Tea Party!

I love tea rooms! When we were in the Seattle area we went to one almost every weekend. It was so fun to try all the different scones, teas, and tea sandwiches and the different atmospheres of the shops. I have never lived in another area where there were so many tea rooms to choose from within an hour and a half radius. My favorite was Willow's Edge Tea Room in Mukilteo. Sadly, just before we left, the owner retired and it closed. Her tea sandwiches, fresh fruit, scones, savories, and desserts were the best. This week I decided to hunt down recipes and try to re-create a little bit of that magic.

Here was our menu:

Raisin scones with Easy Devonshire Cream



Cheddar/Colby cheese
Strawberries
Grapes

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Curry Chicken Tea Sandwiches
Carrot Ginger Tea Sandwiches



Earl Gray Tea
English Breakfast Tea
(I know...not loose leaf. Sadly the tea was kinda an afterthought after getting the food together and trying to keep our daughter happy while it was being prepared.)



...and to finish things off:



For the cucumber tea sandwiches I added a little garlic salt, pepper, and dill to cream cheese. I spread this on my bread and topped it with a thin slice of cucumber.

While it wasn't as good as Willow's Edge, it was pretty nice for a homemade quick version without breaking the bank.

Does anyone out there have a favorite tea room or type of tea? I love to drink Cream Earl Gray, English Breakfast, and Vanilla Black teas.

 My other favorite tea rooms are:
Olde English Tea Room in Wake Forest, NC
Queen Mary in Seattle, WA
The Secret Garden in Sumner, WA

Big Sister!

So it's been a while since I've posted. We have taken a little break on the house (other than replacing the toilets) since Dave graduated. It has been nice to just hang out as a family instead of him working on school work and using any extra time to work on the house. We'll continue our projects soon but we've been spending our evenings taking bike rides since Dave got a new bike and kid trailer for his birthday/graduation present. 

Our biggest news, and probably the biggest reason our house projects have taken a back seat is this:

We're going to have another baby in January! I have been feeling much sicker with this pregnancy (not horrible but not good enough to work on projects). I promise to start regularly posting again once we get past this phase!