East Frisian Tea in the USBy C N Heidelberg09:53food, shopping, tea 2 comments

fter we came back from Ostfriesland in October and I posted a

Kluntje photo and description on Picasa, my sister commented that they should

clearly be adopted everywhere. I thought about getting her some for Christmas,

but our per-person Christmas budget is shrinking into oblivion as our families get

bigger, so I waited until her birthday this week!

First I had to find a place to actually buy Kluntje in the US. I tried Amazon, since

they usually have everything - but no luck. They do have the smaller variety of

rock candy, but that would just not do. Then, via Google I found the Ostfriesen

Tea & Porzellan Shop (an example of language mixing on the other side of the

divide!). The shop was originally Iowa-based, which got my attention of course,

but has recently moved to Wisconsin. The sort of retro web design makes it all

the more German-feeling! In addition to having Kluntje, they also have tea and

all the tea accessories you could ever need, including spoons, tongs, cups &

saucers, teapots, and serving trays (including the awesome Blau Dresmer)....so I

also got her some proper East Frisian tea and a cream spoon for accurate

delivery of the cream cloud to the cup. Everything's imported from Germany so

it's more expensive than here, but of course it saved me the trouble and cost of

shipping it all myself.

I talked about this a bit in my Ostfriesland post, but here's a review of how to

drink the tea:

1. Use a small teacup.

2. Put a Kluntje in the cup.

3. Pour the tea over the Kluntje and enjoy the awesome crackling noise.

4. Use cream with a very high fat content - 30-40%.

5. Add the cream carefully and watch a cream cloud form.

6. Drink without stirring.

7. Repeat as necessary! East Frisians drink 10 times more tea per year than the

average German.

The Traditional Irish Breakfast

The Irish breakfast is about as traditionally Irish as you can get. Farmers’ wives primarily served it to their husbands to get them off to a good start for the day. This had to last them through a hard day’s work. It would be a long time until dinnertime rolled around.Even today people that stay in one of Ireland’s popular Bed and Breakfast’s say after eating this breakfast in the morning they have no need for lunch. If they do eat lunch it’s light fare.

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The traditional Irish breakfast consist of the following: Bangers

Rashers

Black Pudding

White Pudding

Beans

Eggs

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Brown Bread

Unless you’re from Ireland or the U.K., I know you’re probably scratching your head thinking what the heck is a banger, or a rasher for that matter. Let me explain.Bangers are an Irish sausage. These can be made with either pork or beef or both. This is the food the Irish miss most when they are abroad.Rashers are a type of bacon. This isn’t American style bacon that is fried to a crisp brown. Irish bacon is more like what Americans call Canadian bacon. It’s fried golden brown but keeps its soft texture.Black Pudding is another type of sausage. It’s not what Americans think of as “pudding” at all. It’s made with pig’s blood that gives it its dark color, oatmeal, and spices. Ok don’t get all squeamish on me, just try it you might like it. It is a farm recipe after all.White Pudding is like black pudding only with no pig’s blood. It is made with minced pork, oatmeal and spices. There, that doesn’t sound so bad does it?Beans are a canned baked bean in tomato sauce. Irish baked beans are not as sweet as American baked beans because they don’t use brown sugar.Brown bread is an Irish soda bread made with whole-wheat flour.Click on this Irish breakfast page to buy the above ingredients that should serve about four people. I’m sure you’ll be able to supply your own eggs, tomatoes and potatoes. You will sometimes see mushrooms in an Irish breakfast depending on what part of the country you’re in. The picture above shows what you receive when you order the Traditional Irish breakfast from Food Ireland.

Now lets put it all together.

First place four plates a warm oven. Melt some butter in a large frying pan. It should be Irish butter to be authentic. You need to use butter for the breakfast instead of oil or it just won’t be the same. Cook the rashers as described above. When done place them on one of the warm plates in the oven.Now cook the bangers in the same pan until they are a nice brown color. When done put them on one of the other warm plates in the oven to keep warm.Slice the black and white puddings about 1/2" thick and place in the frying pan. Cook until golden brown. Again place on a warm plate in the oven.Quarter four tomatoes and place in pan. Along with four boiled and chilled potatoes sliced 1” thick. Cook both to a golden brown. You know the drill, warm plate, oven.All the above is cooked in the same pan to take advantage of the juices of the previously cooked items. Add more butter to the pan if needed.While all the above is going on you can put the beans in a saucepan on low heat to simmer.I think you should use another pan to fry the eggs so they don’t stick. These are traditionally served sunny side up. But you can have them to your own taste. ( As you can see by the picture above I like mine over easy.)Now serve all this with some buttered brown bread and some good Irish tea and you’ll have a delicious traditional Irish breakfast that won’t soon be forgotten.I’d be willing to bet you won’t be needing lunch, now.

The Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe

You'll find for each Irish cook there is an Irish soda bread recipe. They all seem to have their own version for soda bread. Here I'll give you the most basic recipe. It's good crusty wholesome bread.The baking tradition is one of the richest for Irish cooks. If someone says you have a "light hand in baking", this is considered a high compliment to an Irish baker. Bread baking was part of daily life in Ireland. For centuries they made oatcakes on a stone or griddle over a turf fire. Later, breads were made with sourdough or fermented potato juice. It wasn't until the nineteenth century that baking soda was introduced, making it possible to bake the Irish soda bread recipe. There are many varieties of soda bread. Here you will find just a few.You'll find the following recipes easy to make. You likely have most, if not all, the ingredients in your kitchen right now.The first recipe, I think, is "the" Irish soda bread recipe. It's simple and basic. I have all I can do to wait about a half hour after it comes out of the oven to slice into it. This is a nice crusty bread. I like it warm with the butter melting as I eat it. I think you will too.

White Soda Bread

Ingredients 4 cups white flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Makes one loaf.Preheat oven to 450°Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk. Stir from the outside of the bowl, mixing inward to blend together. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Add more buttermilk if necessary. When all is blended, put onto a floured board or countertop. Knead very lightly until all is smoothed over. This only takes a few seconds. Pat into a round loaf about 2" high. Cut a cross pattern all the way along the top. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then turn it down to 400° and bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer. Test for doneness by tapping on the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow it's done.Cool on a wire rack. If you don't like your bread so crusty, wrap it in a towel while cooling.

This next Irish soda bread recipe uses stone-ground whole wheat. It gives it a different texture than the above recipe. There are also other ingredients to make it richer.

Brown Soda bread

Ingredients 2 cups brown whole-wheat flour (stone ground preferred)

2 cups white flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 egg, beaten

1 3/4 to 2 cups buttermilk

Makes one loaf.Preheat oven to 375°Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add 1 3/4 cups of buttermilk and the beaten egg. Stir from the outside of the bowl, mixing inward to blend together. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Add more buttermilk if necessary or a little more flour if it seems too moist. When all is blended, put onto a floured board or countertop. Knead very lightly until all is smoothed over. This only takes a few seconds.

Pat into a round loaf about 2" high. Cut a cross pattern all the way along the top. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Test for doneness by tapping on the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow it's done.Cool on a wire rack.

Before wheat flour, oats were a mainstay in the Irish diet. The next Irish soda bread recipe uses this historically important grain.

Oatmeal Soda Bread

Ingredients 2 1/2 cups fine stone-ground oatmeal

2 cups buttermilk

2 1/2 cups white flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons brown sugar or honey

Makes one loaf.Soak the oatmeal in the buttermilk overnight or for at least 12 hours.The next day preheat the oven to 350°.Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the oatmeal and buttermilk mixture. Add more buttermilk if necessary. Don't make the dough too moist. Place into a greased 5 1/2" x 9 1/2" loaf pan. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until done. Like the above recipes it will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.Remove from pan and let it cool on a wire rack.

There are many, many more Irish soda bread recipes. The samples above will get you started in the Irish tradition of bread baking. I think once you try these you'll look for others to try. These are so much quicker than yeast bread.Happy Baking.These recipes will make a good accompaniment to my other Irish food recipes and Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe .

Ideas for Your Irish Wedding Rings

This is the place to get ideas for Irish wedding rings for your special day. Get just the right symbolism with the choice of rings you choose. I'll start you off with three different ideas. You can use your own idea if none of these are to your liking. Like I've said on some of my other pages, just relax and have some fun. Use a lot of your own imagination.

The Classic Gold Band

Traditional Irish wedding rings are gold, just a plain gold band would do. In past centuries it was thought by the Irish not to be a proper legal marriage unless a gold ring was used in the ceremony. If the couple getting married were too poor to buy a ring, there were a few options open to them.One was in the southeast of Ireland. Where there were people that kept a few gold wedding rings for hire. The couple would rent the rings for the ceremony then return them immediately afterwards.The second option in some places in Ireland was the priests themselves. Some priests kept gold rings on hand to be used on loan at many different weddings. Again, these rings were returned immediately after the ceremony to be used again and again.Another option if you were lucky was if you happened to be the first daughter in your family to marry and your mother gave you her gold ring. Which it was understood was to be handed down to your first married daughter and so on through the generations. Many Irish wedding rings were past down this way, especially the Claddagh (see below).So for starters a plain gold band will do.

The Claddagh for Irish Wedding rings

The most famous Irish wedding rings design, the Claddagh ring originated in the west of Ireland near Galway. The classic Claddagh design is two encircling hands clasping a crowned heart. The hands stand for friendship, the heart stands for love, and the crown stands for loyalty.

Click on the picture at the right to view a selection of Claddagh wedding rings at Celtic by Design.

