Small Things For Tea

I've got just a few more posts for you to wrap up my tea series. This post is a list of some ideas for small finger foods you can serve with tea. Hope this is helpful.

tiny cookies (or sugar cookies cut with a tea pot or tea cup cookie cutter)
short-breads
pound cakes
brownie bites
truffles
cream puffs
chocolate dipped strawberries
mini eclairs
lemon bars
crumpets
angel food cake
baklava
apple fritters
coffee cake

fruits (Grapes are one of the most popular finger fruits served at tea. Try to find an unusual variety to serve like globe grapes for example. Fruit salad is another simple idea. Doesn't have to be fancy. Look for unique or extra pretty fruits to serve like kiwi and berries.)

Don't forget that biscotti is great for tea. You can view my biscotti series here.

Just about anything small and in the form of a finger food will work for tea as well...

Recipe for a Tea Cup Topiary

I wanted to post this simple tea topiary centerpiece craft that you can have put away and then just pull it out for a simple tea centerpiece that quickly sets the mood for tea at your table or coffee table.



Supplies:
1 old tea cup
1 in styrofoam ball
3-4 in styrofoam ball
moss
1 12 in dowel
fake rose buds or flowers
tacky glue
hot glue gun
green flower tape

Directions:

1. Brush the large styrofoam ball with tacky glue and glue the moss onto it.

2. Use tacky glue or hot glue to glue the tea cup to the saucer. (if using only tacky glue, let dry overnight)

3. Cut a small amount off of one side of the small ball so that it has a side with a flat surface. Glue the flat surface to the bottom of the tea cup.

4. Wrap the flower tape around the dowel to cover it.

5. Poke the flower heads into the moss covered ball covering it completely.

6. Stick the dowel into the small ball in the cup, using extra hot glue to secure it (if you have a very hot glue gun it will melt the styrofoam so either use a not so hot glue gun or use tacky glue and let dry over night). Try to get the stick as straight as possible.

7. Stick the flower covered ball on the top of the stick as straight as possible. Add glue to it to secure it if needed. (You can also do this step before sticking it into the cup but if you do it that way, you'll need to support the top heavy stick until all the glue is dried at the base of the cup.)

8. Once everything has completely dried for a full night, tie decorative ribbons around the stick at the base of the flower ball.

Individual Quiche

These are great little appetizers which would also be great for a high tea or brunch tea. I've made them in the past and don't have a picture for you.

1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 green onion with top, sliced
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 garlic clove, pressed
Dash of ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Let pie crusts stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Lightly spray a mini muffin tin with olive oil. Whisk milk and eggs.


2. Chop bacon, zucchini and mushrooms. Add tot he milk and egg mixture, bacon, zucchini, mushrooms, green onion, cheese, garlic and black pepper; set aside.

3. On lightly floured surface, roll one crust to a 12-inch circle. Using a biscuit cutter (large enough to fill the tin holes up the sides, cut out 12 pastry pieces. Press one pastry piece into each muffin cup. Repeat with remaining crust to fill remaining muffin cups.

4. Fill each muffin cup with a rounded scoop of vegetable mixture. Bake 17-20 minutes or until crusts are light golden brown. Cool in pan 2 minutes; carefully remove mini quiches from pan.


Serve warm.
Makes 24 appetizers

Variation
~make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon

Miniature Cheesecake

I don't have a picture of these

(not my own picture but these are what they would look like....)

but they would be nice to serve with tea. I got this recipe years ago from my friend, Aly.

3 8oz. pkgs of cream cheese

1 c sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Vanilla Wafers

Cherry, Strawberry, or Blueberry Pie Filling

Soften cream cheese. Put one vanilla wafer in the bottom of cupcake liners, flat side down. Mix together cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla till smooth. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with cheese mixture. Bake 25 min. at 350 degrees. Cool. Spoon on small amount of fruit filling. Refrigerate till serving.

Favorite Gadget - Tea Drop

like my new emblem?

I interrupt this tea series to bring you my Favorite Gadget Thing of the month. But, I bring you a tea thing no less!

TEA DROP

I saw this gadget on a home show a few years back and had to have it. Greedy, I know. But, see, I'm a chain tea drinker! At the time they were so new I couldn't find one anywhere until my mom found one in Oregon on a trip. Now they have come down in price and they are easy to locate online. You can purchase one here through Walmart or here through Amazon.com.

