Tea Time!

Happy Birthday Aliecia!

This weekend Ashley and I went to woodstock of Aliecia's 21st birthday! Friday when we got there we made cupcakes, cheese dip, bacon bacon dip, and went to pick up Rita's Ice (the best stuff in the world!) When we got back we got ready and went to eat at RuSan's Japanese Steak House! The next day was the highlight of the weekend though! We went to this place in woodstock called Tea Leaves in Thyme! It was basically a place to go and have an old fashioned tea party! and it was so cute!! If you're near woodstock or visiting, this is definitely a place you need to go visit!

for $14 you get unlimited tea in as many flavors you want, with a three-tiered tray of fruit, scones, sandwiches, and desserts! It was so delicious too!

on the top tier the top tier there was fresh watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and 3 types of scones: vanilla, poppy seed, and cherry! the second tier had little tea sandwiches, they were egg salad, cucumber, ham, and pimento and cheese! The last tier was the dessert tea and it came full of lemon bars, carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate date bars, and chocolate mint brownies!

They had SO many different types of teas! and i didn't try one that I didn't like! Some of the ones we ordered were mango green tea, peach tea, creme brulee, vanilla spice, Chinese Lovers Dream, and Strawberry Kiwi! They brought each tea out in a different tea cup, but this one was my favorite!

They also had big hats, scarves, and gloves you could put on while you enjoyed your tea!
here's a few more pictures! =)

Irresistible peanut butter cookies

My boyfriend Wes leaves to go back to school on friday! So i wanted to make him something tasty to take back with him to the apartment! He requested peanut butter cookies so i found this recipe on the Jif website and they turned out SO good! Irresistible is right! I had to make myself stop eating them so there would be enough for him! ;) here's the recipe and i only made one change.. i used crunchy pb instead of creamy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup all vegetable shortening
1 1/4 firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp soda

Directions:
preheat oven to 375 F
combine pb, shortening, sugar, milk and vanilla on medium
add the egg and beat until blended
add flour, soda, and salt
roll into balls and flatten with fork on baking sheet
bake for 6-7 mins, or just beginning to brown
makes 3-4 dozen cookies depending on size of cookie.
(mine made about 4 dozen)

the best home made brownies

I was watching food network challenge and they were making cookies.. and one of them was a chewy chocolate cookie, which immediately made me think of brownies.. which i LOVE! but we didn't have any brownie mix! a few years back i tried to make brownies from scratch and they just weren't any good! So i consulted the trusty foodnetwork.com and found a recipe of Alton Brown's that sounded super easy and i gave it a shot! and guess what! it was a super success! these brownies were quick, easy, and delicious! I only made two changes to the recipe which was 1/4 cup less of cocoa powder, because i added the first cup and it was already A LOT of cocoa! and i cooked the brownies in a 10x7 inch pan! i thought they turned out perfect but if you want a darker chocolate taste, go with the original recipe!




Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 8 ounces melted butter
• 11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. (or use my personal favorite bakers joy spray with flour)

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars and mix until thick and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.