Slow down everyone, summer isn't over yet! There is still plenty of delicious seasonal produce in the markets, the air is still warm and the nights are still long. Now is the perfect time to throw an All American Summer Tea Party. Inspired by traditions across the land, I've put together a tea party celebrating what our summer has to offer. Menu: Iced Black Tea Blend Sweetened with Local Raw Honey Lavender Lemonade Egg Salad Sandwiches on Farmhouse Bread with Tea Pickled Veggies Northwest Summer Salad BBQ Chicken Rillette with Homemade Toast Points Blueberry and Apple Tartlettes with American White Cheddar Pastry Let's start with the drinks. Summer time is all about thirst-quenchingly cool beverages, and what is more American than iced tea and lemonade? I used a mixture of English Breakfast and Earl Grey to form the base for my tea, then added a heaping spoonful of local honey to sweeten. This iced tea is fragrant, sweet, and bracing, but still drinkable from sun up to sun down. Lavender and lemon is a pairing made in heaven, and they shine when turned into lemonade. Steep the lavender blossoms in boiling water until it reaches desired strength, then strain and cool. Use this instead of water when mixing with the lemon juice and sugar. If you're feeling extra festive, fill your glasses with ice cubes that have lavender blossoms frozen inside and garnish with a lemon twist. Beautiful, delicious, and reminiscent of blossoming fields beneath a hot sun.
What would a summer party be without a potato salad? It is virtually unthinkable to not include one, but if you're tired of the same old globs of mayonnaise version, this is a wonderful replacement. Red potatoes are tossed with fresh sweet corn, green onions, smoked salmon and sour cream. If you are lucky enough to have an ocean (or lake, or river) view, you couldn't find a better dish to enjoy while soaking it in. The final savory of the menu was my tribute to the chicken traditions of the South. Chicken thighs are braised in a bbq spice rub with golden ale and Lapsang Souchong tea, then beaten into a spreadable delight known as rillette. Slightly smoky and with an incredible depth of flavor, this is a treat that could grace any table, not just a picnic one.
Summer needs to be cherished, especially now that everyone has Autumn in their sights. So grab a few friends, a couple of blankets, and a lawn game of your choice and enjoy the rest of summer's bounty.
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A whimsical and romantic celebration of love, for the one you love. I love picnics. I love planning for them, packing for them, and eating them. A picnic basket is a gift to be shared. So what better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with a picnic full of hearty and heart-shaped fare? I live in a place where February weather is not very conducive to picnics, however, and perhaps you do too. It doesn't matter though, because whether you have rain, sleet, or snow coming down outside, an indoor picnic is always warm and bright. With a menu tailored to the reason and the season, nothing could be sweeter than this tea party for two. Menu: Sweetheart Cocktails Kumamoto Oysters with Blood Orange Granita and Chili Threads Scotch Eggs with Mustard Duo Beet Stacks with Goat Cheese and Arugula Pesto Radish Hearts on Baguette with Lapsang Souchong Butter Earl Grey Crème Brûlée Mango Coconut Petit Fours The cocktails were a mix of homemade rosehip syrup, fresh cara cara orange juice, and bubbly. If you are not familiar with cara cara oranges, I recommend going out and grabbing a few right away! People love celebrating Valentine's Day with strawberries or raspberries, but for the majority of the world, they just aren't in season on February 14th. But that doesn't mean you have to go without red and pink fruit for your sweet desserts! Citrus season is still upon us, and lucky for us there are plenty of beautiful alternatives: blood oranges, cara caras, and pink or ruby grapefruit. The granita that topped the oysters was made with blood orange juice for that perfect shade of blushing pink, offset by the brilliant vermilion of the red chili threads. The subtle flavor of the chili paired with the sweet and tangy blood orange played exquisitely with the salty brine of the oysters. If you're new to the oyster game, Kumamotos are a great beginner oyster. They are usually quite small, are appealingly creamy in appearance, and not overpoweringly fishy in flavor. The other savories for the meal included Scotch eggs, which are a traditional and crazy delicious picnic food, hand-cut beet stacks with goat cheese and arugula pesto, and cut radishes with a lapsang souchong butter. The lapsang souchong butter was made by taking loose leaf lapsang tea and grinding it, then mixing it into softened butter with a smattering of a flaky sea salt. I let it sit for two days to really infuse the flavor. Smoke is one of my favorite tastes, so I had to sneak it in somewhere! The smoky richness of the butter really complemented the sharp crunch of the radishes. And who could turn down a vegetable that comes in such beautiful colors? I steeped the cream for the crème brûlée with a little loose leaf earl grey. The final result was a rich and sweet dessert that was nonetheless delicate, just like a perfect cup of tea. The final bite was a homemade petit four of sponge cake, mango coconut jam, and lemon icing. I bought the jam from my local specialty market, and definitely couldn't resist a few spoonfuls while I worked! It has a texture similar to a caramel but a flavor nearly like a curd. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful meal. No matter who you will be sharing this gift with: wife, husband, best friend, or sibling, an indoor picnic can be a wonderful way to say "I Love You" this Valentine's Day.
