Tea Tuesday/Downton Downtime Mashup with Glamorgan Sausages

12 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast, Brunch, Garden Parties, Side Dish

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Abbey Cooks Entertain, afternoon tea, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey Party Food, Downton Abbey recipes, Glamorgan Sausages, Relish Cooking Studio

Afternoon Tea at the newly renovated Kensington Hotel in London

This past Sunday, clocks “sprang” forward one hour around the world in observance of Daylight Savings Time (DST), first implemented by the Germans in 1916 during World War I as an energy saving measure. The idea caught on. Currently 70 countries utilize Daylight Saving Time in at least in part of their country. Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not observe some form of daylight saving.

It will likely take a week or so to adjust to losing one hour of sleep. That still does not explain how I managed to lock breakfast in our locking (self-cleaning) oven on Saturday morning. I am sure Daisy never had this issue. By the time I figured out how to reset the oven, our breakfast was now brunch.

Downton Abbey and Thanksgiving “Makeovers”

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast, Brunch, Season 1, Season 2, Season 3

≈ 1 Comment

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Colcannon, Colcannon cakes, Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey DVD, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey recipes, Downton Abbey Revisited, Edwardian recipes, food history, Healthy Cooking, PBS

Getting ready to open its doors for Season 3

Thanksgiving in the US has past, and many are still savoring “leftovers” from huge family dinners. I never really liked the term “leftover” as it carries a negative connotation, as if the food has lost some value somehow. I like to use the term “makeover”, implying that yesterday’s fabulous meal will taste even better today with a few touches, and more love added in. I often find that many dishes take on new lives when enjoyed the second time around. Today’s dish is a prime example. Colcannon (a mashed mixture of potatoes and cabbage) is sinfully delightful when made into Colcannon cakes. This is definitely a Lord D favorite.

Add Some Downton Touches to Your Holiday Table

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast, Brunch, Main Course, Special Occasion

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Abbey Cooks Entertain, crumpets, Downton Abbey recipes, Downton Abbey Thanksgiving, Downton dining, Easy baked ham, Edwardian cooking, Edwardian low fat banana pumpkin bread, food history, guilt free pumpkin pie tartlets, holiday ham, kedgeree, low fat pancakes, low fat waffles, Pumpkin puree, roasted lamb, squab, Turkey dinner

gourds and candles make a lovely Thanksgiving table photo: Hudson Grows

Across America, experienced cooks are finalizing their Thanksgiving dinner menus, and double checking their order for fresh turkey. Less experienced cooks are summoning up the courage to take on their first big meal, excited about starting new family traditions of their own, but nervous about how it will all come together. The rest are finalizing their travel plans or still scrambling to find a spot at a dinner table somewhere.

Thanksgiving is a North American holiday so the Dowager may well ask “What is a Thanksgiving Dinner?” The British don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the same way. Instead, harvest festivals are held across the UK during the month of October, but there is no big holiday meal. In Canada our Thanksgiving holiday is held the second Monday in October, presumably since our growing season is shorter. It has nothing on American Thanksgiving as I learned from living in the US. As an outsider, it occurs to me that it has greater significance as a time to gather family and friends than Christmas. For that, America, do give thanks this holiday weekend.

Tea Tuesday Serves up Healthy Pumpkin Bran Loaf Goodness

09 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Afternoon Tea, Breakfast, Season 3

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afternoon tea, Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey casting news, Downton Abbey recipes, healthy desserts, healthy tea loaf, pumpkin bran loaf, Pumpkin puree

Montague on the Gardens offers awarding winning Afternoon Tea in touristy London.

Welcome to Tea Tuesday, my weekly ritual of sharing tea with Downton Abbey fans. Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. Lord D and I spent some time in the Kingston area, where the War of 1812 was fought; a special shout out to Eunice Chaplin, the owner of Blanche Dubois at Elysian Fields, the lovely B&B we stayed at in Napanee. A gourmet chef, she caters from her home and hosts a dinner club in the off season. More about Eunice another time, but if you are the area, Lord D and I highly recommend this great B&B with beautifully appointed rooms topped off with a gourmet breakfast.

Downton Downtime: Pudding for Breakfast or Brunch

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Book Reviews, Breakfast, Brunch, Season 3

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Abbey Cooks Entertain, breakfast pudding, Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey Season 3 food, Edwardian recipes, English puddings, Healthy Cooking, Kitchen Cut-Protection Glove, Pudding Club

What will Daisy be cooking in Season 3? (ITV)

It’s the last week of August and time when many of us begin to mentally prepare for the end of the lazy days of Summer and the return to busy schedules of the Fall and Winter season, when the kids are in school and superiors/co-workers are back from holiday with lots of great ideas to implement. For Downton Abbey fans in the UK, the end of Summer brings a new Season of their favorite period drama. Continue reading »

Tea Tuesday: Witty Downton Retorts Served with Custard Tarts

21 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast, Season 2, Season 3

≈ 4 Comments

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afternoon tea, Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey Party Food, Downton Abbey recipes, Downton Abbey Season 3 clips, Downton Abbey Spoilers, Downton Abbey Themed Emmy Party ideas, Healthy Cooking, low fat pastel de nata, portuguese custard tarts, Real Food, recipes

Award winning afternoon tea at the Palm Court in Langham Hotel in London.

