18 May 2008

Getting Away

Everyone needs to get away once in a while, even at the cost of reduced blog output.

But I wasn't completely neglectful- last week, I did manage to squeeze in some teasearch for any Boston-area cravings with an afternoon excursion with my lovely sister and a dear old friend.

Enter The Windsor Tea House, a very traditional, (old) ladies who lunch, pinkies-extended sort of place south of the city. The tea selection was larger than I expected, and the small savory menu and "from scratch" desserts (quotes theirs, which gave my sister a bit of pause) were pretty good. The teas were also well brewed, and arrived in plump, overstuffed tea cozies, matching most of the patrons there.

I had a greenish, smooth-tasting Ti Kuan Yin oolong with a rich, sugary blueberry bread pudding. Why bother with a salad or sandwich when there were so many sweets to try? I didn't sample their scone, the classic afternoon-tea accompaniment, but my sister did order a buttery crumpet, a British, yeasted, griddle-cooked pancake which are hard to find here and whose name never fails to make me laugh.

It was a bit disorienting to look out the window, which had a view of a tiny ice-cream shop that used to be called The Strawberry Parfait and served up endless scoops of delight when I was a kid. It's since changed owners and names, there's now a commuter train that roars past it and the tea house; and at the table, my friend had her extremely well-behaved two-year old and a new baby sitting with us. Things change quickly. Maybe that's why it's so balancing to have that simple cup of tea to clutch every day.



5 comments:

Teep said...

2 questions & a comment

hmm, why was sis afraid of the idea of "from scratch"? just taking another meaning of the word scratch?
...and
Do they serve clotted cream w/their scones?

It's officially a habit to visit this blog whenever I have a cup of tea.

I think you're onto something...

ana dane said...

she'll have to explain the "from scratch" issue...it gets complicated.

and i think they do have clotted cream. if not, it's not worth going. that is the best dairy product known to man, and that's saying a lot coming from me.

Unknown said...

i'm eating carrot cake with my horrid bagged decaf tea, but alas i am working and don't have time to make something decent. at least the carrot cake is from scratch. looking forward to reading more of the blog.

Penelope said...

Here's the quotes deal: in quotes means not what it says in means. So "from scratch" technically means not homemade. That's what gave me pause. As my students have often noted, I am somewhat obsessed with quotation marks.

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