How did Queen Elizabeth celebrate her Platinum Jubilee?

Commemorative stamps and coins were issued by several Commonwealth nations and beacons were lit in every Commonwealth capital for the first time. In many places, trees were planted in the Queen's honour. The Queen died in her Platinum Jubilee year, on 8 September, at the age of 96.

What are the colors of jubilee?

Terms for anniversaries Silver jubilee, for a 25th anniversary. Ruby jubilee, for a 40th anniversary. Golden jubilee, for a 50th anniversary. Diamond jubilee, for either a 60th or 75th anniversary. Sapphire jubilee, for a 65th anniversary. Platinum jubilee, for a 70th anniversary.

What is the color of the Platinum Jubilee?

Two colours make up the emblem of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee – platinum and Pantone 3515 C . The platinum colour represents Her Majesty's 70 years on the throne, whilst the purple colour is synonymous with royalty.

Did Queen Elizabeth celebrate her platinum jubilee?

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee . In the UK celebrations were inspired by jubilees throughout history. The focal point of the celebrations took place over Jubilee Weekend, an extended bank holiday from Thursday 2 June to Sunday 5 June 2022.

How did Queen Elizabeth celebrate her diamond jubilee?

The Diamond Jubilee Concert, with a preceding afternoon picnic in the palace gardens for the 10,000 concert ticket holders , was held the following day, in front of Buckingham Palace, and featured acts representing each decade of the Queen's 60-year reign. Street parties were permitted to take place across the country.

What did the Queen do for her Golden Jubilee?

The Queen invited around 48,000 people to six Garden Parties during the Golden Jubilee. The three Buckingham Palace Garden Parties had special themes - Accession Day Babies, Young People born since the Silver Jubilee, and charities of which The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are patron.

How are royal jubilees celebrated?

The anniversary festivities set the pattern for all subsequent Jubilees, with a Service of Thanksgiving attended by the king and a series of events throughout the country. There were feasts, military processions and festivals. Fireworks, beacons and illuminations were lit and monuments built .

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“It’s all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you’re properly trained.” ~ HM Queen Elizabeth II

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Happy Platinum Jubilee Weekend!

We’re here to raise our teacups and nibble on a few treats as Her Majesty the Queen celebrates 70 glorious years on the throne. At age 96, she’s ruled longer than any other monarch in British history, and is currently the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state in the world.

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When she pledged to devote her life to service on her 21st birthday, little did she realize she’d actually be Queen just four years later. In fact, she never expected to wear the crown in the first place, since the line of succession was supposed to pass from her grandfather, King George V, to her Uncle Edward, and then on to his children. Of course Edward’s abdication to marry Wallis Simpson changed everything.

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I remain in awe of someone who accepted the cards she was dealt, got on with the job, and has remained a beloved, steadfast exemplar of duty, devotion, and public service despite rifts, divorces, deaths, scandals, and challenges to the monarchy’s relevance during rapidly changing times.

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Seven decades = a LOT of smiles, handshakes, white-gloved waves, receptions, charity events, walkabouts, fittings, sittings, tours, state banquets, royal performances, garden parties, teas, carriage rides, and HATS. 🙂

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God Save the Queen!

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We’re thrilled and honored to welcome HM back to Alphabet Soup. You may remember when she first visited for a quick cuppa eight years ago. This time, we were anxious to try a couple of recipes from Carolyn Robb’s new cookbook, Tea at the Palace (Weldon Owen, 2022).

Robb was Personal Chef to TRH the Prince and Princess of Wales for 11 years. Her 50 sweet and savory recipes are tied to twelve of Britain’s most stunning palaces and residences, and is a nice mix of traditional, contemporary and whimsical dishes.

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We selected three recipes just for the Queen and enjoyed a lively chin wag. She ‘spilled the tea’ on her least favorite granddaughter-in-law and told us about the time she found a slug in her salad (ugh!), but she would not reveal what she carries in her handbag (a lady is entitled to her secrets after all).

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Ring when you’re ready and enjoy!

