Monthly Archives: January 2014

Tea, Twitter & Scones: Downton Abbey Returns to Television Tonight

by Rebecca Penovich | Leave a comment

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Dear Obsessed:

Here is information on the MASTERPIECE Twitter Event for Downton Abbey’s season 4 premiere tonight if you are interested.

Tag your posts with the hashtag #DowntonPBS and then visit using your own favorite aggregator.

Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television

Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

WHAT: PBS and MASTERPIECE are hosting a live Twitter discussion (#DowntonPBS)

WHEN: Sunday, January 5, 2014, 9-11pm Eastern time

WHERE: Join us on Twitter, use hashtag #DowntonPBS

TOPICS: Downton Abbey, fashion, the 1920’s, MASTERPIECE

WHO:  PBS (@PBS); MASTERPIECE ( @masterpiecepbs); Jarrett Wieselman of Buzzfeed ( @JarettSays); Tom and Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo); Vanity Fair  (@vanityfair); actress Lesley Nicol, Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey (@lesley_nicol)– and YOU!

RSVP: Please follow and be followed (on Twitter, of course!) by other #DowntonPBS tweeters

And my lovelies, settle in with some tea and tea sandwiches like these:

You wouldn't actually serve a cucumber sandwich open face but I thought it looked so pretty.

You wouldn’t actually serve a cucumber sandwich open face but I thought it looked so pretty.

 

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Or a good slog of a fine American bourbon like Cora’s mother, Martha Levinson.

Shirley McLean with tea

Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

1/5/13 UPDATE:  Ha, ha.  I just realized that because of my terrible grammar in the sentence (above), I just called Shirley MacLaine a good slog of American bourbon.

Return to Downton Abbey with Crumpets & Scones

by Rebecca Penovich | 2 Comments

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Yes, Lords and Ladies, Downton Abbey returns tonight on PBS at 9 pm (ET). But you knew that, right?

Mary and Branson with babies

Lady Mary and Branson with their respective aristocratic progeny, baby George and Sybbie.
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

IMG_1305

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

I’m a big fan of the show (and a bit of an Anglophile) so to get in the spirit of the thing, let’s have tea and crumpets, I mean, scones.

What is the difference between a crumpet and scone, you might ask? I did a little research (source: M. Skylar Ezell) and discovered that scones are a flaky pastry whose origin dates back to the 1500s in Scotland, while crumpets are likely to be Welsh in origin. The earliest known crumpet recipe was in British entrepreneur Elizabeth Raffald’s cookbook “The Experienced English Housekeeper” in 1769.

You may have butter, jam or other spreads with your scones or crumpets. And while scones can either have currants or other dried fruit in them, crumpets do not. For a delectable treat with your tea, serve scones warm straight from the oven, with jam, soft butter, and clotted cream.

Classic Cream Scones

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

I tested this recipe for Classic Cream Scones from Smitten Kitchen and they were fab.I didn’t add the optional currants or dried cranberries and they were delicious plain and with butter and jam.

Tune in tonight and come back to Corks & Cake for more Downton Abbey-esque food fun!

That new-fangled electric mixer should make her life easier.

That new-fangled electric mixer should make her life easier.  Photo credit:  Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

“Those dripping crumpets, I can see them now. Tiny crisp wedges of toast, and piping-hot, flaky scones. Sandwiches of unknown nature, mysteriously flavoured and quite delectable, and that very special gingerbread. Angel cake, that melted in the mouth, and his rather stodgier companion, bursting with peel and raisins. There was enough food there to keep a starving family for a week.”
Daphne du Maurier – Rebecca