Poetry In A Pot Of Tea: teatime

Showing posts with label teatime. Show all posts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

College Girl and I had a spontaneous urge to bake last night. The daytime temperatures cooled way down and there was a crispness to the night air - perfect for heating up the oven and creating in the kitchen! First we made our standard baked egg dish with vegetarian Canadian Bacon and sliced black olives sprinkled on top. While that baked, I searched online for a pumpkin coffee cake recipe and found Sally's kitchen tested version.

For the full recipe and directions visit Sally's Baking Addiction

Her cake recipe includes:

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (244 grams) pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup (100 grams) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
1/4 cup (82 grams) pure maple syrup
1/4 cup (60ml) milk
I substituted 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce and 1/4 cup olive oil for the 1/2 cup oil listed in order to lower the fat content a bit. I also used 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. These changes didn't affect the quality or flavor.

The recipe includes a yummy crumb topping, too. I followed the directions for the simple icing glaze made from powdered sugar and milk, and
drizzled it over the top of the
coffee cake when it came out
of the oven.

This pumpkin cake is moist,
pumpkin-y and delicious.
I can taste the cinnamon. I can taste the pumpkin! I don't like cakes which are brown but don't taste like chocolate, or orangy colored cakes that don't taste like oranges or pumpkins...I want to taste the flavor, not just see the color!

This pumpkin coffee cake is perfect for

breakfast or teatime - if it lasts that

long!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Notecard Party~ Salt!

Himalayan Pink Salt

I had fun last month participating in Vee's Note Card Party~ Participants are asked to share four photos previously posted on their blogs that they think would make a nice note card set. I bet you can guess which theme I chose, right? You don't have to think too hard about it! Yup, tea! This time I've chosen salt.

But, wait for it..........there are places where Tibetans, Chinese and Kashmiris drink tea with salt! I'm not kidding. Tibetans and many Chinese people drink 'butter tea', which is made with tea leaves, yak butter and salt.

Salt mines in the Himalayan Mountains

'Nun Chai', salted tea, is prominent in Kashmir and is a daily affair in the lives of Kashmiris. Kashmiris drink salt tea twice a day, in the morning for breakfast and then in the afternoon before dusk.

natural pink salt filled with minerals

I sampled Persian Tea last week and posted photos of my experience drinking cardamom tea and sugar cubes, but I've never had Nun Chai with salt. I bet it tastes sort of like soup, as I hear it is thick and savory.

Yak Tea~ photo by Fredtrip (blog.travelpod.com)
Rongphu Monastery, Everest Base Camp

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Vee's Note Card Party

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Green Tea Poundcake~

How would you like to eat your tea? Green tea powder can easily be used in cookie and cake recipes~ You can also steep your favorite tea in any liquid the recipe calls for such as milk, cream, wine or water. Just make sure the milk or cream is not boiled, but just warmed, before adding the tea. Then let the tea steep until mixture cools, remove tea bags or leaves, then finish preparing the recipe. Most fruit, spice, almond, mint, lemon or cinnamon stick flavored teas work well in baking. We like making Martha Stewart's Green Tea Cookies for teatime.

photo from Martha Stewart website

When the world is all at odds
And the mind is all at sea
Then cease the useless tedium
And brew a cup of tea.
There is magic in its fragrance,
There is solace in its taste;
And the laden moments vanish
Somehow into space.
The world becomes a lovely thing!
There’s beauty as you’ll see;
All because you briefly stopped
To brew a cup of tea~

anonymous

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Whatever You Want Wednesday

Monday, August 15, 2011

Raxacoricofallapatorian Tea!

It all started with a mug. The moment I laid eyes on it I knew I was taking it home!

In fact, I knew I was taking two home with me so Miss R (our tea drinking soon-to-be college girl) could share a pot with me. Look what is written on the front....Where there is Tea there is Hope. Is that not perfect?! ha ha~ It certainly is for me, as I feel this way! And on top of the humorous quote was the fact that it is TARDIS blue.

For those who have not watched Doctor Who on BBC, the TARDIS is the time machine the Doctor and his companion travel inside. The original series began in 1963. My family and I really like the series filmed from 2005-2009. There is an episode that aired in December 2005 where the Doctor regenerates, his appearance changes, and he becomes the 10th Doctor. In that episode he is sleeping for a good part of the show as his body finishes the process of regeneration. Stay with me here, I know this is sci-fi geekery, but if you got to know the Doctor you'd see why I get a kick from this next part! So, some big bad aliens invade London! The Doctor's companion, Rose, along with the Tardis, is brought onboard the Sycorax ship. In the nick of time, the Doctor awakens after inhaling tea vapors from a thermos that had spilled near him and saves the day!!

He later said, "Tea! That's all I needed! Good Cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tanin, just the thing for healing the synapsis." ~ I knew he was my kind of guy!~ lol

With the perfect quote and color of these cups I figured my daughter and I would have a Doctor Who themed tea time. I have a fresh tin of matcha so we decided to make green tea shortbread in honor of the green aliens from Raxacoricofallapatorias called the Slitheen.

~Green Tea (Slitheen) Shortbread~

Sift 2 cups all purpose flour and 2 tablespoons powdered green tea together. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a separate bowl, cream 2 sticks unsalted room temperature butter.

Stir flour mixture lightly into butter. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, stir. Do not overmix.

Chill for 30 minutes~

Roll on floured surface to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters of your choice. We used stars for our sci-fi teatime!

Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 15-18 minutes at 325 degrees. Rotate cookie sheet halfway through baking time.

These are not too sweet and have a light as air texture....mmmm! My daughter drizzled a few of them with a basic vanilla icing. Then we set the kitchen table for tea.

Fans of the Doctor will recognize a couple of the additions to our table setting~ there is a British cracker (from the same episode I mentioned above) as well as the Tardis key on a chain! A tiny Dalek also found a place near the tea tin. Guess he felt comfortable there, both being made of metal and all!

~ ha ha~ Notice the Thermos? We decided on a full bodied English Breakfast from Grace Rare Teas called Winey Keemun. It is a fabulous tea any time of day.