Celebrate the Queen's official birthday with her favorite cake, courtesy 'The Royal Chef': We met the chef who served QE II

Recipe for Queen Elizabeth's birthday cake in "Eating Royally" alongside QE II commemorative cup

June 12th marks the "official birthday" of Queen Elizabeth and The Royal Chef, our one-degree connection to England's longest reigning monarch, is sharing her favorite cake on his YouTube channel (you can access it on  The Royal Chef website).

We met The Royal Chef, aka Darren McGrady, back in 2013 when he came to Michigan (his first time!) for a food festival in Traverse City where he was invited to be a guest speaker. I interviewed him a week before his arrival when I was writing for the on-line newspaper, The Examiner. I also met him in person at the festival and found him a captivating presenter.

Meeting up with The Royal Chef in Traverse City

(Although the article, like The Examiner, is no longer on-line, I did post a blog about the visit in September, 2013, "Meeting the Royal Chef in northern Michigan")

McGrady told us the Queen loves chocolate, so her birthday treat is chocolate times three: chocolate sponge cake,  chocolate ganache filling and topped with chocolate icing.

Captivating speaker, McGrady tells tales of cooking at the palace

And what could be better than one birthday celebration with chocolate cake? How about two: the true date of the royal's birth and, then, for more, fun, one celebrated by all of England on June 12th.

The Queen's "real" birthday is April 21st (the Queen and I have sooooo much in common: April birthdays, love of chocolate).

But why the extra birthday for the monarch? The tradition started in 1748 with King George II (as noted in today's Metro, Why the Queen has two birthdays). He envisioned a birthday celebration with crowds gathered and parades marching by. Unfortunately, this King George's birthday was in November and not an optimum time for outdoor festivities in England. So he declared June 12th as the "official" birthday of the royal ruler and the "pomp and circumstance" he desired evolved into the "Trooping of the Colors."

Inside the commemorative mug: QE II, longest reign in England

Today, the Queen celebrates her 95th birthday and, as of 2015, holds the record for the longest reigning monarch of England. (When we were across the pond in 2015, my daughter, Rachel, bought a commemorative mug to note the event). That means not only sixty-nine years of being Queen, but one hundred thirty-eight birthday celebrations. That's a lot of chocolate cake!

McGrady tells us, though, that the Queen is a master of discipline, and only takes a small slice, for her birthday and day or two after and then the rest is brought to the staff dining room. 

"Eating Royally" autographed by the Royal Chef and fellow tea enthusiast!

When I have a bit more time, I'm going to bake myself  the Royal Birthday cake. I have McGrady's cookbook, "Eating Royalty" that he autographed for me in 2013 and the recipe is on page 74. I may prepare it next April, and perhaps again, next June, and truly celebrate my birthday in the royal way.

Packing a punch: Finding lost Norse bowl close to home

The Norse punch bowl, circa 1952, is back "home"

I've been in possession of my mom's punch bowl for almost forty years (or so I assumed). My parents received it as a wedding gift back in 1952 and my mom gave it to me when my husband, Chris,  and I moved to our first home. Its streamlined design definitely speaks mid-century and, I've since discovered, it is the "Norse" pattern made by Federal Glass (and can still be found hit-or-miss on such sites as ebay, etsy or Replacements).

Not an expensive set, but it's appeal is in its defiance of ornate and gilded sensibilities and, in my case, lots of good memories. I remember my my mom making a colorful punch for the holidays with lime sherbet crowned with an ice ring filled with raspberries. With its finely fluted, translucent sides, the Norse bowl took center stage on the kitchen table, filled with Christmas-colored ingredients and  I thought it looked was amazing.

Over the years, Chris and I have used it mostly for eggnog at Christmas, but since moving to our condo four years ago, I hadn't been able to locate it. Of course, I first suspected it was Chris who "disposed of it" (I don't inquire as to methods or means) with much of the  bric-a-brac that had accumulated in our previous home of twenty-three years. Chris applies a sort of Marie Kondo method to decluttering: whatever doesn't bring him joy - and that tends to be lots of storage boxes filled with items rarely, if ever used - he gets rid of it. It could be charity donations, our neighbors or the curb.  

Found a punch recipe in a file box that also belonged to my mom

However, last fall, when my oldest son, Rob, generously hosted a quarantine-induced minimalist wedding at his home (for daughter, Rachel and her now husband, Sean), I was shocked at what I saw planted rather unceremoniously on his kitchen counter. There was my mother's punch bowl filled with ladles, spoons and spatulas like an ordinary utensils caddy. Although repurposed and, perhaps looking slightly less esteemed, I had found it! 