This little baby is great for a few reasons.....

~it has a basket inside for bagged tea and a basket for loose leaf.

~you can adjust the strength of the brew by the dial.

~you can brew and re-brew again with the same tea leaves for a second batch.

~since you are brewing it in your tea maker and not your coffee maker, you don't get the taste of coffee in your tea.

~it's a fast way to make iced tea as well!

Serving Tea part 2

So what should you have on hand for guests to doctor their tea and scones?

The bare minimum is cream and sugar. This would be totally fine for tea with a friend or just a few friends.

If you want to have a more formal/fancy tea, I would suggest putting out not only cream and sugar but also honey. Some people prefer to have honey in their tea as a natural sweetener. Some also prefer to have a sugar substitute but I don't feel that in our health conscience day that it is necessary to provide sugar substitutes as long as you have honey on hand. You can serve flavored creamers as well for those who like to experiment with flavor combinations.

It's also perfectly acceptable to mix tea flavors. A guest may wish to mix blueberry and vanilla together or green and mint together for example.

Other condiments that you may want to have on hand for the scones and other pastries/breads, might be:
whipped cream
curds: lemon and raspberry curd being the most popular but try combining the two or something totally out of the ordinary like apple cinnamon curd, pineapple curd, passion fruit curd, etc.
jellies/jams/preserves such as strawberry, raspberry, apricot, peach, blueberry, etc.
apple butter
chocolate mousse
whipped cream combined with jams or curd
whipped honey butter

Now, keep in mind that having a cup of tea with a friend need not be complicated. Sugar and cream, a hand full of grapes, and a cut of coffee cake is just as delightful as a table full of delectable finger pastries at a fancy garden party.

Do you have a favorite tea condiment that I've failed to mention? If so, post it under the comments for others to enjoy! I'm always up to trying something new!

I will resume posting tea recipes and tea accessories next week as well as my overdue Favorite Gadget Thing of the month! Until Monday, sip a cup of tea and friendship with me across the distances, whether they be short or long.

Serving Tea

In responding to one of the comments, I'm going to jump ahead to this next post about Serving Tea....


I think I said in my first post that there isn't any wrong or right way to serve tea in that there are many different methods and accessories for serving tea. I will be posting pictures of several of those as the days of my tea series continue. I'll also post what you need to serve with the tea beverage in tomorrow's post.

Strength seems to be the biggest issue for people that I discuss tea with and it pertains to one of the comments below. Here is a general guide....

bagged tea (basic grocery store tea) is equal to 1 tbsp of loose leaf tea.

1 bag of tea = 2 cups of tea (tea cup size)

1 tbsp of loose leaf tea = 2 cups of tea


So, it's also good to know that loose leaf tea is stronger than bagged tea. The reason being that loose leaf tea is bigger leafed tea. The smaller the tea leaves, the more they have been broken down and have released their essence. Larger leaves have not evaporated their essence as much therefore giving you a stronger tea when steeped.


The best way to figure out how many bags (or tbsp) of tea you need for a pot of tea is to first fill your empty tea pot with tap water to the amount you would of hot water and then literally pour 6-8 tea cups with it...and see how many tea cups it will serve. This will tell you how many bags of tea you will need. So, let's say your tea pot filled about 6 tea cups, that means you would need 3 tea bags on average for that pot. Now, say it's a strong black tea so you use only 2 bags or say it's a weak herbal tea so you go ahead and use 4 bags. Tea measurements are very flexible. Just be sure that you don't cut the steeping time too short. This will give you a very weak tea.


My best advice is to sample tea measurements by type of tea so that you are familiar with how strong you prefer to brew your tea by measurement. Personally, I find that black teas and fruit teas are the strongest and therefore I like to steep them less or use less bags as to where I find that green teas and herbal teas are not as strong so I like to steep them longer or use more bags. (Steeping is the practice of allowing the tea leaves to sit in the boiling water to release their essence.)


There are so many types of tea bags as you can see in some of the pictures to the right. There are family sized which means they will make one full pot with just one tea bag, there are round ones, there are homemade ones, there are triangle ones (fusion bags that allow the tea to move more freely while steeping), and I'm sure many more.


