State Fair Tea 2012
The tea ladies came for The State Fair Tea. It was a fun tea to put together. I did some decorating and worked up a menu of many "foods on a stick". In the state fair research I found what was the most popular at fairs across the country and worked up a great menu that was enjoyed by all. A very nice suprise was how good chocolate covered bacon is!
Here is our menu:
Apple Cider Scones
Blue Ribbon Cream Scones
Apple Cider Jelly
Tomato Jam
Peanuts
Honey Butter Caramel Corn
Dill Pickles
Stuffed Dried Apricots
Chocolate Covered Bacon
Sweet Potato Balls
Corn Cob Puppies (Corn Dogs)
Fried Macaroni & Cheese Balls
Porcipine Meatballs
Mini Apple Pies Kansas State Fair
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Lemonade Cupcakes
Red Velvet Funnel Cakes
Chocolate Dipped Key Lime Pie
Sweet Iced Tea
Cotton Candy Iced Tea http://www.52teas.com/
Valentine Decorations
It's been a while so I decided I needed to post something. After Christmas it is so depressing to take down all the decorations that I move right into snowmen and Valentines decorations. Here are some of my pictures.
Cupcake Capers
I had a dessert tea this year and decided to do all desserts as a cupcake! I will be showing each and putting recipe here. I do not have all sources of recipes so will try to find them.
National Margarita Day
Today, February 22, 2010 is National Margarita Day. What does this have to do with tea you ask? Well I found a few tea margarita recipes on the net..
Tea Margarita
For each glass, you will need:
1 lime or lemon wedge
sugar to coat rim of glasses
1/2 to 2/3 cup of strongly brewed Teavana lemon green tea frozen into 6 to 8
small ice cubes in the freezer
2 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) premium tequila such as Cuervo or Patron
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier
2 tablespoons sugar
Rub the lime wedge around the rim of an old-fashioned glass. Dip and rotate the rim in the saucer of sugar, making sure to keep the sugar on the outside. In a blender, combine the green tea ice cubes, tequila, lemon juice, Cointreau, and sugar. Blend on the pulse setting until slushy. Pour into the sugar-rimmed glass.
Virgin Pomegranate Tea Margarita
Ingredients:
6 ounces (180mL) boiling water
6 Bigelow Pomegranate Pizzazz Herbal Juice Tea Bags
1 ounce (30mL) fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon (5mL) lime juice or to taste
1 teaspoon (5mL) sugar or to taste
For a Frozen Margarita - see directions below
Ice Cubes
Orange slices for garnish
Instructions:
Boil water and pour over 6 Bigelow Pomegranate Herb Tea bags. Let steep 3-4 minutes. Remove tea bags.
Add orange juice, lime juice and sugar. Stir well. Serve warm.
Tea Margarita
For each glass, you will need:
1 lime or lemon wedge
sugar to coat rim of glasses
1/2 to 2/3 cup of strongly brewed Teavana lemon green tea frozen into 6 to 8
small ice cubes in the freezer
2 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) premium tequila such as Cuervo or Patron
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier
2 tablespoons sugar
Rub the lime wedge around the rim of an old-fashioned glass. Dip and rotate the rim in the saucer of sugar, making sure to keep the sugar on the outside. In a blender, combine the green tea ice cubes, tequila, lemon juice, Cointreau, and sugar. Blend on the pulse setting until slushy. Pour into the sugar-rimmed glass.
Virgin Pomegranate Tea Margarita
Ingredients:
6 ounces (180mL) boiling water
6 Bigelow Pomegranate Pizzazz Herbal Juice Tea Bags
1 ounce (30mL) fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon (5mL) lime juice or to taste
1 teaspoon (5mL) sugar or to taste
For a Frozen Margarita - see directions below
Ice Cubes
Orange slices for garnish
Instructions:
Boil water and pour over 6 Bigelow Pomegranate Herb Tea bags. Let steep 3-4 minutes. Remove tea bags.
Add orange juice, lime juice and sugar. Stir well. Serve warm.
Audrey Tea Strainer by Koziol
Here is a lovely tea strainer great for a special gift for yourself or someone else. Simply place flower over cup, add tea leaves, pour boiling water over this, steep and place flower into the leaves for a beautiful presentation.
Chinese New Year Tea
This year, Chinese ushered in the Year of the Ox on Jan. 26, according to the lunar calendar. The holiday is traditionally a 15-day celebration filled with a whirlwind of special events. I planned a tea to celebrate the Year of the Ox and did some research on what to serve and know about Chinese New Year. These are some of the things I found out from many areas of the internet. What a wonderful celebration of family and life.
To the Chinese, food signifies blessings of good fortune, especially during the Chinese New Year. Some of the foods include:
Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness.
Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
Eat oranges and tangerines or decorate your home with them—these symbolize good luck and wealth.
A must-have during the festival each year is pineapple tarts. They consist of homemade pineapple jam encased in a golden, buttery shell. The color of the little bites represents wealth and money.
Color is an important part of the Chinese New Year
Decorate your home with traditional Chinese decorations with liberal use of red and gold to symbolize wealth and good luck In Chinese culture, red is a popular color to wear and use around the new year. Not only does it attract good luck, it symbolizes happiness.
Chinese New Year is all about rebirth and new opportunity, and one of the most exciting ways to embrace this is with the Red Envelope – a tradition dating all the way back to the Qing Dynasty. On New Years day, everyone receives leisee - red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with “lucky money”.
Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and makes their homes ready for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on New Year's Eve so that good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint. DO NOT clean your home during the first few days of the New Year. You do not want to risk sweeping away the good luck of the New Year.
Don’t cry on that day or raise your voice to your children or you’ll be setting a tone of discord for the coming year.
When your guests arrive, encourage them to take off their shoes and walk softly into your home as it invites a smooth transition into the New Year.
To the Chinese, food signifies blessings of good fortune, especially during the Chinese New Year. Some of the foods include:
Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness.
Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
Eat oranges and tangerines or decorate your home with them—these symbolize good luck and wealth.
A must-have during the festival each year is pineapple tarts. They consist of homemade pineapple jam encased in a golden, buttery shell. The color of the little bites represents wealth and money.
Color is an important part of the Chinese New Year
Decorate your home with traditional Chinese decorations with liberal use of red and gold to symbolize wealth and good luck In Chinese culture, red is a popular color to wear and use around the new year. Not only does it attract good luck, it symbolizes happiness.
Chinese New Year is all about rebirth and new opportunity, and one of the most exciting ways to embrace this is with the Red Envelope – a tradition dating all the way back to the Qing Dynasty. On New Years day, everyone receives leisee - red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with “lucky money”.
Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and makes their homes ready for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on New Year's Eve so that good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint. DO NOT clean your home during the first few days of the New Year. You do not want to risk sweeping away the good luck of the New Year.
Don’t cry on that day or raise your voice to your children or you’ll be setting a tone of discord for the coming year.
When your guests arrive, encourage them to take off their shoes and walk softly into your home as it invites a smooth transition into the New Year.
Kitchen Renovations
The 6th photo in my 6th file happened to be a picture of my newly renovated kitchen. This project began the end of October and as I was told turned out to be way more than I planned on. It was worth it and now I truly feel like it is my kitchen. Prior to this I had very little cupboard space and 3 tiny drawers. Now I have a place for almost everything. Don't we always need more space? Of course the great kitchen has led to redecorating and painting every where else. Valerie
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