A quick recounting of years past, I deduced that I had brought it to Rob's for one of his summer picnics and left it behind, thinking I'd get it back at some point.  Rob didn't seem to be aware of the punch bowl's provenance and Chris got to repeat one of his favorite sayings, "I am blameless".  

But, I can't find the base, the cups or the holder, so he's not entirely off the hook.  ; ) 

Punch is said to have five ingredients

While I'm still missing some essential pieces of the punch set, by happy accident, I did very recently uncover my mom's lime sherbet punch recipe. In advance of a special someone's recipe-themed bridal shower, I pulled out a tin box stuffed with hand written notes and newspaper clippings that also belonged to my mom.  Among instructions to create Jell-O salads and a number of upside down cakes, I found a tattered, hand-written note with the simple title "Punch". And, lo and behold, it has five ingredients (as we noted in our previous blog, five ingredients were theorized as to what gave punch its name):  lime sherbet, ginger ale, frozen orange juice, raspberries and - what's this? - vodka. No tea here! (Ironically, my mom wasn't much of a drinker, but it was the 1960's and 70's and boozy punch at the holidays would have been as common as filled-up ashtrays indoors!)

So, this holiday season, expect to see some festive punch in the Norse bowl - all are welcome, but as to what the five ingredients will be, we can't say for sure. Perhaps I'll have uncovered the cups by then. . . 

It all started with tea! No joke, but read between the 'punch' lines: Searching for a lost bowl and origins of a favorite party drink!

Searching for lost bowl and origins of punch

 

The history of punch is interesting. The history of finding my mother's missing mid-century punch bowl is almost as interesting.  I'm sharing both stories in a two-part blog series -  or, dare I say, serving up a one-two punch? 

First in the series: the origins of punch. There are a few theories, but the one I subscribe to, and to no one's surprise, includes tea.  In Food Network's, Good Eats (Season 13, Episode 6), "Feeling Punchy" host, Alton Brown, explains that punch was introduced to the English via India when Britain established the East India Trading Company in the early 17th century.   British sailors were tasked with bringing back exotic imports which, in a roundabout way, included punch.

Some claim, like Alton Brown, that "punch" comes from the hindu word for five, which stood for the number of ingredients in the traditional community beverage:  sweet (sugar), sour (juice from lime or lemon), alcohol, water and tea (some sources, such as  Difford's Guide and Wikipedia include "tea" with "spice" or just leave it at "spice").

"Punch" may have come from the hindu word for five,  the number of ingredients in the drink

There's another theory that the term "punch" could have derived from the barrels that the sailors used to serve the drink in.  The author of the book, "Punch", David Wondrich, has more faith in the latter explanation. Quoted in Difford's Guide, Wondrich reasons that the  cask-type storage, referred to as a puncheon, would make more sense as punch ingredients were not always limited to five, but sometimes six and other times four.

No matter how many ingredients  were included, the main thrust of adapting such a drink was not due to the sailor's desire to one day see punch served in elegant bowls and grace the tables of the well-to-do, but rather as way to keep up their alcohol inventory. Once the beer and wine ran out, creative sailors turned to what was available: spirits! They were widely available in east and south Asia and the English crews would add sweet and sour ingredients to liquor such as arrack (a distilled alcohol drink from India made from coconut), then, dilute it with water to concoct what Wondrich refers to as an "artificial wine". It had a long shelf life and proved to be popular with the folks back home as English sailors brought the surplus to share with friends and family.

Punch:  a favorite drink of many including Austen and Dickens

Although the crews on the East India Trading Company ships may not have envisioned punch becoming a desired drink of the elite, it did indeed become a favorite of  such notable folks as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and, in an odd twist of history, it was the celebratory  beverage of the Founding Fathers and their friends after the Declaration of Independence was signed (a reported 76 bowls!).

Punch's popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, taking a hit during Victorian times, when moderation was more in fashion (although Dickens seemed to do okay), to a surge in my own personal history from the "college years" derivations of bottles of juice and rum mixed together in big coolers, where neither fancy vessel nor discriminating taste was required, to further back still, when I was a young girl, admiring my mother's punch bowl filled with fanciful delights.

Which brings me to the tale of the lost punch bowl. . . 

Stay tuned for our next in the Punch series:  "Packing a punch: Finding the Norse bowl close to home".

