This week the Queen of England and the Commonwealth is celebrating the longest reign of a living monarch in her country. They are celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's 65 years of reign with the sapphire jubilee. We thought we would honor this momentous festivity in our way by having a spot of tea.
The reason I found this occasion worth noting and celebrating is because I admire the Queen so dearly. Upon a closer study of her you will find commitment and duty at its finest. She is extremely disciplined and well poised. Inheriting a job you can never retire from would be a daunting task, but not for Her Majesty the Queen. With a smile and a wave she proudly represents the head of Her people's land, and land abroad, of a legacy so refined it would make anyone take notice.
We selected some light sandwiches, various fruit, cakes, and sweets for our celebration. Placing in fresh flowers, books, and magazines added an opportunity for celebratory conversation in the Queen's honor. We also added in blue accent color to represent the sapphire achievement. Finally, we chose some cinnamon tea from The Greenbrier to add to the charm. Our tea was quite lovely and we had a jolly good time. Here is to a wonderful 65 years of reigning to the Queen, with more wonderful years to come!
So it has been a hot minute since we have posted anything thanks to all the summer festivities that have been going on. The most recent summer festivity, my 25th birthday!! As you may remember last year I celebrated with a Lobster Bake. This year I wanted a more laid back picnic themed family dinner, and here is the result!
PICNIC VIBE
I 100% knew that I wanted to eat on the ground, but also knew I didn't want my food in my lap. We remedied this situation by boosting a large wooden pallet up with 4 concrete blocks. Since pallets have big gaps between the wood, we set another thin flat surface on top so our drinks, etc. wouldn't fall through. To cover it up we used sheets that were floral, pastel, and light. I didn't want any heavy colors weighing down the party atmosphere, so white based sheets were a must.
If a birthday picnic was a recipe, a tree would be the secret ingredient. I know this might seem silly, but a tree is integral to creating shade, hanging things on, and just all around looking cute in the background.
EXTRA PADDING NEVER HURTS
For seating we used outdoor cushions, but normal pillows would have worked fine too. We used these ones because we have outdoor furniture they go on and were easily accessible. I also added a couple throw pillows, simply for décor purposes.
BIRTHDAY ATTIRE
For my birthday outfit I wore a long dress from Rue 21 to match the vibe of the dinner. I also made a floral crown with fresh flowers (p.s. Kroger's fresh flowers are sooooo much nicer than Walmart's fresh flowers). I used green wire, green floral tape, and pink and gold ribbon from Pat Catan's to make the floral crown. I premade it and kept it in the fridge until it was time to wear it. The crown surprised me and stayed looking fresh for TWO DAYS afterwards!! How crazy was that!?
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART
For dinner I wanted my favorite food: shrimp, asparagus, pasta, and sweet potatoes (fun fact: sweet potatoes are my favorite food... like EVER!!). I also wanted pink lemonade because I feel like its cousin, yellow lemonade, gets used a lot more and I feel sorry for pink lemonade. Yes, I understand that it's irrational for me to feel sorry for something that's inanimate, but tell my feelings that.
Okay, so cake. I wanted TONS of candles. Little candles, big candles, sparklers. The photo above where Rem and I are making O's with our mouths is the moment when a sparkler caught fire literally took our breath away. It was simply stunning!
LIGHTING
The star of the show was definitely the lighting. When the sun finally sank past the horizon, the fairy lights had their moment to create magic. Literally, it was magical. I bought 4 battery operated paper lanterns to hang from the tree. They created a soft ambient lighting that complimented the Thomas Edison fairy lights. I bought 2 strands of the Thomas Edison fairy lights from Kroger (ON SALE for $10 each #BargainShopper). We also had torches in buckets of gravel to string everything together. The torches were filled with bug repellent and were a must to keep the bugs away.
FINALE
To finish off the night, we set up the outdoor theater and watch A Royal Night Out on the side of the house. All in all the picnic dinner theater night was a huge success! I loved every minute of it and cannot wait to recreate another similar summer night!
