April Showers
the magic of forsythia + rainy day tea parties
April in New England to me feels like walking into a Beatrix Potter tale. It’s often wet (or at least damp), with misty mornings and the comforting sight of early spring bulbs popping up in our gardens. There’s an influx of small (probably cottagecore) woodland animals all around, and spiky green chives are often the first of the season to awaken in my little cottage garden. It’s chilly, much more so than I appreciate at the end of winter, but it’s hard to resist romanticizing a cozy afternoon with a fresh cup of black tea and the rain tip-tapping on the roof.
After all the years I’ve lived in New Hampshire, I’ve come to associate April with rainy days, yes, but there’s also the anticipation of my favorite April flower: the forsythia. As march snowstorms thaw into April showers, many tiny, inconspicuous buds will pop up all along the forsythia branches. The rainier it is, the quicker the bare-looking shrubs will begin to stand out among the lingering end of winter browns and grays, with the sunshiniest yellow blooms of spring. I remember my first spring in NH, and being so completely enamored with them. It’s 14 years later and their magic still enchants me.
Folklore tells of forsythia’s power to divine the weather (expect three more snows after it blooms), its association with the number 4 (which links it to the elements of water, fire, air and earth), and the power of anticipation which I find so fitting, as each year I anticipate its bloom for weeks beforehand.
About a week ago, I trimmed some forsythia branches from our little shrub and brought them inside with the hopes that the yellow buds would bloom as a simple form of color magic, for a little sunshine and inspiration. Yellow is also associated with the solar plexus, joy, happiness and abundance. While I plan to work with the flowers in the form of a springtime simple syrup this year (and possibly candy a few blooms), a quick google search shows that it can also be turned into tea, jelly and even some beauty products as well. Which makes it easy to incorporate into most springtime practices.
Springtime Cream Tea
I have always loved afternoon tea. I have a vivid memory from early childhood of my grandma taking me to tea, and immediately falling in love with everything about it. Throughout the rest of my childhood there were many weekends with her, visiting many of the local tea places before deciding to put on our own mother’s day tea. It was so much fun, and such a hit with our family that we planned many more tea parties over subsequent years. I even have a picture of Grandma and I, from a Christmas tea years and years ago, sitting on the altar next to my stove today.
In recent years, I’ve embraced making smaller versions of those tea parties for myself and my kids. Most of the time it’s just a pot of tea with toast or maybe cheese and crackers, but sometimes I make a batch of scones for us to enjoy a proper English cream tea. I learned to make this Betty Crocker scone recipe in my middle school home ec. class, and it’s the recipe I’ve used for every tea party since.
Classic Scones
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4-6 tablespoons cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400º F. Meanwhile whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Add cubed butter and begin to blend with a pastry blender or a fork until mixture resembles fine crumbs, set aside.
In a small bowl whisk egg and vanilla together, then add to the flour mixture with just enough of the 4 to 6 tablespoons of cream until it forms a soft dough and leaves the sides of the bowl.
Lightly flour your work surface and begin to knead dough. Fold dough in half towards you, then with the heel of your hand lightly push dough away. Rotate dough a quarter of a turn and repeat about 10 times, until the dough is springy and smooth.
Place dough on an ungreased cookie sheet or lined with parchment paper and roll dough into an 8-inch round using a rolling pin. Cut dough into 8 wedges with a floured knife or bench scraper but do not separate the wedges. Brush with 1 tablespoon of cream and sprinkle with granulated white or turbinado sugar.
Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating halfway through until light golden brown. Transfer from baking sheet to a cooling rack. Gently separate wedges and serve warm, with clotted cream or butter, and fruit preserves.
For easier reference I’ve created a printable version of this recipe. It’s my goal to attach printable resources when and where I can each month moving forward, feel free to share but please don’t forget to tag me or give credit to my work!
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