Saturday, April 30, 2011

Tea Time Recipes & Super Easy Scones


Yesterday's Royal Wedding was beautiful, my DVR was set to record it on BBC America, and since I fell asleep with the TV on, I was woken at 3:00 am Friday morning to the most enchanting boys choir song and the wedding in progress. The music was so beautiful, as were the bride & groom, that I was riveted, and decided to stay up. The wedding sermon was so beautiful and spoke to the sanctity of marriage. I really enjoyed the chosen bible passage read by Kate's brother- Romans 12:1-2,9-18 - I have copied the NIV version below- such a good guide to live by.

1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. 2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.
9. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16. Live in Harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:1-2,9-18 NIV


I was up so early, that by 6:00 am, I was inspired to make scones for breakfast. I was fairly tired though, and wanted a quicker recipe than the traditional one. As much as I truly love complete, from scratch cooking, I still appreciate the ease of Bisquick. Knowing that Scones are very much like a slightly sweet biscuit, I knew there must be recipes for Bisquick scones. There were quite a lot, in fact, I learned that in England the recipe for Bisquick Scones is on the Bisquick box. So I printed out a few recipes, I tweaked them a bit because the dough wasn't feeling quite right, here is the recipe I came up with. My son, who was up bright and early for school, enjoyed a scone and tea with me for breakfast, it was really nice.



Super Easy Raisin Scones

3 cups Bisquick baking mix- plus extra for dusting dough.
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup milk
4 eggs- plus another one for brushing tops.
Sugar in the Raw for Sprinkling on tops.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
Mix baking mix, 4 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, and raisins until combined into a dough. You may need to add a touch more milk. Then get a dinner plate, and sprinkle a thin layer of baking mix over plate- then turn out dough onto plate, dust top of dough with a bit of the baking mix, then pat dough into a round thick patty. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer pieces to a parchment lined baking pan. Beat an egg in a dish, and using a fork or pastry brush, brush tops of scones with beaten egg, then give each scone a good sprinkling of Sugar in the Raw (better than regular sugar because of larger granules) Then bake until golden brown 12-15 minutes.

Mini Chocolate Chip Scone variation:

Same recipe as above, but switch raisins for a cup of chocolate chips, divide the dough in half, and make two smaller patties cut into 8 each- this will give you 16 smaller scones. Follow all the baking directions as recipe above.

Later during the day, I had planned a tea party for after school. My daughter invited a friend over, the girls, along with the rest of the family, enjoyed a nice afternoon tea. I made a full spread of tea sandwiches- the same ones from my tea sandwich recipe post. We also had sweet treats- Lemon Tassies and Mini Chocolate Chip Scones, all along with plenty of tea. Here is my recipe for Lemon Tassies, as well as one more tea sandwich, a zesty corned beef on toast.




Lemon Tassies

1 stick (1/2 cup) of Butter-softened
half of a block of cream cheese - roughly 3-4 oz. softened
1 cup flour
A jar of Lemon Curd

Mix butter, cream cheese, and flour, until blended. Chill for an hour. Spray a mini muffin pan with pan spray, and roll dough into walnut sized balls, and press into mini muffin cups, making a well in the center of dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes- or until dough is light golden brown. While they are still warm, carefully remove (they will be very sizzly hot) to a cooling rack lined with a paper towel. Let cool. When cool- fill each tassie with lemon curd. Perfect with tea!

Zesty Corned Beef on Toast Tea Sandwich

Break up a can of corned beef with a fork, and mix in a couple tablespoons of mayo, and a Tablespoon of Creamy Horseradish Sauce, until combined and somewhat spreadable but not at all too soft. You may need to add more mayo and horseradish sauce to taste. Set mixture aside. Cut off the crusts of whole wheat bread, and toast in a toaster oven, or on a baking tray in oven. Cut toasts on the diagonal. Spread a layer of corned beef mixture on toast, and top with a sliver of bread and butter pickle. You can see a picture of this tea sandwich on the round plate.






It was a nice day- we watched the ceremony again- as well as the double kiss on the balcony. Our afternoon tea was wonderful, and would be fun to do more often. Hope everybody has a wonderful spring weekend!

2 comments:

  1. I am so craving scones right now ;) Thanks for sharing this delicious post I will HAVE to make these sometime very, very soon!!!

    Blessings,
    Amber

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your comment Amber- they were very yunmmy with tea :)

    ReplyDelete

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