EATS :: Easy Shortbread Cookie RECIPE

 Good morning, it’s Kimberley from Kimberley's Kitchen and we're having a "Tiny Tea Party" on the blog today!
 

I love tea. And cookies. And tiny tea cups. And tiny cookies.

My love of tea and cookies is evident in my daughters so we decided to have a tiny tea party together. It was easy to put together and would make a wonderful girly play date, Mother's Day celebration, or fun get together with your friends. Here are the ingredients for a Tiny Tea Party:

The Tea~

I am a bit of a tea purist. I do come by it honestly as my Mom is English. I grew up drinking tea. Hot tea, that is. Because I am in Canada we call "hot tea" just tea, and "cold tea" is iced tea. (I will share my favorite iced tea recipes this summer). 

My absolute favorite black tea is Earl Grey. We brewed some beautiful Tazo Earl Grey in this darling china tea pot to make a perfect cup of tea. But you can make any tea you like.

The Cookies~

A selection of homemade cookies are perfect for tea. Here we have Vanilla Sugar Cookies and Lemon Shortbread. Don't have time to bake? That's okay. You can buy some of your favorite cookies and when served on pretty little plates, everyone will enjoy each bite.

My favorite quick and easy shortbread recipe:

Cream together 2 sticks softened butter and 1 cup confectioner's sugar

Add 1 cup AP flour and 1 cup cornstarch

Add a pinch of salt

Add the flavor of your choice- 
1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 Tablespoon lemon zest, or 
1 Tablespoon of cardamom are my favorites

Pat into a round and roll between 2 pieces of parchment paper 
to 1/4 inch thickness

Cut into desired shapes and sprinkle tops with sugar

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 
350 degree oven for about 15 minutes

Cool on a wire rack

Enjoy!

The Sweets~

Add a little extra treat with some candies. I add marshmallows to every occasion but you can also add some of your favorite store-bought treats to go with your color theme. 

Thank You Favors~

Giving a sweet treat for your guests to take with you is so much fun. Here we have candies on skewers with a little thank you card on the skewer. I love the technique of punching holes in paper or card stock and then threading it onto a skewer or pop stick. Super easy and pretty.

I hope that you enjoy this inspiration for a Tiny Tea Party! Please let me know your favorite tea and cookies!

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Guest Contributor: Kimberley Mulla

My Mom gave me my first cookbook when I was six years old. I have been baking & cooking ever since.

I specialize in artisan marshmallows & confections. I want to sell a product that I would feed my children. The ingredients are simple, often local, organic & fair trade as well. 

I love making marshmallows. Every single one. It brings me so much joy to create something unique, tasty, and delightful.

You can follow Kimberley

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CRAFT :: Spring Paper Flower Bouquet

     

Today we welcome, Wendy from Scrappy Bags, as she shares a post here on the blog! Enjoy!

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Everybody loves spring flowers, right?  I decided to make a paper spring flower bouquet using my Silhouette Cameo (which I LOVE)!  I wish I had more free time to sit down and play with the machine.

I already knew that I wanted to use some bright and bold colors for the flowers, so I picked the Pebbles “Basics” line and the Doodlebug Design “Take Note” line.  

I put the Cameo to work and cut out a bunch of different types of flowers.  I was able to cut two-three flowers per a 12 x 12 sheet of paper.  I then assembled the flowers using different brads as the center of each flower. 

After assembling the flowers, I made the stems out of 20 gauge floral stem wire.  I took each piece of wire and wrapped it around a pencil to give it a twisty look.  You can wrap it tightly, and then stretch it out to loosen it up.  In hindsight, I think the 20 gauge wire was a little too thin.  I ended up having to wrap the wire around a wooden skewer to get the flowers to stand up properly in my vase.  If you plan to use floral stem wire as your stems, I would recommend going with a heavier gauge wire.

I had just recently purchased some old glass milk bottles at a local antique shop that were in perfect shape.  I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with them, but it turns out that one will make a perfect vase for my flowers!

To hold the stems in the bottle, I filled it up with some dry beans that I picked up at the grocery store.  The beans make perfect vase fillers.  I then made a paper wrap to go around the milk bottle, cut out a label with a paper punch and stamped “happy spring” on the label.  I also inked the edges of the label in orange and backed it with some of the Doodlebug Design polka dot paper.  For the finishing touches, I chose a bright orange ribbon from my stash to tie around the neck of the milk bottle.