Hope everyone is having a joyous Easter Sunday thus far! We have attended Sunday School and are patiently waiting for the Sunday feast to finish cooking. The mix of aromas drifting from the kitchen are tantalizing to say the least. What is finished is our dessert table, which we are also patiently waiting for, or should I say, practicing patience for.
On the table we have fresh flowers signifying the bloom of spring. We also have the traditional Easter Bunnies and eggs to complement the arrangement. But one of the most important details hangs above our table and draws the least amount of attention to itself; a thorn of crowns. It was on this day many years ago that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the grave. It is this crown that we use in our home to represent the hope and renewal He gifted to us by sacrificing His life for ours. On this day I hope you and your family also remember the reason we celebrate Easter Sunday. Oh and don't worry, we have more cupcakes hidden on reserve ;)
I also put together this Easter basket cake to tie in the holiday theme further into our dessert. The cake was simply made; two 8 x 8 cakes stacked on top each other with chocolate icing, malt Easter eggs for topping, and Kit Kat bars positioned around the perimeter. SUPER easy and SUPER festive.
Hope you enjoyed our post and hope everyone's Easter Sunday is filled with hope and love.
Last month marked the 203rd publication anniversary of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I have loved this book for SO long and have it in several editions (a bit obsessive I know). With the publication anniversary and the new Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie releasing this month, I thought a Jane Austen memorabilia post was in order.
You know you may be an 'Austenite' when most of your gifts are Jane Austen themed! Here are links to the gifts in the photos:
Christmas is finally here! I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas! Just a note to everyone about the hope that was sent to us through our Savior Jesus Christ. He is definitely the reason for this day we gather with family. I pray each and everyone makes a place for this hope in their heart. There was no room for Him when He was born on this day may years ago. So remember, by allowing room for Him in your life can give Him the opportunity to express Himself to you and those around you for today and many days ahead.
Merry Christmas to all! I just wanted to share some of my holiday decorations around the home before the Christmas season was over. Striking holiday decorations can be created quite simply and beautifully done with little time or money.
Starting from the out side in, I brought a lot of festivity to my front porch by taking some fresh cut evergreens from my front yard and placing them in a pot. I then took some branches from another tree, spray painted them red, and also placed them in the flower pot. Finally I added in some extra Christmas decorations and voila! Simple, easy, and cheap front door décor!
I won't comment much on this as it is just our main Christmas tree. It sets in our foyer as soon as you walk in the home and always takes guests' breath away. The key to do so is by adding in TONS of decorations. When you think you are done decorating your tree, think again and add some more.
One main décor item in the living room is this chalk board. It is unbelievably cheap to draw on a Christmas themed picture or words, which is what we did. My son also sets up his Christmas Lego train every year to weave around the presents.
Also in the living room, I have a buffet with silver candelabras and a silver tea set, but what really brings the Christmas vibe to this area is the reindeer accent pillows I found from the Dollar General!
I hope you enjoyed these pictures! Have a very safe and wonderful Holiday!!
It is undoubtedly the most exciting time of year! It’s when every child has that certain glimmer in their eyes and one thing on their mind: what to put on the ole list to Santa Clause! Every child has that image in their mind of that jolly old soul who will bring them goodies and fill their stockings with treats. So why not take this enchanted Christmas theme and turn it into a lovely tea time to spend with your child. With just a few Christmas items you have laying around you could make up perfect tablescape that would make a perfect lifetime memory and tradition. While serving tea you could tell Christmas story’s and write out a letter to send to Santa. What an inviting time you would have! Cupcakes and cookies would be a wonderful thing to serve and that’s the exact treat Santa would love. If your child does not like tea, no problem, just serve whatever they like in a teacup. It’s the memories that counts and believe me drinking anything out of a tea cup makes it more fun.
