Beautiful Savannah GA

Seems like I’ve been away more than I’ve been at home lately, but I’m not complaining.  Especially when the next trip is to beautiful Savannah, GA. 

Can’t wait to visit The Tea Room on Broughton Street and The Gryphon tea room near The Savannah College of Art.

 

There are so many lovely historical buildings to see and stunning views with trees covered in Spanish moss or frothy pink flowers.

Gorgeous squares and gardens are everywhere – perfect for walking and relaxing.

Of course, the historical district is loaded with excellent restaurants and interesting places to shop.  I’ll let you know how we enjoyed dining at The Olde Pink House (right next to Planters Inn where we are staying).  The Planters Inn is a boutique hotel in a 200 year old building on Reynolds Square and I can definitely recommend it after our first stay there a couple of years ago. 

Hubby will take the ferry across the river to the conference center each morning and I’ll be free to take tea, shop, photograph the sites and relax.  Heavenly!

Key Lime Pound Cake

I came across this pound cake recipe at the Southern Living website.  My hubby loves Key Lime pie, so I thought this would be something he’d like.

It’s a little off putting when a recipe actually says to use a heavy-duty electric stand mixer (that’s still on my wish list).  Well, happily my hand mixer worked just fine for this recipe, although it does take a little more effort to mix up the batter.

Wow, three cups of sugar.  Then it takes a little time to beat in six eggs.

Then the flour, alternating with the milk and lastly the lime juice, zest and vanilla.

Wouldn’t it be fun if you had someone to measure and prep all the ingredients for you?

My glaze could have been thicker, but I didn’t want to waste the lime juice I’d already squeezed.  This turned out to be a good thing because the glaze really soaked into the cake (like lemon poke cake) adding moistness.

And now for the best part – tasting the pound cake.  Yummy.  Very moist with the tasty bite from the citrus.  This makes a nice change from the  plain pound cake I usually bake.  I might have to try some of the other varieties of pound cake mentioned here.  That Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese pound cake sure looks delicious.

My New Ride

I’m excited to be driving my first new vehicle in eighteen years, a Hyundai Veracruz.   

It has a pretty pearl white finish and all the extras. 

Of course, I had to put my own stamp on it with a special tea enthusiast tag.

Here’s hoping that I’ll be enjoying my new ride for quite a while.

Time For Tea

Iced Tea Weather

Since the temperature here has dropped to the nineties (whew), even I’ve been craving some iced tea instead of my usual hot black tea.

Time to grab a book from my tea library and sit down for a tea break.

I chose a tea from Zhena's Gypsy Tea in a ginger mango flavor and it turned out to be a delicious choice (too bad this blend is no longer available). I like the fact that Zhena’s Gypsy tea is organic and fair trade.

Since I enjoy the flavor of ginger very much, I’d like to try the recipe for Green Tea Ginger Sparkler in the “Loving Tea” book by Jane Resnick.  This might be a good punch substitute for summer entertaining.  It sounds refreshing and quite simple to prepare:

GREEN TEA GINGER SPARKLER

2 cups cold water

2 tablespoons green tea

2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped

4 cups ginger ale

Boil water.  Brew tea for 5-7 minutes.  Strain into covered container.  Add ginger, and refrigerate several hours.  Strain into pitcher.  Add ginger ale and pour over ice to serve. 

Makes 4-6 servings.

How about you, do you switch from hot to iced tea during the summer months?

Afternoon Tea – The Taste Of Perfection

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was surprised to find this “tea” book at my local Marshalls store.  It is part of the “Love Food” series of books by Paragon Publishing.

The forward begins “Teatime is a quintessentially British ritual that perfectly mirrors the story of Britain’s quirky class system.  Afternoon tea – served between four and five o’clock – had nothing to do with hunger and everything to do with status and leisure.”

The book is divided into four sections including Sandwiches & Snacks, Scones & Teacakes, Little & Large Cakes and Pastries &
Fancy Desserts.

The Blue Cheese & Walnut Tartlets, featuring a walnut pie dough sound interesting.

Being such a scone lover, I know I’ll be trying the Cherry & Golden Raisin Scones (pictured above) and the Orange & Banana Scones recipes.

Maybe one day I’ll be ambitious enough to try making homemade Vanilla Macaroons.

For those of us who like teatime treats that aren’t overly sweet, these Madeleines look perfect.

There are several other recipes in this book that I’d like to try – Lemon Drizzle Cake, Gingerbread Cupcakes, Mini Florentines, Cream Palmiers, and more. 

I’d recommend this book for any tea library, even if you can’t find one at the bargain price I paid ($3.99).

Kandula Tea Company

On a recent trip to Marshalls, I found some great tea items, including an afternoon tea book and a box of Kandula tea.  I’m always happy to discover a brand of tea that I haven’t tried. 

This English Breakfast blend is a nice change from my usual morning cuppa.  The tea is grown and cultivated in Sri Lanka and is a blend of FBOP (flowery broken orange pekoe).  It is a deliciously brisk black tea.

It was nice to read that this company is committed to fair treatment for the plantation workers and their families.  The Kandula Tea Company also supports Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage.

Their box design is great.  “An elephant with its trunk raised in the air is meant to be a symbol of good fortune…” They have used a distinctive blue and white pattern on the top and bottom of the box.

You can find lots of great products using the above print and also the pink elephant motif on their website here.

There are several blends that I’d love to try, including the Ebony Chai.  I think this is the first spiced chai I’ve seen that contains rose petals along with the more usual ingredients.

Ayubowan

Saying “Ayubowan” is the “Sri Lankan” way of greeting a person.
It is like saying “Hello”, but in addition, “Ayubowan” has a much wider meaning, that is wishing “May you live longer and be healthy”.

There are many wonderful photos, recipes and lots of health information on the company website and blog.  Enjoy! 

A Beautiful Beach Wedding

Finally have the photographer’s photos of our daughters beach wedding in Panama City, FL.  She brought two discs for me to copy to our computer.  I can’t wait to have some prints made to tote around with me and show everyone.

The wedding day weather was perfect, with lots of sun and blue skies.  This was our first beach wedding.  It was fun walking barefoot to our seats through the warm, white sand.  And what better backdrop to the ceremony than the gentle waves of the gulf.

It was quite an experience with so many people who wanted to watch the bride from their beach chairs, condo balconies and even from the water.

There was thunderous applause from the spectators at the traditional “you may now kiss your bride” moment.  It all added to the excitement.

The groom’s Mom did a great job on the bouquets and the table centerpieces for the reception.

The maid of honor and bridesmaids all looked so pretty.

Their dresses were the same color, but each had it’s own unique style.  The bride’s dress was gorgeous with a pretty shoulder detail, ruching, a delicate layered skirt and ribbon lacing in the back.

Hubby and I are so happy for them and pray that they will have a long, happy marriage blessed with love, commitment, patience and compassion.