Spill the Tea: Lyon’s Tea + Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers: The Secret Adversary

I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland. 

It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all. But when we got on the island all seemed well with us in Cork.

However, we discovered that our “rough weather” we faced was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise Line; it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation

We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.

The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum. 

Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.

We managed to finally have some Irish tea in Dun Laoghaire at the historic People’s Park.

The other thing we had hoped to achieve, now that we knew the cruise line wouldn’t toss our tea, was to purchase some loose leaf tea. However we couldn’t find a single tea shop, just coffee shops or coffee roaster shops.

Sigh!

Ireland is number two in the world for most tea consumption, but we couldn’t find a tea shop in Killeybegs, Belfast, or Dun Laoghaire. Belfast might have had some, but we had been far too busy with the Titanic Museum we didn’t get to spend a lot of time in the city.

Oh well…

We did ask one of the shopkeepers at the Irish Design Studio and she recommended going to SuperValu in the mall to pick some up or another convenience store. That was something that I found a bit of a culture shock in Ireland, so many malls had grocery stores or thrift stores. We headed over there and were given many choices of tea, but I wanted something that was distinctly Irish or only something I could get in the United Kingdom.

The shopkeeper had suggested either Lyons Tea or Barry’s, Barry’s being her favorite; but as soon as I saw Lyons Tea I decided on it as they mention it in one of my favorite books, The Secret Adversary.

Lyons Tea was started earlier in England, but began their Irish business in 1902 in Dublin. They were also known for their tea shops all over England and Ireland from 1894 to 1981. I was excited to try it out.

According to an article I had read in Teatime Magazine Irish tea is strong; “so strong a cup can stand straight up in the cup”. Most are made with Assam and have a strong taste and are dark in color, often being compared to coffee. It is recommended to be served with sugar and cream/milk.

I have never enjoyed the Irish tea in the states, and was excited for this one. It took a long time but I was able to find a loose leaf version of the original blend. When we were home I tried it and loved it! It is so good and just like how I like my tea.

A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.

Of course I had to pair the tea with the book I always associate with Lyons, The Secret Adversary.

The Secret Adversary (The Adventures of Tommy and Tuppence #1) by Agatha Christie

I’ve been wanting to review this book ever since my book club read it back in 2020, as it is one I recommended for the Non-Austen Read for Austen Readers List.

This book is one of Christie’s mystery/adventure stories/thrillers. It different from her Poirot or Marple stories as there is the mysterious element but with a focus on the adventure side. Tommy and Tuppence are two of my favorite Christie detectives, in fact I wish she had written more stories with them as they are a delight.

Mystery, you say?

The mystery begins with an ill fated sea voyage, (something I can relate to more after my Irish experience and another reason why this tea and book go together); the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. When people start moving to the lifeboats, a man approaches Jane Finn, an ordinary American girl who was traveling to become a nurse and assist in WWI. The man asks her to carry some secret papers as she is much more likely to get on a lifeboat than him, and as the USA was a neutral country at the time. Being a patriot for the cause, she agrees and takes the packet; changing her life forever.

Five years pass and we are introduced to our main characters, old friends Lt. Thomas “Tommy” Beresford and Miss Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley. The two haven’t seen each other in three due to WWI. Both are down in the dumps as they have no work, have not been successful in finding any, and are growing near to their last coin. They decide to treat themselves to tea at Lyons, where they share their WWI adventures and Tommy mentions how he overheard two men mention a name “Jane Finn” the other day, he remembers the name as he finds it very odd.

Tuppence decides they need to find a way to make money as the two have no hope of inheriting it or marrying into it.

She comes up with the idea that the two could start their own business- The Young Adventures, Ltd.-and that they should run an advertisement.

Two young adventurers for hire.

Willing to do anything, go anywhere.

Pay must be good.

No reasonable offer refused.

