Tuesday found my sister and I in the kitchen, along with lots of baking ingredients, fixings for cucumber sandwiches, and John and Paul. (What?! I know what you’re thinking… but John and Paul are the two Beatles figures that my sister brings with her on every trip. It’s an ongoing source of amusement/joke that we take them everywhere and do “touristy” photos. lol.) One of my favorite outings with my sister (and mom) is afternoon tea. However, instead of going to a tea room this time, we decided to make what we were really craving (scones and cucumber sandwiches).

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The scone recipe I used can be found here. As usual, I tweaked things a bit (rarely do I follow recipes to a T), and we ended up using dried figs instead of raisins/cranberries/blueberries as the recipe suggested (non of which the commissary had in stock!). Plus my sister had never had a fig outside of a Fig Newton cookie, and being a fan of the seedy fruit myself, we had to remedy this. They turned out okay–I’ve definitely had better (and much worse). I think the problem was the amount of moisture in the dough; with the air as humid as it is here in FL, I sometimes run into this problem with baking. Things come out far too moist and end up taking too long to bake. Still, they were good enough, and they’ve all disappeared! The only thing we were missing was Devonshire Cream, which I adore, the commissary carries, but it awfully expensive for a tiny jar. *sigh*

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We opted for ice tea with our goodies, since it was so hot, and neither of us felt like hot tea. I had made a batch of Harney’s Black Currant ice tea the evening before (my parents got me a four box set for my birthday, and it’s been quite nice to brew some yummy iced teas the past couple weeks!). That we served in rum glasses. How classy! lol.

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Sometimes it’s really nice to do something a bit special just because, like an impromptu afternoon tea. I find it causes me to slow down a bit and appreciate those small interludes in life that are relaxing and fun. Have you done anything impromptu lately?

[ whipping up (literally) a batch of candy cane marshmallows for Christmas gifts. ]

One of the last things to be made for my Christmas goodies box (being mailed and gifted to various family members) was a batch of homemade marshmallows. Now, if you’ve only ever tasted the jet-puffed sort that you get at the grocery store, you haven’t lived yet! I’m serious. I blame Emily Martin and Amy Karol for planting the idea of actually making my own marshmallows. I made a batch last year for gifts–vanilla and chocolate dipped–and they got rave reviews (Sailor Husband pretty much made off with the leftovers! lol).

[ finished and now they have to set up! this is the hard part... waiting to test them! ]

Of course, this started a tradition, so this year I decided to try Martha’s candy cane marshmallows, since they looked pretty and I love peppermint. Now, the one hitch to making marshmallows is that they are slightly complicated (things are on the stove that need attention, egg whites have to form stiff peaks, etc. The usual candy-making stuff!), and that they are exceedingly messy. I swear after last Christmas’s batch I found bits of marshmallow fluff on my mixer for months afterward–places I didn’t know goo could get into! lol. It’s a bit tricky to get them into the pan too, and for this particular recipe it was a race against the clock to get the red coloring swirled in. I don’t think mine are going to turn out as pretty as the ones on the MS website, but they still look yummy!

I promise, this is the last of the out-and-out “birthday” posts, but I couldn’t help showing the cupcakes I made for myself! They’re actually called “Fairy Buns”, from Jane Brocket’s lovely book The Gentle Art of Domesticity (a birthday gift from my mom–thanks, Mom!). The recipe is here if you’re interested; I cannot recommend them highly enough! They’re not too light and fluffy (so you don’t feel like you just swallowed a cloud with no substance. hehe!), and the icing is delicious. I decided to do mine in pastel shades: mint green for the main icing, with a sprinkling of edible glitter for some added fancy, and little dollops of light pink icing. Quite fairyish!

I hope you all are having a fantastic day, and I have quite an exciting post for you tomorrow, so stay tuned!

My apologies that my posting has been spotty the last week… it seems like all of the sudden I’ve got a million-one-things-to-do and places to be! My hat is off to you talented ladies who manage to juggle everything so gracefully this time of year and still jot down interesting blog entries!