How the ring is worn is to tell the world your availability for love and romance. If worn on

the right hand with the tip of the heart facing out it means you are open and looking for a relationship. If worn on the right hand with the heart face in, it means you are in a relationship. If worn on the left hand with the tip of the heart facing out, it means you are engaged. If worn on the left hand with the heart facing in, it means you are married.Claddagh was a small fishing village near Galway. From what I've read Irish fisherman were considered poor swimmers. If tragedy struck and the fisherman fell overboard and drowned, the Claddagh ring on their finger identified them as coming from Claddagh village. If they washed up on shore that is.Richard Joyce is considered to be the originator of the Claddagh ring design. He left Galway and the woman he loved to work in the West Indies. He never made it, pirates captured his ship and he was sold into slavery in Algiers. His Moorish master taught him the craft of goldsmith. He created the Claddagh ring in memory of the woman he left behind in Ireland. He remained in captivity for fourteen years until William III came into power and demanded that the Moors release all British subjects. So it was in the late 1600's Richard returned to Galway. He found that the woman he loved still waited for him. They married with her using the Claddagh ring as a wedding band.Richard Joyce carried on the goldsmith craft in Galway. To this day the oldest examples of the Claddagh Irish wedding rings carry his initials of RI.

The Celtic Knot Design for Irish Wedding Rings

Ireland was the last stronghold of the Celts. Celtic traditions are still strong in Ireland from the Gaelic language, to old Celtic customs, to Celtic art. Using Celtic knot designs on your Irish wedding rings is honoring the oldest of your Irish heritage.Click on the picture for a look at more Celtic knot rings at Celtic by Design.I've read that Celtic knots originally had no meaning they were purely ornamental. Now days people like to have meanings in their Celtic Knots. One good one to use for a wedding band is theCeltic Love Knot. The lines of this knot intertwine representing two lives coming together for all eternity in unending love for one another.Another good design to celebrate both your Celtic and Irish Catholic heritage is the use of the trinity knot.

The Irish wedding rings described above are all yellow gold. I like yellow gold. You may prefer white gold, yellow gold or a combination of the two. You may even like a stone set in your wedding band. The choice is yours. But remember, to be Irish it needs to be Gold.If you want to look at many other styles of Irish wedding rings, including a Celtic Cross design, take a look at the wedding ring section at Celtic by Design. Don't just stop at the ring section. Browse around for a bit at the rest of the site. I'm sure it will give you many more ideas for your wedding.Good luck and congratulations on your wedding.

A Collection of Irish Wedding Toasts

Here is a collection of Irish wedding toasts that can be used at your Irish wedding. Some are toasts, some are blessings, and some are from famous Irish authors. They are all Irish.I hope you can find the perfect toast here for your wedding. If you are having trouble trying to come up with the perfect speech for the wedding you should have a look at the wedding speech section at Occasional Words. You can use these toasts and their ideas to come up with just the right words for your Irish wedding.On with the toasts!

May you be poor in misfortune,Rich in blessings,Slow to make enemies,Quick to make friends,But rich or poor, quick or slow,May you know nothing but happinessFrom this day forward.

May there be a generation of children on the children of your children.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,A full moon on a dark night,And the road downhill all the way to your door.

Irish Toasting Flutesat

Celtic By Design

The next of these Irish wedding toasts is kind of a tongue twister, but I think it's cool and very Irish sounding.Here's to you and yours and mine and ours,And if mine and ours ever come across you and yours,I hope you and yours will do as much for mine and ours,As mine and ours have done for you and yours.

May the face of every good newsAnd the back of every bad newsBe toward us.

May you have food and raiment,A soft pillow for your head,May you be forty years in heaven,Before the devil knows your dead.

Let's drink to love, which is nothing, unless it's divided by two.

May you look back on the past with as much pleasure as you look forward to the future.

A health to you,A wealth to you,And the best that life can give you.May fortune still be kind to you.And happiness be true to you,And life be long and good to you,Is the toast of all your friends to you.

May there always be work for your hands to do.May your purse always hold a coin or two.May the sun always shine on your window pane.May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you.May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

May the rocks in your field turn to gold.

Here is to loving, to romance, to us.May we travel together through time.We alone count as none, but together we're one.For our partnership puts love to rhyme.

The following Irish wedding toasts are from Irish authors.Who, being loved, is poor.

---Oscar Wilde

I have spread my dreams under your feet;Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

---William Butler Yeats

Keep love in your heart. A life without itis like a sunless garden when the flowersare dead. The consciousness of loving andbeing loved brings a warmth and richnessto life that nothing else can bring.

---Oscar Wilde

The hours I spend with you I look uponas a sort of a perfumed garden, a dimtwilight, and a fountain singing to it...you and you alone make me feel thatI am alive...Other men it is said haveseen angels, but I have seen thee, and thou art enough.