Tuesday Tea and Tomes: Last Train to Paradise - the story of Henry Flagler, railroads and gilded age Florida

 

Last Train to Paradise tells the tale of excess to access: the railroad across the ocean

"Last Train to Paradise" tells the tale of excess to access:  The co-founder of Standard Oil, Henry Flagler's, multi-million dollar pursuit of a railroad connection to the southernmost city in the contiguous United States, Key West.

Flagler College, previously a Gilded Age hotel

Statue of Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil

I became familiar with some of Flagler's legacy in 2016, when my husband, Chris and I embarked on a road trip from Bradenton, Florida to our home in southeast Michigan. Our first overnight stop was in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US and, in the Gilded Age, a "project" for Henry Flagler.

Once the Ponce de Leon, Flagler College

Chris, recreates hotel guest experience

Flagler, and fellow robber baron, John D. Rockefeller, made millions in the refinement and transport of oil. In his early fifties, Flagler could have rested comfortably on his estimated worth of 100 million dollars (today's equivalent of 2 billion), but, instead, he poured it into developing Florida, including homes and hotels in St. Augustine and Palm Beach.

Flagler was born in New York and, after a few detours in other northern states, eventually moved back. Due to his wife, Mary's, poor health, doctors advised a milder climate  during the colder months of the year. In his late forties, he and his wife traveled south to Jacksonville, Flagler's first introduction to Florida - and he was smitten.

Inside Flagler College, a poster of "Palace in Paradise", the Hotel Ponce de Leon

Unfortunately, Mary Flagler's health did not improve and she died at the age of 47, leaving Henry with a young son to raise. Two years after Mary's death, Flagler married Ida Alice Shourds, one of Mary's nurses. With Ida Alice, he traveled down to St. Augustine and, finding no adequate hotel, built two of his own. In 1888, Flagler's  luxury hotel, the Ponce De Leon, opened its doors to guests. Shortly after, the Alcazar was built to accommodate the overflow from its sister hotel across the street. Though not quite as ritzy as the Ponce De Leon, it offered  spa amenities, like Turkish and Roman baths, which touted health and restorative benefits.

Russian baths inside the Alcazar Hotel

Chris in the foyer of hotel-now-museum

To continue his expansion south, Flagler acquired a few small railroads and continued to build upon them to provide transport to Palm Beach and, eventually, Miami, building homes and hotels along the way.

Alcazar, built after the Ponce de Leon, not quite as ritzy, but many amenities

"The Last Train to Paradise" provides such biographical information, but its main focus is on the final chapter of Flagler's Florida pursuits - the railroad across an ocean, starting from the southern tip of the state's mainland across all the little islands to its ultimate destination, Key West.

The author, Les Standiford, gives detailed accounts of the armies of  laborers and engineering marvels that tackled not only the creation of bridges and passageways, but horrific hurricanes and legions of mosquitoes.

The book begins and ends with the hurricane of 1935, a Labor Day weekend storm of truly epic proportions. Still on record, per a 2017 National Geographic article,  as the "most intense hurricane that has ever struck the United States", it took claim to Flagler's last endeavor.  

We found this book a fascinating account of the development of Florida and Flagler's steadfast conviction to a costly and, ultimately, destroyed dream of a railroad to Key West.  

***********

On the campus of Flagler College

I learned about "The Last Train to Paradise"  from my cousin, Dianne, when we visited her last fall. She asked if I had heard about Henry Flagler (I had!)  and she recommended and loaned me this book. It brought back memories of our trip to St. Augustine and also, it pushed me to underscore Palm Beach and Key West on my "wish list" of places to visit in the future.

Otto Lightner

Gilded Age furnishings at the Lightner Museum

In 2016, we stopped at both the Ponce De Leon, which transformed into Flagler College in the 1960's, and the Alcazar, now the Lightner Museum. The latter was purchased by Otto Lightner in 1946 (the hotel had permanently closed its doors in 1931 during the Depression) to house his vast array of collections from Gilded Age furnishings to Wedgwood urns. As someone who loves to collect, this struck me as equally incredible and overwhelming. Room after room of fine antiques and curiosities, it becomes a bit daunting, but worth the tour, for sure.

The Alcazar closed its doors in 1931, Otto Lightner purchased it in 1947 to house his vast collections

Next up for BTS in 2022:  Palm Beach and Key West. But, for now, two thumb's up to "Last Train to Paradise" and a big "I'll look forward to going back" to St. Augustine!