Showing posts with label How To. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How To. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

High Tea Blueberry Mini Muffins (Gluten Free)

I have had several of my girlfriends offer to help with wedding plans so I had them over for high tea on Sunday to fill them in on my plans and let them know the upcoming opportunities to help.
Most of us were too hot to have any tea since we're up to 100 degree weather here in TX so we sipped ginger ale and iced cucumber water and snacked on cucumber sandwiches and mini muffins.
The muffins were quite a hit! I altered this recipe from The Chic Brûlée to make it Gluten free and they turned out wonderful!



Here's what I did:

High Tea Blueberry Mini Muffins
Gluten Free

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
¾ cup sugar plus 1 Tbls. (I used Sugar In The Raw)
2 eggs
½ cup milk (I used goat milk with a dollup of heavy cream)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups GF flour*
      1 cup brown rice flour
      2/3 cup millet flour
      1/3 cup tapioca starch
      1 ½ tsp Xanthan Gum
1 Tbls. baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

*Note: I ground the millet flour myself in the coffee grinder. 1/2 cup of millet grains will make approx 2/3 cup flour. I ground it & put it in a 1 cup measure and filled the cup the rest of the way with the tapioca starch for the 2nd cup of flour.

Directions:
• Cream the butter and  3/4 cup sugar
• Add the eggs, one at a time
• Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the ½ cup milk
• Fold in the blueberries
• Fill greased mini muffin tins (I greased mine with a silicone basting brush dipped in coconut oil)
• Sprinkle tops with remaining 1Tbls. sugar before baking (or more if you like sugary tops)
*Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 min, or until golden brown, and when tops spring back when lightly tapped (I checked & rotated every 5 min because I wasn't sure how long they would take since the original recipe was for full sized muffins)

If you don't need to make these Gluten Free, I suggest you try the original recipe on The Chic Brûlée. They look great!


Wedding Idea of the Day:
Airplane garland from old books

Thursday, December 22, 2011

I simply remember my favorite things...

Edit: Oops! I didn't mean to publish this post yet since I haven't given all of my gifts... But I got an itchy 'Publish Post' finger and forgot all about saving it as a draft! Oh well!



I got this idea from a friend of mine last year and had SO much fun doing my take on it this year.

If you have not heard the song Favorite Things from Sound of Music this won't be quite as meaningful to you. I suggest you watch it now (here). Pomplamoose has a great version of the song as well (here).

I have been gathering little 'stocking stuffer' type items that are some of my favorite things.. some of which I cannot live without (my fave Burt's Bees chapstick!).

Stuff I gathered
I tagged each item with what significantly makes it my favorite (not just tea but Harney and Sons tea, not just chapstick but Burt's Bees Medicated with Clove, etc...) and put them together in a brown paper package tied up with string. :)

I punched and cut the labels out of a Burberry envelope I had. I made little holes to attach string to with a leather punch.

Stylish Band-Aids

Burt's Bees Medicated with Clove

Maybelline Great Lash BIG

Harney and Sons Teas. Each package has an Earl Grey Imperial tea sachet. I got the little plastic pods in a novelty machine. My 3 and 4 your old nephews were more than happy to take the trinkets that came inside.

Darling little stud earrings for every outfit

My favorite Jelly Belly recipe. :) Pink Lemonade. Ingredients: equal parts Lemon and Cotton Candy Jelly Bellys

Vintage Textiles. Each package has a vintage hankie.

All together now

In a brown paper bag

String and sweet little tags on the outside (this tag is from a craft store)

Ready to go!

I only made four this year but would have liked to have unlimited funds to make lots of them to give out!

Maybe next year!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Men

If you haven't visited Art of Manliness, it is past time.
Men, read and learn.
Ladies, try not to judge the men you know for not being this manly.

Love,
Caitlin