Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I Heart Rainy Days

Sun go away, just for a few days. Bring on the rain...it just feels so much cozier. Where will you find me?

Perhaps at my favorite Irish pub, PJ Finnegan's, in Westwood, New Jersey.

Of course, I'd be having my favorite Irish beverage: Magners cider, $5.

And feasting on some veg pub grub: a portobello mushroom burger with roasted red peppers on focaccia bread, with a mesclun salad, $8.95.

I will definitely have the kettle on. A good "cuppa" does wonders for the soul.


Whenever rainy weather strikes, it always feels like a good "Tea and Sympathy day" - one of my favorite haunts in New York City. I used to work nearby, and would eat like a queen. Visits here now are less frequent, but just as cherished.

Cream tea: a pot of tea, my choice, their Rosie Lee (half English Breakfast, half Earl Grey) with scones, clotted cream and strawberry preserves, $10.75.


I think Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet!) would approve. My parents introduced me to the campy Keeping Up Appearances, a witty British comedy from 1990-1995, which reruns on public television regularly. I've admittedly seen every one of her crazy candlelight supper antics, and when viewing the sad state of television today often think, they don't make them like this anymore.

Maybe I'll be making a pot of soup, listening to some Celtic music, like WFUV's A Thousand Welcomes archives, watching a DVD from the library, or reading a thrifted or library book under a blanket. Almost certainly, I will hope for a nap, and if home, be indulging in one.

All these things make me wish for the rain to linger just a bit longer.

4 comments:

Cate said...

I LOVED Keeping Up Appearances! Hyacinth was hilarious.

Catherine said...

Cate, glad to know another KUA fan! How I would love to sit in her kitchen and have a biscuit and Earl Grey out of the Royal Doulton with the hand painted periwinkles. I loved when she told Richard it was only an accident of birth she wasn't born someone more important.

ConsciouslyFrugal said...

I'm a big "Keeping up Appearances" fan too! I also love "As Time Goes By" (actually bought the box set I was so enamored) and watch them on the weekends on PBS if I'm around. Hyacinth looks a lot like my Welsh grandmother, oddly enough, who was also very preoccupied with keeping up appearances. Gotta love it!

And those tea tins are divine. Reading your blog always makes me want to visit the east coast!

Catherine said...

We may have enough for a fan club! I admit it: I own the KUA box set! Time Goes By is another well written comedy. Britcom-wise, I also like Coupling and Mr. Bean.

Love those tea tins too. I bought one of each and now store tea bags in them. Thanks for the nice compliment!