Buxton, Bakewell and Haddon Hall

We recently visited our daughter in Nottingham.  We love the town of Nottingham, but when we visit we like to take the opportunity to see other places in England as well.  This time we went to Buxton.  Buxton has festivals all summer long and we were able to see several musical venues. 

 

Buxton is similar to Bath, in that it is a spa town where people used to go to "take the waters".  It has mineral waters that were thought to be a cure for many medical problems.  This fountain was chock-o-block full of Buxton mineral water.  I can't speak about any health benefits as I didn't drink any.  Opportunity missed.

 

They even have a crescent, a row of ornate houses build in a semi-circle, similar to the one in Bath, but much smaller and less famous.  The one in Buxton is currently under construction, but I can tell it is going to be fabulous. 

 

Lee and I love to walk around in small English towns and eat at local establishments and pubs.  Buxton is great for this, it even has pubs that allow dogs.  Too bad RJ had to stay home.  He is afraid to try air travel.  I assume.

Buxton was great, but we had to take a side trip to Bakewell.  Bakewell's main claim to fame is the Bakewell tarts that were invented there, by accident according to legend.  We went to several places that claimed to be the first to make the tarts or puddings based on the tart.  We enjoyed trying every manifestation of Bakewell items, especially because Trista has a nut butter business in the UK. 

 

You can find her on Facebook.  Her first flavor is Bakewell Butter and is becoming quite popular in England.  She has sold them at outdoor markets, and they are in some gourmet food shops.  She has also made small ones for wedding favors and has just started up an online store.  Sadly, it is currently available only in the UK, but I hope she can expand worldwide!  Look out Jif and Skippy!

 

While visiting Buxton, we took a side trip to Haddon Hall.  It is an historic Fortified Medieval Manor House.  It looks like a castle, but it never functioned as a castle.  It has been left in the original form for centuries.  It has also  been in the same family since it was built.  Because it hasn't been lived in as a home, much of the castle is still original. 

This is some of the detail of the chapel.

 

We didn't know this when we decided to take the trip, but we discovered that Haddon Hall was used in the filming of Princess Bride.  Now it seems like this was a theme vacation, as the Cliffs Of Moher that we visited in Ireland were also used for the movie.  They were the Cliffs of Insanity. 

Isn't this where Humperdink stood to introduce Buttercup?

 

 

Remember when Inigo Montoya fought Count Rugen in the castle while attempting to rescue Buttercup? (You killed my father.  Prepare to die.)  They used the room in Haddon Hall (below) for that also.  When filming in a castle, use all the rooms you can. 

 

I love to check out the architectural detail in old buildings.

 

Check out the gutters on Haddon Hall. 

 

I love them.

 

Check out these windows.  There are three different types of leaded windows in just this one section.  I make stained glass, so I was very interested.

 

Can you see that the panels in these windows aren't flat?  They are raised in a wavy pattern.  I imagine they were made over a wooden form, built for this purpose.

 

 

In addition to being a Manor House that has survived as original for the last few centuries, the grounds are spectacular.

 

 

 
 
 There are fabulous terraced gardens, views of the river and stupendous places for holding a wedding.

 

 

 

.  In fact, they do allow weddings at Haddon Hall and it is probably good that we weren't aware of this when either of our daughter's were married. 

 

They grew up on Princess Bride and can quote many lines from the movie. 

 

I imagine this would be a pricey location to have a wedding, but worth it if money is no object.  Sadly for them, money is an object.

 

 

Tea Party Sandwiches

  

A friend invited me to meet her for coffee.  That sounded like fun, but I wanted to try out a new recipe and convinced her to come for a tea party.  You have to have sweet and savory, so I needed to make a few sandwiches.  I usually make cucumber sandwiches and then I wanted to try pineapple cream cheese sandwiches.  I had some tea from the White Oak Tea Tavern and a tea party was made!

Pineapple Cream Cheese Sandwiches

1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup pineapple tidbits, finely chopped and drained
1 or 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
cinnamon
1/2   cup whipped cream cheese
thin white bread

  

There were only going to be the three of us and I did not want a lot of left overs.  So I made small amounts.  There is no exact amount so don't let your OCD side take over.  The important part is the percentages.

  

I used a small lunch cup for the pineapple tidbits.  I drained out the juice and about 1/3 of the tidbits.  The rest I dumped on the cutting board and chopped until very small.  Then I let them drain a bit and added to the bowl with the chopped walnuts.  I added enough whipped cream cheese to make everything stick together.  Set aside

Cover the butter with cinnamon.  I didn't measure, so maybe 1/4 teaspoon.  Mix it well and set aside.

I bought some very thin white bread.  If you don't have any, use regular white bread, but it will be hard to spread on it as it will want to tear. 

Now set up an assembly line.  Lay out two slices of bread and open them up so that you can butter both sides.  Lay out as many sets of bread as you will need. At least one set per person.  I used 3 sets, or 6 slices of bread

 

Butter each side with the cinnamon butter.  Use it very sparingly.  You just want a thin coat to keep the pineapple cream cheese from making the sandwiches soggy.

  

Gently spread a scant amount of the pineapple cream cheese.  Try not to spread clear out to the edges.  This will make it more difficult to trim off the crusts. If you have extra, make another sandwich or save it for another time.

Place the tops on the sandwiches and trim off all the crusts.  Cut diagonally across the sandwich to make triangles. 

Moisten a paper towel and wring it mostly dry.  Cover the sandwiches.  This will keep them from drying out.  If it will be a long time before you eat, them place the plate in the refrigerator.

Now for the...

Cucumber Sandwiches

English Cucumber
whipped cream cheese
salt and pepper
thin white bread

You want the kind of cucumber that is wrapped in plastic.  I only needed half of it for the three of us.  Wrap up and save the rest.  I will add it to our salad tonight.  Yes, all we will get is a salad.  But we had a great tea party!

Peel the cucumber and slice it in half lengthwise.  Cut a wedge along the inside to take out most of the seeds.  They call these seedless, but they are liars 

  

As an aside, whenever I hear (or write) the word "liars" I think of the part in Princess Bride where the old woman calls Miracle Max a liar.  If you had girls in the 1980's you probably do, too.  If not go get the movie and watch it with your daughters...about 100 times.  Then you too, will quote from it and hear it in your head for life.  It's totally worth it.

Take the peeled and seedless cucumber and slice it in 1/4 inch slices.  Set aside.

Lay out the bread in pairs as you did above.  You still have some whipped cream cheese.  Start your assemble line again.

  

Spread the cream cheese on each slice.  Lay out the slices of cucumber on one side of the bread.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I made four of these, because I KNEW I liked them.

  

Place the tops on the sandwiches and gently cut of the crusts.  If you let the cucumbers be placed to the edges it may be more difficult to trim the edges.  The knife will try to pull out a slice or two. You may have to poke it back in.  Cut the sandwiches in half  diagonally to make triangles and place under the moist paper towel until just before serving.

For the sweet portion, I served this with Maple Bacon Scones and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.