🍪 Chocolate and Salted Pistachio Cookies 🍪

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Did you know the Queen actually eats two breakfasts? Upon first awakening she has a cup of Earl Grey or Assam with a side of biscuits. After her bath, she enjoys cereal, yogurt, toast with marmalade and orange juice at around 8:30. (She also likes fried kippers and smoked haddock on occasion.)

Former Buckingham Palace Royal Chef Darren McGrady claims the Queen is a certified chocoholic. With this in mind, we decided to make Robb’s Chocolate and Salted Pistachio Cookies. Her Majesty admitted she would love these for her first breakfast as well as for afternoon tea. 🙂

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The recipe appears in Robb’s chapter about Hampton Court Palace, “All Things Chocolate.” Once the home of Henry VIII, HCP has a thousand rooms!!! Arguably the most important are those comprising the Chocolate Kitchens. This series of rooms was commissioned by William III in 1690 and was the first of its kind in Britain. At the time, chocolate was relatively new in the country, a luxury affordable only by the very wealthy.

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In the Chocolate Kitchen, chefs would roast, flavor and grind cacao beans to a paste, forming them into small cakes. These would be left to mature for several months before they were melted into milk, water or wine, then seasoned with sugar and spices as a special breakfast drink for the king and queen.

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In her headnote, Robb describes these cookies as a sophisticated version of the chocolate chip cookie – “rich, crisp on the outside and moist in the center.” Yes to slightly bittersweet chocolate + the salty creaminess of pistachios! These are definitely “eyes roll back in the head” delicious when eaten warm from the oven. 🙂

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Chocolate and Salted Pistachio Cookies

Servings: about 3 dozen cookies
Difficulty: average
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Ingredients

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (70 % cacao), chopped
5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons almond butter
1 cup loosely packed muscovado sugar
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 free-range whole egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
6-1/2 tablespoons salted pistachios, roughly chopped
1/4 cup white or dark chocolate chunks
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions

Put the chocolate into a small heatproof bowl over (not touching) barely simmering water in a saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate melts and is smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, almond butter, and muscovado and superfine sugars on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Gradually add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder directly into the bowl. On low speed, beat just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Pour in the cooled chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until evenly distributed. Lastly, add the pistachios and chocolate chunks and mix well. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Put the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl. To shape the cookies, roll the dough between your palms into balls the size of a walnut, then toss the balls in the confectioners’ sugar until thickly and evenly coated. Arrange the balls on the prepared pans, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
Bake the cookies until mostly firm to the touch but still a little soft in the center, about 12 minutes. After 8 minutes, gently press down on each cookie lightly with a fork, to flatten it a little and crack the sugar crust, then continue to bake for another 4 minutes. Let cool on the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer to the racks and let cool completely.
The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Tips: I substituted dark brown sugar for the muscovado. To make your own superfine sugar, pulse granulated sugar for a minute or two in your food processor or blender. I also melted the chocolate in the microwave instead of on the stovetop.

~ Adapted from Tea at the Palace by Carolyn Robb (Weldon Owen, 2022), as posted at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.

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🥪 Jam Pennies 🍞

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We’re big fans of Jam Pennies in the Alphabet Soup kitchen because, 1) we’re mad about jam, and 2) they’re so easy to make. Just 3 ingredients!

Jam Pennies

Servings: 12
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

6 medium-size slices good-quality fresh white bread
soft butter
about 12 generous teaspoons raspberry jam
raspberries for decorating (optional)

Directions

Line up the bread slices on a work surface and butter them. Using a 2-inch plain round cutter, cut out 4 rounds from each bread slice. Spoon 1 generous teaspoon of the jam onto 12 of the bread rounds, spreading it just to the edge. Top with the remaining rounds, butter side down, and press down lightly to secure.
Arrange the sandwiches on a serving plate and decorate the plate with a few raspberries, if desired. Serve at once.

Tips: You may also use whole grain bread and any type of jam you like. You’ll probably need more bread than specified (I got two rounds from each slice rather than four).

~ Adapted from Tea at the Palace by Carolyn Robb (Weldon Owen, 2022), as posted at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.

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🍓 Little Scones with Strawberries and Clotted Cream 🍓

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Well, what would teatime be without scones?

