TEA IN THE GARDEN

Good morning on this beautiful day

and welcome to my "Tea In The Garden".

We have time to enjoy a cup of

tea this morning and see how the garden

is coming along.

This is when the columbines

bloom in Colorado and they

are the state flower.

I love making bouquets

and especially if I

have some more

interesting flowers.

I am enjoying my little garden so much.

If you live in a condo or an apartment with a porch or patio - you can create your own little garden there too!  Those wooden barrels can be filled with dirt and you can turn your own little area into a personal paradise!  What a nice place you will have to escape from the pressures of life with a cup of tea and a nice book to read!

My hubby helped me cut off some of the lower limbs of the Colorado Blue Spruce so that more light can come in now.

LEMONADE LAYER CAKE FOR YOUR SUMMERTIME TEA

This weekend I decided to make a lovely cake I had seen on a favorite blog: Tea at Primrose Hill where Sheri shares her favorite recipes.

I think this blog may have now discontinued?

  If you are planning some backyard gatherings this summer - this lovely Lemonade Layer Cake is perfect.  Just don't leave it out in the hot sun.  This is her recipe below and also a view of the robin's nest on the arbor near my front porch:

This cake has a neufchatel icing (like softer cream cheese)  so it needs to be refrigerated.

Lemonade Layer Cake from:  http://cuppatea4sheri.blogspot.com/2011/08/lemonade-layer-cake.html 

Ingredients:  6 tablespoons butter, softened,  1-1/3 cups sugar,  tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate,   2 tablespoons grated lemon peel,  2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 2 egg whites,   2 cups all-purpose flour,   1 teaspoon baking powder,  1/2 teaspoon baking soda,   1/4 teaspoon salt,   1-1/4 cups buttermilk

FROSTING:  1 package (8 ounces) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese

2 tablespoons butter, softened, 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate,  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add the lemonade concentrate, lemon peel and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

Coat two 9-in. round baking pans coated with cooking spray and dusted with flour. Pour batter to prepared pans.

Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to a wire rack to cool completely.

For frosting, in a small bowl, combine cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the lemon peel, lemonade concentrate and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. 

A nice pot of black hot tea is perfect with this 

sweetness of this cake!

CHOWNING'S TAVERN BRUNSWICK STEW

For some time I have been wanting to make a recipe I copied off one of my favorite food blogs FROM A WRITERS KITCHEN

I grew up on the lower peninsula which used to be called Tidewater,  Virginia and graduated from York High School at Yorktown in 1966.  Trips to Williamsburg and Jamestown were yearly and back in the "old days" we had a free pass to all the locations in historic Williamsburg.  My husband and I also lived in Newport News in the late 70's - early 80's and ate a Chowning's Tavern.

 Some good old colonial cooking!  After making this last night, I was able to freeze a good portion for future comfort food!        

HERE IS THE RECIPE FROM BONNIE:       http://fromawriterskitchen.blogspot.com/2010_06_10_archive.html

CRACKER BARREL'S HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

Oh yum - now that I have a new oven that does what it's supposed too - I'm cooking and baking up a storm.  And what fun it is!  I had googled lots of knock off recipes recently of things I love from chain restaurants and one of them was that wonderful casserole from Cracker Barrel for Hash Brown Casserole.  I found lots of recipes on line but chose this one to actually make:

This was so easy to make and the recipe came from Jess at Hungry Harps Website. She has a great cooking website! You just need a bag of hash browns, colby cheese,  an onion, butter, garlic powder, milk, salt, beef broth, and black pepper.  You probably have most in not all of this in the kitchen now.

http://www.hungryharps.com/2011/05/cracker-barrel-hash-brown-casserole.html

SWEET BIRDS TEAPOT for "Tea In The Garden"

On this beautiful days we can sit for

a while and enjoy the fresh smells of new

spring blooms in the garden.

Miss Tabitha is so glad to say goodbye

to the snowy wintertime.

I love just seeing the lawn nice

and green again too.

I know that you are probably making big plans for upcoming summer time off.  I hope you get to visit some lovely gardens this summer.  There is inspiration waiting just ahead and it is fun to see what other people do with their gardens.  Will you be taking a vacation soon?

We enjoy feeding the birds all winter

and into spring but there will be plenty

of bugs around this summer.

A PICNIC TEA FOR WRITING

As the sun rose from the east in my backyard, I took a few moments this morning for tea and writing a few notes...I have trouble getting enough light in my photos this early but I hope you will enjoy these tranquil moments.....

There aren't too many blooms yet in the garden but I am happy to find a nice green lawn after a winter of "brown".  As you can see I am a notorious "feeder of the birds" and spoil the squirrels as well.

I found a picnic basket in the basement that I had given my daughter when she was a teenager....

The art of letter writing has rather fallen victim to the internet but I find that elderly people still love getting notes from you and I and perhaps you could think of someone who would love to hear from you!  The world of the elderly is less hurried and it is so special when the postman brings a special card or note from someone in their past!  I saw a bag the other day that read "kindness matters".  That is so true!  Take some time this summer to remember a senior....

I see so many little Queen Anne's Lace plants popping up in my garden....this year will be the second summer since I dropped seed and it looks very promising.  The seeds were gathered in Missouri and aren't indigenous to Colorado.  I know this "flower" is really a weed but I love them!