November 2017 - Gratitude: The China Cabinet

I have been in love with china cabinets all my life. Among my first memories is gazing through the glass into my grandmother’s old oak cabinet back in Kansas at the colorful jumble of pink and green Depression glass, dishes and platters for special occasions and brightly decorated teapots in wildly imaginative designs from the 1920s and even earlier. One of her teapots was chocolate brown in color and boldly decorated in orange and green to resemble a dragon with the dragon’s mouth serving as the pouring spout and the handle as the tail. Presumably this fantastical creature would be pouring hot tea rather than fire. Gram also had a bright red tomato teapot with the green stem protruding from the lid. Born in the Victorian era, my grandmother also had her share of elegantly painted floral teacups, hobnail milk glass vases and clear pressed glass cake plates.

At the outdoor tea,
A butterfly lands on a
Rose painted teacup.

All of these items fascinated me, and fortunately, Gram was not the fussy sort who didn’t allow children to touch her “good china.” She even let me open the cabinet myself and touch anything I pleased. This activity afforded me endless hours of pleasure throughout my childhood. I learned to admire and respect my grandmother’s treasures, to celebrate their stories, as every piece of china has a story, and to replace them carefully in their rightful position in the cabinet where they lived with all of their beautiful friends. We also took the dishes out to serve their true purpose when Gram and I decided that today we would have Afternoon Tea.

​Light from the sunrise
Over the sea sparkles on
Pink Depression glass.

Modern life does not always make room for a china cabinet. If you live in a place that cannot accommodate such a large extravagance of money and space, at the very least, you can allocate a cupboard or a shelf in your living area for your teapot, your teacups and whatever tea accoutrements you may have. This will give dignity and meaning to the quiet and peaceful ritual of Afternoon Tea when you make time for it in your life.

Those of us who love this ancient custom want to offer our food and tea on the most beautiful china we have in the most elegant and hospitable way we can. Our tea objects are the tools of our trade, and they deserve a place of honor, as they are sacramental objects in the sense that a shared meal, prepared with love, is a sacred activity.

​Gratitude is at the center of every tea gathering. We are grateful for our friends who share this special time with us, for the privilege of preparing food and tea for them and for our ancestors who kept this practice alive and taught us about tea. And we are grateful to be the stewards of our tea objects, which someday will belong to someone else.
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​The dragon-headed
Teapot in the old lady’s
 Hand spouts steaming tea.
 

​As Thanksgiving arrives this year, I hope that gratitude will be your theme on this long holiday weekend. Perhaps you will make time for an intimate tea gathering with a few special friends or relatives in addition to the traditional family feast.  And if you have a china cabinet, open it up and use the oldest and most precious pieces you have. If not for Thanksgiving, then when?

For Thanksgiving tea time ideas, I invite you to look at the Post-Thanksgiving Tea menu in the November calendar section of myteaplanner.com. This menu is filled with wonderful suggestions for using Thanksgiving leftovers in creative and delicious ways. The September Ozark Harvest Tea, based on my grandmother’s recipes, might also provide some inspiration and insight into the woman whose china cabinet captured my imagination and set me on the road to Afternoon Tea. And if there are children in your life, the Thanksgiving weekend would be a perfect time for a tea party with your young friends, teaching them by example the spirit of gratitude and cooperation. You can find our Afternoon Tea for Children in the Afternoon Tea for Special Occasions section of myteaplanner.com. This menu includes easy to make tea foods that children like to eat and can actually help prepare themselves. We have also provided a complete grocery list, planning guide and step-by-step procedures for making the food with the children as a hands-on play and learning activity.

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​At the tea party,
The children eat black olives
From their fingertips.

As an easy addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table or the featured sweet at a post-Thanksgiving tea party, I leave you with a recipe for Tarte Sucre, a French-Canadian classic that features one of autumn’s true gifts to the world, maple syrup. This special pie will also serve as a preview of our culinary adventures in Quebec, coming up in 2018.

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Tarte Sucre
(Sugar Tart)

​This sweet and comforting pie originated in northern France and Belgium and has become a staple of French-Canadian baking with the addition of locally produced maple syrup. Quaker immigrants brought a similar pastry to Indiana, where it is known as Sugar Cream Pie. This is one of the easiest desserts to make, sort of like creamy Pecan Pie without the pecans, yet it is deeply satisfying and memorable in its humble simplicity. 
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1 package refrigerated pie dough
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup maple syrup plus 1 tablespoon for whipped cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ teaspoon salt
 
Preheat oven to 375°F
 
Special equipment: 9” pie pan, plastic wrap, medium sized mixing bowl, whisk or hand-held electric mixer, rubber spatula, wire rack
Makes: about 8 servings

1. Following package directions, prepare the crust for a single-crust pie in a 9” pie pan. Crimp the edges decoratively, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you make the filling.
2. Reserve 1 cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup for the topping. Combine all the remaining filling ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl (make sure the butter is melted,) and whisk or beat lightly until well combined. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Bake the tart in the bottom third of the preheated oven until the filling is just set, the crust is golden brown and the top is a dark amber color, about 50-60 minutes.
4. Place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
5. Whip one cup of well-chilled heavy cream until it is soft and pillowy. Add 1 tablespoon maple syrup and beat for a few more seconds. Keep the whipped cream chilled until ready to serve the tart.
6. When the Tarte Sucre has cooled, serve it in small slices topped with maple flavored whipped cream.