In Robb’s chapter about Buckingham Palace, “Summer Garden Parties,” she features recipes that would typically be served at royal garden parties during spring and summer. Three parties were held at BP just last month, and another is scheduled at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland at the end of June. (Sadly, the Queen bowed out of her hosting duties this year due to ongoing mobility issues.)

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It’s hard to imagine that behind the Buckingham Palace building, well beyond those iconic black iron gates and famous balcony we often see, lies a private garden of 42 acres – a secluded green “oasis in the heart of London.”

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Each garden party hosts about 8,000 guests with 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches, and 20,000 slices of cake served. Attendance is by invitation only; candidates from all walks of life who have made a positive impact on their communities are nominated by a network of community leaders.

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After finishing their formal presentations, Royal Family hosts head to the Royal Tea Tent, where they continue to greet even more guests, who are free to eat, drink, and stroll the palace gardens.

These garden parties capture the spirit of everything that is British, with cream scones, mighty jugs of Pimm’s, a brass band playing Edward Elgar’s “Land of Hope and Glory,” and dapper gentlemen in top hats and tails all part of the majestic scene!

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Robb mentions the ongoing Devon vs. Cornwall debate about cream scones, which originated in England’s West Country. Jam or clotted cream first? Devonians prefer cream first, while the Cornish opt for jam.

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I guess I’m Cornish cause I like my cream on top of the jam. Guess what? So does the Queen! Chef McGrady remembers making cream scones for her afternoon tea every day while he was at BP – one day, plain scones, fruit scones the next.

In addition to scones, she usually sliced off a piece of an eclair or fruit tart, and had two different kinds of sandwiches (cucumber, smoked salmon, egg with mayonnaise, ham and mustard, tuna, jam penny). She’d likely wash it all down with cups of Assam or Darjeeling, if not Earl Grey. Of course the corgis always got a scone or two. 🙂

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Mr Cornelius happily welcomed four surprise guests: Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine, all of whom enjoyed their hot tub tea. They devoured scone after scone while chatting about Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. When Mr Cornelius asked Prince William to adopt him, HRH gently advised that all his Alphabet Soup friends would miss him too much. Mr C quickly forgot his disappointment when Catherine (with whom he’s totally besotted), gave him a big bowl of extra clotted cream.

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Little Scones with Strawberries and Clotted Cream

Servings: 36 mini scones
Difficulty: average
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Ingredients

For the Scones

3-2/3 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup superfine sugar
pinch of salt
7 tablespoons butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
2 free-range eggs
about 3/4 cup whole milk

Ingredients

To Serve

Strawberry jam
3/4 cup clotted cream
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Strawberries
Tiny fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Scatter the butter over the flour mixture and, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients just until the mixture has the consistency of fine bread crumbs.
Break the eggs into a measuring pitcher and add milk as needed to total 1-1/4 cups liquid. Whisk together with a fork. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add most of the liquid to the well, keeping a little of it back in case you don’t need all of it. Using a round-bladed table knife, mix together the egg mixture and the flour mixture to achieve a lightly bound dough that is neither sticky nor dry and crumbly, adding more of the liquid if needed. Do not overmix.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, working quickly, knead the dough very lightly to rid it of any cracks. Pat the dough out to a thickness of 3/4 inch. Using a 1-1/2 inch plain round cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible, dipping the cutter into flour before each cut to ensure a clean cut.
Transfer the cutouts to the prepared pan, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather up the scraps, press together, pat out, cut out more rounds, and add to the pan.
Bake the scones until well risen and golden, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To serve, split the scones horizontally and top each half with jam and a dollop of cream. Dust very lightly with confectioners’ sugar and accompany with a bowl of strawberries. Garnish with mint, if desired.

Tips: I substituted strawberry for the specified raspberry jam, and as per usual, grated the butter (frozen) instead of cutting into small cubes. To make your own superfine sugar, pulse granulated sugar for a minute or two in your food processor or blender.

~ Adapted from Tea at the Palace by Carolyn Robb (Weldon Owen, 2022), as posted at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.