It is good to serve a variety of types of tea when serving tea.

I would recommend serving at least 3 types of tea to a group of people. It's also nice to have a few other flavors on hand with a pot of hot water for guests to make their own cup if the 3 brewed pots do not appeal to them. I like to serve all decaf in my already made pots of tea so that those concerned with caffeine can drink freely of the 3 varieties that I've made.


I would suggest serving 1 fruit tea, 1 herbal tea (such as mint or chamomile), and 1 chai or vanilla tea for a nice variety of tea for guests.


For little girls I have found that their favorites tend to be vanilla flavored ones and fruit ones. Peach, raspberry, cherry, blueberry, etc. are all good choices for girls. There are several varieties of vanilla out right now that work well for little girls such as vanilla caramel, vanilla caramel truffle, french vanilla, vanilla cream, etc. For little girls I like to steep the tea pretty weak. It's also perfectly acceptable to serve something other than tea for children such as hot chocolate, chocolate milk, lemonade, juice, etc.


If you are hosting a summer patio tea, I would suggest also serving cold tea..iced teas, lemonades, and fresh ice water with lemon slices or fresh berries in it.


TIPS:
~preheat your pots by filling them with the hottest tap water you can get. Then pour the water out when you are ready to fill them with boiled water. Your tea won't cool as quickly.
~Fill a carafe with boiled water that is ready to replenish your tea pots when serving several guests. This speeds up the time needed in boiling water on the stove.
~keep your kettle on the stove always full and boiled. If it's hot and not needed, then turn the burner on low so that you maintain a hot kettle ready to replenish your pots or your carafe.
~If you are very unsure about pre-making tea in the pots, it's perfectly acceptable to serve just boiled water in the pots and allow guests to serve themselves tea bags or loose leaf teas per cup.
~always have the nub on the lid of a tea pot pointed towards the handle. This helps prevent the lid from falling off when guests are serving themselves.
~if using tea bags, leave the tags hanging from the pot lids so the guests know which kind of tea is in each pot. If there are no tags, then use a small piece of paper folded in half with the name of the tea written on it set in front of the pot.


On a side note, some of my personal favorite teas are: apricot, peach, tension tamer, decaf green tea, blackberry sage, peppermint, and spearmint. If you are looking to try teas, you might want to try some of these. I thought I didn't like tea many years ago until I had tried many flavors.

Tea Sandwiches

What's tea without little tea sandwiches? There really is no rule here other than they are cut smaller than normal. =0) You can cut them with a cookie cutter shape into hearts or flowers. You can even use the fluted bread shaped pans to bake your own shaped breads to thinly slice for tea sandwiches. Or you can just simply cut them in triangles with a bread knife. For a variety of combination ideas, I've listed a few below. But truly, you can create just about any thing that sounds good to you. With all the flavored cream cheeses and deli cheeses out there you can have a lot of fun and variety. A variety of breads and thinly sliced deli meats can also add some variety.

The only thing I recommend staying away from is tuna. It's not the greatest of smells at afternoon tea. =0) If you need a specific recipe for any of these there are several online! Otherwise, just mix and slather away!

Cucumber and Cream Cheese
Olive and Cream Cheese
Chicken Salad
Curry Chicken (same as chicken salad but with curry added)
Cucumber Mint (finely chopped mint mixed into the cream cheese)
Goat Cheese and Watercress
Sun-dried Tomato and Herb Cream Cheese Spread
Artichoke Hearts and Herb Cheese Spread
Radish and Poppy Seed Cream Cheese
Egg Salad
Asparagus and Prosciutto
Pineapple Cream Cheese
Cream Cheese and Heart of Palm

Petit Fours

I didn't actually have a chance to make these for our last tea so these are not my own pictures lest you be deceived! =0) But these can be made extremely easy if you want to do a quick version.


The easiest version is to buy premade pound cake and cut it into squares and then glaze them and stick a premade frosting flower or leaf on them. So simple and adorable. You can tint the glaze if you want to get fancy.


But if you'd like to make them a little more complicated you can check out some of these websites and recipes below. These links below will help you with fillings as well.


A quick note about them is that just about anything goes. The history of them has to do with having something small to eat with your tea. They originated from bakeries that would decorate small cakes with the scraps of cakes and leftovers at the end of the day. They became popular and there is no end to the types and designs of them. You can be really creative with your fillings, with the shape and size, and with the decor on the outside.

