This Summer (cream teas in IOW)
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This summer we went on holiday to the Isle of Wight for four days.
(Sun kissed sea!! – We were lucky with the weather – And that’s a statement considering we are in UK! Lol.)
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I know I-know. It isn’t a fancy destination like, I dunno, somewhere like Majorca, but I reckoned that a plane journey with a rather tricky three-year-old in tow would be just too stressful. Whereas Isle of Wight can be reached by just two hours by car & then an hour on the ferry – so there we were. Also it was a place where I went to on a school trip aged 12, & I wanted to go there in that ‘a trip down memory lane’ kind of way…
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I really wanted to show the children the sea. It was our boy’s third time & our girl’s first time.
(Throwing pebbles in to the sea. Well, trying to… Mind your heads! ^^)
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While on the island, I, quite naturally, was on the look out for Cream Tea signs. My philosophy is that it’s like a ‘must-do’ on a holiday in the countryside in England. It’s also the only time that I eat clotted cream & I was not going to miss the opportunity to scoff ’til I groan…!
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At the Chessell Pottery Barns, we sat in the courtyard under the big willow tree. The sun’s rays were shining through the branches. Light was gently dancing on our table. We had a blissful time.
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Mine was a summer berry scone. The tang of the berries with the scone sponge was an amazing combination. Together with a thick spread of creamy clotted cream & sweet strwaberry jam, gulps of strong tea to wash it down ready for the next bite… … – you momentarily think that nothing else matters in the world. -Â I had a hard time not to wolf it down too quickly to savour the bliss.
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Very close to The Needle (the first two pictures were taken there), we dropped by Warren Farm for their farmhouse cream tea. There, ladies in pinnies served us from a small hatch window. The aga-baked scones were fresh & soft. I chose to eat it with their hedgerow jam.
(The tablecloth, the crockery, the doilie… – to me, it exactly exemplifies ‘countyside cream tea’. Perfect.)
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Another place that is definitely worthy of mention is the Bluebell Café near the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. It’s a part of Briddlesford Lodge Farm. We had lunch there & it was so delicious! We also tried a glass of unpasteurised gold-top milk (gold-top milk is 5% fat content, whereas whole standardised milk you find in supermarkets are 3.5%) from their Guernsey herd.
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We discovered this place just two hours before we had to leave the island. We regretted not finding it sooner because otherwise we could’ve eaten there more. Oh well.
Hi Tamami,
Are you still at the market every Saturday? I’ve been reading your blog for years and just moved to London, and I would love to stop by! Let me know, and I’ll make a trip out soon. Best,
a
Comment by A - September 23, 2011 9:20 am
Heya,
Nice to hear you had a lovely time, those pictures have made me hungry!
Kay x
Comment by Kay @ Kays Cakes - September 23, 2011 9:36 am
Hello A!! Yess!!! I’m there every Saturday! (if I decide not to, I’ll always report here)! Thank you for reading the blog! Hope to see you down at the market soon! x
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Hello Kay!! :) :) Yes it was a short holiday, but was good that we went! – I’m also hungry/ craving scones & especially clotted cream right now… Hope all is well!! C ya! x
Comment by Tamami - September 23, 2011 9:49 am
Deepest *sigh*….looks wonderful! even if one needs to dodge a pebble or two ;)
Comment by petoskystone - September 23, 2011 3:12 pm
Petoskystone, aww…!! That’s lovely! Thanx! Have a great weekend!! xx
Comment by Tamami - September 23, 2011 3:22 pm
Hi Tamami,
I’ve been reading your blog and I absolutely love your cake sale booth. If I visit London – I’ll be sure to look you up and purchase cakes from you.
Also, you too have inspired me to start my own Saturday bake sale here in Kuala Lumpur. Love your blog and your photos.
best wishes,
Erna
Comment by Erna Dyanty - September 24, 2011 4:36 pm
Love cream teas! And scones HAVE to have clotted cream! I’ve never been to the Isle of Wight but it looks wonderful:)
Comment by sakura - September 24, 2011 8:08 pm
Erna,
thank you for reading this blog! And double-thank you for making me feel proud!! Wow!! That’s pretty damn amazing…!! Good luck with your Saturday bakery! And do keep in touch!! I’ll be curious to know how it’s going! x
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Sakura, is this your real name? My daughter is called Sakura too! :) Anyway, totally ditto with your comment!! xx
Comment by tamami - September 24, 2011 10:14 pm
What a nice holiday! I have heard of Isle of Wight, but didn’t know how beautiful it is. And fresh clotted cream (I love anything that has the word cream in it!) and fresh milk just sound so good. Something about sea air and sunshine makes everything taste even better…Thanks for posting the lovely photos.
Comment by heidy - September 26, 2011 3:25 pm
Cheers Heidy!! :) :) :)
“…I love anything that has the word cream in it!…” Lol! I absolutely agree!! That’s put a smile on my face that one. IOW is lovely, especially The Needle! Hope everything is well Heidy! And do keep in touch! x
Comment by Tamami - September 26, 2011 4:02 pm
Ah, I miss British scones… the American version is inevitably way too sweet! :P Looks like you had a wonderful time, and the first photo is stunning – I remember once seeing a Pre-Raphaelite painting of the sea off the Isle of Wight (I think??) and thinking that such a shade of blue/green couldn’t possibly be real! Now I know it is!
Comment by Rachel - September 26, 2011 5:13 pm
Hello there Rachel! Lovely to hear from you! :) So they have scones in America too? In IOW the sea water was too cold though to swim – I would love to take the children to somewhere they could do that one day… The colour of the sea on the west coast (where the picture was taken) was beautiful but the east-side not so. – Anyway, hope all is well with you in US! :) xx
Comment by Tamami - September 26, 2011 8:16 pm
Yes, there is something called a ‘scone’ that’s very popular this side of the pond, but they would be all but unrecognisable to a Brit! They’re too rich and too sweet and usually full of things like chocolate chips or dried blueberries. I guess if you don’t know what a proper British scone is like they’re all right (hmm… maybe they’re actually closer to rock cakes), but they’re not the real thing!! (I once made scones from a recipe in the Rose Bakery cookbook and brought them to work and everyone thought something was wrong with them because they weren’t sweet – they semi-accepted my explanation that it was because they’re meant to be eaten with jam… guess some things really do get lost in translation!)
Comment by Rachel - September 27, 2011 4:44 am
Rachel,
I see! Lol, sweet scones… I can see why they’d wanted to put in more sugar though, as scones on its own is rather dry & doesn’t quite score points with the sweet-toothed people. I can just imagine the faces on your folks at work! Lol.
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That said, dried blueberries inside sounds rather nice actually though!
xx
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Comment by Tamami - September 28, 2011 9:11 pm
beautiful photos, especially the last two ones … so tasty :)
Jools
Comment by Jools - October 9, 2011 10:49 am
Hello Jools! Thank you! Yes, the place where the last two were taken was very nice!
Comment by tamami - October 9, 2011 5:09 pm