tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2072263124603121502026-10-19T16:38:31.909-07:00Welcome to The Cup That Cheers, a blog for tea lovers, discussing tea, history, food and cooking, Victoriana and Edwardiana, vintage fashion and culture, and various other related topics. Founded by The South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild, in the San Francisco Bay area of California, USA.South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-29880312505086598512024-10-12T11:27:00.000-07:002024-10-12T11:39:46.940-07:00

After the first batch of Butterscotch Brownies cooled, the texture was perfect but I decided that the flavor was so bland, and too sweet, that I really didn't want to eat any more, and I also didn't want to feed them to anyone else! I grew up making and eating the butterscotch brownie recipe in the _Betty Crocker Cooky Book_, which is a good one, so I decided to re-make the recipe with some

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-54075665801108602782024-10-09T00:35:00.000-07:002024-10-12T16:38:16.418-07:00

 So, in the intervening years since I have posted here, I have not been completely inactive in real life!  I am still researching California women's clothing, women's costume from other places and time periods, and Italian folk dress; I am also still researching and making historic recipes. One of the projects that I have been cooking for, is the Great Rare Books Bake-Off, which is an

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-13368836734029453322020-11-26T13:52:00.013-08:002021-01-11T17:15:40.937-08:00

Image from http.clipart.edigg.comHello again; here we are near the end of a year that has been absolutely abnormal!  Things have changed even more for me; I was laid off from my job at the school in mid-August, due to increased costs related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and have been unemployed since then.  As I have found whenever I need to look for a job, I am overqualified for all

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-1439803248043067672020-08-07T15:20:00.001-07:002021-01-11T17:12:27.119-08:00

Elizabeth Urbach inCalifornio costume.  Hello again!  I have a few pieces of news to share!  First thing: The Cup That Cheers is now also a YouTube channel!  I've gotten some messages over the years, telling me that some readers wish they could see me make the historic recipes and some of the historic costumes, that I've written up and posted here on the blog, and this

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-80865647718372705652020-06-02T13:55:00.000-07:002020-06-02T19:33:32.168-07:00

This is another entry for the Historical Food Fortnightly project, which is now being continued on Facebook. Artichokes, Italian Style.  From _El Cocinero Espanol_, 1898. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. The Challenge: April 22-May 5: Flower Power. A dish that is floral, flowery, or flour-y, as you desire. A month late in posting, but better late than never!  It took me a while to

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-51009344909041429202020-05-16T20:49:00.001-07:002020-05-16T21:25:44.148-07:00

image from FreeDigitalPhotos.com Oh my goodness!  So much has changed since the last post!  I think that everyone in the world (or almost everyone, at least), is going through this unprecedented experience: just about the whole world is shut down (or just opening back up), and most of us are sheltering in place by not leaving our homes except to get groceries and attend to other

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-15762334026748841042019-12-31T23:28:00.000-08:002019-12-31T23:29:47.587-08:00

Image from http.clipart.edigg.com I haven't entirely forgotten this blog ... really .... So many things have changed since I last posted -- on December 31st of 2018!  Most important among the changes is another new place to live.  I moved in about 6 weeks ago, but I'm still unpacking things; I have almost all of my possessions out of my storage unit, however, and I need to get

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-92187783984641486732018-12-31T09:39:00.000-08:002018-12-31T09:54:39.241-08:00

from AntiqueClipArt.com. Happy New Year!  "Time flies ..." and all that.  I have settled in to my new place -- a vintage Airstream trailer from 1967 -- but haven't got the oven up and working yet (it runs on propane and involves open flame every time you use it ...) so the only historic cooking I've done so far has been on the stovetop (also propane, involving open flame) and I

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-24010320338986188552018-07-05T17:56:00.000-07:002018-12-31T09:40:16.950-08:00

Fourth of July Pudding.  Photo: Liz Raven. The Redone Challenge: Today in History (June 29-July 12, 2014) Make a dish based on or inspired by a momentous occasion that took place on the day you made it. Get creative - you would be surprised by all the interesting things that happened every single day! The Recipe: A Fourth of July Luncheon. To be served buffet style or on the porch.

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-22506171092151457642018-04-06T20:23:00.000-07:002018-04-07T00:28:05.534-07:00

Hannah Glasse's Rich Cake from The Art of Cookery, 1774. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach The Redone Challenge: #21: Party Foods (October 7 - October 20, 2016) If there’s a party, there has to be food! Pick a dish meant to be served to a crowd, or at a festive gathering, and show your work!  At the school where I work, the 5th-grade classes spend a whole school day studying the

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-26538418792314584492018-01-27T17:22:00.002-08:002018-06-23T14:45:38.284-07:00

A cup of Californio-style Chocolate. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. The Redone Challenge(s): Sweet Sips and Potent Potables April 5 - April 18, 2015, and History Detective (January 29 - February 11, 2016)  Foodways from the Spanish and Mexican colonization period of California’s history is not a very widely-talked about subject.  The documents that contain the

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-16777875910350210942017-12-20T16:30:00.000-08:002017-12-20T16:35:35.550-08:00

Hannah Glasse's Brown Fricasey. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. The Redone Challenge: If They’d Had It… (November 2 - November 15, 2014) Have you ever looked through a cookbook from another era and been surprised at the modern dishes you find? Have you ever been surprised at just how much they differ from their modern counterparts? Recreate a dish which is still around today, even if it may

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-53683459987172965062017-11-01T22:57:00.000-07:002017-11-03T22:26:04.231-07:00

