Queen’s Birthday weekend time!
If Her Majesty was in your neighbourhood you could ask her in for a cuppa and do the honours. We hear she likes that kind of get-together and goodness knows we were once known as the nation that set out an afternoon tea fit for a queen.
Monday June 3rd is the day to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday. In New Zealand, that means a long weekend to kick start Winter 2013, and the last long weekend until October. So make the most of it!
Her majesty’s actual birthday is April 21st but since 1748 when the British monarchy declared there would be a holiday to celebrate the royal birthday, real gave way to officialdom.
On the face of it it sounds daft but when you are looking at 20 cold dark weeks until Labour Day who is arguing?
We are only grateful that the day we’re told to to celebrate Her Majesty’s ageing is always a Monday, giving us a long weekend.
From time to time there are mutterings about the made-up birthday – matariki actually makes more sense than any imposed celebrations given it is a sign of new life, new beginnings – but a day off is not to be lightly dismissed.
We are for accepting it as a weird tradition and enjoying it anyway – with a bit of a gathering.
There will be black tie dinners to celebrate the usual gongs handed out to mark the occasion, but given that having a flushing loo has become something to celebrate in this neck of the woods, a genteel tea party might be in order.
Tea Party Sausage Rolls:
Adapted from Anna Hansen’s sausage roll in The Modern Pantry (Random House)
1 tsp butter
1 Tbsp light cooking oil
1 medium-sized red onion, diced small
2-3 drops of balsamic vinegar
500g minced pork
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
3/4 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1-2 sage leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
Heat butter and oil over medium heat in a small pan.
Add onion and cook until sticky and lightly browned. Remove and cool. Finely chop sage leaves. Preheat oven to 200C.
Put cold onion, pork, breadcrumbs, paprika, sage, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix with hands to combine.
With wet hands form the sausage mixture into two logs, slightly shorter than the pastry sheet.
Trim all pastry edges (gives extra puff to pastry).
Beat the egg with a drop of water to make an egg-wash and brush it along one edge of the pastry sheet, place a log alongside then fold over pastry to cover, pressing firmly on the strip of egg to seal.
Trim off excess pastry and use for the remaining log, otherwise repeat the procedure with the second sheet.
Slice into small rolls, and cut shallow slashes into the tops.
Put on baking sheet and brush with egg-wash.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden and cooked.
Rules for Afternoon Tea:
Indian tea is served in a silver pot, and milk and sugar are offered.
China tea is made in a bone-china teapot and translucent slices of lemon offered as well as milk and sugar.
Milk should be served in a bone-china jug, but sugar is best served from a silver bowl.
A correctly set tea-table should have cups, saucers and matching plates; teaspoons, small knives, cafe forks, and a butter knife if the guests are to help themselves to the butter.
Freshly boiled water may be added to the teapots but only once.
After that fresh pots of tea should be made.
The first food to be served should be bread.
Thin slices of bread lightly buttered, crusts removed and cut in triangles, or wafer-thin sandwiches cut into dainty squares.
Savoury scones (cheese or herbs) can be offered at the same time as sandwiches leaving the guest to make the choice.
Shortbreads, biscuits and fruit loaves (finely sliced) will be next on the menu.
Then small pastry savories.
Cream cakes, jammy cream-topped scones and cream laden brandy snaps should be the final triumph.
Happy birthday ma’am.