They part ways, but then Tuppence is approached by a man with a job offer. They meet the next day and he offers £100 for her (he doesn’t want Tommy) to travel to Paris, speak in an American accent, and pretend to be Edward Whittington’s ward. Tuppence is cautious about it and decides to give a fake name (as she doesn’t want to cause a scandal for her parents), deciding on “Jane Finn”. As soon as she utters them name, everything changes. Mr. Whittington is angry, accuses her of trying to play him, and questions who could have squealed-Rita? Tuppence “blackmails” £50 out of him, hears him talk to a “Mr. Brown” and agrees to meet him the next day for further payment. However, when she returns with Tommy, Mr. Whittington has disappeared.

Tuppence is not about to lose this big fish and the opportunity and has Tommy to put in a new advertisement:

WANTED:

Any information respecting Jane Finn

Apply Young Adventurers, Ltd.

They end up receiving two replies. The first is Mr. Carter who Tommy recognizes as a member of the OSS, who reveals to them how they had an operative on the Lusitania with the draft of a secret agreement, by various countries. When the boat was sinking the operative passed the documents to a young girl-Jane Finn-and he did not survive, but no one knows what happened to the girl or the documents. The girl was listed as a survivor, but she has completely disappeared. They need the documents as if they were to go public today in 1920, it would be disastrous. Agreements made in war do not always do well in times of peace and lately there have been unrest, lead by the elusive and villainous mastermind, “Mr. Brown”.

Tuppence is able to put the pieces together and concludes that Mr. Whittington wanted her to pretend to be Jane Finn, that is until it seemed she knew all about their plan. The call from “Mr. Brown” was probably one of warning and that is why the group vanished.

Mr. Carter hires them and the two start investigating. They begin by meeting the second person who answered their advertisement: Julius P. Hersheimmer. Julius is Jane’s cousin and a millionaire, who has been searching for her. He brought a picture to give to Scotland Yard but it turns out “Mr. Brown” tricked him out of it.

The three team up together as this case takes ups and downs and twists and turns. Kidnapping, imprisonments, mistaken identities, red herrings, Bolshevisks, amnesia, spy games, etc.

This is one of my favorite books and one I often reread. I love the story, the characters, the pacing, the reveal, etc.

I think it goes perfect with the tea as the characters are strong and I enjoy both of them the more I have them.

Now why for Jane Austen fans?

I recommend it for Jane Austen fans as first of all Tuppence reminds me a lot of Emma Woodhouse. She’s a strong character who believes she knows best, and while most of the time her intuition is correct she also has a hard time listening to other people. Besides being a strong capable person; she also loves adventure and watching/reading adventure stories. This reminds me of Catherine Morland, especially how she enjoys how quickly things are moving, along with not taking the consequences as seriously; believing it is all like a book and will work out.

Tommy has his own imaginative tendencies, like Henry Tilney, but tends to spend most of his life as calm collected and trying to keep Tuppence from going overboard; very similar to Mr. Knightley. Like Knightley, Tommy has to rein in some of Tuppence’s more extreme ideas.

The characters completely balance each other out; just like Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney and Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley. The started off as friends so they have a more joking relationship similar to Knightly and Emma; or much like how Tilney and Catherine started. Also like Knightley and Emma it’s obvious to many that the two have feelings for each other; but it takes time for them to realize it.

Julius is a genial guy but had been raised rich, believing he can just use money to take care of anything. He doesn’t always think, but reacts; his blunt and charge ahead attitude reminds me of Frank Churchill and Mr. Willoughby; this young men who have always lived wealthy lives with little responsibilities. Although Julius is nicer than them, like Frank he too doesn’t see the harm in a mild flirtation.

Like the Austen novels, our characters fall victim to trusting someone they shouldn’t because they appear to be someone who is good and strong, but secretly rotten, and luckily they discover the truth before something too terrible happens.

From Clueless

A great read!

