Tea Party Photos, As Promised

Oh my god, I love tea parties. Especially the ones that my friends host, because they are always undoubtedly completely divine! Honestly, who can resist butter wafer cookies with lemon curd and raspberries on them? Or crostinis with olive tapenade/bruschetta? How about a really pathetic, underisen, dense, too chewy, ladybug-esque shaped Challah bread? (Yeah, that was my contribution, and it was pretty lame. Photos on my flickr...I'm too embarassed to post it here). But really, in the end, it's all about dessert, right?

One of the main activities at this particular tea party was cupcake decorating! The overall theme was a "Children's Tea Party," so it made all the sense in the world to start covering funfetti cupcakes with pounds of sugar and candies. Good stuff. Nauseating, at times, but overall quite fun. I didn't eat one, however; maybe I could have 10 years ago, but today, just...too...much...

Let me show you what I mean by "sugar":

Granted, on this cupcake, my friends and I just tried to cram as much crap all over this one cupcake as physically possible...it's not like we would eat it (right? right.)

Oh god. Pretty disgusting, in retrospect. Fun at the time, to be sure; but now...ugh!

Aside from decorating cupcakes, we gossiped, giggled, talked about inane things, listened to Indeep, took thousands (more like 300) closeup pictures of our faces making ridiculous expressions, acted way too girly, and had fun, blah blah blah. Whenever I tell my family or other friends that I have these tea parties, people look at me funny, but it's true: my friends just like to get dressed up and make food and be fancy. It's ridiculous, but I love it. Oh, and the 75º weather and sunshine is pretty great, too.

Until next time!

Another Tea Party

Went to another lovely tea party, don't you know.

More pictures to come tomorrow, when I am less sleepy. Have a nice weekend.

Sincerely,
Lizzie

Sage & Lemon Iced Tea and Etsy Update!

Only recently have I discovered what a whiz my mom is at making iced tea. I've always known that her Apple Pies are more than sublimely ridiculously incredible, and that my dad is the King of All Pancakes, but this summer, after several scorching hot spells, I've begun to realize that her iced tea is definitely something I will miss when I'm in New York next year. I think that the special thing about it is the fact that she always puts a sprig of some plant from her garden into the mix. Usually, its Sage, but she also throws in some Mountain Mint, which together create a really refreshing, earthy combination. So without further ado:

Sage & Lemon Iced Tea

When I asked my mom if I could post her recipe on this blog, she said "I have a recipe?" So, obviously, this "recipe" shouldn't be taken too seriously. Just throw some stuff in, you know, a couple leaves here or there, whatever! Also, we've only made it this way because my mom has all these herbs and plants in her garden, so if you have them, try this! If not, improvise!

Ingredients
4-5 Earl Grey Tea Bags
2 cups of cold water
1-2 Tsp. Sugar (to taste)
A couple sprigs of Sage
A pinch of salt
Water and Ice (a lot, but be careful not to dilute it too much)
1/2 Lemon, sliced
A few sprigs of Mountain Mint or any other type of Mint leaves
Agave Nectar (quite optional)

In a plastic carafe, throw in your tea bags (unwrapped and de-tagged). Then bring the cold water to a rolling boil. I've heard several times how important it is that the water be cold and also, as many a tea-aficionado has preached, that the water be at a full rolling boil. Add the water to the tea bags and let them steep for 10-15 minutes. As they are steeping, stir the carafe a few times and taste the tea; no one likes bitter iced-tea, so be careful not to over-steep. Remove the tea bags (and put them into the compost heap if you like!) and then add the sugar. We never really measure out the sugar, just add a spoonful and taste the tea as you go. It's always better to keep your hot tea a little on the unsweetened side, so guests can add as much sugar or agave nectar as they want later on. Then, while the water is still hot, add the Sage and keep it in the carafe. Then (this is the part I really like), add a pinch of salt; just a tad, so it enhances the sweetness just a bit.

Now, add a bunch of water and ice. Always add the water first, because you don't want your carafe to explode or anything. Throw in the lemon slices (and keep a couple for garnish if you so please) and the Mountain Mint. Add some agave nectar or honey for yourself, and enjoy!

In other news, I've update the shop! Added are three new illustrations: and an illustration of Magpie and Raven, two wolves I met in Colorado on a wolf preservation, a portrait of G.K. Chesterton, and another floral floral nymph Check it out!!

Hot Town, Summer in the City

I graduated!

In other news, this weekend was unspeakably hot...like triple-digits hot. Great weather for a tea party (sarcasm, sarcasm), but I had one anyways. We had iced tea, of course, and really delicious mint lemonade concocted by my dear mother. I actually spent half of the day preceding the party and several hours the day of baking and assembling food. I made some Pear Bread (thanks to Bake and Break), finger sandwiches (cucumber/cream cheese, salmon and capers, and chicken curry salad), Buttermilk Cookies with Lemon Zest (thanks to Tartelette), vichissoise (thanks to my dad), lots of fruits and berries, and Clotted Cream.

