Lizbeth's is holding our first ever contest! It's simple and anyone can win! All you have to do is submit a unique idea for a cookie design, "like" our facebook page, and share the contest info on your facebook wall. It's that simple! All entries will be reviewed and one winner will be chosen! The winning entry will be created and the winner receives a half dozen cookies of their own design. Anyone can enter by simply messaging your design to us on Lizbeth's facebook. https://www.facebook.com/LizbethsPetiteSweets Designs can be a detailed description or a sketch. For more information about the contest check out our events page. https://www.facebook.com/events/376969529071880/ You don't have to be an invited guest to participate. It's a come one come all!
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Last night was my first public event. It was such a fun experience. For the event, I made nutella fudge brownies, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cookies, and sugar cookies. For the display my husband and I did a little antique shopping and recycling of items we already own. With $20 cash in my pocket, we stopped by Lisa's Antiques on Mantoloking Rd. where we found two glass candlesticks, a glass cake plate, two lace table runners, and a large basket. Also I purchased two new, well old, cookie cutters that I plan to use for a new set of cookies. We purchased the whole lot for $15. I already had a small wooden tea tray, a large doily, and Tim's old baseball card holder and all these combined with my antique finds became my event display. The antique table runners were laid out on the counter where everything was set up. I used the doily to dress up the little wooden tea tray and filled it with tea time cookies.Three of my own dinner/dessert plates were stacked in between the candlesticks to make a tier for the cupcakes. The Cake plate became a brownie stand and Tim spray painted his baseball card holder to make a display for the round flower cookies. The little ledges of the baseball card holder propped the cookies up for better viewing. The large basket made an excellent vehicle for transporting the cookies which I wrapped in a tablecloth for protection. I was so pleased with the overall look of our display. Not only was it very affordable, it was so vintage, which I adore. We had a great evening and sold lots of a sweet yumminess to happy customers. My order of vanilla beans arrived today, just in time for the Showcase cookies. I've used vanilla beans in the past, but this time I didn't want to waste the fragrant pod, so here's a little story about my adventure with vanilla beans. My beans arrived tucked up in an airtight bag labeled beanilla and when I snipped open the corner, a lovely mellow scent slipped out. Using a very sharp paring knife and little glass cutting board I slid the edge of my knife from one tip of the bean pod to the other, splitting the pod in two and revealing the grainy black cream hidden inside. With the back of my knife I scraped the beans from their coat and dropped them into a bowl with butter and sugar. The pods lay there so bare and sad. I couldn't stand to throw all that delicate flowery flavor into the trash, so I wound each into two tiny glass jars and buried one in sugar and the other I drowned in raw honey. The leftover, unused pods were tightly wrapped in plastic and placed in glass jars for another day. Vanilla bean can be added to almost any dessert and can be used as a substitute for Vanilla extract. There are some debates about substitution ratios. I personally used half a bean pod in exchange for one teaspoon of extract. The leftover pods are great for flavoring things like, honey and sugar to be used in coffee or tea. The pods can also be dried out and crumbled into powder that can be added to baked goods, frosting, tea, ice cream topping, puddings, etc.
If you'd like to have your own bean adventure, I highly recommend purchasing your Vanilla beans from http://www.beanilla.com/ they are very affordable and shipping is free! A dear friend of mine purchased a box of my tea time cookies. She's a photographer and in true photographer form, could not resist the temptation to capture some mouth watering poses. Here are a few of my favorites. If you'd like to see more of Jess' work, including my own wedding photos, stop by her site and her facebook. Don't forget to give her a "like." http://capturedmomentsphotography09.shutterfly.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CapturedMomentsPhotoFL The music studio I work at is having our semi annual Showcase extravaganza! Instead of giving flowers, parents are ordering a musical treat that can be personalized for their little star.
I love the idea of celebrating two of my great passions with this joyful blend of musical sweetness! It's going to be so fun spending an evening listening to all our students showing off their talent. What better way to top off all the fun then nibbling a music themed cookie when the show is over? As far as I'm concerned, any occasion deserves a cookie to celebrate. My mother has a lovely collection of antique costume jewelry and I wanted to find a way to incorporate some of the unique designs into my cookies. For my wedding I had purchased food grade mold making material in hopes of using it to design my wedding cake but with time crunches and so many other details, this never happened. However, all that perfectly good mold plastique was sitting on a shelf in our laundry room collecting dust and that was just not ok. Yesterday I went to work making molds of six gorgeous brooches and this is the first completed cookie inspired by my mom's favorite brooch. I used fondant, also saved from my wedding, to get the mold impression. More to come :)
These are just a few of my favorite finger sandwich recipes!
