GOD BLESS OUR VETERANS- HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

What greater love hath man than this, that he would lay down his life for his fellow man.
Today we pray that God Bless those whose lives were given for us, so that we are able to live the lives we love. As we celebrate those generous, courageous, giving, scared yet fearless, brave men & women on this day, let us give thanks that as of today, we still live in the land of the FREE and the home of the BRAVE!

And continue on in prayer and let us not forget those who are still fighting for us.

As well as those we fight.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

NO WORDS NEEDED

Post # 2 for today- I Spy Something YELLOW

Pale Yellow candlesYellow Orchid My mother's day gift from oldest daughterCutie Pie & Farm Fresh Eggs from momma & daddy's house

(and the yellow tea pot on the table in back- just noticed) Chamomile Daisies in a spring bouquet from the yard.
Hand Painted Italian Plates and my striped Kitchen walls
My FAVORITE Dessert Cookbook!
At lastly My Home. Visit Steph @ stephcupoftea.blogspot.com to play along!

Strawberries Filled with Lavender Chantilly Creme

Chantilly - a French term referring to sweet or savory dishes that are prepared or served with whipped cream.
Creme Chantilly- a lightly sweetened whipped cream, usually flavored with vanilla or liqueur and serve with a sweet dessert.
Today's recipe is a SIMPLE one. I hope you try it and enjoy!

Strawberries Filled with Lavender Chantilly Creme

1 pint of large strawberries
1 cup of very cold heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons of lavender infused sugar (or other sugar of your choice)
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Wash and thoroughly dry strawberries, keeping hull intact (this is optional but I find it makes a prettier presentation)

Lay out all ingredients before you begin. In a well chilled, preferably stainless bowl, whip cream on super high.
Slowly add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Slice the strawberries in half close to the hull.
Clean out the small hole in the center of each berry. Using a piping bag (or a sandwich baggie with a corner cut out), pipe the whipped cream into each berry and replace the tops. Arrange on a pretty plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.

One quick note. In the recipe I stress using cold cream and container. This is a vital part to making the cream whip properly. I generally place the bowl and beater bars in the freezer for a few minutes to make sure they are super cold- it makes a big difference.

Hot Cinnamon Mocha Souffles

What is a souffle? A light, airy mixture that usually begins with thick egg yolk base sauce or a puree that is lightened by stiffly beaten egg whites. It can either be savory or sweet, hot or cold. What is a souffle cup? A small round dish, with straight sides that help the souffle to rise. (I do not own real souffle dishes and hence, my souffle did not rise as nicely as it should.)
The souffle we are featuring today is a semi- sweet, light and airy, low calorie souffle, served warm.

Hot Cinnamon Mocha Souffles (serves 6)

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup + 1 tsp. of unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

4 tablespoons of strong black coffee

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

6 egg whites, brought to room temperature

Confectioners sugar for dusting the tops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place sheet pan in warming oven.

Gather all ingredients before you begin
Coat the inside of 6 souffle cups with the melted butter.

Mix one spoon of the cocoa powder with one spoon of the sugar and dust the insides of the souffle cups completely. Set aside.

Mix the rest of the cocoa powder with the coffee and cinnamon

In a very clean and completely dry metal bowl (copper if you have it), whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Take one large spoon of the whipped whites and gently blend into the cocoa mixture. Next, gently fold in the remaining egg whites making sure not to over blend.

Gently add the mixture to the prepared souffle cups smooth the tops. Place on the warm pan and place into oven. Start checking after 13 minutes, up until 15 minutes or until souffle rises completely. Serve immediately with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

It tastes so good. Light & fluffy.

A new Blog Site to visit

I know I said I would be posting about my Hot Cinnamon Mocha Souffle's today, but I meant to say Monday- which is when I intend to bake them, but until then you must visit this site for some wonderful recipes for tasty tea treats! I've been visiting another site of hers on occasion but never looked here. Sheri has other lovely sites, but this has the best recipes! I can't wait to try and make her rose & lavender jellies. I've never made jelly before, but these recipes have inspired me to try. This is a picture of her Lavender Jelly- isn't beautiful.

Visit Sheri @ http://cuppatea4sheri.blogspot.com/

Post -2 Spring Flowers

I just wanted to show how beautiful my flower garden turned out this year. It's only a year old, and now that it's blooming I can tell I'll be rearranging some things that are not working well together, but overall I'm very happy. Hope you enjoy.

The Wisteria was spectacular this year. It's three years old.

The Roses have finally started to bloom. This is "New Dawn"

My very first Clematis (The President)Samantha's own little garden that she planted (almost all by herself)When the Azaleas were in bloom
These are both Spiderwort. Can you see the bumble bee leaving with pollen on his back legs? A Garden Bouquet

Rose Flavored Cookie & Petite Four Frosting

This recipe is for a cooked frosting, but if you have your own recipe that you want to use and it calls for powdered sugar, you can put the flavored granulated sugar in a food processor and process until the sugar becomes very fine. Rose Flavored Sugar Cookie and Petite Four Frosting

1 cup of rose sented sugar (petals removed)

5 tablespoons of water

1 egg white

Place the sugar and water in a pot. Stir constantly over low heat until the syrup reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer or at soft ball stage when a drop is placed in ice cold water. Remove from heat. In a clean, dry bowl whisk the egg white until soft peaks form. Add the syrup in a slow, thin stream and beat constantly until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Will frost 24 cookies or 12- 15 Petite Fours.

Tomorrow: Hot Cinnamon Mocha Souffle's

Rose Petal Sugar

Once when wondering how I might use my roses to flavor teas, I decided to try and make sugar with the petals. The first try was a disaster. I didn't let the petals dry enough and ended up with moldy sugar. But on the second try it worked beautifully. Then I tried to think of something to do with it other that just put it in tea. So again I experimented and came up with a great recipe, frosting for sugar cookies and petite fours. When trying this, experiment with several different roses, they each have a distinct taste all their own. This is the rose I used most recently. It is "Pat Austin" named after the wife of rose expert David Austin. It has a very distinct tea taste. This is how the petals should look when dried completely.
Rose Petal Sugar

- 2 cups of course grain sugar

- Handful of dried rose petals.

Layer petals and sugar in am airtight container and store for at least 1 week, preferably 2.

Tomorrow I will post my sugar cookie frosting recipe.

I Spy- Robin's Egg Blue

I forget what these little blue flowers are called, but I have them 'stuffed' in most all of the crevices of my flagstone walk. You can walk right over them and they do not get crushed. They are simply beautiful right now.

A robin's nest in my rose arbor right out side my bathroom window. The eggs hatched Sunday night on Mother's Day!

See Steph @ stephcupoftea.blogspot.com for details