I love the July 4th celebrations. The whole idea  of picnics, family get togethers, fireworks, and listening to the Star Spangled Banner just does something for me. Generally we open the house up to anyone who wants to come, put up the volleyball net, the horseshoe spikes, the hatchet targets (yes my kids throw hatchets at targets, doesn’t everyone’s kids?), and point people in the direction of the creek if they want a swim.

The house fills with flies as people run in and out and gallons of lemonade, tea, cokes, and other beverages are consumed. The only requirement is that guests bring food to share and control their children.

Seems fair to me.  I am not a fan of uncontrolled children. People assume because I have 8 kids I LOVE children. Not true. I like kids all right but I have no tolerance level for undisciplined, uncontrollable, disrespectful kids. They all seem to end up working at the local grocery stores but that is a whole ‘nother story.

Anyway, if you are looking for something a bit different to serve this Fourth of July take a look at this. Coffee coke float,with just a quick glug of Kahlua for some pizzaz. You can leave the Kahlua out if you want but it is just awesome with it.  Serve it in old fashioned ice cream parlor style shake glasses and top with a mound of whipped cream.

Coffee Coke Float

• 2/3 cup half and half (light) cream
• 2 1/2 cups espresso, or strong coffee, cold
• 4 scoops coffee ice cream
• 1 -2 liter bottle of Coke
• 1/2 cup Kahlua if desired
• 4 frosted glasses

Mix the cream and the cold coffee

Add 2 tbs Kahlua to each glass

Place a scoop of the ice cream in each of four glasses

Half fill each glass with the coffee then fill up the rest of the way with Coke.

Serves 4

Image;Wikipedia

One of the things that they make at the Landmark restaurant in Dallas is a fruit lemonade. The flavor changes daily; watermelon, honeydew…. The drinks are so refreshing, so good, and so unique that of course I wanted to be able to replicate them at home. Since it is lemonade I knew there would be lemon juice..but you know me..I wanted to take it a step further.

White tea. Adding the tea gives the flavor another depth and it is really good. White tea is very delicate so it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the fruit, in this case honeydew.

For an added intensity try this with Republic of Tea’s Honey Dew White Tea

Honeydew-Lime Iced Tea

• 6 cups cubed honeydew melon
• 2 cups water
• 1/3 cup sugar, more or less to taste
• 2 tea bags of white tea, or amount of white tea leaves to make 2 cups of strong tea
• 1/2 cup lime juice

1. Bring water and sugar just to a boil. stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
2. Add tea or tea bags and allow to steep for 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Let come to room temperature.
4. Check to make sure there are no stray seeds on melon. Blend the melon in a blender with the white tea until it is a liquid. Blend in the sugar and lime at low speed, just until sugar dissolves.
5. Pour over ice and serve with a lime wedge.

Makes about 6 servings depending on size

image:marye audet

So, I am reclined here this morning, mostly wasting time. We could say “twittering” away my day…and we would be right. I am also sipping a cup of Boca Java’s Light Up Las Olas. Not the first cup, mind you… a cup.

Light Up Las Olas is a dark roast, blended from Columbian and Brazillian coffees. The aroma of the beans is spicy and licorice-y.  Nice.

The flavor is described on the site as having notes of cocoa. Eh. Maybe.

The flavor is warm and smoky, a bit too acidic at the end for my tastes. Slight nuances of marshmallow on the intake, makes you think you are going to have a toasted marshmallow flavor but at the last minute it morphs into almost an amaretto-pecan.

Oddly, with the flavors invoked this is not a smooth coffee. After the first few sips you lose track of the flavor of it and it becomes just coffee.

On a scale of 1-5 it gets a 3. There is nothing outstanding about it and yet it isn’t bad. I liked it much better sweetened and cream added.

By the way? If you are interested, you can follow me on Twitter… never a dull moment I promise.

Image:Boca Java

So, as some of you know, I worked hard this past week trying to get a menu done for my daughter’s baby shower. I wanted it to be just right, not because it was her first shower (this is her third adorable child) but because Erin is just that awesome.

