Pizza and Tea Cups

Antique FireKing tea cups.

Sourdough pizza (with olive oil and garden-fresh veggies).

And the dearest of friends to sweeten the mix.

Natalie came to visit our farm a few weeks ago. It was truly a delightful time with my sissy. Long talks, laughter, and some tears. True friendship is as precious as it is rare. Miss you already, sis...

January Get-Together

The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing to your name.
Great salvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his offspring forever.
- from Psalm 46

Bitter cold weather. Warm, wonderful fellowship. What a treat it was for me to get to meet so many sweet girls and put smiles and personalities with the online names. Despite temperatures hovering right around 0 degrees, multiple car caravans about town, a long wait at the Air Force Base gate late that night to get permission for two military girls to bring eleven others on base...it was fun and many great memories were made--sometimes in the midst of the craziest moments.

The girls arrived at my home that morning and we went to eat lunch at a little sandwich shop. While we were there Gretchen called, not realizing it was The Day for the get-together; she passed on hellos to all. We shivered and slipped across the parking lot to a thrift store full of books....and from there on to another shop where finds ranged from childhood favorite books to shoes.

In mid-afternoon we returned to my home. The girls helped me make pizza for everyone--several of them were lightning fast dish-washers and I am not sure I have ever seen girls have so much fun making pizza crust. Everything was fun with that group.

As evening came we headed up to the huge Christian bookstore for an hour or so of happy wandering...it was a treat for me to get to have various conversations and get to know them and the diversity of tasks and callings they are pursuing. From teaching chemistry to ballet to helping at home to missions work, each story was unique and a testimony of God's grace.

We spent the night in hotel rooms on the Air Force base--an adventure in and of itself. All of us squeezed into one room for dinner and a long time of sharing about God's work in our lives the past year. Some of them stayed up until after 3 a.m. but I must be getting old because I collapsed much earlier. But the conversations just picked up where we left off the next morning and continued through until we finally parted ways in the early afternoon. I already miss them and hope that many will be able to come again in April.

Hopefully more of you can join us next time--we would love to have you!

Captions: Top left - Sarah, who flew all the way from New York; Bottom left - Natalie, Kristin and Mary browse the books at a thrift store; Right - a blooming tea flower unfolding over the candle warmer; Bottom - Some of the girls thawing out from the bitter cold! Left to right: Mary, Natalie, Lisa, Kristin, Clara, Alissa, Liz, Audrey, and Sarah.

Bridal Tea Party

Rooibos Flower of Africa tea, strawberry soup, Rooibos Strawberry Cream Tea, and lots of dainty sandwiches and scones...

This afternoon we had the delightful surprise of a lovely tea party compliments of the da Capo Teas & Eatery where Natalie worked last year.

"The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose."
-George Gissing, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft

Tea time sweets and savories, Part Two

~Shortbread is a very traditional tea time cookie. Here is a recipe that makes my mouth water just thinking about it:

1 pound butter
6 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup cornstarch

Soften butter and place in a large bowl. Sift the dry ingredients over the butter and mix with your hands. Work in thoroughly, until nothing sticks to the side of the bowl. Pat the dough into pie plates at about ½ inch thick. Prick with a fork in a pattern of small wedges and bake at 350 degrees until the edges start to brown. Break on the pricked lines and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.

~These Carrot Muffins make for a dainty bite of something sweet:

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated carrots

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Combine the oil, sugar and eggs in a large bowl and mix by hand until blended. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix well; stir in the grated carrots. Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins and bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

And, just for fun, here’s some Tea Etiquette I’ve picked up along the way:

~Tea should always be served sitting down. While a punch server is obliged to stand, a lady serving tea—even at a large event—should be seated before the tea tray with all the accouterments before her. (When my mother has a party, she positions either my sister or me at one end of the dining room table with the tea while the other stands at the opposite end before the punch bowl.)

~If hats and gloves are the order of the day, then ladies should keep their hats on for the duration of the party. But gloves should be removed before coming to the tea table. And, if you want to be a stickler, it’s never truly proper for the hostess to wear a hat.

~At a small tea, a well-appointed tray should contain the following: cups and saucers for everyone present, napkins and tea spoons, cream and sugar, and small slices of lemon. The hostess should ask each person in turn what they take in their tea and serve it as soon as it is poured.

