Today was the last night of VBS at my church and tonight they have a special event where all the kids get to sing their songs they learned over the week for their families. Afterwards we have desserts and beverages and such. This is the cake I made for the occasion. 

As you may have figured out by now, I'm a tea addict. Yes, I confess....I dream of tea times, tea paraphernalia, tea parties, tea flavors, and tea travel.  I LOVE TEA! And one of my all time, was my only at one point, favorite teas is Earl Grey. There is a saying among teaists to the effect that if you are an Earl Grey drinker, than you are an Earl Grey drink to the death...however, as much as I continue to adore Earl Grey, I am eager to sip other namesakes as well. 

All this being said, to get to the point...in a round about way...today is simply glorious! sumptuous sunlight, cool breezes, and that particularly delicious smell of late summer/early fall (although it is neither) came flooding into my house this morning. Immediately I was overcome with the intense need to be outside...and what better way to enjoy tea time than with the aromatic and sensation enhancement of a perfect day. 

I also had the urge for a London Fog. If you don't know what this is...well it's England in a cup...or in literal terms an Earl Grey latte. Sadly, I had neither milk nor a frother :( What to do. Then I was struck with a bolt of brilliance..."I have whipped cream!" The tea was brewed the cup filled with billows of cream and a mock London fog accompanied my almond cookie and serene backyard atmosphere. I enjoyed myself so much, I had to share my new cheat concoction ideas with you all...don't forget...nothing goes better with a London Fog than some Lizbeth's cookies ;)

Mock London Fog
Essentials: Earl Grey tea leaves, can of whipped cream, sugar, water, tea kettle, tea pot
*Opt. vanilla, whipping cream

Bring water to 195* F
Place 1 tsp of loose leaf (or bag) Earl Grey tea (for the pot) plus a tsp (bag) more for each additional cup into tea pot
Poor water slowly over and allow to steep for 3-5 minutes
Fill bottoms of tea cups with whipped cream and add a bit of sugar if you like it sweet
Once tea is suitably steeped, strain and pour over cream and sugar  
Enjoy!

*Alt. 
Pour 1/2 cup of whipping cream into sauce pan and heat til almost at a boil
Place a tsp of Early Grey tea leaves (tea bag) into steamy cream and allow to steep 
Strain cream and refrigerate til chilled
*Opt. add vanilla extract for more intense flavor
Once chilled, whip the cream til soft peaks form 
Use this cream in place of can whipped cream in above recipe

This second option makes for a more intense flavor but is a bit more time consuming. Either way, both options can be used with other tea flavors such as Chai or English breakfast to make easy tea lattes. 
P.s. in my opinion, it's better than frothed milk!


Much Sweetness!

So this is what I've been up to :)

I love St. Patty's Day. I've only a wee bit of Irish blood coursing through me veins, but it's a strong wee bit! Really, I just love having an excuse to celebrate!

Today I'm posting my first...sorta kinda tutorial of one of my cookie designs. I hope you enjoy!
~LizBeth

The Dream:
Before I make a cookie, I almost always sit down and sketch out my ideas. I like to label or color in my sketches so I know exactly what colors I need to prepare and when/where they will be used. 

Stage 1:
The first thing I did for this cookie was to create the background. I used a sky blue and forest green to create a horizon and then white in the wet-on-wet technique to make the clouds.

Stage 2:
Cookies like this need to be worked in layers. After the background had dried for about 2 hours, I piped the portions of my image that would appear farthest back in perspective.
First I piped the flesh color which I got with a little bit of copper food gel, then the vest and pants and finally, the coat and hat.

Stage 3:
After the first piping dried for about half an hour I added the next layer. This included black boots, pot, hat band, gold, buttons, red beards, and a flesh tone nose. I allowed these to dry for another half hour and then I piped gold details on the shoes, hat band, and detailed coins on the gold background at the top of the pot. 

Final Stage:
This is when I put on the finishing touches. I used gold dust mixed with alcohol to make the gold accents sparkle. Brown food gel was used to create shading. The rainbow was painted on with gel food coloring. 

The End :)

How cute are these!?!?!
I cannot express how much fun I had making these adorable tea party cookies for Harper's 2nd birthday! I love everything about them and I hope Harper and her little friends will too. 

Had a very cool request for some special Valentine's Day cookies. The outreach JerseyGirlsTLC gives of themselves to encourage NJ women who are being exploited sexually. They ordered hearts, Jersey States, and their logo cookies to share with these ladies on Valentine's Day. I hope these small tokens of love will be a blessing to these women. 
check out their facebook page for more info https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jersey-Girls-TLC/539192849448564  

Really appreciated the snow day because it gave me lots of time to finish up this double birthday order. Had fun with these designs. They were challenging and rewarding.

My mom loves flowers and lemons...so I rolled them both up into this white cake with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream sunflowers. She loved it :)

I had the pleasure of making a set of cookies that will be featured as small gifts at a family's Thanksgiving Feast. Really enjoyed finding and recreating these quotes. Got me in the spirit of Gratefulness.