It was really pretty and nice; I had 8 friends over, and we all wore girly dresses and played cards and listened to Edith Piaf. I set up a bunch of chairs in our little woodland garden and placed doilies around, used the outlandishly ornate silverware, and had adorable little name cards, etc. etc. My mom, being the crazy plant lady that she is, made lots of little bouquets that we set all around, too.

And now, being Monday, I've finally realized that it's summer! So maybe I will start sewing some dresses and skirts again, or read the Golden Compass, or upload some more tea bags to the shop. Ooh, or develop that roll of film from my Senior Art Proj. Ahh, so many possibilities.

Etsy: Update -- T bags!

Salut!
I finally got around to putting up some reusable tea bags for sale in the shop!

So I suggest you go check it out. Because I'm selling them in a darling little set of three T's (awww).

Anyways, my parents had a little dinner party last night for my dad's research group. Yeah, so he's a physicist and so the conversation, well, it was about magnets. And other stuff. So basically, that wasn't my cup of tea (ha, pun). Fortunately, however, we got food from Pita! Pita!, a Mediterranean place.


A tasty falafel.

Funny story: My friend pronounced falafel "fallah-fal" instead of "fa-LAH-fel." Pretty anti-climatic story, but whatever.

Tea: A Drink with Jam and Bread!

Well it's a very odd Memorial Day weekend here in Southern California. It was cold(ish). Although the gloom and possibility of thunder storms destroyed my plans to go to Surf Camp, I did have a nice weekend. Saturday was basically devoted to Prom--which I can't believe I actually went to. Anyways, it was fun getting my hair and nails done--I now have a cute little 30s crop cut (see here)--and I suppose the Prom itself wasn't too bad. Dancing is fun, but I must say that I never thought it was possible to grind to the Jackson 5 until that night.

Anyways, Sunday I made my very first yeast bread...without a bread maker! I really had no idea that it would take 7 hours, but yeah, it did. I made a Honey Whole Wheat Loaf from CookWise and it tastes pretty good, especially when toasted with some marmalade and a nice cup of Earl Grey on a cool Spring morning!



In other news, my mom recruited me to photograph some Mountain Mint for her newspaper article (she writes native plant gardening articles for The Claremont Courier, a local newspaper in Claremont, CA). So we brewed up a pot of hot water with mint and some honey, and it was actually really tasty. The pictures don't do the colors of the "tea" justice though; in reality the water was an amazing shade of chartreuse.

It's really quite a refreshing drink, and its perfect hot or cold. I recommend it!

So now I'm off to Out of the Closet and The Salvation Army to look for a bulletin board and some other stuff for an installation piece I'm doing for the Senior Art Show. Wish me luck; thrifting can be so trying sometimes...

Tea and Cookies

Today was one of those perfect days, filled with simple pleasures...and lots of baked goods. I woke up at eight, which I once would have believed to be a violation of the laws of weekend sleeping, but as of late, I have been thoroughly enjoying. But there was a reason for my early-bird-ness: I had to make some cookies for a friend's birthday, and also for another friend, as an apology for a rude mistake of mine :[. I browsed by favorite food blogs and chose this recipe (thank you!)



They were quite easy and really, really tasty. However, I made mine a tad too large, which, although doing so didn't affect the taste, sort of left me wishing that I had made them smaller and more button-like.



So, because I made the cookies a little on the large side, I ended up with much less than I had expected to produce. And this proved to be a slight problem, seeing as I had to have some for both of my friends. Thus, I had to make a sacrifice: no cookies for anyone else in my family. Haha, my dad was sad, but I think he will survive.

Then came the tea party, which was ideal. Here's what I mean:





Yeah, pretty nice. I guess when I have my "End of School/Pre-College Tea Party" I will have a tough act to follow.

Now I'm off to make my mom her Mother's Day gift. Yay for embroidered pouches!
Ta!

Lemon and Yogurt Scones!

I love tea.

And everything associated with it: brewing it, serving it, making it look all pretty, etc. So, seeing as the school year is winding down, I have planned a cute little tea party for some friends and myself at my house. Scones, I figured, were a must. So this weekend was a test round for the scones, and I must say they did quite nicely! I think I'm going to put more lemon zest in them, because you couldn't quite taste it enough, and I'm also going to make them a tad smaller, because despite how much I love monster-sized scones, I plan on making a lot of other finger food to go with it, and I don't want people to fill up too quickly!

If you are interested in the recipe, it can be found here (and thank you to the writer of the aforementioned blog!)

In other news, it's really warming up, which is nice because that means more dinners outside. I can't wait until summer...popcicles, sno-cones, running barefoot, the smell of hot sidewalks wet from sprinklers. So nice and nostalgic. The only thing that freaks me out is the idea of being COMPLETELY OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL. It's a little surreal, and a lot scary. college...College...COLLEGE!

Embroidered Tea Bags!

Lately, I have been sewing little reusable tea bags and embroidering on them. I got the pattern from Craft Leftovers. The cool thing is, they actually work, and after several uses, they get this great tea-stained (obviously!) look. I think I want to sell them, and I will probably try my hand at this whole Etsy thing. Anyways, I love making them and brewing all my favorite teas. Mmm, just thinking about that Mauritus tea blend, yum.

In other news, next weekend I'm going to Disneyland! Yesssss! Life is so awesome.