Saturday, January 18, 2014

The Tea Trolley: This Week

The tea trolley week began last Saturday with a morning visit from a friend. What to make? I spied these vanilla donut waffles on Pinterest and thought they sounded good. Yes they were! Not too sweet, nicely spiced (plenty of nutmeg) and the right size too! Next time I think I'll just use the gluten free pancake mix from Costco and add nutmeg and glaze!


My friend and I enjoyed several teas: Jasmine, maple and....hmmmm....I can't remember!



It was also a real treat to be the recipient of these lovely tulips which graced the trolley and then my sink top all week.

Sunday found several children and myself completely loaded with the cold and cough. That meant we stayed home and did online church accompanied by lots of tea.

For Sunday lunch there was roast turkey breast, sweet potatoes with lime and cranberries, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and onions and salad with spinach, blackberries, and kumquats (kumquats are such a beautiful and tasty addition to a winter salad).


And there was even an apple, raisin, and fresh cranberry pie. The only sad thing is that I cooked the pie at the same time as the turkey and the crust was infused with turkey aroma. Sigh. I've never had a pie disturbed in this way before.


My Knitting Club girls were here on Monday and it just happened to be one of the girls' birthday! Cake was in order!


I feel so out of practice with gluten that I opted for a sponge cake recipe and weighed out the ingredients. Fortunately, it worked!

 Christina hosted a friend and I for our annual January Christmas tea. Such a treat to be served things such as chocolate mousse, oatmeal cookies, and beautiful fruit. We enjoyed decaf black tea with fresh mint leaves added (I invested in a $2 bunch of mint this week. It is so large that there is plenty to share. Fresh mint in black tea is an excellent way to beat back the winter blues.)


We pretty much laughed our way through three hours of visiting. One laugh being when Janet and Christina pulled out their copies of Yarn Farming simultaneously. If only I had brought the copy I had just picked up from the library we could have had a triplet picture!


We tried this Red Cabbage and Snap Pea slaw this week and it was delicious! I am not a fan of making salads so I need new inspiration all the time.


The Trolley was busy this morning serving Jasmine/Rose and Maple tea for a friend who will be getting married soon. We were discussing flowers -- a lovely topic in the middle of January. I sprinkled some cinnamon and cardamom on these oranges and drizzled a little honey on top to make a starch-free treat.


Well, there is more snow falling as I type! What a beautiful winter we are having!!!! It's about time for some more tea too! Happy Weekend!

6 comments:

Heather Anne said...

Mmmmmm! You've made me hungry again with all your lovely tea trolly pictures! I'd better go put the kettle on!

Martha said...

I would love to see some of your recipes...they all look so delicious!

Anonymous said...

We too are drooling over your simple and elegant ideas for food! You've had such a busy time of it, even with colds. Are you sure you don't have a clone of yourself around the house?

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

I will be happy to give you my copy of Yarn Farming. Although it may be a week or to before I can get to the Post Office to send it. :)

Helen said...

I love the picture of the ladies with the matching books - they have sunshine oozing out of their smiles :-) Beautiful :-)

Sus said...

BLACKBERRIES!!! :)