MONDAY MORNING FOOD POST 4-18-26 AND NO RECIPE FROM ME BUT SHARING ONE I CAME ACROSS

I have not made any new recipes this past week. Instead, I thought I would share what we picked up at The Pure Pasty Company. We were there last Thursday the 16th. The man always goes in because I can't tackle the steep steps. They do have an open moving platform that takes people down those steps, an elevator/lift. You step on it, the sides come up to the waist, they close a gate and down it goes. I haven't used it as a) I don't like to ask the staff to drop everything - they have to manage it and they are generally super busy, and b) I don't want to make a spectacle of myself, always preferring to melt into the background. So no, I won't be using the lift now or anytime that I can see. My two personalities, me and the dominant introvert, have a great back and forth about such things.

And so, what did he buy today? Something new which we intended to take home and have for supper. British bangers with baked beans on top of that, all tucked inside that delicious pastry shell. They make the best pastry! He knows I grew up on bangers and separately, baked beans on toast, loved them as a kid and still do. He wanted to surprise me with this…

and he did but not being a big fan of this combination, he treated himself to a sausage roll, which he will always get if we want a change from a Cornish Pasty. He enjoys sausage rolls ever since his time in the UK.

I have already mentioned the pretty paper plates and napkins I bought the other day. I used them to serve up this pastry pocket.

It was delicious! Next time I would eat it with a spoon of Branston's Chutney and a dab of Coleman's Mustard.

Here's a closer look above and below of the napkins and paper plates. I usually only buy generic ones - perfect for picnics and for days when you want a break from the washing up. I don't usually buy the pretty ones, but it was a pick-me-up to see them on the table.

This not actually being my Monday Morning Recipe Post, but I do have a recipe for you. On a page at The Pure Pasty Company's website, they have the Queen's Biscuit Cake here. If I wanted to make this cake as shown, I could get the items at the shop. I've never made it but I have seen it before on other websites, and only just found it on theirs. I also found two other recipes, basically the same. This first link here is interesting as it is from the Queen’s actual Chef who came up with the recipe. It doesn't share a photo that I could see, bu another site shows an actual photo of their version here.

This is The Pure Pasty Company’s version 

"Queen's Biscuit Cake

Are you in need of a quick and easy sweet snack?

Then we have the recipe for you - the late Queen's favorite biscuit cake.

Only 4 ingredients, of which we currently have 2 in stock and on discount - Bournville Buttons and Rich Tea Biscuits.

Biscuit Cake

200g (a smidgen over 7 ounces) packet of Rich Tea Biscuits

5 ozs. butter (salted), softened

5 ozs. sugar (fine)

5 ozs. Bournville Chocolate Buttons, plus

Coating:

7 oz. Bournville Chocolate Buttons (total 3 x 110g bags)

Use a 7-inch x 5-inch pan (or closest size), lined with parchment.

Break the biscuits into approximately 1-inch pieces.

Melt the buttons.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Stir in melted chocolate and add biscuits until well coated.

Spread into pan and cool.

When set, melt rest of chocolate and spread on top.

Leave to set, then enjoy.

Added note by me: if you don't have these products readily available in your area, use a favorite equivalent. They are in that last link I used. 

Thanks for visiting.

I hope your day is a great one!

Bon Appétit 

and

MONDAY MORNING FOOD POST - SWEETWATER TAVERN

 

No recipe again as the warmer weather is keeping us out of the kitchen. We are eating a lot of salads or other quick meals. Just in case you would like to try one of my old recipes, this link will take you to a crockpot meal for Spaghetti Bolognese. 

As for today's post, I realized I hadn't shared a visit to a restaurant when our family was visiting from Germany. It was the last night of their vacation. A little poignant knowing we would be seeing them off at the airport the next day, but we had a wonderful time together. Great company with lots of laughter and good food, a perfect ending to a very special time together.

The statue with cowboy and rearing horse is magnificent close up, though I would prefer a more peaceful-looking sculpture. It's supposed to represent the Old West.

Inside it is decorated in a southwestern theme. Even the lights had horses and riders. 

The mirror was above our table...

with a closer view of the American Indian Hopi Kachina doll folk art. And as I always do with things that make me curious, I did a quick overview search. "Hopi Kachina dolls are carved representations of spiritual beings central to Hopi religion and culture, serving as messengers between humans and the divine. They are primarily made by the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona. 

Originally these dolls were made as gifts for young Hopi girls. The Kachina figures represent spiritual beings that aid the Pueblo cultures in survival, specifically teaching young girls about the connection between the spiritual and the natural worlds. Their primary purpose was, and continues to be, to teach Hopi children about the various Kachinas, their associated stories and their religious significance.”

The history of the Hopi Peoples can be found here.

These are the meals ordered by the family. 

Thanks for looking and 

have a great day!

NO MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST, BUT A RESTAURANT.

 Another whole week has gone by, and I haven't made one new recipe. Our last meal was a salad. My dear other half fixed it. We had different tastes in our additions. This is mine: we both had the lettuce, sautéed mushrooms, sliced radishes with the miniature chicken and cilantro dumplings which had been dropped in boiling water to cook, plus a few blueberries and raspberries on mine. There’s also diced tomato in there somewhere. No dressing for me but dear man liked a little blue cheese dressing on his. We enjoyed them immensely and I think we will be eating a lot of salads this week with all the hot weather we are having.