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: People’s Park Café

For more Ireland posts, go to Trying Not to Pull a Louisa Musgrove: Walking the Dún Laoghaire Pier 

For more on Agatha Christie, go to Miss Marple and Jane Austen: You Can See Human Nature From Anywhere in a Small Village

For more Non-Austen reads for Austen Readers, go to Someone to Wed

For more mysteries, go to Catherine Morland’s Reading List: Dangerous to Know (Lady Emily Ashton Mystery #5)

For more spy stories, go to Undeceived: Pride & Prejudice in the Spy Game

Books, Tea, and the Trinity: 1-2-3-4 Peanut Butter Cookies

Back in 2020, some friends and I started a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We met every Wednesday and worked our way through The Chronicles of Narnia. After we finished The Last Battle in 2021 we started looking for a new series to read. One of the members chose The Lorien Legacies, as even though it isn’t Christianity based, she felt there was a lot of themes that we could pull out of it that related to Christianity. 

What also changed was that we gained another member; but she and one of our founding members both had some dietary restrictions. This caused us to rethink the menus to incorporate more healthier options, but still trying to find some fun teatime food. 

After I Am Number Four and The Power of Six we went to the next book in the series, The Rise of Nine.

Screenshot

We first had a “Think Pink” Surprise Birthday Party for one of our members. We drank Pink Moon tea, had meatballs, tamales, stuffed peppers, ice-cream, and Pink Champagne cake.

The next time we had tea we drank Strawberries and Cream tea, had apples and yogurt peanut butter dip, cucumber salad with sour cream, and Bao buns. Will post recipes soon!

The next time we drank Strawberries and Cream tea, had Pepper Teigen’s Thai Beef Jerky, rice, Tea Time Magazine’s Tomato egg salad sandwiches, and King Arthur’s Flour 1-2-3-4 peanut butter cookies.

These cookies are a great one to make if you only have a few ingredients, or looking for something flour free.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Creamy or Chunky Peanut Butter
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment (for easiest cleanup, but sheets can be left unlined and ungreased if you prefer.)
3. In a medium-sized bowl beat together the peanut butter, egg, sugar, and baking soda until smooth.
4. Drop the dough by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake cookies for ten minutes, or until they appear set.
6. Remove them from the oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack and cooling completely.

These cookies are super easy to make and delicious. They do come out flat and you need to be careful not to overbake them.

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream

For more recipes from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Cookbook, go to King Arthur Flour Fudgy Brownies

For more cookie recipes, go to Rice Krispies Chocolate Chip Cookies

For more desserts, go to Pink Champagne Cake

For more recipes, go to Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: People’s Park Café

Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers: Someone to Wed

Someone to Wed (The Westcotts #3) by Mary Balogh

Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers is something I started a while back for fans of Jane Austen who after reading all her works are looking for something new to read.

There are numerous variations of Jane Austen’s works, but while those adaptations are fun, sometimes you don’t always want to read the same story. Sometimes you want Austen-like works, but not exactly the same as Austen’s works. But what can you read instead?

That’s why I started this series. I will be reviewing books that have components of what we love about the Austen novels, but are not just another retelling, but their own unique story.

I was gifted book four, Someone to Care, in the Westcott series years ago and always meant to read the rest of the series but just hadn’t gotten around to it. When I spotted book one available on the Libby app I decided to give it a try and found it to be something I would recommend to Jane Austen fans.

This is a regency historical fiction romance that does have some spicy scenes. It’s very mild so if spice isn’t for you, you can easily skip those pages and move on to the rest of the book without losing too much of the plot, or if you are a fan of a spice in your romances this will easily satisfy you.

In the first book it turns out that the late Earl of Riverdale, the Westcott patriarch, never divorced his first wife making his marriage to Lady Viola and their three children by her completely illegitimate. Not only that, but his daughter, Ana, from his first marriage, which he deposited in an orphanage, inherited everything. His daughter, Ana, comes into society and has a lot to learn along with trying to bond with her newly discovered family.

Wow!

Book two, Someone to Hold, is from the point of view of the second eldest Westcott, Camille, who has been rendered illegitimate, has lost her fiancé, been sent from her home to her grandmother’s in Bath, and has just been hired to be a teacher in the very same orphanage that Ana grew up. I didn’t care for that book and decided not to include it.

This brings us to book three, Someome to Wed. When the Westcott children were determined to be illegitimate, the heir Harry lost the title of Earl and it was instead transferred to their cousin Alexander.

