Old Recipes: Northumbrian Girdle Cakes and Shrewsbury Cakes

 These two were a big hit. Northumbrian Girdle Cakes were a big hit. They were similar to scones but cooked in a pan instead of in an oven. The recipe has no eggs in it. 

Of course, some things haven't gone exactly so well...we tried an old recipe for Banbury Cakes. Today Banbury cakes are made with a filling of old cake crumbs and mince meat. The recipe I followed has a bread dough that's wrapped in puff pastry (well, as far as I understood the recipe to say!). It flopped; it was not a big success. I think if you use the filling of mince meat and old cake crumbs, it would be better.

This one, Shrewsbury Cakes, was a success. It's a type of sugar cookie but made with egg instead of baking soda and baking powder to make them rise. They were great fresh, hot from the oven, slightly sweet but not overly sweet. I think they'd be great dunked in a cup of tea.

Pu'er Tea Delivery

 I had the opportunity to work with a mom and her two daughters to work on a book together. They did the illustrations (and did a fantastic job!) and I did the writing. It's a book about a family in Yunnan who help take care of some old Pu'er tea trees. They pick leaves a few times a year for tea, dry them, and get them ready to be sold. Then they have travel to a few places in Yunnan to sell their tea. This book talks not only about the process of how tea is made, but also describes Yunnan geography. Yunnan is the province next to Tibet in the Southwest part of China. This book is available as an ebook on www.lulu.com or as a printed book on www.lulu.com or amazon.com.