, but he was a bit taken aback when he saw the pink confection setting he had been placed into. He looked like a nervous pig on the way to the slaughter house when he sat down surrounded by all those chintzy patterns. The other patrons were all ladies, and unfortunately we could hear them blathering on about all kinds of tedious stuff, so incredibly banal, it did nothing to make him feel less out of place.

Fortunately the tea arrived and our attentions were diverted. I had a pot of Tea Rose tea which reminded me of Turkish Delight, something I can't get here. The three tiered stand soon arrived full of delectable goodies.

.

The scones however were an utter disappointment. I found that they were not in fact scones, but some heavy, very sweet kind of cake instead. I told the waitress how much nicer it would be with proper scones to which she replied that Americans don't like plain scones, they want sweet ones. Well, that is not too surprising. As one can see from an earlier post on fashion, the portly are truly at home here, and it would figure that sweet scones are prized over plain ones. There is just no accounting for some taste's.



Fortunately I have an excellent scone recipe, thanks to my sister Carla. For anyone who is not a fan of the sickly concotion some here unfathomably call scones, I have included the recipe.





In the USA it is pronounced S-cone, as in stone. For goodness sake people, It's a scone, as in gone. Fact.

Scones

Sift 2 cups of SELF RAISING flour into a bowl

Pour in small container of cream, (remove half for whipping)

Top up container with milk, shake and add to flour

Mix with a knife, butter knife is perfect.

Turn out onto floured surface, roll out and cut into circles.

Place on lightly floured tray.

Bake 15 mins in 180 C oven.

Brush tops with milk.

Sometimes I use all cream but a variation is to use 150 ml of cream and 150 ml of milk.

Dates or sultanas can also be added.