Halloween Fruit Cakes. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach I realized, as I was going through my past food history posts, that while I have made various recipes from the 1920s (like cheese straws and Club sandwiches), I had never written them up or taken photos.  While I will have to re-create the cheese straws and Club sandwiches at another time, I recently discovered a cookbook on

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-1499105658635660302017-10-10T23:41:00.000-07:002018-10-08T12:57:21.745-07:00

Chicken Saltado con Fungi ingredients. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach Since the Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge project officially ended, and no new challenges will be posted, those of us who have completed some of the challenges in the past decided that we would continue the project on an informal basis. We choose a challenge from the whole list of previous themes, and either complete them

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-61132083460612038712017-06-12T23:33:00.000-07:002017-06-12T23:38:45.712-07:00

Orange flower water. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. I recently had a birthday, and as I have been doing for the past several years, I decided to make my own birthday dessert.  My family means well, but for most of my life they always got me those cakes from the grocery store bakery section, which always tasted stale and chemical-y, and I really dislike them; I would always be "forced" to take

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-59299146915327560832017-05-16T18:58:00.000-07:002018-05-06T13:19:42.727-07:00

Capon (Chicken) with Oranges.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach In the History of Royal Food and Feasting course last week, we took a look at the 16th century, and English aristocratic and royal food of Elizabeth I's court.  I was able to complete one of the suggested recipes: Capon with Oranges.  Here is the original recipe: Take your capon and set him on the fire as before with

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-84296457530241582122017-05-04T23:23:00.000-07:002017-05-04T23:39:32.958-07:00

Fylettes en Galentyne. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. So, I signed up for the History of Royal Food and Feasting course on FutureLearn, again, in the hopes that I will be able to complete the recipe challenges/assignments this time around!  After all, it is the 3rd time I've taken it, and I get a few more done each time ...  Week 1 focuses on the Tudors, and the court and kitchen of

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-36603030433516885602017-02-14T22:04:00.000-08:002017-02-14T22:04:34.075-08:00

Alexander Hamilton vs. Aaron Burr (1804), from a paintingby J. Mund ca. 1904.  Wikimedia Commons. Hello everyone!  I hope you've found a lot to be thankful for in this new year! I am one of those people who didn't have high hopes for the outcome of the recent U.S. presidential election (no matter who won), and I am also thoroughly sickened by the way Americans have turned on one

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-1699286607915543932016-12-28T19:02:00.000-08:002016-12-28T19:02:22.329-08:00

photo: Elizabeth Urbach.  Since I've had this week off between Christmas and New Year's I've had a bit of time to do some baking.  There is construction going on in the kitchen, so I have to wait until the workers go home in the evening before I can clean up all the dust and grime, and cook anything; I've also been fighting a bad cold for over a week anyway, so I've been spending

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-55692034791780723042016-12-26T14:35:00.000-08:002016-12-26T14:39:44.073-08:00

Me and two friends in 1920s costume at the local Egyptian Museum, September 2016. Photo: Ann Morton. Hello everyone in blog-land!  "I'm not dead yet!" as goes the line from Monty Python's _Holy Grail_ ... As you may have surmised, things have been changing around here, but hopefully I'll be settled for a good while and can get back to my cooking, costuming, and general historical

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-5764567733507305492016-10-30T17:29:00.000-07:002016-10-30T17:29:30.625-07:00

photo from www.e-Cobo.com. AUTUMN DAYS.  BY LOTTIE LINWOOD. ‘Tis Autumn time! the summer flowers Have faded ‘neath its golden feet; The birds have left their shady bowers, And winds chime mournfully and sweet; The maple boughs, whose folded leaves Have whispered through the summer days Like bright-winged birds, around the eaves Are flitting in the sun’s pale rays; I

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-11511716270920465212016-06-26T02:43:00.000-07:002016-07-03T22:50:12.360-07:00

ingredients for Tarte owt of Lente.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. So, I haven't exactly fallen off the end of the earth (again), but I haven't had much energy after working all day at the school.  Now that summer has arrived, though, I'm only working half-days at the summer school, and also taking two online classes through FutureLearn.  One class is called The History of Royal

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-15865703363892655662016-03-05T21:16:00.000-08:002016-03-10T23:54:26.061-08:00

_Plucking the Turkey_ by Henry Walton, 1776, Tate Gallery. I won't be able to keep up with all the challenges this year, and will probably be finishing up the blog post and putting it online after the deadline on whichever challenges I can complete, but hopefully people will enjoy seeing the results anyway!  Here is the challenge for February, in which I make a simple 18th century cap

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-16817256264721071872016-01-31T23:03:00.000-08:002016-02-02T23:04:39.760-08:00

Version 1.0 of the California day dress ca. 1838. The Challenge: Procrastination (January 2016), Out of Your Comfort Zone (June 2015), and Stashbusting (March 2015).  I didn't realize it until last month, but I neglected to publish the blog post in 2015 for the Out Of My Comfort Zone and Stashbusting Challenges, which were part of the original reason for this dress being made!  7

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16270038375307806132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207226312460312150.post-26878495993391361852015-12-27T21:18:00.000-08:002015-12-28T12:11:13.129-08:00

clipart from Webweaver.nu Well, Christmas Day has come and gone, and I don't know about you, but I'm never ready for it to be over!  It's always a let-down to me, when all the preparation and holiday spirit is finished after one day; I much prefer the older tradition of 12 Days of Christmas!  It's not like there's not enough treats to last at least half that long, plus, I always run

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