I’m really happy with how they turned out!  I hope you decide to make some of your own spring flowers. 

P.S.  They would make a great Mother’s Day gift too.

♥Wendy

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Guest Contributor: Wendy Diem

Wendy is a stay at home mom living in Hershey, Pennsylvania, also know as the sweetest place on earth! 

She loves creating memory books and cards and would spend my whole day scrapbooking, but I do need to make time to take care of my family.  You know, those fun things like laundry, cleaning the house, etc.  

Back in March, 2012, she had the privilege of going to NYC as part of Martha Stewart’s Dreamers into Doers to attend some workshops and the live taping of her show.  She enjoyed meeting lots of wonderful entrepreneurial women.  What a great experience it was!

You can follow Wendy

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EATS :: How-To Pipe Flowers for Cupcakes

Today we are in for a treat! We have Erin from Whip It Good Cookies, sharing this amazing tutorial on how to pipe those fancy flowers you see on cupcakes! She makes it look so easy & do-able! Let's get those boring cupcakes out and fancy them up a bit, shall we? ;)

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I love spring!  I also love making spring cookies and cupcakes.  The wildflowers that bloom here in Texas in the spring inspired these simple cupcakes.  I am not sure what you would call these flowers.  I kind of make them up as I go along.  I guess the pink ones look like roses and the purple ones are a cross between a pansy and a violet.  I think you also find that these are easy to make.  

I started with 3 bags of royal icing mixed at a thick consistency in whatever colors you prefer.  I know my icing is at the consistency I need to pipe flowers when it is easy enough to run the spatula through but thick enough to hold its shape.  

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Royal Icing

4 tablespoons of meringue powder

½ cup of water

3 teaspoons of clear vanilla

1 teaspoon of almond extract (if desired)

6 cups powdered sugar

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the meringue powder and water.  Mix until meringue powder is dissolved, scrape the bowl, add vanilla and almond and continue mixing until peaks form (3-4 minutes).  Add powdered sugar and continue mixing until icing is smooth.  More water or powdered sugar may be necessary to get it to the desired consistency. 

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Purple Flowers

I fitted my purple icing bag with a #104 petal tip.  When you are piping the petals, the bigger end of the tip should be at the bottom near the cookie sheet.  These can be piped on flower nails but I chose to pipe them directly on to my cookie sheet to save time.  There really isn't a way to mess these up.  Like I said, they are not a specific flower.  Just have fun with it!  

While holding the big part of the petal tip to the cookie sheet, I piped a half circle. I continued piping half circles while turning my cookie sheet until it made a complete flower.  Done!  You could certainly leave your flower as is or add some small details.  

I added some of my favorite sprinkles.  Since I have chubby steak fingers, I use my handy tweezers (purchased from Karenscookies.net) to place them where I want them. 

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Leaves

I used a #352 leaf tip for my leaves.  Simply hold the tip place the tip vertically next to the flower and squeeze the icing.  Stop squeezing when you get the leaf shape you're going for then gently lift up to form the tip of the leaf. 

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Pink Flowers

The pink flowers mimic roses but have more of a flat effect.  I used a #18 star tip for these flowers.  Begin piping in the middle and consistently squeeze while you pipe in a circle, counter-clockwise until you the flower is the size you want.  If you make it too big, it won't look like a flower however.  You can also add leaves to these as well.

I set my cookie sheet aside and let the flowers dry for several hours.  Once they harden, I carefully removed them from the wax paper and placed them on an iced cupcake.  

How sweet AND simple?!  These would make a lovely addition to your Mother's Day celebrations. Let us know if you try this! 

Erin

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Guest Contributor: Erin Heflin

I have always had a passion for all things creative. I can honestly say however, that I never thought my creative passion would lead me to baking and decorating cookies.  Before I started making cookies I was always a “brownie out of a box” kind of girl.  My husband would attest to that.  :)  

 It wasn't until I fell in love with the idea of decorating cookies that I really took an interest in baking and learning more about good ingredients, etc.  I now love to bake cupcakes, cakes and cake bites too.  

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to create something that makes other people happy.  I am looking forward to sharing some fun things with you!

You can follow Erin

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