Cucumber Sandwiches Serves 1 1/4-1/2 of a cucumber fresh dill 1/4 cup of cream cheese 2 slices of white bread salt In a small bowl whip the cream cheese and dill together. Thinly slice the cucumber and salt. Spread the dill cream cheese on both pieces of bread and arrange the cucumbers on one side. Press the bread together and then slice the crust off and cut the sandwich diagonally. Garnish with sprigs of dill. *Gluten Free Option Eliminate the bread and dollop dill cream cheese onto the salted slices of cucumber. Can be served open-faced or topped with another cucumber slice. Garnish with sprigs of dill. Waldorf Chicken Salad Sandwich Serves 2 1/4 cup grapes quartered 1/4 cup golden raisins 1/2 an apple (of your choosing) 1/4 cup of walnuts or almonds or both 1 chopped celery stalk 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 Tablespoon lemon juice black pepper opt. poppy or sesame seeds 4 slices of bread or two croissants or rolls 2 leaves of lettuce In a bowl toss all the ingredients minus the bread and lettuce and mix well. Load one slice of bread with half the mixture and top with one piece of lettuce and the other slice of bread. Cut off crusts and slice diagonally. Repeat. *Gluten Free Option Load a lettuce leaf up with some of the salad, roll shut, and hold with a toothpick or just chop up the lettuce and top with a big spoonful of chicken salad. *Vegetarian Option Replace the chicken with tofu or just eliminate it altogether and add more fruits and nuts. Turkey Revisited serves 1 1/4 cup-1/2 cup sliced, pulled, or deli Turkey 1/4 cup of cranberry or lingonberry sauce 2 slices of provolone or swiss cheese dash of finely chopped walnuts 2 tablespoons of butter *optional dipping sauce 1/2 cup whipping cream 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 tablespoon brandy or sherry 1/4 stick of butter dash of vanilla In a sauce pan, simmer cream over medium heat while stirring. Add the sugar and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients Prepare your sandwich with all the ingredients minus the butter. Spread the butter on the outside of both slices of bread. Heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Once sizzling/bubbling subsides place your buttered sandwich in and grill til golden brown. Flip and repeat. Remove from pan, cool slightly, then slice in half diagonally. Dip in sauce and enjoy! Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore Tea Time. I always have but after visiting England, it became a serious addiction. American Tea Time had never risen to the refined deliciousness of a genuine English Afternoon Tea and once I participated in this delicate and exquisite ritual, I was hooked! Like a true Englishman, I believe tea really is the answer to every problem, in at least a small way.
There's just something unspeakably soothing about tea. It's a kind companion when you're all alone and when shared with others, it has an uncanny way of loosening tongues and bonding friendships. If you've never had the delight of being served an Afternoon Tea, I highly recommend indulging as I do, at least every few months. However, as this can be a bit of a monetary splurge and sometimes requires travelling miles to find a decent Tea Parlor, I get my in-between fix with homemade Tea Time. It is one of my life's greatest pleasantries and provides me instant stress relief as well as rendering a more amiable human. How to do "Homemade" Afternoon Tea what you will need: a hot pot of tea (my personal favorites are Early Grey and Vanilla Almond) tea cup & saucer strainer (if you use loose tea) spoon sugar or honey milk or lemon (never both) finger sandwiches scone clotted cream or devonshire cream jam or preserves (any type will do) small desserts (Lizbeth's tea time cookies would be a great addition) At a Tea Parlor, tea and scones are served first, then finger sandwiches, and finally desserts, but when I set out my tea at home, I just have it all on the table at once. If you own a fancy tiered stand, it's fun to arrange your desserts, sammies, and scone on this. Personally, I just pile up my tea tray with all the goodies and indulge. As I'm often home alone in the afternoon, I like to enjoy my tea time while watching a British film or show; it makes the experience feel more "authentic." For more tea ideas and recipes, keep an eye on this blog. Much Sweetness ~Lizbeth |