I found this very inexpensive Santa teapot at TJMaxx but you could use any teapot you have laying around the house. I placed a tree ornament around a plain white teacup and it really made it pop with Christmas. I just gathered up a few items I already have lying out to decorate for Christmas and made a wonderful display to have a good holiday time. I hope this inspires you to want to have a childlike time for Santa inspired tea.
Run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man! - Nursery rhyme
As I was researching different spices to put in my gingerbread cupcake recipe, I stumbled upon some really cool facts about gingerbread! Ginger root was first used in China, from there it spread and was used medicinally to help prevent the plague in the Black Death. It can still be used medicinally today for nausea and stomach aches. Gingerbread is also a good preservative for other foods such as meats. Gingerbread was said to be first baked in the 11th century in England. However, in the 1600s Nuremberg, Germany was named the Gingerbread Capital of the World. Bakers have been recorded baking gingerbread as early as 1296 in Germany. In fact, only master bakers and skilled workers were allowed to create their versions of gingerbread in the 17th century there.
Elizabeth I of England is credited with the idea of gingerbread men. She asked for the gingerbread to be shaped in likeness of some of her important visitors. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s largest gingerbread man was created in Oslo, Norway, on November 9, 2009. The gingerbread man weighed a little over 1,435 pounds.
The history of gingerbread houses are a little more sketchy. The Brothers Grimm are thought to be the originator of the gingerbread house because of their story, Hansel and Gretel. However, others disagree, stating that the gingerbread house was the inspiration for their story. Both Hansel and Gretel and gingerbread houses became popular during the same time period, so it is hard to determine which came first. The Guinness World Record was broken for the largest gingerbread house in 2013, in Texas. The gingerbread house was a 2,520-square-foot edible-walled house and it was estimated to have over a 35.8 million calorie value. They needed 2,925 pounds of brown sugar, 1,800 pounds of butter, 7,200 eggs and 7,200 pounds of general purpose flour. Now that's a lot of ingredients!
Hope you enjoyed reading! And don't forget, next time you are feeling a little sick to your stomach, eat a gingerbread man! ;)
Recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cup flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 stick of butter (room temperature for icing)
- 1 1/2 cups of butter (room temperature for cake)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (cake)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (icing)
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (cake)
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (icing)
- 2 tablespoons of ground ginger
- 1/4 cup of sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- gingerbread cookie mix with packaged icing and ingredients to make them
Directions
- Mix and roll out cookie dough. Cut out shapes and bake as directed on the package. When finished baking, trace icing around their edges and set aside.
- While the cookies are baking, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter to a cream. Add in molasses and stir until it in blended into the mixture. Next mix in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the sour cream and vanilla extract until blended. Finally, take the flour-spice mixture and stir in a little at a time until everything is in one bowl.
- Fill the cupcake tin a little under halfway full because the batter expands a lot! Bake the cupcakes at 350*F for 20-25 minutes.
- While the cupcakes are baking, mix cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together to start the icing. Then add in the powdered sugar a little at a time.
- To finish the cupcakes, place the cinnamon icing on top and plunge a cookie into the center.
Additional Comments
- Since they have cream cheese icing, they should be stored in a refrigerated area. This will allow the icing to become firm and cool.
- If needed, place the cupcakes in the fridge to allow the icing to firm before placing the cookies on top.
I made a video tutorial with my brother on these cupcakes as well. Check it out:)
As you may have noticed, we did not post anything last week. Cooking, cleaning, and family time took precedence over blogging. But have no fear, we will be having a giveaway this month to make up for it so be sure to check back each week for the details on how to enter. I hope everyone had a grand time over Thanksgiving with their loved ones! Here is a look at out table scape and dessert we presented.
With the start of December, also starts my hot chocolate obsession. I have already started off every morning this week with a cup to wake me up as I am not a coffee drinker. But today, I wanted to have a nice mug full after my meal. My brother also insisted I make him a cup so I reached for these cute little mugs I got from the Dollar General for $1 each. To make our hot chocolate, we used the Swiss Miss brand, and added in whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and cocoa powder. Finally we added in some candy cane spoons!
