The Tea Trolley

It seems forever since I posted about my tea adventures. Now, looking at all these photos, you'd think all I've been doing is drinking tea! Ha! Well, the last few days I have been freezing! And I have been drinking more tea than usual, and pulling out the cashmere and extra heavy woolens. I think it is the changing season and I don't do well at the 45-57F temps. Always good to have an excuse for more tea though!

I still haven't made any new tea cozies this year for myself but do enjoy pulling out the daffodil cozy from last year.

Did I show you this chocolate already? Maybe I did. But it was so beautiful with the dried rose petal shards on top and the scent of rose inside. If only I had been drinking Rose Black tea with it!

First Day of Spring Tea is a family tradition for us since the first year we were married (Michael is allowed to gracefully bow out of this now that we have kids to enjoy it...). I decided to meet up with Christina at the park for an outdoor tea!

We had a cake -- it seemed like the right thing for a picnic. And we always have strawberries no matter what.

And lots of hot tea or hot chocolate. It makes me so happy to be able to bring boiling hot water wherever we want!

Here is mommy and Polly:

The ladies in our church had a one night retreat a few weekends ago. Saturday morning we had an oatmeal bar -- steel cut oats cooked overnight with toppings like maple syrup, nuts, fruit, dried fruit, raisins, granola, cream, etc.

For lunch the retreat ladies all headed to a local tearoom. I enjoyed a delicious salad and their signature tea (a rooibos with almond and cherry flavors).

One evening during spring break Emily hosted a girls' night for my mom and the three of us sisters. Lots of yummy cheeses, salad, meats, and ice-cream for dessert.

Afterward we watched Saving Mr. Banks and got out our knitting. "Smudge" came to watch. Isn't she a pretty kitty!!!!

It's impossible for me to escape piles of books. Oh well. Here's another tea from spring break. I love this pot -- I will tell you more about it sometime -- it keeps the tea SO hot.

The tea tray for our craft afternoon last week (do you see my mountain of laundry in the background?)

Now here is the counter at the bakery my friend and I visited on Saturday. Look at all the mouth-water, home-made delights!!!! I finally settled on the white chocolate berry pie while my friend chose a slice of the spice cake.

This is the Bread Basket Cafe and Bakery in Danville. Neither of us had heard of it before but when we found ourselves in Danville with our original destination closed we googled cafe and found this place.

We could not have been happier. The inside was so cute, full of light, attended by very friendly people, and there were lots of delicious options to eat -- from full breakfasts, to sandwiches, to that amazing counter of desserts! If we lived closer, I would be stopping here all the time.

I wasn't sure what to take for tea with a friend yesterday but had just enough things on my shelf to create my favorite kind of tea plate: bits of dark chocolate (we had mint as well as chili), dried mango with chili, almonds, the cutest little crystallized ginger hearts and dried dates. My friend had made gluten free blueberry banana oat muffins. This was enjoyed with Irish Breakfast decaf tea.

And finally I have a recipe for you to try -- Faux Cookie Dough Dip. Wow!!!! I tried this out tonight and we all loved it! The kids were scooping big spoons of this onto their plate and asking for seconds.  It looks and tastes like cookie dough but is made with chickpeas as the main ingredient!!! (Use gluten free oats and this can be an amazing gluten free snack! I used honey instead of the brown sugar.) Now you all know what I'll be making for any fellowship events in the near future!

Now it's time to get cleaned up and organized for another day tomorrow!