So after shearing, we had a Welsh breakfast.  It started with Welsh Cakes and Bara brith.

Welsh breakfast starters

I had made these yesterday.  For the Bara brith, I soaked mixed dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, currants, cranberries, chopped dates) in Welsh tea and whiskey for most of the day.  Then I mixed up the dough and cooked it for almost 2 hours.  I forgot to put the honey glaze on after baking though.

Bara brith

For the Welsh cakes, I mixed up the dough, rolled it out and cut it with a jar lid for biscuits.  I fried them in a cast iron pan with butter.  The middle did not seem quite done but on rewarming this morning they were perfect.

Welsh cakes

The laverbread was a little trickier.  It appears that Welsh laver is the same as Asian nori.  So I went to the Asian grocery Uwajimaya in Seattle earlier in the month.  I could not find fresh Nori but found lots of dried.  Now knowing how much I would need for the recipes I bought the largest package I could find.  Two days ago I soaked it in water for a couple of hours and then slow cooked it in my Instant Pot for 6 hours.  Then I put it in the Cuisinart to blend it.

The other ingredient I needed that was tricky was the Welsh double cream.  I could not find double cream in any of the stores I visited locally or in the suburbs of Seattle.  So I found a recipe to make your own using heavy cream and butter.  I do not have a cream maker so I used the blender.

The only item that I had to order online was the Welsh tea.  I purchased Glengettie tea from Amazon.

Yesterday I also bought cockles (clams) at our local seafood mart.  I washed them and steamed them to be ready for the morning.  I also prepared the ingredients for the Glamorgan sausages.  For the Caerphilly cheese, I found some at our local goat cheese making farm, Gothberg Farms.

So early this morning, well before shearing, I made the sausages and baked them.  Then I  rewarmed the welsh cakes and bara brith.  I heated some water for Welsh tea.  I also mixed some laverbread with oatmeal.  Here’s the sausages (I forgot to take photos until after breakfast was over).

After shearing I made the tea to go with the cakes and fruit loaf for the shearing crew while I fried up the Creamy scrambled eggs with cockles and laverbread.  I used the our goose eggs, Dutch butter I had purchased and the double cream I had made in addition to the steamed clams and laverbread.  I managed to break my grandmother’s teapot and the honey pot Tom bought for me in my kitchen flurry though which makes me sad.

Creamy scrambled eggs with cockles and laverbread

Finally I fried the laverbread with oatmeal as patties in butter.  I probably should have fired them in bacon fat as the recipe advises.  I also realized too late that I only had steel cut oats at home.

Laverbread breakfast patties

Tom also cooked regular scrambled eggs and bacon, just in case.

It seems like most everything was enjoyed by the crew.  The laverbread patties were the least favorite although they did not take too seaweedy to me.  Eliz liked them though.  The Welsh cakes were universally loved, and the Bara Birth was especially enjoyed by my mom and step dad.  Pretty much everyone who tried the scrambled eggs with cockles and laverbread thought they were surprisingly good.  The Welsh tea was a big hit as well.  People seemed to enjoy the sausages too.  So, all in all, the Welsh breakfast was a hit with the shearing crew.  It was fun to be adventurous in cooking these unusual (for us) foods over these last few days.