Orzo Salad
Orzo Salad Easy and delicious summer salad
I love a yummy tasting Summer salad and this Orzo Pasta Salad is perfect for that hot summer day. Using fresh ingredients and fresh herbs from my garden enhanced all the flavors so nicely. I do recommend making this salad several hours before serving or even the day before serving to give all the fresh ingredients plenty of time to marinate together. I also highly recommend making another batch of the dressing, or at least half a batch, if you do serve this the next day. The pasta absorbs a lot of the liquid ingredients the longer it sits, so adding a fresh dose of the dressing right before serving along with some additional chunks of feta is delicious!!
My kids drop by the house “just because” and it’s one of my very favorite things being an empty nester. The day I made this salad, my son did just that as he just appeared in my back door! He wanted to show me his new truck he just bought and since he lives about an hour away from me, he usually stays for awhile so we can chat for a bit. We drove around in his new ride for awhile and when we came back to the house, I served this salad, very impromptu, along with some warm pita bread and some fresh fruit as we had a lovely visit over a nice light and summery lunch. It was absolute perfection on such a hot summer day. I kept this in my fridge for about 5 days and it was very filling and so yummy!! I hope you all enjoy!!
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon Salt 1/2 teaspoon Ground Pepper
1 (1 pound) box orzo pasta, cooked and drained 1 Seedless Cucumber, diced
1 Pint grape tomatoes, halved 1 (14 oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 (6 oz) can whole pitted black olives, drained 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Garnish with fresh oregano
In a small bowl, combine lemon juice (I just used bottled lemon juice) olive oil, oregano, chives, salt and pepper, whisking to combine; Set aside
Cook your pasta, adding salt to the water. Drain but do NOT rinse all that yummy salt flavor out.
In a large bowl, combine pasta, cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, and feta cheese. I used a whole 14 oz can of black olives because that is what I happened to have in my pantry and it was great. I also buy block feta in the brine and crumble by hand. I like a really chunky salad and the feta chunks were perfect! Add your cooked orzo pasta
Pour lemon juice mixture over pasta mixture, stirring to combine well. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Garnish with more feta cheese and fresh oregano.
Orzo Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice - or bottled
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbls fresh oregano, chopped
- 2 Tbls fresh chives, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 lb box orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions
- 1 seedless cucumber, diced
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 14 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 16 oz can whole pitted black olives, drained
- 4 oz feta, crumbled (honestly the more feta the better this will taste)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, chives, salt and pepper. Whisk together. Set aside
- Cook the orzo pasta according to package directions. Add salt to the water as it's cooking. Drain, but do not rinse the pasta.
- In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives and feta cheese
- Add the cooked orzo pasta to the cucumber and vegetable bowl
- Pour lemon and olive oil dressing over the salad and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Longer is better.
- Garnish with more feta cheese and fresh oregano and serve
LEMON THYME TEA BREAD
Lemon Thyme Tea Bread
I am having so much fun with my herb garden this year. I grew so much already, I had to cut a bunch and prune the entire garden back already. One small herb garden produces so much harvest!! I wanted to start baking and cooking using these precious herbs! I think there is an herb called lemon thyme, but I am just growing regular thyme this year. I’ve used thyme when I cook a roast or turkey but I have never baked anything with thyme in it…. So this is my first time using fresh thyme in my baking.
This tea bread is so yummy and is the perfect little bite of sweet to go with your favorite tea! You will taste just a hint of the thyme with that subtle sweet flavor of lemon. The butter give the bread so much flavor and moisture… I can’t wait for you to try this recipe and impress all of your tea table friends!
2 cups unsalted butter, softened 2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme 4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole buttermilk, at room temperature 1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze (recipe follows) Garnish: Fresh thyme, lemon slices
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 (8x5x3 inch) loaf pans with nonstick baking spray with flour. I used mini loaf pans making 8 mini loaves and I adjusted the baking time. I will note this baking time below.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at high speed until creamy, approximately 6 minutes. Add thyme and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt. Sift twice and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside.
Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Divide batter evenly between prepared loaf pans.
Bake for 30 minutes (I baked for about 15 - 20 minutes for the mini loaves). Cover loaves with tented aluminum foil, and continue baking for another 30-40 minutes (I baked for an additional 20 minutes for the mini loaves). Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely. Place parchment paper under the cooling racks, and pour lemon glaze over loaves. Garnish with thyme and lemon slices, if desired.
Lemon Glaze (makes approximately 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
In a small nonreactive bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Use immediately. Drizzle over the tops of the loaves.
I wrapped each individual loaf in Saran Wrap and froze them. Take out a loaf for tea, slice and enjoy my friends!
