A Downton Tea

Tea is served.

Today we have Vanilla Viennese Whirls and Blackcurrant Jam from Mrs. Patmore's kitchen, accompanied by grapes, strawberries, and smoked provolone. The bread for the jam, I confess, is in fact garlic and will not be consumed along with the jam (unless perhaps just for the insanity of it); it was simply the only small enough bread I had for my tea pictures.

My tea, as well, is an odd choice. It's simply the weird herbal blend I happened to already be making; it has nettle, echinacea, tulsi, skullcap, fennel, ginger, and clove. Not quite the Downton afternoon tea blend, eh, but this is real life. And I used to be all over buying the Downton blends at World Market (where I also got the pastries and jam, of course), but I'm kind of done now; now I just stick to blending my own loose teas.

The rest is quite nice, though. Never underestimate the fun of slices of cheese along with some fruit and dessert. Currants are one of the flavors I quite enjoy and wish I could get more of. World Market used to have currant flavored gummy candies; I think they were from Germany. Those were great. I do get currant jelly from time to time, so getting a Downton Abbey jelly was a reasonable purchase. It's novelty but it's also something that I like and can enjoy eating, and it won't leave me with a random piece of merchandise taking up space when the fun's worn off and I no longer want it.

The Viennese Whirls are lovely, too. Two flaky biscuits with cream in the middle, everything tasting of sweet vanilla. I don't care for cream in and of itself; it has to have flavor. And I find these quite nice. They have the tiniest hint of plum in them to add some springiness to the taste. If I were going to have a tea party, I suppose I could just head over to see what Ruze Cake House in Downton Scottsdale has today instead of buying packaged pastries, but still, these are fun. Again, if I'm going to play Downton Abbey merch, this is the way to do it.

All this to say that the movie is almost here. Naturally, I'll come back later with my thoughts on that one.