Unlike Pride and Prejudice, Alexander is described as a Prince Charming lookalike. Alexander did not want to become the Earl as he finally managed to get his home and property in order as when his father died he inherited a ton of debts and problems. Now saddled with even more tenants and property ignored by the former Earl, he is uncertain on how he will deal with them.

Sigh!

Wren Hayden is in her thirties and tired of living alone; having lost her aunt and uncle who were her adopted parents. Being the very, very wealthy heiress of a glassware company she is determined to find a husband and have children. The only problems, she never leaves her home. Born with a large birthmark on her face and told by her mother she was hideous, a mother who also locked her away in a room; she believes herself to be a monster on the level of The Phantom of the Opera.

Her uncle and aunt tried to convince her otherwise but Wren never lets any but those two see her face and wears a veil or veiled hat whenever she goes out.

But money can buy lots of things and she goes shopping for a man who needs money and would agree to a marriage of convenience.

When Wren propositions Alexander she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Alexander isn’t just a man to just take any wealthy woman; after working so hard to get himself out of debt and take care of his tenants; he’s been hoping to marry someone that he cares, respects, and loves. At first he is disgusted by the way Wren treats him, making him feel ashamed for his lack of money to fix the Earl’s debts; but when he gets to know her more and realizes this image she has of herself, that she has built a wall around herself, something reaches into his heart and he wants to help her, see if they suit each other, and possibly marry her.

Wren knew the moment she saw this handsome fairytale prince of a man she never should have continued her plan. How could someone who looks like him want her? But after they spend time together she starts falling for him and realizes that she can’t have him on the terms she had proposed. He deserves to be married to someone he loves. She releases him from the agreement and is determined to never see him again.

However, Alexander’s invitation to come to London for the season has made her curious l to go see the different things she has read about. The two run into each other and once Alexander has her back in his life he will not let her go, dterkined ones to marry her and help her see herself for who she truly is.

A cute story that I really enjoyed and anyone who has ever had body image issues will be able to relate to Wren.

So why would I recommend it to Jane Austen fans? First of all the character of Wren is capable, determined, and stubborn; reminding me of Emma. Like Emma, Wren has been in charge of her home (and the family business) and it has given her a sense to fully charge ahead and causes her to not easily listen to others when she believes she is right.

Alex is her perfect match being her Mr. Knightley trying to help Wren see the truth of who she is, not the lies her mother told; and helps her become a full person instead of the half type recluse she has become.

A terrible parent who makes things difficult for their children is something that these characters also have in common with the Austen characters. None of the Austen characters had a mother as terrifying as Wren’s mother; but Mr. Dashwood, Mr. Bennet, and Sir Walter Elliot are similar to the type of parent that Alexander grew up with. Like the Dashwood sisters, Bennet sisters, and Elliot sisters; Alexander has had to deal with his father’s poor planning.

Alexander also reminds me of Mr. Darcy as he loves his sister and would do anything to keep her safe; having sheltered her when her late husband was abusing her. He also puts his tenants first, sacrificing his plans and trying to make sure they are taken care of and self-sufficient.

Definitely worth a read for Austen fans.

For more by Mary Balogh, go to Someone to Love

For more Non-Austen reads for Austen Readers, go to Land of My Heart

For more historical fiction, go to Dangerous to Know (Lady Emily Ashton Mystery #5)

For more books set in the Regency Era, go to Sense and Second-Degree Murder

Spill the Tea: People’s Park Café

I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland. 

It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all.

However, we discovered that the “rough weather” was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise line, it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation

We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.

The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.

Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.

After our walk in the heat, as Ireland turned out to have some unusually warm days (I guess we brought the California sunshine with us). We were both very hungry and wanting “real” Irish food, things we could not eat in California. Earlier in the day we had tried to have High Tea at the Royal Marine Hotel, but we were unable to get a reservation as you had to make it three days in advance. We tried to convince her to let us as we weren’t sure we could be here three days ago, but no dice.

We wandered around and finally stopped at The People’s Park.