Tea time sweets and savories, Part One

As I promised last week, here are some simple ideas for making the ceremony of afternoon tea a special occasion:

~Homemade scones, or ones from the bakery, are delicious served with fresh strawberry jam and a dollop or two of this decadent Mock Devonshire Cream:

Whip ½ cup heavy cream with 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar till stiff peaks form. Then gently fold in ½ cup sour cream. Serve generously with warm scones or tea biscuits.

~Tea sandwiches are the ultimate finger food. The bread should be sliced as thinly as possible (I like to use Pepperidge Farm) and the sandwiches can be made either open-faced or closed. Cut your sandwiches into interesting shapes using cookie cutters, if you wish, or slice them into tiny triangles with a knife. Here are some of my favorites:

Salmon:
Layer finely-sliced smoked salmon atop brown bread points that have been spread with cream cheese. Top with a tiny sprig of dill.

Cucumber:
Peel the cucumber with a vegetable peeler and slice very thin. Place one slice on a circle of soft white bread that has been cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter and spread with butter. Top with a dash of paprika.

Date-Nut:
Slice a loaf of canned date-nut bread into thin pieces and spread half with a mixture of cream cheese that has been sweetened with a little bit of powdered sugar. Top with the remaining slices and cut each round into four points.

Chicken Salad:
Cut the crusts off slices of whole wheat bread and spread half with chicken salad. Add a dash of poultry seasoning and a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley and top with another piece of bread. Cut into small triangles.

Tea sandwiches can be made up to an hour or two ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator covered with damp paper towels so that they won't dry out.

~Look for crumpets in the frozen case at your grocery and serve them toasted with butter and raspberry jam.

Next week: More recipes and some tea time etiquette tips!

The Perfect Cuppa

My day just isn’t complete without a cup of tea. Okay—several cups of tea. Well, let’s just go ahead and make it several pots of tea. I pretty much drink it all day long. There’s the morning charge of Yorkshire Tea in my darling brown betty pot. Then the mid-morning elevenses of white or green, sans the full caffeine of the earlier black. On especially busy days I like to soothe my nerves with a mug of Tension Tamer, an herb and B-vitamin infused variety that has a picture of a princess perched serenely atop a dragon on its label. ;) And I hardly ever go to bed without my stout little cup of Sleepytime.

In the late afternoon—the most important tea time of all, you know—I anticipate the delights of a fine rooibus or an exquisite chamomile laced with orange and spices. For this latter ritual, a china cup is in order, and maybe even a linen napkin. And of course those little goodies stashed away at the back of the pantry or bits of lovely dark chocolate always make their dainty appearance as well. It’s my own special pause, between the great duties of the day and the starting of supper, and, in my opinion, merits nice touches, if only for myself. There’s nothing like sitting down to a well-appointed tea tray on an ordinary day to awaken the senses to the small beauties of life.

Here are a few tips for brewing up the perfect pot:

~You should always start with fresh, cold water of the best quality available (and remember to empty the kettle of any water that has been boiled before—the oxygen has escaped and this will definitely affect the taste of your tea). Set it to boil and, meanwhile, fill your teapot with hot water from the tap. My mother always insists that I ‘hot the pot’ in this manner, and, like fresh water, it truly makes a difference. Pour this water out just before adding the tea leaves.

~Measure out the appropriate level of loose tea into a tea ball or infuser. If your tea doesn’t instruct you on an exact amount, the experts will all say ‘one spoonful per person and one for the pot’. (I can hear Bertie Wooster now: “Well, I don’t see why the pot should get one!”) It depends on the size of your pot, but for six cups I usually use three to four heaping spoonfuls—teaspoons, that is, not soup spoons. ;) Remember, you can always make it stronger, but no one wants watered-down tea!

~Your individual tea should give you some guidance on water temperature, but a good rule of thumb is that black and red (rooibus) and herbal blends should be made with boiling water. Green and white tea should be made with water that is almost at the boil—steaming rather vigorously—as too hot water will cause these more delicate teas to taste bitter.

~Brew times vary for the different teas, as well. You will want to allow herbal teas and tisanes and rooibus to infuse for up to ten minutes, while a white or green can be quite drinkable after only one to two. Do not brew either of them for longer than three minutes, though. Black tea is best after three to five minutes. (I like mine on the strong side.)

~Lay your tea tray with pretty cups and saucers and freshly ironed napkins. A few sprigs of flowers in a tiny vase would not be out of place, either! Cream and sugar, if you like, and a little bite of something sweet or savory and you’re set. (Don’t add cream to citrus based or citrus flavored teas, though—it will curdle.)

~Enjoy! And I’ll be back next week with some easy ideas for tea time treats…