Website and another website, and yet another one, and of course an easy recipe

In case you want to get really into it and make these adorable cupcake shaped ones, check out this website that my friend sent to me.... Cupcake ones (I can't wait to make some of these for the next tea party my daughter and I have!)

Puffed Pastry Tea Treats

Puff pastry is so EASY! You can buy it already made at the grocery store (can't figure out why anyone would make it from scratch unless they are incredibly bored!) and you unfold it and bake it. You can use any shape you want to cut it out. In the pictures we used a little tea pot cookie cutter but you can just as well make circles. Bake according to the package directions and then cool completely. You can make them ahead of time and store carefully in a container or ziplock.


Once you are ready to fill them. Take a serrated knife and split them open in half. Put a filling on the bottom and put the top back on. (we then sprinkled ours with powdered sugar but it's not necessary)

You can use several different fillings. In the pictures we used whipped cream and lemon curd mixed together. You could use plain whipped cream or whipped cream mixed with any pudding flavor you liked. Chocolate pudding mixed with whipped cream would make a wonderful chocolate treat. You can also mix in fresh berries into the whipped cream.

Sorry my pictures are so bad lately! I've been in such a hurry lately. I'll work better at them.

Almond Tea Cake

I'm reposting this recipe under my tea section because it's not only wonderful (YUM!) but it's so simple. You can freeze it as well which makes prepping ahead of time great.

I got this recipe from a friend that I worked with at a preschool. Her name is Shannon but I don't keep in touch with her anymore but I still love her almond tea cake! This is SUPER easy and MAJOR yummy.

Mix together:

2 well beaten eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 stick melted butter

2 tsp. almond extract

Pour into a greased 9" glass pan. If you are going to use a metal cake pan like in the pictures, you need to butter and flour the pan first. Sprinkle the edges with slivered almonds (in the picture I was out of them so I did without). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

You can also bake it in a square and then cut it into little 1 inch squares to serve at tea.

Maple Oatmeal Scones

From my friend, Katey. These are so incredible. They are actually Martha Stewart's Maple Scones. These are well worth the work in making them!

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats, plus additional for sprinkling

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup cold buttermilk

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk or water, for egg wash

GLAZE

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flours, oats, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Blend the cold butter in at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup, and eggs and add quickly to the flour-and-butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough may be sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4- to 1-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into 3-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are crisp and the insides are done.

To make the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. When the scones are done, cool for 5 minutes, and drizzle each scone with 1 tablespoon of glaze. I like to sprinkle some uncooked oats on the top, for garnish. The warmer the scones are when you glaze them, the thinner the glaze will be.

Makes 14 large scones.

-They can be frozen before glazing.

British Ribbon Tea Sandwiches

I found this recipe online and made it a little different...using just 3 slices of regular white bread and a tub of strawberry cream cheese. They make a yummy tea sandwich. The cream cheese I used was so soft that it was coming out the sides so we dipped one side in sifted powdered sugar to coat it.

(Ingredients are for one sandwich to be cut in 3 sections)
3 slices of firm, thinly sliced* white bread
2 slices of firm, thinly sliced wheat bread
3 tablespoons of strawberry-flavored (or your favorite) cream cheese
* Very thinly sliced bread can be purchased pre-packaged in most markets.

Spread the cream cheese on each bread slice as you stack them, starting with white, alternating white and wheat. Finish the sandwich with the final slice of white, pressing slightly so the layers all stick together. Cut the crusts from the slices of bread carefully with a bread knife. Save the crusts for the birds - or your favorite bread pudding recipe. Finally, cut the stack into 1 inch wide "fingers".

Old Fashioned Irish Cream Scones

Found this recipe when I was first married and loved it. It would work well for a fruit bakeover as well.

2 c flour
1 tbs baking powder
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
2 eggs beaten
1/3 c heavy whipping cream
2 tsp sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in eggs and cream to make dough. Knead on floured counter. Divide in 2 if making baked scones. (Or keep as one whole for a bakeover crust.) Roll out in a circle 1 in. thick. Cut into pie wedges for individual scones. Place on cookie sheet. For individual scones brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 min. and golden.

