We're All Mad Here Tea Party!

Yesterday was a fun filled day for my sister and all of our friends! Since my sister is getting married in less than two months, I thought it would be appropriate to throw her a bridal shower.  With the help of some wonderful ladies as well as one Glenda Bryant, the event coordinator, I came up with the idea of a tea party. BUT, I didn't just want it to be any old tea party, if we were going to go out, I figured, why not go ALL out!!! With that thought in mind, I decided to go with the Mad Hatters Tea Party theme from...Alice in Wonderland.  Now the idea of the Mad Hatters Tea Party includes out of the ordinary elements such as mismatched china, non traditional centerpieces, fabulous finger foods, all while keeping the tea party classy.   Invitations gave guest a hint of what was to come by placing the words "We're All MAD Here" at the top of them followed by the party and venue details.  The food was all prepared from scratch by Krishma, myself, and our great friends Anna, & Ami.  To continue with the theme, food and beverage tags were made as well as party favor bags which consisted of a small jar of honey, a honey dipper, various flavored teas, and home made biscotti (see the Almond Biscotti post for recipe).  Below are some pictures from the party that I wanted to share with y'all.

The Tea Menu

The food display

Beverages included a Pineapple & Guava Punch, Assorted teas, & Refreshing lemon & mint water

                                                Table settings included china & various style tea pots

    Gift table with party favors

                       

And below are some candid shots of guests enjoying themselves.

    And finally a group picture of the girls with the bride to be.

Almond Biscotti

I am not sure if I've told this little bit of information about myself with you guys but one of my favorite things in the world is coffee (and more recently tea)! I simply CANNOT live without that caffeine intake every morning and trust me when I tell you, I have tried.  Anyway, one of the things I love to dip in my coffee or tea is biscotti. Biscotti just puts me in a good mood for some reason and let's just be honest, who isn't happy eating a cookie dipped in their favorite beverage?!  I had been looking for a recipe for a while and stumbled across a few but never made it.  But this week I decided to be brave and make this yummy treat at home to see if I could come up with a great egg free recipe to share with y'all (there are lots of recipes out there and this is one that combined ingredients from several of them).

Before I dive into the recipe, I will warn you of a couple of things...1. this recipe is somewhat time consuming but the end result is worth the time spent; & 2, I baked this 3 times but the batch turned out a bit more crunchy than I was hoping so I would recommend baking it twice instead of the 3 times if you're wanting something a little less crunchy.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (you can also use wheat pastry flour) 

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

Dash of salt 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp anise extract 

1 cup raw almonds, toasted

7 & 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer powder

10 TBSP of warm water

1/2 cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Place your almonds on a baking sheet to toast for about 6-7 minutes. Checking to make sure they are not turning too brown or burning every so often (you will know they are done when they look a little brown and smell toasted). Once they're done toasting, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Once they are cooled, pulse in a food processor a few times so that they are roughly chopped. 

3. While the almonds are toasting, combine all of your dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

4. Wisk the Ener-G Egg Replacer powder and warm water together in a bowl until there are no lumps and the liquid is frothy.  Add the vanilla, almond, & anise extract and mix well.

5. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and add the almonds.  Mix until a sticky and dough is formed (you may have to use your hands to kinda kneed it - you can use a little Pam or flour your hands so that it is easier to work with).

6. Once the dough is formed, line your cookie sheet with wax (parchment) paper and form the dough into a log that is about 4-5 inches wide and 8-10 inches long. 

7. Bake the dough for about 40 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

8. Cut the dough using a knife into 1/2 inch thick slices.  The dough will be very hard but remember, it is supposed to be crunchy. (Tip: I used a pizza cutter bc it was easier for me to cut)

9. Place the biscotti sliced side down and bake for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown in color.

10. Pull them out of the oven and on to a cooling rack.

11. In a glass bowl, place chocolate chips in the microwave in increments of 30 seconds and stir in between for about 2 minutes until they have melted completely.  

12. Using a spoon or spatula, spread the chocolate on the bottom of the biscotti and let it finish cooling.

13. Store in an air tight container and enjoy with your favorite beverage. 

Tomato Basil Soup

This is one of my favorite soups! It's good all year around and most of the ingredients you have right in your pantry! This is best served with some really yummy french bread, and some salad! I take this for lunch when I'm on the go and it's perfect! Flavor it to your taste with extra crushed red pepper and you're good to go!

Ingredients

- 2 TBSP butter

- 1- 28oz can cento san marzano whole peeled tomatoes 

- 2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes

- 2 cups tomato juice

- 1/3 cup fresh basil

- 1/3 cup half and half

- 1/4 TSP red crushed pepper

- salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- In a large sauce pan combine whole peeled tomatoes, tomato juice and the fresh chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

- In a food processor blend the contents in the sauce pan along with the basil.

- Return the blended tomatoes to the sauce pan and let simmer.

- Add half and half, butter and rest of the seasonings.

- Serve hot with fresh bread.

Serving size- 4

Tips

- If soup is too runny, let simmer longer until you reach a thicker consistency. If soup is too thick, add a little water at a time until you reach the right consistency.

Oooey Gooey Oatmeal

I absolutely LOVE breakfast and breakfast foods!  This includes all carbs - biscuits, pancakes, cereal, toast & every other carb available; but, one of my all time breakfast favorites is oatmeal made with all the fixin's.  My recipe for oatmeal is not only good for you but it's also quick, easy, & absolutely delish!  Try it at home (or work) and let me know what you think.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooking oats
1 cup skim milk
roughly 2 TBSP of brown sugar
2 TBSP coconut flakes
2 TBSP chopped walnuts
Dash of cinnamon
A few dried cranberries

Directions:
1. Heat milk on a stove top on medium to low heat until it comes to a boil.
2. Add quick cooking oats and cook for 2 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
3. Add brown sugar, coconut flakes, cinnamon, and walnuts.
4. Place in a bowl and mix in cranberries.
5. Enjoy!

Tip: You can substitute these toppings with any of your favorite toppings and fruit.  I typically mix 1/2 cup of oatmeal with brown sugar and coconut flakes and keep them at my desk so that I can whip up a batch at any given moment. =)

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Fall is officially here! It is, without a doubt my favorite season and time of year! The leaves are changing colors, football is back, thanksgiving is coming up and Halloween is just around the corner! So what better way to kick this season off than with a yummy latte, featuring Autumns most popular fruit- pumpkin! It's so easy to make and the pumpkin makes this drink so good!

Ingredients

- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 2 TBSP canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 TSP vanilla extract
- 1/2 TSP Pumpkin pie spice
- 1 TSP instant coffee/shot of espresso
- whipped cream/cool whip
- 1-2 TSP sugar (depending how sweet you like it)

Directions
- in a small sauce pan gently heat pumpkin, vanilla, sugar and spices, stirring occasionally. Heat for 2-3 Minutes.
- Pour milk in and mix until milk is fully combined with pumpkin mixture. Bring to a boil.
- Have espresso shot or instant coffee ready in a mug. Strain milk with a sieve straight into the mug and stir.
- Top with whipped cream and cinnamon.


Serving suggestions
- This makes a great cold drink. Follow all the steps and cool latte slightly and pour over ice!

Substitutions
- If you don't have pumpkin pie spice use:
- 1/2 TSP ground cinnamon
- pinch of ginger
- pinch of nutmeg
- pinch of allspice