When I was wee, biscuits were a staple on the table at the parsonage. Sunday lunch consisted of “a roast of beef” as Nano referred to the piece of inside round that went to the oven just before she and Papa took us to church. It was either that or chicken, whole and roasted until golden, that we ate around the dining room table almost every Sunday. We didn’t often welcome guests at “dinner” on Sundays and that was because the week before and the morning of, took most of the umph out of Papa and he needed the in between hours, before returning to church for the evening service, to rest. Fair enough! Preachering is hard stuff and we witnessed the affect, okay, the toll, full time service to bringing teaching and encouragement to a community, had on our dear Father. In an earlier post I told you about our Sunday Night Traditions.
After rest time, oh Sunday afternoons could be looooong, we had “tea” and then headed off down the road, to church again.
It was at tea time, when we often had biscuits. Now, for you Brits, let me explain. I am not speaking of cookies. It’s biscuits, a sort of type of scone, that I’m talking about here.
Biscuits and Nano’s canned peaches, or canned cherries, or canned pears. Biscuits were always served with jam and cheese. Good, sharp, cheddar. None of that marble nonsense pretending to be something it isn’t.
And tea of course. Boiled kettle, pot hotted, tea bag first and water last.
Biscuits came out of the oven After we were called to the table. There’s no point eating biscuits that have cooled to room temperature.
Now, Nano’s biscuits were good. No doubt. We devoured them and enjoyed every bite.
However, it wasn’t until I was twenty three and had been married for one whole month, that I tasted a different kind of biscuit.
Nano was a bit disconcerted when, visiting me in Toronto early on, I told her we would be using Auntie Beulah’s recipe. It wasn’t often that I exchanged one of Nano’s recipes for someone else’s. Nevertheless, once I had experienced Auntie Beulah’s biscuits, there was no going back. I think this may be about the time that I began my love affair with all things tea biscuit/scone. In those early years, if you ever came to my house for tea, chances are, you were served Auntie Beulah’s Tea Biscuits. They were and are delicious. I have messed with them, adjusted them, added to them and changed them. Just a couple of days ago, I took the old recipe out of my box and decided to follow the instructions, exactly. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that.
Well, believe it or not, Auntie Beulah knew what she was about when she wrote that recipe for me all those (36) years ago.
“Bless her” Nano would say. “Remember when…?” Nano would say. Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn’t
remember, but when my mama got to remembering the early years, it was a great time.
I told you once, that Nano and Papa had met the first time, in the home of “Old Mr. Northcott”. Mr. N had a gaggle of girls and a couple of boys and welcomed one and all into his home. He was a fellow Newfoundlander and so, C.D. House (my father)found himself a guest at the Northcott home on more than one occasion. It was there that he met his future wife and knew she would be, the first time he laid eyes on her.
This particular post is not about That.
Later, much later, when I was all grown up, I was introduced to some of the stories, by my Auntie Beulah and Auntie Marj. They followed in their daddies footsteps and welcomed me, along with my new, whipper snapper of an up and coming lawyer, into their home. You see, the two sisters lived in a house along with the husband of Auntie Beulah. Auntie Marg had no real husband. Oh she was married. Had been and still was. Her husband had not been who he said he was and it didn’t take long, after the vows were promised, that he showed his true colours. He left her high and dry, but not to be undone and miserable, she made a life for herself. It was her house that was a respite, an embrace, a home away, when I was fresh into marriage. It was there, on Palomino Crescent, where I drank tea, ate Tea biscuits, laughed and cried and heard so many stories of times past. God was good to plunk me down close to these dear ones who have long since gone to sing and dance around the throne.
But I have memories and recipes and I’m thankful for old aunties and a wealth of wonder.
Auntie Beulah’s Tea Biscuits can be found under the heading Tea Time.
