High Tide and Tea

This past Monday was a lovely day. The temperature was just right, the tide was high and the boat was full. It was a perfect day for a tea party for our special guests. Several of the regulars were back after being absent for a while. There were many reasons to celebrate. The tea treats were creative as well as delicious. Some one asked for the dried fruit and nut loaf recipe... so here it is.

Jan's Dried Fruit and Nut Loaf
3/4 cup all purpose white flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup brown sugar (I have been known to use coconut sugar for 1/4 of this measurement)
Mix dry ingredients together.
Add:
1 cup dried apricots - halved
1 cup dried cherries (those tart ones from Costco work great)
1 cup dried figs - halved
3 cups walnuts
Toss the fruit with the flour mixture until all the fruit is covered with flour.

In a bowl - beat 3 eggs with 1 tsp vanilla
Add the wet ingredients to the flour/fruit/nut mixture.
Stir well until all the flour has been mixed with the eggs. (Gooey)
Bake in a 300 degree oven for 50-55 minutes.
This recipe makes 3 mini loaves. The best size for tea bread.

You might say we are the Tea Party Boat... but don't think any of us have leanings toward the Tea Party! If anything our leanings are more toward the Boston Tea Party. I will warn you - this boat load is full of straight talking , clear thinking, determined women. They are a force to be reckoned with!

 

 

This time of year you can clearly see the influence of the Puyallup River.

Pineapple coleslaw with tomatoes, coconut balls,

fruit nut bread with lemon curd on the half shell, there were several kinds of cookies,

watermelon and much, much, more!

We quietly munched during the reading of

The Mermaid - a  poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

 

 

When asked if she had tried it - she hadn't even seen it. So nothing must do but stop rowing and pull out the toasted bread, add the tomato and herb spread and taste it for herself.

She said, "You are right - it is delicious!"

The wind came up just at the end of our tour. It was a little work to get Verite home.

It was good - it helped to work off all those extra calories.

It is good to be balanced in all things... or so they say.