After a lot of thought and research I ended up with:

• Balsamic and basil strawberries
• Mango chicken salad tea sandwiches
• Spicy curried chicken tea sandwiches
• Mushroom, bacon, and Parmesan palmiers
• Earl Grey truffles
• Chocolate Irish Cream coffee
• Custom roast coffee
• Custom blended tea
• A selection of other teas.
• Sherbet punch

and of course, cake. Not just any cake but almond cake with alternating green tea and cherry filling. Most of the recipes will be showing up over at baking delights over the next few days, but some of them will be showing up here.

Balsamic Strawberries & Basil

Just thought you would like to see some pictures. If you are planning a baby shower, this menu works well for doing ahead. I spent most of the day friday doing the cake so didn’t have much time for anything else. It HAD to be easy and quick and transportable. It was 95 degrees, the church is 30 minutes away and I don’t have air conditioning in my van.

The cake I made for the baby shower

The lady that did the decor did an awesome job! I love the way she took vintage items and massed them together.

Vintage decor for the shower created sweet ambiance.

Apparently this lady collects items from thrift stores, antique shops, and garage sales and then uses them in a sort of cottage chic style to decorate for various celebrations.  I loved it!

Anyway, here are some ideas if you are looking for them. The shower was a big hit and we had a great time.

images:marye audet

I don’t know.  It seems to me that we looks for any excuse for a celebratory dinner these days.  Not a bad idea really! I can remember ..you know, back in the horse and dinosaur days, when Cinco de Mayo was the fifth of May.  Now, the Hispanic areas of town celebrated, yeah they did.  But the mostly Anglo suburbs? We pretty much stuck with out pot r0ast and apple pie.

At some point in the late 1980s Cinco de Mayo began to take off a bit and now I think they celebrate it everywhere.  In fact, Marc and I were looking at a farm in Houlton, Maine for awhile (couldn’t sell our house, sigh) and saw that it was celebrated clear up there.  Over the next few days on Baing Delights I will be posting some menu ideas and recipes for the food part of the celebration, but if you need an after dinner coffee this is a fantastic choice.  It is based on a Food Network recipe by Rachel Ray and tweaked mercilessly by me.

Try an organic Mexico Chiapas bean for authenticity.

Mexican Coffee

• 1/2 cup ground coffee beans
• 2 tablespoons dark cocoa
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 oz Kahlua per cup
• Whipped cream flavored with kahlua

Make the coffee as usual, using the coffee, the cinnamon, cocoa, chili, and cardamom in the filter to make 8 cups of coffee.  Pour one ounce of the Kahlua in each cup then fill with the hot coffee.  Top with a dollop of whipped cream dusted with cinnamon.

8 servings

Image:SXC

I want to do more posts on this but thought I would look around and see what kinds of cupcake recipes were available.  There is a LOT of them and it isn’t hard to start pairing them up with tea.  Check it out:

I created these Lemon Almond cupcakes for Baking Delights. Try them with Fujian Baroque or a white tea and apricot combo.

These Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes from Woman’s Day would go beautifully with a nice Earl Grey.  Want something a little more unusual? Try them with the Vanilla Oolong from Adagio.

I haven’t seen the full Cupcake Tea menu so I am not sure what they are doing exactly but I would at least add some grape clusters to the setting.  They look great and they go with almost anything.  It should make for a simple and unique tea.

More cupcake tea menus to come!

image:maryeaudet.

I love biscotti.  I learned how to make it several years ago and, although I don’t make it nearly enough, it is much simpler than most people think…In fact..if you can make chocolate chip cookies you can make biscotti.

Once you have a basic recipe down then you can branch out and add things to it like nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, or whatever.

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Fall is really here!

The trees are turning colors…somewhere..and the mornings are chilly…sort of.  It is perfect weather for a cup of hot apple cider.

Read more

                 Image:(c)Marye Audet2008

I love when the seasons change.  We don’t get much of that here until MAYBE late October..for a week or so…but I have fond and vivid memories of my childhood on the east coast.

In fact one year, Marc (who is from Mass.) and I wistfully watched a lone, dead leaf spin to the ground and Marc quipped, “Look.   Fall!”

But…Like Anne of  Green Gables we can imagine anything we like. Imagining autumn with a tea is a wonderful way to celebrate it, and get yourself in the mood, don’t you think? Read more

I admit that when Marc and I have our coffee date at our STILL IN BUSINESS local Starbucks we almost always order the same thing….

Caramel Macchiato Venti Extra Whipped. It is like a signature perfume for me. Read more