For over 6 decades, the Ramsay Women’s Institute has been serving tea and baked goods on the lawn beside the museum at the Mill of Kintail Conservation Area. Our teas have become very popular in recent years and our members have been finding the baking and serving challenging. At our June meeting, we made the decision to take a year off. Member Mary Lumsden comments: “We have half the members and we are twice the age of the original group. It’s hard to keep up!”
The tradition of serving Tea on the Lawn started when the museum founder and Institute member Irene Leys asked the group to serve refreshments to visitors. It has continued as a fundraising activity with proceeds donated to community organizations.
All members agree it’s been a pleasure to bake, set out the china teacups and welcome guests to relax in a peaceful setting beside the Indian River. We’ve enjoyed seeing our regulars and providing information about our community to newcomers. Mary Cochran and Marilyn Snedden have been tea ladies since the 1960s!
With fond memories of the fun and friendship we’ve shared in this activity, we extend our appreciation to our guests and to the museum staff. We are very willing to assist in the future if museum volunteers decide to take on this tradition
The Ramsay Women’s Institute is a community group that meets monthly for socializing, educational talks, and preserving local history. The founding members were mainly rural women who met to exchange ideas and information about managing their households. These days most members live in Almonte and program topics are varied. Newcomers are welcome to attend a few meetings to get a feel for the group. For further information, email ramsaywomensinstitute@gmail.com
Looking ahead, we hope to create other opportunities to share our baking traditions. Until we meet again, we want to share one of our favorite lemon loaf recipes.
Lemon Loaf
1) Cream together: 6 tbsp butter and 1 cup of white sugar and add in ½ tsp salt and zest of 1 lemon
2) Mix in 2 eggs, one at a time.
3) In separate bowl, sift together: 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder
4) Stir in some of the flour mixture alternating with ½ cup of milk to creamed mixture. Pour in loaf pan.
5) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour in greased or parchment paper lined loaf pan until inserting toothpick or skewer comes out clean
6) Mix 1/4 cup white sugar and the juice from 1 lemon and gradually brush over top of the warm loaf.
Delicious!