An early dark and biting air are easily remedied by a hot cup of tea. Come in from the cold to a fresh brewed pot, a roaring fire, hearty fare, and scrumptious desserts. When I think of winter I think of snow thick upon the ground, of crackling fires, hot beverages that warm you inside and out, Christmas songs, and the true comforts of home. This tea party was inspired by all those things that make winter enchanting and enjoyable. The food was influenced by traditional Yule and holiday fare. Menu: Peas Porridge Hot with Ham Hocks Welsh Rarebit Roasted Chestnuts Satsumas and Holiday Pears Stollen Five-Spice Ginger Cookies Orange and Vanilla Buche De Noel Mulled Wine
This tea was a wonderful mix of rustic and sophisticated, evocative of the specialness of the season- the time of year when it is ok to spend a little more, eat a little more, and give a little more. This type of tea is meant to be shared, because nothing warms you faster than a happy heart. So grab your favorite tea, tea pot, and person, and share a cup today. Happy Holidays from Bedford Cottage Tea House!
May your days be merry and bright! What do you see when asked to picture a witch: green skin? Warts? An old hag? I see an ageless woman living alone in a picturesque cottage in the woods. Her hearth is lit, her walls are covered in books and jars of spell ingredients, and her table is set with spooky delights. She is a healer, a dabbler, a scientist; she is feared but respected, for there are few women like her. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I used the classical character of a witch as the inspiration for this autumnal tea. I strayed away from the comical and cackling stereotype, however, and chose to highlight the creepier arcane witches instead.
What's a witch's cabin without a few spider webs in the eaves? This beauty here is a blueberry pie with a simple web-lattice top crust accompanied by a pie dough spider. I hand-cut the crust, but there are multiple ways you could achieve this look. If you own a large number of round cookie cutters, you could easily create much thinner and more numerous circular strands, then simply intersect them with the vertical ones. The pie dough spider was also formed free-hand, using the leftover dough from the top crust. I made the head, body, and legs all separately then smushed them together, brushed on an egg wash, poked holes for the eyes, and baked. A witch needs all sorts of tinctures, tonics, elixirs, and extracts in order to supply villagers with the sundry potions they need. These bottles were all saved from the recycling bin and their previous labels removed. Most of them were once olive oil bottles, but one was balsamic vinegar and another was from vanilla extract. Any interesting bottle will do. You can use any manner of liquid to fill the inside: olive oil, food-colored water, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, whatever gives you the color and texture you are going for. All of the bottle labels and food cards were handmade, using coffee-stained paper and india ink. True paper would have been hard for a witch to procure, so I made them look as though they were the scrappy bits, too valuable to throw away and just the right size to be pasted onto a potion. One of the focal points of the tea table was the gingerbread house. I designed it to resemble the outside of the house that the tea was taking place inside of. The roof was shredded wheat with dragon's beard moss, the grass was matcha coconut, the path was coffee grounds, and the fence was black licorice. And of course there had to be a little black cat sitting inside the window. Please click through the gallery to see more of the unique decorations and food served at this witchy and weird party. I hope this BeWitching tea party has inspired you in delightfully eerie ways. If you have any questions about what I served or how I styled it, please let me know in the comments!
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