Optionals~

-You can mix pretty much anything you like into these scones. They work really well with chocolate chips, fresh berries, nuts, etc.
-If serving as scones for tea, serve with whipping cream, lemon curd, jams, honey...etc.

Tea Series

Today begins my tea series and I'm not sure how long it will go...probably well into next week if not longer. I love tea and am excited to not only share several tea recipes with you but also introduce you to tea accessories if you are not familiar with them. The art of taking tea is as old as time some would say but truly, we can trace it back quite far. For a really good read on the history of tea, check out the tea company, Stash, for their history of tea from it's beginning to today. There are almost as many ways to take tea as there are varieties of tea available so I hope you enjoy exploring some of both with me. =0)

Now, for my own history with tea. I was a coffee drinker many moons ago and decided to give it up for health reasons. In giving it up I switched to iced tea....which led to hot tea. I've always been taken with the English practice of afternoon tea and yes, the Jane Austen era has greatly influenced me. This love of tea led to a fascination with tea pots and tea cups and thus began my collecting of them. I also enjoy tea parties, afternoon tea with friends and neighbors, and high teas with the women in our church. But even on days that there is no time for sipping friendship with others, I have my cup (or 5 cups) of tea almost every afternoon or evening.

I begin this series with a tea party that my daughter and I hosted today. Several of our guests made and brought some of ours and their recipes to help us with the food. I hope you enjoy them!

Quick Strawberry Shortcake

We are currently out of town unexpectedly but are flying home today. Since it was my husband's birthday while we were gone, I came up with a simple birthday cake solution. Very thinly sliced butter pound cake, homemade whipped cream, and sliced strawberries. Instead of one big cake, every one got their own little pile of this. It was easier than angel food cake even.

I will be posting a whole series on tea this coming week but may be delayed for one day. Check back here and I promise to post asap.

Quick Shepherd's Pie

Remember this shepherd's pie recipe? Well, if you're in a hurry and don't have time to whip up those mashed potatoes from scratch, just slice them. Layer thin slices of potatoes on top and bake.

Whole Wheat Waffles from Scratch

This is my whole wheat waffles from scratch not to be confused with the box mix that I love. (although I admit that I used the same picture because they look the same LOL). Okay, this recipe is wonderful but I converted it to 3x the original recipe because I like to make a huge batch of these and freeze them so that I have them for fast breakfast that I can pop in the toaster. So, feel free to break this down 2x or 1x.

Mix together

5 1/4 c whole wheat flour or ww pastry flour

3 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix together in a separate bowl

6 egg yolk

5 1/4 c milk

1 1/2 c oil

Whip till soft peaks:

6 egg whites

Combine the dry and wet mixes together and then fold in the egg whites. Makes 25 waffles.

THANKS SHANNON!

Don't Forget about the Fish Recipes! Keep sharing them and be sure to stop back by this post See post below! to try Shannon's Fish Tacos!

SHANNON~ I forgot about fish tacos! My hubby and I love shrimp tacos so I'm sure we'd love your version. I've just recently heard about tilapia and I've heard that it's really mild and not very fishy at all. I can't wait to try these! When we do, I'll post it on here. I have a busy week ahead with a family funeral so I'll be posting the rest of this week and then picking up next Tuesday or Wednesday. I hope to try your fish tacos next time I get a chance to grocery shop!

Quick Lasagna (using Raviolis)

This is such a fast way to make lasagna it's not even funny! The best part is that you can prep it ahead of time and then freeze it or refrigerate it till you're ready to make it. It's a wonderful freezer meal or fast throw together meal.


cooked ravioli
cooked ground turkey, beef, or Italian sausage (season your turkey or beef to taste like sausage)
pasta sauce
Parmesan cheese


Layer your casserole dish with sauce, then raviolis, then meat and repeat. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for about 45 min. at 350 degrees. Longer if frozen and shorter if you are working with already hot ingredients.



You can also omit the meat and make this vegetarian.



It's been requested that I post what goes well with these main dishes whenever possible. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to side dishes and such but I'll attempt to put some suggestions. Personally I think Caesar salad goes well with Italian style dishes...not only that but Caesar salad is so easy it's my standby salad when I'm in a time crunch. Corn, green beans, and broccoli all go well with this meal. You can't forget garlic bread...that goes with everything! =0)