The People’s Park was built in the late 1800s in the Victorian Era and has kept the style. It was planned out in a system of pedestrian pathways, a bandstand, iron fountains, and was so picturesque I felt like we had jumped into a Mary Poppins drawing.

In 2023, the Wrights group won the contract for the Café. The Café is available for eat in, “takeaway”, and to rent out for special events. The Café uses local produce, high quality coffee, and the menu is constantly changing.

Eating in is fun, but it was hot in there from the ovens and the windows.

I ordered a four cheese toastie (grilled cheese). It was really good and I later tried to make something similar at home, but couldn’t match it.

I also ordered a tea bun. I saw someone else with one, and was like “I have to have it!”. It was a delicious and beautiful lemon poppyseed.

Absolutely delicious! The only thing I didn’t have was tea to drink as it has been so hot on the pier, and so hot in the cafe, all I could drink was water.

The food was delicious and it turns out that every Sunday they have a little market outside. We walked along it, but most of the items were things we couldn’t take back on the ship or home to the USA.

If you ever are in Dun Laoghaire, I recommend stopping by here and grabbing a bite.

For more tea places reviews, go to Spill the Tea: An Capall Mara (The Seahorse)

For more tea posts, go to Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream

For more Ireland posts, go to Trying Not to Pull a Louisa Musgrove: Walking the Dún Laoghaire Pier

Books, Tea, and the Trinity: Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream

Back in 2020, some friends and I started a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We met every Wednesday and worked our way through The Chronicles of Narnia. After we finished The Last Battle in 2021 we started looking for a new series to read. One of the members chose The Lorien Legacies, as even though it isn’t Christianity based, she felt there was a lot of themes that we could pull out of it that related to Christianity.

What also changed was that we gained another member; but she and one of our founding members both had some dietary restrictions. This caused us to rethink the menus to incorporate more healthier options, but still trying to find some fun teatime food.

After I Am Number Four and The Power of Six we went to the next book in the series, The Rise of Nine.

The first time we met we had a “Think Pink” Surprise Birthday Party for one of our members. We drank Pink Moon tea, had meatballs, tamales, stuffed peppers, ice-cream, and Pink Champagne cake. (The items that were not red or pink were made by the member we were surprising). We also wore these cute little Tea Party Hat fascinators.

The next time we met we drank Strawberries and Cream tea, had apples and yogurt peanut butter dip, cucumber salad, and Bao buns.

This recipe was actually inspired by The Shop Around the Corner. I was watching it for the millionth time when I was listening to Mr. Matuschek, once a happy family man but now alone on Christmas Eve, try and find someone to spend the evening with. He doesn’t want to eat alone and tries to entice all his employees with a good dinner; ultimately inviting the new delivery boy.

“Mr. Matuschek: You’re all alone in Budapest
on Christmas Eve?

Rudy: That’s right.

Mr. Matuschek: Rudy! Do you like chicken noodle soup?

Rudy: I certainly do.

Mr. Matuschek: And what would you think of roast goose stuffed with baked apples? And fresh boiled potatoes and butter
and some red cabbage on the side?

Rudy: I’d love it!

Mr. Matuschek: And then cucumber salad with sour cream? Then a double order of apple strudel with vanilla sauce.

Rudy: Sounds wonderful!

Mr. Matuschek: You’re going to have it, Rudy. Come on. Here, taxi!

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

It made me really want to try a cucumber salad so I googled a bit and settled on a recipe from Healthy Recipes Blog.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dill weed, chopped
• 1 large English cucumber thinly sliced
• ½ small red onion thinly sliced (or chopped)
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, mix together the
sour cream, vinegar, and dill.

2) Add the cucumbers and the onions
and mix well.

3) Cover with plastic wrap and
refrigerate for one hour.

4) Before serving, sprinkle with the
salt and pepper and mix again.

I accidentally bought the wrong onion, now I make sure to write red onion on my shopping list instead of just onion; but it still turned out really good. I like cucumbers a lot and this was a new and delicious recipe.

And a snack on the table!

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

For more salad recipes, go to Berry Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

For more recipes, go to Pink Champagne Cake

For more tea posts, go to Tea Time at the Titanic