Welcome to Tea Tuesday, my weekly tribute to the art of having tea. As Henry James once said: “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

I host Tea Tuesday each week, a virtual tea party which was inspired by Christine, a follower who lives in France, who was curious about English tea traditions after watching a few episodes of Downton Abbey. The British may have failed miserably in other culinary areas, but they excel in the tea ritual. Join me every Tuesday as I dish on Downton Abbey, the Royal Family, UK tourism and other topical tea issues one might discuss at tea, served up with a tea treat recipe with a history.

Downton Downtime: Pack Healthy Snacks for Travel by Air, Land or Sea

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast, Brunch

≈ 3 Comments

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afternoon tea, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey recipes, low fat strawberry rhubarb muffins, Queen's Diamond Jubilee, strawberry rhubarb muffins

you can choose to travel this summer…or not

Summer is officially here and many of you are packing or currently on your annual summer vacation. Some of your trips will be new adventures to places like London, for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Wimbledon (on right now), or the Summer Olympics. For many of you, like me, some of your summer vacation is dedicated to time honored family traditions. Spending time at your cottage with friends, particularly on the long weekend, or staying home and enjoying your local community. The Summer is a great time to entertain. The Crawleys’ hosted a lovely Garden Party at the end of Season 1 of Downton Abbey. The family would return from”The Season” in London, to enjoy the great outdoors at their beloved Downton.

In our part of the world, it is Spring until one day it is Summer. And then one day it is Fall, and back to grey skies. My favorite saying to a staff member during the summer months was “There’s only one day of Summer”, as in don’t get too bogged down in work, enjoy the Summer while it lasts.

Summer Note: While I won’t be posting as regularly for the next few weeks, you can still catch me on Twitter (@downtoncooks) or on Facebook.

Raisin Redeeming Qualities of Edwardian Cookery: Real Food

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast

≈ 7 Comments

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Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey Food, Edwardian cooking, Edwardian recipes, Food Revolution, Raisin Bread

Downton Abbey sisters appear to have coped with the lavish Edwardian diet (Carnival Film & Television)

I had an interesting phone conversation with my aunt yesterday. She has been finding the recipes I share on this blog very hard to resist. It has been great fun showcasing some of the food of the Edwardian era, and finding ways to update them to suit a healthier lifestyle. I look for classics which can be lightened up, but for some of the Titanic desserts, the only option might be portion control.

Edwardian cookery is noteworthy because it personifies an era where extravagance was an art form and the formal dining room table its canvas. But somehow the women of Downton Abbey –with the exception of Mrs. Patmore–maintained their girlish figures. Corsets helped a great deal for the ladies who lived upstairs, and we can imagine how many calories were burned by the below stairs workers. Instinctively it seems, servants ate heartier meals for stamina, like a breakfast of steel cut oats (that was what we had this morning) which we now know helps fuel the body for the rest of the day.

Waffling between Downton and Sherlock

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast

≈ 3 Comments

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Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey recipes, Sherlock, Waffles

Many Downton fans also love Sherlock

PBS has another hit on its hands: Sherlock, a modern twist on the adventures of the fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Season 2 premiered on Masterpiece Mystery last night and the Twitter feed at #Sherlockpbs flashed by so quickly I could barely keep up with fan comments. Similarities between Downton Abbey and Sherlock lie in a shared period of history. While the Sherlock Holmes was born in late Victorian/early Edwardian fiction, the twist in the TV show is that it is played out in modern London: back to the Future. They are both critically acclaimed and vying for ratings. Downton beat out Upstair Downstairs, which was recently cancelled, but a perhaps a different approach to period drama might prove a more worthy adversary.

“Life IS Downton Abbey”. What a gem..or is that muffin?

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by downtonabbeycooks in *About the Show, Breakfast

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Breakfast, Downton Abbey, Downton Abbey Food, Downton Abbey recipes, Edwardian cooking, low fat oatmeal fruit muffins

Spoofs: the sincerest form of flattery

The phrase ”Imitation is the sincerest of flattery”, is credited to Charles Caleb Colton, in Lacon: or, Many things in few words in 1820. Downton Abbey has certainly seen its share of tributes as well as parodies, such as Downton Arby’s, Downton Sixby circulating on the web, and little references finding their way into scripts of other shows. A current favorite circulating around Twitter is from the Office: Jim: ”Life is not Downton Abbey”. Pam: “Life IS Downton Abbey”.

Downton Abbey Cooks

~ Great food has a history

Category Archives: Breakfast

Tea Tuesday/Downton Downtime Mashup with Glamorgan Sausages

Downton Abbey and Thanksgiving “Makeovers”

Add Some Downton Touches to Your Holiday Table

Tea Tuesday Serves up Healthy Pumpkin Bran Loaf Goodness

Downton Downtime: Pudding for Breakfast or Brunch

Tea Tuesday: Witty Downton Retorts Served with Custard Tarts

Downton Downtime: Pack Healthy Snacks for Travel by Air, Land or Sea

Raisin Redeeming Qualities of Edwardian Cookery: Real Food

Waffling between Downton and Sherlock

“Life IS Downton Abbey”. What a gem..or is that muffin?