---George Moore

I saved what I think is the most famous of the Irish wedding toasts for last.May the road rise to meet you.May the wind always be at your back,the sun shine warm upon your face,the rain fall soft upon your fields,and until we meet againmay God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

I hope these Irish wedding toasts are exactly what you are looking for. If not just use your imagination and come up with something of your own. I think the above toasts should get your creative juices flowing.Have a fun wedding and a great life together.

Old Irish Wedding Traditions

This is the place to find the old Irish wedding traditions. Some of these traditions you might want to adapt for your Irish theme wedding, some you will not. Some are a little bit too outdated for todays standards as you will see.

Abduction

Let's get one of the Irish wedding traditions out of the way that you would definitely not use today. At least I don't think you would use it, I could be wrong.Brides were abducted as late as the 19th century in Ireland. Even though the English outlawed it in the early 18th century.There were two types of abduction. One was when the couple was actually in love with each other, but the bride's parents disapproved of her choice for a husband. If he took her away and came back married there was little the parents could do but accept it.The other type of abduction was used if a man were trying to move up a station in life. He would steal away with a wealthy woman. There was little she could do to stop it. Wealthy women were always fearful of being abducted, in such a poor country.

The men committing such an act were considered heroes by most people. They were seldom prosecuted, although a few men were hanged after committing the second type of abduction.

Handfasting

Handfasting was an old Celtic tradition. The couple would be bound with a ceremony to one another for a year and a day. After that time if they did not get along they would go their separate ways. If they got along well they would officially get married.There was a cord used to symbolically bind the couple's hands together during the ceremony. I think this is where today's term of "tying the knot" came from.

The Matchmaker

Up until the early 20th century many Irish marriages were arranged. This is where the Irish wedding tradition of using a Matchmaker came into being. The Matchmaker was the mediator between the bride and the groom's family. He negotiated the bride's dowry, which consisted of land, livestock and money. He also made sure the groom was a man to properly support his future wife. He made sure all was equal on both sides of the negotiations.

Superstitions in Irish Wedding Traditions

If the sky is sunny on your wedding day you will have good luck. If it is rainy you will have hardship.If you hear a cuckoo on your wedding morning or see three magpies you will have good luck.Before going to the church one of the old Irish wedding traditions had the bride's mother giving the bride a shilling. The groom's father gave the groom a five-shilling piece. These were to be buried under the hearthstone of the couple's bedroom. This was how they buried their bad luck.An Irish bride should carry a horseshoe at her wedding for good luck. Now days a horseshoe pin could be worn. Make sure the horseshoe is worn with the points up to hold in the good luck. If they point down your luck will spill out.Meeting a funeral procession on the way to your wedding is bad luck.To insure good luck a bride and groom should take different roads to the wedding. They should leave together on the same road. This is symbolic of their two separate lives coming together as one.It is unlucky for a man to sing at his own wedding or at the party afterward.It is good luck for the groom to throw a handful of coins into the crowd.After the ceremony, for good luck, a man should be the first to kiss the bride congratulations. If a woman is first this will bring bad luck to the couple. In the past spiteful women have jumped up to kiss the bride so becareful.Before the dinner an oatmeal cake was broken over the bride's head for good luck.It was considered good luck for the bride to dance with the strawboys. Strawboys in rural Ireland were uninvited guests at the reception. They blackened their faces and wore hats and capes made of straw to hide their identity. They were a disturbance, but they didn't stay long. This was not one of the most popular of the Irish wedding traditions for the wedding party.On the arrival at their new home a groom was to throw a bottle of whiskey into the air. It had to spin three times in the air and break on the ground at the third spin for good luck.

The Proper time to Marry

Many Irish weddings take place during Shrovetide the time just before Lent. Lent is not the time for an Irish wedding. Many others marry in November after the harvest is in.To keep up on the Irish wedding traditions of when to marry use the following poem.

Marry when the year is new,Always loving, kind and true.

When February birds do mate,You may wed, nor dread your fate.

If you wed when March winds blow,Joy and sorrow both you'll know.

Marry in April when you can,Joy for maiden and for man.

Marry in the month of May,You will surely rue the day.

Marry when June roses blow,Over land and sea you'll go.

They who in July do wed,Must labor always for their bread.

Whoever wed in August be,Many a change are sure to see.

Marry in September's shine,Your living will be rich and fine.

If in October you do marry,Love will come but riches tarry>

If you wed in bleak November,Only joy will come, remember.

When December's showers fall fast,Marry and true love will last.

That takes care of the months now for the days.

Monday for health,Tuesday for wealth,Wednesday the best day of all,Thursday for losses,Friday for crosses,Saturday is no day at all.

I think I've given you some ideas to start you off on your Irish theme wedding using some of the above Irish wedding traditions. This is going to be fun and exciting for you. Good luck and have fun with the planning of your wedding.