The Teashop Girls: Cucumber Sandwiches

Sipping thoughts of peace, hope floats my way.

~ Moonlight Spice Tea Bag

      Oh my goodness this is so sad... Its the last recipe from The Teashop girls.  Anyway, please enjoy the last recipe, cucumber is good for making the eyes less puffy and it's also great for making tea time mini sandwiches! Here's how:

Tea Beauty Tip!

If you have a sunburn, put about six black tea bags

in your bath tub. Steep in there along with your tea

for about ten minutes. It really helps!

Cucumber Sandwiches

Ingredients:

One cucumber thinly sliced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon fresh garlic, finely minced

10 slices brown bread, lightly toasted

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup sour cream

How to Make

Combine cucumber slices, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic in a bowl. Butter each toasted side of the brown bread and arrange the cucumber mixture on top of each in layers. Cut sandwiches in half. Add a small dollop of sour cream on top and garnish with a thin cucumber sliver. Serves 5.

Sipping thoughts of peace, hope floats my way.

~ Moonlight Spice Tea Bag

      So, farewell The Teashop Girls, you have been an honor to share recipes from! I hope I can find another book with recipes in them. Otherwise I can share some recipes from a kids cook book I have at home.

      Ooh, wait there's more! You know how I love cupcakes, and I think you should know that I love Katy Perry too. She's just awesome. Check out this pic of her sporting a cupcake dress. It was too cute, I had to share it. The blue hair goes perfectly with the dress. She was probably performing California Girls.

The Teashop Girls: Tea Pops

Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you.

Now tell me about hundreds of things.

~ Saki

     Looking for something even cooler than tea? On a hot summer day, these are most useful...and most wanted. And get this: there are only 3 ingredients! Check it out guys. ; D Oh and by the way, I've replaced the Baked Goods poll with a slideshow on cupcakes. You can check that out too. And I hear from most of you that cookies are the most wanted to be featured on my blog. That'll be coming up soon. I got a real sweet treat for ya!

Tea Beauty Tip!

Drink green Tea. Its good for you!

Healthy people are gorgeous!

Tea Pops

Ingredients:

2 cups herbal tea, brewed double strength

(approx. 1 small pot)

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons sugar

How to Make
Brew hot tea using double the amount of leaves you usually would. Let steep for 4 minutes, then allow time to cool. Stir the orange juice and sugar into the cooled tea, then pour the mixture into Ice pop molds or ice cube trays, leaving some room at the top. Place in freezer and wait three hours or until solid. Then, take out pops and chill out! Don't forget to insert Ice cream sticks!

 Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.

~ Henry Fielding, Love in Several Masques

      If you liked that, check out more exotic popsicle recipes from Design Crush: http://www.designcrushblog.com/2011/06/29/popsicles/   And just so you know, now you can follow My Not-So-Secret-Recipes via email! YAY! Just scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your email address. But the bad thing is, there's no more The Teashop Girls! After the next post anyway. Noooo, this is too sad...

The Teashop Girls: Tea Smoothie

 If this is coffee, please bring me some tea;

but if this is tea, please bring me coffee.

~ Abraham Lincoln

      Feeling lazy? Need something refreshing to power up? Like maybe... a TEA SMOOTHIE!? Yep! That's exactly what you need! This simple little recipe is a cup of tea and a smoothie rolled into one! And its really easy and quick to make too.

Tea Beauty Tip!

Use cold used tea bags as eye compresses.

Very spa-ish and relaxing.

Tea Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup black tea brewed extra strong

(use two tea bags)

1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen

1 banana

1&1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

2 tablespoons sugar.

How to Make

Place strong tea in a blender with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. My suggestion: Put a little cherry or strawberry on top and add a fancy straw for a little extra flair.

Where there's tea there's hope.

~ Arthur W. Pinero

     Really its that simple. Try it at home! Just a reminder, all these recipes, quotes and Tea Beauty Tips are from the book, so look out for more recipes from The Teashop Girls.

The Teashop Girls: Spiced Blueberry Scones

Coffee is not my cup of tea.

~ Samuel Goldwyn

      Finally! The recipe we've all been waiting for! SPICED BLUEBERRY SCONES!!! Yay!!! I love scones but there's only one recipe of those in this book, so if you want to know more scone recipes, then look for the very first recipe post in June: The Secret Ingredient ~ Laura Schaefer.

Tea Beauty Tip!

If you get a zit, put a used White Tea bag

right on it and hold for a while. Don't rinse off the Tea.

Spiced Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups organic whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 cup half-and-half

3/4 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed

1/2 cup clotted cream

How to Bake
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease baking sheet. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ginger) in a large bowl and mix well. In a different bowl, combine the butter (room temperature), vanilla, egg, and half-and-half and mix well. Stir into dry ingredients. Gently fold in the blueberries. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch triangles and put them on greased baking sheet. Bake for twenty minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with clotted cream. Makes 18 scones.

Tea Drinkers are never bored

~ Unknown

      Okay, that's one of the little things you can serve for afternoon tea. There will be more coming up from this awesome book: The Teashop Girls. : D

The Teashop Girls: Gingerbread Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Tea Beauty Tip!
After you wash your face,
put some cool White Tea onto a cotton ball
and smooth over skin like an astringent to prevent zits.

      Well what do you know? I've found a cupcake recipe in this book! Awesome, another great recipe! Also, please look out for tea beauty tips from The Teashop Girls!

You can't get a cup of tea large enough or

a book long enough to suit me.

~ C. S. Lewis

Gingerbread Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all-spice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup milk
8-ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup half-and-half
1&1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
2 cups powdered sugar

How to Bake
Preheat the oven to 352 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl combine the butter with white sugar, Add the molasses and egg to the creamed mixture. In another bowl stir the flour, two kinds of ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg, and salt together. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add in the milk mixture. Pour in the batter evenly into the lined tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes allow to cool.  
To make frosting: Combine cream Cheese, half-and-half, lemon zest and powdered sugar. Frost cupcakes once they are cool. Makes 10-12 cupcakes.

Remember the tea kettle-

it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings.

~  Unknown

       Hoped you liked that! Its great especially for Christmas time! Next up, guess what?! SCONES!!! BLUEBERRY SCONES!!!

The Teashop Girls: From Cupcakes to Tea

I found these super-cute cupcakes at Crystal Jade~My Bread outlet at Toa Payoh Central and just had to take a few shots.
They are SO cute!!!

      Alright, it has come to the end of the Cupcake Age and we are now moving into the Tea Age. The book from which I will be sharing with you tea recipes is: The Teashop Girls. See? You can tell by the title it's all about tea. And there will be Tea Beauty Tips of the day, from the book too, like this one:

Tea Beauty Tip!

To add shiny-ness to dark hair,

wash with Black Tea once a week.
To make highlights dazzle-y,
Rinse light hair with Chamomile Tea.

      Now, lets kick it off with a some tips on how to make The Perfect Cup of Tea. Even my cousin in Taiwan says a cup of sweet Black Tea really calms you down. The photo below was taken from her Facebook page.

Tea gives you courage.
~ Unknown

The Perfect Cup of Tea

Bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil, but don't let it boil for too long.
Let it come off the boil and settle down for a moment.
Pour water into teapot containing a heaping tablespoon of your favourite loose tea leaves.
Let the leaves bloom and steep for at least three minutes.
Pour the tea into your favourite preheated cup.
Serve with sugar and cream, sip and smile.

 

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are heated,
it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you.
If you are excited, it will calm you.
~ William Gladstone, 1865

      And while we're on the subject of tea, check out these cute little Chinese porcelain teapots and jars. I purchased them at a pottery for $1 each. Look, there's even a little pedestal for tiny cakes. So cute! I've tried drinking tea from the two pots, but I guess its only meant for display. Its way too small to drink from. Ahh... I love tea, don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes too. That's why I'm going to hunt down the next book of Confectionately Yours: Taking the Cake! for more recipes to share with you.

What's Bakin'? #1

      Here's a change! Every once in a while, I'll be featuring some baked goods (if possible). Which include interviews on how it tastes like. Of course there will be pictures too. No fun without them! But the down side is: No recipes. But you can have plenty more of that here! Oh, and by the way, every Wednesday will be the day when I change the videos on the side bar. So please take a look at them.




      So first, we shall take a look at the Banana Walnut Muffin, which my family and I had at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Resorts World, Sentosa, Singapore. To be precise. I'd interviewed my brother and Dad about how it tasted. When asked how it tasted, my Brother replied: "[It was] crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Yep, [it tastes like banana]. [I would eat it with] jam." My dad said he would only be interviewed about Democracy and Freedom. When asked he said "The Muffin has to be a Freedom Muffin." and nothing else. So that wasn't much help.







      Next up, we have the Raisin Scone! Looks delish, doesn't it? My apologies, I took the photographs with my phone, so the lighting's not so good. This is also from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, at the same location as the muffin. Same thing, I interviewed Dad and Shaw Hur about it: "[I would eat it with] Butter." said my brother. My dad basically said the same thing except for a few minor changes: "The Scone has to be a Scone of democracy." Again, not much help. (I'll be sure to interview more "interview-worthy people in future")




      So, please look forward to the next post of What's Bakin'?, which will be after The Teashop Girls phase. I hope you've enjoyed this new... thing. But frankly, I still like the recipes better. : D Toodles!