Morning, noon and night
Three random things I learned, or remembered, todayArchive for Drink
Afternoon tea at The Landmark, London
NIGHT
I was just looking up how to make a really good cup of afternoon tea in an old cookery book for my new “Kitchen Witch” blog, and I remembered “The Landmark Hotel” in London. This is real afternoon tea! A pleasurable experience in a peaceful atmosphere away from the realities of everyday life (my kind of everyday life, anyway).
I don’t go to London often, but when I’m there try to fit in an afternoon visit of pure self indulgence.
Go by yourself, even. Take a magazine, pretend you’re reading and watch another world go by!
It’s very expensive by Scottish standards. But you’re worth it.
A Second Blog
NIGHT
“THE KITCHEN WITCH”
I started writing this blog “Morning, Noon and Night” a few months ago. Every now and then I included recipes from very old cookery books that have been lying around our house for as long as I can remember. They are faded and tatty and have been handed down from generation to generation.
Sometimes, hidden among the pages are old handwritten recipes and cuttings from magazines.
I decided I would record some of these old recipes by gradually posting them on a second blog site. I’ve started off with some of the most basic. Some of the old cookery books really started from scratch in a way that is seldom done today. So, the simplest old recipes will appear first.
BE THE FIRST TO VISIT “THE KITCHEN WITCH”
There will probably be some scattered household hints too.
The photographs are a bit of an assortment really. They are often unrelated to the posting but rather a reminiscence of the way things used to be.
Coca Cola cleans things
NOON
1. Clean a burned saucepan by pouring Coke into it and boiling. This takes out all the staining.
2. A can of Coke poured into the toilet will clean it. The acid in the drink gets to work right away.
Caffeine
NOON
Caffeine is on the International Olympic Committee list of prohibited substances.
5 cups of coffee may breach the acceptable 12 microgram/ml level of caffeine in an athlete’s urine.
Scotland’s other national drink
NOON
Irn Bru is the Scottish competitor to Coca Cola. It is made by A.G. Barr of Glasgow. Like Coca Cola the formula for this is also a trade secret. It is known only to two of Barr’s board members and a written copy is held in a Swiss bank-vault.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to create a recipe that was so popular that it had to be kept secret in a bank vault? Or is this all a bit of hype?
Irn Bru does have a unique taste and is quite different from Coca Cola. Rumour has it that barley and seaweed are included in the array of ingredients.
Wikipedia has lots of information.
The secret of the drink
NIGHT
The secret recipe for Coca Cola, code-named “Merchandise 7X” is kept under lock and key in a vault in the SunTrust Bank Building in Atlanta, Georgia, the home of Coke inventor Dr. John S. Pemberton and current world headquarters of Coca Cola International.
Oil of Bergamot
NIGHT
Oil of Bergamot is the favouring agent used in Earl Grey Tea
Yes, I knew that.
What I didn’t know was that it comes from the peel of a non-edible citrus plant citrus aurantium var bergamia which is grown in southern Italy.
Bergamot oil is also used extensively in perfumery.
Here is a really interesting Website for chemists or would be perfumiers.
A SMALL GUIDE TO NATURES FRAGRANCES
I remember once visiting a wonderful perfumery in Capri many years ago. I wonder if they have a Website now. I’ll check tomorrow.
Morning, noon and night 