Blogger's Block

Hang in there friends!
We seem to be having a momentary blogger's block as life marches on around here. Hopefully inspiration will strike again soon!

The Art of the Table

Linda at Friendship Tea has been sharing a beautiful variety of tablescapes that were decorated for the second annual fund raising event Tea Time with Berea Ministry held recently in Kentucky. Linda works diligently for this annual event, coordinating the volunteers, taste testing recipes, preparing tea, and organizing the activities for the day. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work required to pull this event together. Kudos for a job well done Linda! For additional information about this event and photos from last years gathering, visit Tea Time with Berea Ministry . Check out the recent posts on Friendship Tea to take a peek at the many artistic interpretations created for this years successful event. There are a lot of talented people creating many beautiful themed tables.
(photo shown here is a table in Sweet Remembrances set for a bridal shower)

Green Tomatoes?

No problem! Consider Raspberry Jam
3 c. ground green tomatoes (use a food processor)
1 large box (6 oz.) Raspberry Jello
2 c. sugar

Combine all ingredients. Boil 10 minutes. Put in sterilized glasses. Cover with paraffin.

SereniTea Wednesday

Enjoy Afternoon Tea at Sweet Remembrances today!
Sliced chicken sandwich with basil pesto mayonnaise
Red radish squares with French style cheese spread
Bacon, cheddar & pecan rounds.

Traditional English Cream Scones
Cinnamon Chip Scones
Mock clotted cream, strawberry preserves

Pumpkin Nut Roll
Chocolate Almond Brownies
Lemony Cookies

More Tea from Far Away Lands

A few days after the Teapigs English Breakfast arrived in the mail, another gift package landed on my doorstep. This surprise box was from Japan. Mikako, my penpal, sent a box full of Japanese "Halloween" candy and two varieties of tea. The tea shown here is Matcha-iri-genmaicha, or Genmaicha combined with Matcha. Genmaicha is a fresh green tea, usually Sencha, with roasted brown rice added to it. Typically, it produces a fresh green flavor with additional toasty almost nutty notes because of the brown rice. Matcha is a powdered green tea, known for its very intense flavor, and traditionally used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The two, genmaicha and matcha, have been combined to produce a popular blend, and Mikako's favorite. A fresh flavor accompanies the intense green color of this unique tea, low in caffeine and high in antioxidants. Here's to your good health!

Thank you Mikako!

From Across the Pond

My mailbox recently contained a surprise package from a lovely couple in England that I met through a mutual friend at Sweet Remembrances. This package of English Breakfast tea is from a company called teapigs.in England, and contains 15 teabags of black tea. This blend is a combination of a powerful newcomer Rwandan, a gutsy Assam and a mellow Ceylon tea and after a 3 minute steep with boiling water, brews into a nice hearty tea described as being a balanced, malty, and zesty alliance. The tea is very tasty, a smooth black tea, but in addition, it is the packaging that is interesting and engaging. The tea is not packaged in ordinary tea bags but rather biodegradable tea temples, a spacious, silky, transparent bag that allows maximum room for perfect infusion. They also boast that the tea temples include whole leaf only, not the dust found in regular tea bags.

Also noted on the package is that this tea is especially good for lethargic Monday mornings. Indeed.

Thank you Marilyn!

Happy Halloween!

A special thank you to creative and artistic sister Marj for her most recent addition to our haunted gardens.
Oh what a tangled cocoon she has woven.

Happy Halloween!

Come in Costume!

Part of our Garlic dinner tradition is to ask our guests to come in costume for this Halloween event. Some play along... the waitstaff always does.... as you can see here... the medieval m'lady Nancy, Steelers fan Colleen, and the ready-for-bedtime momma Susanna. We're holding the appetizer plate we served. It included Rosemary Garlic Jelly with Pear & Brie Crostini, Stuffed Mushrooms in Garlicky Wine Sauce, Garlic Salsa with sweet pepper 'chips', and Sauteed Chicken with Garlicky Blueberry Dipping Sauce. Several guests requested the mushroom recipe... so here it is.... enjoy!