Yesterday was a red-letter day for me–I got my hair cut for the first time in nearly a year!! I don’t know how I managed to go that long without it getting done (except for a couple minute trims in the spring), but I was determined to let it grow. Unfortunately, my hair is persnickety, and refuses to get any longer than shoulder-blade length! My sister has managed to grow her hair down to her tush, but I alas didn’t inherit that ability. lol! But it feels so nice to have the layers all neatened up, and the curls not so droopy anymore! In fact, I spotted a natural ringlet had formed after a couple inches weight has chopped off! Egads! (The pictures are from today; I’ve been playing with the newly-liberated curls! hehe! Be sure to click on the images for an explanation… )

I also did some ultra-important clothing shopping yesterday. My winter wardrobe is sadly lacking right now–especially in the color department (most of my clothes leftover from last winter are black, since I was working as a hostess at the time…). So it was off to hit my favorite stores, only to spend three hours shopping and only find two tops. Granted, I love the things I did find, but what is it with ready-to-wear being so oddly sized? I kept falling in love with garments that were too small in one size, but far too big when I went up a size. No wonder I love wearing vintage so much… it just fits better. hehe! All was not lost, however; in the course of the day I did get the yummiest hot tea I’ve ever had! It was a Japanese green tea with roasted rice kernels called Genmaicha. Its like the perfect cross between tea and coffee (which I sadly cannot drink more than one cup of a week!). Yummy!

Speaking of tea, I’m becoming quite addicted to tea. My mother is succeeding in making a tea snob out of me–I am becoming quite picky! lol. One thing I am really enjoying lately is green teas; they’re just so fresh and light–and I’ve heard they’re quite good for you. Any recommendations of green teas to try (or any others to check out)? I’m feeling adventurous!

Have a lovely evening, all!!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]

My apologies that my posting has been spotty the last week… it seems like all of the sudden I’ve got a million-one-things-to-do and places to be! My hat is off to you talented ladies who manage to juggle everything so gracefully this time of year and still jot down interesting blog entries!

Yesterday was a red-letter day for me–I got my hair cut for the first time in nearly a year!! I don’t know how I managed to go that long without it getting done (except for a couple minute trims in the spring), but I was determined to let it grow. Unfortunately, my hair is persnickety, and refuses to get any longer than shoulder-blade length! My sister has managed to grow her hair down to her tush, but I alas didn’t inherit that ability. lol! But it feels so nice to have the layers all neatened up, and the curls not so droopy anymore! In fact, I spotted a natural ringlet had formed after a couple inches weight has chopped off! Egads! (The pictures are from today; I’ve been playing with the newly-liberated curls! hehe! Be sure to click on the images for an explanation… )

I also did some ultra-important clothing shopping yesterday. My winter wardrobe is sadly lacking right now–especially in the color department (most of my clothes leftover from last winter are black, since I was working as a hostess at the time…). So it was off to hit my favorite stores, only to spend three hours shopping and only find two tops. Granted, I love the things I did find, but what is it with ready-to-wear being so oddly sized? I kept falling in love with garments that were too small in one size, but far too big when I went up a size. No wonder I love wearing vintage so much… it just fits better. hehe! All was not lost, however; in the course of the day I did get the yummiest hot tea I’ve ever had! It was a Japanese green tea with roasted rice kernels called Genmaicha. Its like the perfect cross between tea and coffee (which I sadly cannot drink more than one cup of a week!). Yummy!

Speaking of tea, I’m becoming quite addicted to tea. My mother is succeeding in making a tea snob out of me–I am becoming quite picky! lol. One thing I am really enjoying lately is green teas; they’re just so fresh and light–and I’ve heard they’re quite good for you. Any recommendations of green teas to try (or any others to check out)? I’m feeling adventurous!

Have a lovely evening, all!!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]