Lemon Thyme Tea Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 Tbls fresh lemon thyme, chopped
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbls lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Lemon Glaze (recipe follows)
- Fresh lemon thyme and lemon slices for garnish
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Spray 2 loaf pans with non stick baking spray or 8 mini load pans
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at high speed until creamy, approximately 6 minutes
- Add lemon thyme and mix until combined
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
- In a large bowl, sift together sugar, baking powder and salt. Sift twice and set aside
- In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Set aside
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture
- Divide mixture between the 2 prepared loaf pans or 8 prepared mini loaf pans
- Bake for 30 minutes for loaf pans and bake 15-20 minutes for mini loaf pans. Cover loaves with tented aluminum foil and continue baking for another 30-40 minutes (or another 15-20 minutes for the mini loaves) until cake tester comes out clean.
- Let cake loaves cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely
- Place parchment paper under the cooling racks, and pour lemon glaze over the tea bread
- Garnish with lemon thyme and lemon slices if you like
- In a small bowl, mix together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice until smooth
- Drizzle over the cooled lemon tea bread loaves
- Serve right away or wrap each loaf in Saran Wrap and freeze until ready to serve.
Snickerdoodle Tea Cake
Delicate tea cake with highlights of cinnamon and white chocolate
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup butter, cubed 2 (4 oz bars white chocolate, broken in pieces or chopped)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, divided
6 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 Tbs ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch baking pan with cooking spray. In a large microwave safe bowl, heat butter and white chocolate for 30 seconds at a time (about 2 1/2 minutes total) until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Let cool for 10 minutes. In another large bowl or mixer, beat 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix on medium-high speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Gradually beat in flour until combined. Stir in butter mixture until smooth. Spread half of the batter into prepared pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture onto the batter in the pan. Top with remaining batter. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture, and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. I like to individually wrap each bar with Saran Wrap and freeze. Take out an individual bar while you are preparing your tea and it will be ready to eat with your favorite tea blend! Enjoy!
Snickerdoodle Tea Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups butter, cubed
- 2 4oz bars of white chocolate, broken into pieces or chopped
- 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
- 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar, divided
- 6 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tbls ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9" baking pan with cooking spray Set aside
- In a large microwave safe bowl, heat butter and white chocolate together for 30 seconds at a time for a total of about 2 1/2 minutes until melted and smooth and stirring occasionally
- Let butter and chocolate mixture cool for about 10 minutes
- In a mixing bowl, beat 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, eggs and vanilla on medium high speed until fluffy - about 3-5 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl
- Gradually beat in flour until combined. Stir in butter and chocolate mixture
- Spread 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on to the batter in the pan
- Pour remaining batter on top of cinnamon mixture
- Bake for 25 minutes
- Add remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the cake and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean
- Let cool completely on a wire rack
- Cut into bars. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. I wrap my bars in Saran Wrap and freeze them for up to 6 months. Ready for tea time anytime!
Italian Bruschetta Recipe
A delicious tea savory of Italian Bruschetta for your tea table
Tea and sweets has always been my favorite combination when enjoying afternoon or evening tea. When I want something a little bit heavier and more of a High Tea setting, I add in a few savory treats as well, and these little bruschetta bites are some of my faves! So easy peasy to make and actually make great quick appetizers before a family gathering or holiday meal as well! There are many many ways to make bruschetta but this is my “go to” recipe and is delicious every time I make them. You can add your own toppings to either spice things up a bit or add little touches of various flavors. Just remember to cut the bread on the thinner side because I have been told (by my family mostly) that thicker slices makes it more difficult to eat and tends to get a bit messy. So for the tea table, I cut the bread on the thinner side so it’s easier to enjoy and doesn’t end up all over the table linens. Enjoy!
Italian Bruschetta
1 loaf soft French or Italian baguette
4 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
1 Jar of your favorite Pesto Sauce
Fresh Basil, chopped
Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
I start by lining a cookie sheet with aluminum foil but you can use a non-stick cookie sheet as well. Slice the entire baguette into about 1” pieces, thicker if you would like but I like to keep the slices thin so they are easier to eat. Place each bread slice on the cookie sheet. Spread each slice with a layer of pesto sauce. Make sure you cover the entire surface of each slice of bread. I add some parmesan cheese at this point sprinkled on top of the pesto because, well, you can never have too much parmesan cheese. Add the chopped tomatoes making sure you have covered every slice.
Sprinkle with freshly chopped basil leaves and I add another covering of freshly grated parmesan cheese again. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. That’s it!! Easy Peasy, smells divine and looks incredibly colorful and fresh on the plates! Enjoy!
These Bruschetta bites are shown here with a little Spanikopita. I will be sharing this recipe with you in my next blog post!
Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread
- 1 jar pesto sauce
- fresh basil, cut into strips or chopped
- Parmesan cheese
- 3-4 Roma tomatoes
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray or parchment paper or aluminum foil
- Cut French bread into individual slices and place each slice onto baking sheet
- Cut tomatoes into chopped pieces
- Spread pesto sauce onto each slice of French bread
- Place 4-5 pieces of chopped tomato on top of pesto
- place a few strips of fresh basil onto the tomatoes
- Sprinkle a generous amount of parmesan cheese over the top of each bread slice
- Bake on 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes
Bridesmaids Tea
Bridesmaids tea to celebrate your besties and their support and love for you on your wedding day
Brides spend months and months preparing and planning for their wedding day and they choose every detail very very carefully. From the stationery and flowers to the music and menu selections, every aspect of their special day is well thought out and has enormous meaning behind those decisions. This would include all the special people a bride selects to be surrounded by and a part of her bride tribe… her bridesmaids!
Photo by Du Castel Photography
Photo by Eric and Jamie Photography
A Bridesmaids Tea and such a special way to thank all of your besties for surrounding you with love and support and to witness you take that walk down the aisle. As a wedding planner, I have seen this tea celebrated in many different ways. Here a just a few ideas to think about when planning your Bridesmaids tea time!
Photo by Eric and Jamie Photography
Will you be my Bridesmaid?
A fun tea party is a perfect way to ask each of your best girls to be a part of your wedding day and serve as one of your bridesmaids. Fun gifts at each place setting and pretty stationery asking them to be a bridesmaid is a fun and exciting way to celebrate you as a bride and the girls having the honor to stand beside you!
Photo by Kelli and Daniel Taylor Photography
All the girls sat around this pretty and pink tea table and one by one, the bride-to-be told heartfelt stories of how she met each girl and how special each girl meant to her along with some fun memories shared throughout the years. This can get a bit emotional so maybe a gift of a fine linen handkerchief monogrammed with their initials placed on their chair would be a sweet and thoughtful touch.
Wedding Morning Tea
Another way my brides like to honor their bridesmaids is with a wedding morning breakfast tea, usually at the bride’s home. This particular wedding day began at the home of the bride for hair and make up and also to provide the opportunity for their beloved puppies to partake in the photographs without bringing them on site to the church or reception. So we invited all the girls early that morning and gathered in the dining room for breakfast casseroles, muffins, fruits and tea sandwiches and pastries. Hair and make up was all going on in other parts of the house and was a fabulous way to gather and prepare for the day ahead with everyone in one space on the most special of days.
A sweet Southern tradition for brides and her maids is a charm cake. Ribbons are placed within the cake holding charms for each of the girls. Singe girls will choose a certain color ribbon and will pull charms such as a wedding ring, indicating she will be the next to marry. Married girls will pull charms such as a baby, telling the good fortune that she will be next to have a baby, and so on. The bride , of course, will pull the white ribbon with a wedding ring, chapel or a bridal bouquet and she will hold the key with explanations to each charm to all the girls’ good fortunes within the cake as they pull them! What a “charming” way to start the day!
A bridesmaids tea is such a wonderful way to begin all the celebrations for your wedding day. Keep it simple and pretty with just cake a tea or add sandwiches and other tea treats and savories but keep in mind that the point of this tea is to thank your besties for standing by you on your most special of days and time to all be together. It all starts here! Enjoy!
Thank you to every fabulous vendor featured in this blog post… you are all the BEST!
Planning/Design | AK Brides
Gourmet Teas | Tea and Time
Photography | Eric and Jamie Photography
Kelli and Daniel Taylor Photography
Floral Design | Stems and Styles
Tea Tableware | Tea and Old Roses
Linens/Rentals | Decor to Adore
Stationery | Allison R Banks Designs
Charm Cake | Sweet Magnolia
5 ways to enjoy Tea with your quarantine Time
How is everyone doing today? We are in our 6th day of quarantine from COVID-19 and some of us (like California) are in a mandatory “safe at home” quarantine with no business opened anywhere except really to get food. I know so much good will come out of this because God is just putting this backdrop into place so He can really show off some miracles. I can not wait for this to happen but until then, we will be safe and stay with our closest family members and try to keep busy. So now that we have all of this “time” on our hands, what are we to do? I have cleaned my house, cleaned out some closets and watching the Hallmark Chanel Christmas movie marathon right now as I write this but I have to admit, I am getting really antsy. How can I contribute to all of you and my community? Well, last night a put together some tea gifts for my wedding industry peeps to send out on Monday. We have all had a very busy week rescheduling our Spring weddings and I know the wedding planners all over the country are having a tough time reworking entire vendor teams not to mention soothing emotional brides. My heart breaks for our brides and then I started thinking… I am a wedding planner known for bringing a sense of “calm” to a wedding day and I attribute this all to my tea! So I am giving out my “calm” to my brides and my planner and vendor friends! I hope it does just a little bit of good and brings some smiles.