Stuffed Mushrooms in Garlicky Wine Sauce
2 Tbsp. butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 c. dry white wine
2/3 c. chicken broth
1 5.2 oz. container semi-soft cheese with garlic & herbs (Boursin perhaps)
2 doz. whole mushrooms

Melt butter over medium heat, in a medium skillet. Toss in shallots and garlic and saute until slightly browned. Add wine and broth. Bring just to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms. Top each mushroom with a portion (slightly less than a teaspoon) of semi-soft cheese. Place filled mushrooms in a rectangular baking dish, cheese side up. Pour wine sauce around mushrooms. Bake, uncovered, for 10 - 12 minutes. Serve hot. Garnish with finely snipped fresh herbs.

From the Garden to the Kitchen

Recently, Nancy, of Lemon Verbena Lady's blog, gifted us with five beautiful jars of homemade jelly. Nancy is an avid herb gardener, lecturer, and guest blogger for the Herb Companion. Her blog clearly demonstrates her love for both herb gardening and her herbal husband, with whom she happily shares the garden and the kitchen. Nancy has been busy both in the garden growing the herbs for the jelly, and then in the kitchen making and canning this wide assortment of tasty jellies, and I'm so thankful to be a happy recipient of several of her jams and jellies. I was happy to share the Rosemary Garlic Jelly with our guests at the Garlic Garlic Garlic Dinner on Tuesday evening.

Nancy has kindly shared the Rosemary Garlic Jelly recipe on her blog.

To use the jelly as an appetizer, I sliced a French baguette and toasted it lightly in the oven. (350 degrees, about 5 minutes). Spread some Brie on the baguette, and then top with the Rosemary Garlic jelly to which I had mixed in minced fresh pear. It was a nice combination, and enjoyed by many.

Thanks again Nancy! We are enjoying your fabulous homemade gift! Nothing better!

Oven Roasted Garlic

Oven Roasted Garlic is a very easy process that produces a sweet yet slightly mellow almost nutty flavored paste. Simply slice the top off the entire head of garlic, and remove as much of the papery outer skin encasing the cloves without causing them to break apart. Place the heads in a baking dish to which you have added about 1/4 c. water. Drizzle olive oil over each garlic head. Cover entire pan with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for one hour. Baste after 30 minutes. Monitor the oil and water level, adding a touch of each if necessary.
The garlic is done when the cloves are soft and easily pierced with a toothpick.

After they have cooled, squeeze the garlic from the casing. This can be used 'as is' and smeared on warm toasty bread for a superb garlic spread. Roasted garlic is also a great addition to mashed potatoes for a delicious flavor combination. This garlic was roasted, pureed in a food processor, and baked into a Garlic & Black Olive Quick Bread (actually 3 loaves) for dinner tonight.

This recipe has many variations... from oven temperature (325, 375, 400) to cooking time (45 min., one hour) to whether you should slice the top off or not (I prefer slicing off the top, makes it easier to remove the roasted garlic when they are done.). Essentially a no-fail recipe, any method will produce a delicious garlic paste to be enjoyed in any number of ways.

If you aren't using all of the garlic paste, it will keep for one week in the refrigerator, or for longer storage, freeze for later use.

Sealed with a Clove.

Our Annual Garlic Dinner is tomorrow evening - a Halloween tradition around here. Almost everyone in the family *loves* garlic along with a crowd of Rosemary House/Sweet Remembrances guests. The cook, however, prefers garlic in moderation. Tomorrow evenings dinner is anything but 'garlic in moderation'. Typically, by the end of the meal, each guest will have consumed three heads of garlic (yes, heads, not cloves). In order to continue with this annual event, we made a deal years ago... if Susanna peels the garlic, I will cook with it. Here's the first bowl full of peeled garlic... ready to be chopped~minced~roasted~marinated~chocolate covered etc.... all in preparation for the Garlic Feast. She'll be peeling the rest of the garlic later this evening. It's a deal.

Pictures from yesteryear...

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.” ~Hans Christian Anderson