I thought I would share a restaurant I mentioned in my daily journal shortly after we visited. March 20th, 2025 was the day we were there. (I will begin doing my journals again sometime, I miss doing them.) It had been my dear other half’s birthday a few days earlier and he wanted to try this restaurant after it was recommended by our son and daughter-in-law.

This is the Lazy Dog Restaurant and we were greeted by a sculpture in the window. We had come through the front doors into a small foyer. Beyond the glass window was the restaurant. I thought it would have been a dog, but I could see a horse's head made from metal parts.

Here is the view directly across the street.  We were in a large shopping area.

You can read a bit of its history here on Wikipedia.  The menu is quite extensive. I have added pages below and if you click on them, you can enlarge and hopefully be able to read what they have.

We were asked if we would like to sit inside or outside. Even though there was a little bit of a breeze, we felt it was nice enough to sit outside.  We were having a lovely beginning to the year and the weather was sunny if not hot. We were wearing sweaters and were very comfortable.

The appetizer above is what everyone was given. They were like crispy home-made potato chips. I ordered trout and Gregg the fish and chips, though no photo of his. 

We took a piece of cake home for us to share later, called Confetti Cake, and it was very good. 

When Gregg saw that I had written my blog post about this restaurant, he said he really liked the place and wants to go again. 

That's about it for today's food post. Thanks for looking and I hope your day is a good one.

NO RECIPE TODAY BUT ANOTHER RESTAURANT

I am having a case of déjà vu, feeling I have shared these photos before. After my mistake of sharing one set of photos on two different blog posts not so long ago, I am doubting myself. So, if by any chance you have in fact seen these already, just put it down to my foggy brain, which I seem to have had a lot of lately.

We didn't do a new recipe this week and just stuck to simple foods, simple stir fries, sandwiches and ate what needed to be used up out of the veggie/fruit bowl, fridge, freezer or from the pantry. And more importantly it was one of those weeks where neither of us felt like fussing too long in the kitchen. There is a restaurant called First Watch that hubby suggested we try, and it was a good choice. A way of replacing my usual Monday morning recipe post, for lack of a recipe.

The mural was on the back of the building. I couldn't get a full straight-on photo. It is in a busy intersection of a shopping parking lot and there were too many cars going back and forth. I couldn't stand in the middle of the road so I took what I could. The second photo was taken from the passenger side as we were driving by on our way to exiting the shopping area onto the main street.

A view of the shops seen as we are at the entrance of the restaurant, looking to the left...

and straight on.

Hubby dropped me off at the door and went to park the car. I signed us in with the young lady at the desk, took a seat in the waiting area. 

Gregg arrived and within five minutes we were being shown our table. We had the information board right above us.

I had my own coffee pot and I was a happy camper. Gregg doesn't drink coffee, or tea for that matter. He said I had a big smile on my face when that was placed in front of me. True! It was good coffee. I used hazelnut creamer that I took out of the little pot of creamers on the table. I had two or three cups with my breakfast. At home I normally enjoy a single cup of black coffee in the morning.

It's probably too hard to read the menu but this is what it looked like.  Feel free to enlarge the collage, or any of these photos for that matter. Top and back of the menu...

and a separate one showing the spring menu. If you go to this link it will show you a clear look of their menu in pdf form. 

Ours was the skillet hash plus an order of their million-dollar bacon which we shared.

I liked this old rustic window on the wall...

and the male Nothern Cardinal on another wall near the exit.

We enjoyed this place very much and wouldn't mind going again sometime. They are open from 7.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.

I realized later on doing a search of my blog, that we had been to another First Watch in another location back in 2019, and that post you can see here. It closed a few years ago. This place is newly opened and replaced another restaurant in this location. There are a few of you who may have seen our previous visit as I recognize a few blogging friends there, but it's been a while so you might enjoy it again.

CONTINUING OUR VISIT TO CHATEAU DE CHANTILLY CAFE

You can find their website here. 

I thought I would share more goodies. I also was surprised to read a few negative reviews, which seemed strange. Son and D-in-L have gone there several times now and never had a problem. They have always given it glowing reports, and encouraged us to go as we were looking for something a little different. We felt the same way when we visited on this occasion and that one time last year. It is a place we will look forward to going to again sometime, and more often. Our son and daughter-in-law say they never pay attention to bad reviews, and prefer to make up their own mind. We are the same way and in fact don’t usually do so. Not sure why I did this time, except that I was trying to pinpoint the location and something popped up.

On the right of the above photo is a center storage unit where we found our fried croissant.

It has been a long time since we tried anything like these. We tend to keep away from bakeries for the most part. When we visited last year, Gregg was hoping for a sandwich and didn't realize at first all they sold were cakes and pastries. But after trying the one brought for us on our recent evening get together, he was seriously wanting another. Here are the photos. Not much else to talk about having said a lot yesterday.

and cakes.

I don't know the actual name of this pretty cake but those are slices of mango on the outside.

Black Forest Cake

That’s all for now until the next time we go. 

 

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!