So what can WE all do at home to enjoy some tea with all of this time we have acquired? Here are 5 suggestions to do with or without the kiddos……. things that you have always been saying to yourself “when I get some free time, I will do………”. So here we go!
Tea, Bible Study and Prayer - I do like to start my day every morning with my bible study and most days I do. Sometimes though my phone will begin to ring before my feet even hit the ground. Now I am in full blown work mode not realizing the time slipping by until at least lunch. Last week was a bit crazy with rescheduling weddings but the phone has been eerily quiet this weekend. Bible study is always something I wish I had more time for. Our country is in need of prayer right now more than ever. So let’s take some time with our tea to pray for those who are sick, for those who are healthy to remain healthy, for our president, our country, all the health care providers working endless hours, grocery store and take out restaurants who are serving us daily, for our communities and our families. The unity I see in our country right now is so heart warming and prayer is a good way to spend some of this time we have.
Picnic Outside With The Kiddos - When my boys were younger, they would love when we read Winnie the Pooh books together. A lot of the stories from Winnie the Pooh involved tea time and they would always be outside playing. This gave me the idea of having a Winnie the Pooh picnic outside in our backyard. We would bring all of our stuffed animal friends and sit on a blanket on the grass with crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Oreo cookies and tea. I would be drinking the tea and the boys would be sipping their apple juice. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate picnic and sometimes you can do the exact same things you would be doing inside the house. It’s a different scenery though and getting some fresh air at the same time. So bring some puzzles out, read some Winnie the Pooh books (or whatever books the kids like), coloring books and crayons, trucks and cars, dolls and stuffed animals and a nice fluffy blanket. Somehow PB&J and Oreo’s just tasted good outside!
Do some Baking with or without the kiddos - After I work a heavy week of wedding planning and then execute the wedding day, Sunday’s are for rest. I don’t any wedding related things but for some reason I love to do normal household things like laundry and cooking. Baking is something that I love as well and love to try out new recipes. This has been something on the back burner lately with Spring wedding season starting but then coming to a halt quickly. Now we all have the time to bake up some goodies. The kiddos may like to get in on this as well so make some cookies, bake a pound cake or try out some other yummy dessert you have been wanting to try. I usually have lemon bars individually wrapped in my freezer at all times along with some other treats that I can easily take out one at a time to enjoy with my tea especially when my neighbor drops by. I would see her coming to my back door and before she has time to say “hello” I am getting out two of whatever I have in my freezer and filling the tea kettle with water for our tea time. Those were some of my very favorite memories when we were all raising the littles. Here is the lemon bar recipe from Paula Deen I use for a tea time treat!
Paula Deen’s Lemon Bars - anytime I try a Paula Deen recipe it turns out delicious.. This is not a low cal dessert and the ingredients are good and full of fat but you don’t have to eat the whole pan either. Just a square (or two) with your tea is enough to give you a joyous tea experience!!
4 large eggs 1 cup confectioners sugar
6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 2 3/8 cup flour
2 sticks of butter, unsalted 2 cups granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees - Lightly grease a 9x13x2 inch pan
Make the crust by combining 2 cups flour, confectioners sugar and pinch of salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter to make it a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
While the crust bakes, mix the filling by mixing the eggs, granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons flour and lemon juice. When the crust is finished, pour the filling over the crust and put back in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Dust with confection sugar before serving.
Vision Board - So this is something I have been really wanting to do and has been on my “New Year’s Resolution” list since December 31st but I have yet to get to this…. A vision board is a visual board we can look at all the time and have it in full view to remind us what our goals and dreams are. This is the chance to dream big, dream way outside the box as if these dreams have already happened to us and it is all right there in real time and real life. Get creative and get detailed. The more details the better. I have had dreams of my future tea room for years but have it all on Pinterest and have not yet put this into a visual that I can see everyday when I get dressed and ready for the day ahead, when I get ready to put my head on the pillow and anytime in between. This is the vision you have for your future. We now have some time to really dig into our dreams and put it into action by making the vision come to life!
Polish Your Silver Tea Set - I know, I know…. polishing silver is not my favorite thing to do either. But doesn’t your silver tea set just sparkle when it’s all cleaned up looking shiny new? I should polish my silver so much more than I do but never really have the time to dedicate to this. So here we go! This doesn’t have to be just for your silver either. If you have some fine china tea sets or the pretty things that sit in your curio cabinet that you love to look at but never use so it is probably pretty dusty by now, here is your chance to make all of it shine. Maybe it will even motivate you to use these pieces and enjoy them more than just looking at them!
Photo by Kelli and Daniel Taylor Photography
I pray all of you stay safe, healthy and keep looking towards a very bright future ahead when we can all be together again and enjoy tea in the same room with each other…. until then my tea friends, prayers and blessings to all of you! Cheers!
Special thanks to the additional sweet vendors for your contributions in these images: