YOB: #23. Have High Tea With Scones
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 7:00AM MAD21 By Beth
I've never been a big fan of hot drinks. The only kinds I'll tolerate are hot cider (in the dead of winter) and hot chocolate (from December-February, unless an unseasonal bout of frigid weather hits us). Coffee is the most disgusting drink ever created and it should be outlawed. I blame my father for why I don't like coffee. When I was growing up, he would regularly have me make his coffee for him. He took it black. One afternoon, I was around the age of 12, I got the bright idea to taste a little of dad's coffee. I nearly threw up. Coffee with cream and sugar is gross; coffee taken black is like pureed orc hair with a touch of goblin blood. I haven't touched the stuff since.
Even the smell of coffee can sometimes turn my stomach. This is also my father's fault. When I started driving I was lucky enough to have my own car, but that didn't stop me from borrowing dad's truck from time to time. Girls in trucks get noticed by boys. You'll find that much of my motivation to do things when I was younger had to do with boys. Anyway, dad always had a cup of coffee in his truck and might have remembered once every two weeks or so to bring the cup in to wash. His truck, therefore, eventually reeked of old, stale coffee. Black. *shudders* I stopped borrowing his truck after losing my lunch several times due to the smell.
So dad gets blamed for my hatred of coffee but mom is not off the hook here. It is her fault I don't like tea. Again, as a child, whenever I was sick my mother forced me to drink tea. I don't know what healing qualities tea is supposed to have but let's just say I'd rather have the illness than be forced to drink tea. It doesn't matter how much sugar is in it, or honey, it really is a vile drink.
Now that I'm older, I can choke down the stuff when the situation calls for it (ie: I'm a guest in someone's home and that's the only drink choice, or I'm in Japan and it would be considered an insult to refuse) but my preferences lie with the cold drinks out there.
Lara likes tea. She's crazy like that. I have forgiven her this grievous sin; very mature of me, I know. It had to have been her idea to add this item to the list; the day I suggest we go for tea is the day the Statue of Liberty sits down. But on the list it went, after all, I do like scones.
The weekend we did the whole tea and scones thing was a very busy one for us. We had planned to knock out 3 or 4 items on the list including: dressing up and eating at a fast food place, getting a massage and going to a cave. We had also planned on going on a hot air balloon ride but that fell through, so Lara planned the tea with scones trip. While she assured me there would be a large selection of tea choices, I was skeptical. The scones part I was looking forward to, but I figured I'd have to endure the tea and possibly ask for water.
I was pleasantly surprised with everything. The tea place we went to was called Tea by Two and was a cute little shop and cafe. Very girly, not at all my normal style, but cute. There were mismatched teacups hanging on the walls and frilly tablecloths on each table. I perused the menu, looking for a tea that would not make me gag. I settled on the Tibetan Tiger tea, it sounded cool and it had chocolate in it. Lara and I took some pictures of the place, practiced posing for the camera (we had just read some tips for looking good in photographs in Reader's Digest) and deciding to bring our moms there someday.
I was pleasantly surprised with the Tibetan Tiger tea. It was good. It has not completely changed my mind about tea but it was not hideous and it was not difficult to choke it down. I think the chocolate helped. The almond scones were heavenly! With clotted cream and lemon glaze. Really yummy. I would recommend this place to a friend, even if they did not like tea.
Scones, Tea, Year of the Birthday in Year of the Birthday
Reader Comments (4)
Goblin blood? Really? When did you get to taste goblin blood and why didn't you take me with you?
I MAY have taken some creative liberties with the writing of this article. But think of the consistency of the blood Gimli finds on the leaf in Fangorn (I know, it's orc blood, but they are very similar) and his reaction.
Your story about tasting your Dad's coffee reminding me of how I felt the first time I snuck a sip of my Daddy's whiskey. I thought it was AWFUL.. But you know, with persistence, I learned to like it. A lot. You just have to keep trying...
You don't like coffee or tea? Are you sure there wasn't head trauma involved somewhere in your childhood?