Foodie Archives - The Girl with a Cat

DIY High Tea: A Recipe Guide

sansasworld — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 22:21:49 +0000

How can I host a DIY British high tea at home?

I had the most amazing experience having high tea in an old vintage tea in England. I sat in a warm, cozy room filled with antique tea pots, flowery wall paper and the smell of freshly baked cakes. A three-tiered white serving dish sat at the center of my table, covered in finger sandwiches, scones, cake, and macaroons. Needless to say, I fell in love with the idea of drinking tea and eating fancy, delicious foods from adorable dishes. Unfortunately, back home in California, high tea is not nearly as popular as it is in England. Which means when I returned home from my trip abroad, my heart had a tea-time void that needed to be filled. So I decided a DIY High Tea was necessary.

For those who do not know what high tea is, I am not entirely sure either to be quite honest. I have been scolded for explaining it incorrectly in the past, so let’s just stick to thinking of high tea as a social outing that involves yummy tea, sandwiches and desserts.

Without many options for high tea in So Cal, I decided to make a guide on how to have your own high tea at home. It is full of some amazing recipes that I found from my favorite food bloggers. I included a lot of options as well, just incase a few recipes don’t hit the spot for you or your guests.

The structure of high tea is simple, and if you don’t have a three tiered dish like this one, just use separate pretty plates or dishes!

The Bottom Tier

Finger Sandwiches: This tier is all about variety! Choose a few recipes and have one (or two) of each. Here are some of my favorite recipes.

This delicious option combines the deliciousness of avocado with the famous egg salad sandwich. Yes, it is a spicy avocado egg salad sandwich, and you will LOVE it.
Now, one for the meat lovers. These mini Italian club sandwiches will have you reaching for more.
For those who are more traditional, these cream cheese tea sandwiches are delicious and adorable.

The Middle Tier

Scones with clotted cream and jam: This is the essential part! Of course sandwiches are delicious, but the scones make for the classic high tea experience.

This is my scone after I added clotted cream, but before I added jam. I inhaled it immediately after putting on jam and my camera wasn’t quick enough to get a picture!

Scones:

For the fun and fruity scone lover in your life, these dark chocolate cranberry scones will be everything you could want, and more.
If you’re looking for the traditional scone recipe, you cannot go wrong with this easy and delectable option.

Clotted cream: If you have never heard of clotted cream, you are missing out! And I don’t just mean missing out like you missed a shooting star, it’s more like you missed your BFF’s birthday party and Beyoncé showed up. It is basically a thick and soft cream. Not quite cream cheese, but not quite sour cream. The taste is mild, but the cool texture of the cream on the flakey scone is THE BEST. The only stores in the US I have found it at are World Market (called Double Devon Cream), and Whole Foods! Try making your own if you don’t have a World Market or Whole Foods nearby.

You will also need your favorite jam! If you are serious about this and want to make your own… more power to you. But I am OK with picking up an apricot spread and spending my time on the clotted cream.

The Top Tier to your DIY High Tea

Dessert (AKA cake and macaroons): The final stage! Unless you are my grandma and eat the cake first.

Carrot cake is very popular out here in England, and sorry America… but it is so much better here! Luckily, now that I am back to the states, I have this recipe to go off of and make sure I can have it whenever I want.
Want those famous macaroons, but aren’t sure if you can make them yourself? Look no further, because you CAN! Not only can you make these salted caramel macaroons, you will lick the bowl when you’re done.

The Tea for your DIY High Tea

The easiest, but most essential part is choosing your tea. Grab some of your favorite tea bags and put them into the cutest tea pot you own. If there is one thing you get out of this post it should be to PUT MILK IN YOUR TEA. Yes, I’m yelling. If you haven’t tried it, please please please do! My favorite is black tea with cream. It maintains the mild but delicious taste of the tea, with a whole lot of added creaminess.

Now go off, gather your friends and enjoy great food and even better times. Let me know how it goes. Looking for other ways to intentionally gather with friends? Check out my DIY paint and sip night post!

The post DIY High Tea: A Recipe Guide appeared first on The Girl with a Cat.

DIY Paint and Sip Night

sansasworld — Wed, 24 May 2023 00:03:02 +0000

How to host a paint and sip night

I’ve been looking for ways to be more intentional with my get togethers. Sure, the come on over and sit on the couch and have some drinks is nice. But as the host, I start to get that internal panic, “is everyone having fun? How else can I entertain?” Hosting can feel like a lot of pressure, and I think that feeling is made worse when there isn’t a set itinerary or planned out activities.

I consider myself an introvert, so any get together is usually accompanied by lots of indecision on whether I want to attend at all. But recently I have found myself wanting more of that social interaction. It seems like many of the exciting times we get together in our 20s are centered on celebrations, someone is getting married, having a baby, or graduating from college. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good celebration! But I think we should start to replace our casual hang outs with something more exciting, even if we aren’t celebrating anything or anyone.

SO, I am on the quest for better, more intentional gatherings. I recently started reading The Art of Gathering, and although I am not far enough to start putting my learnings from Priya Parker into action, I did host my first intentional gathering!

Who doesn’t love a paint and sip? Idk, but they are no friend of mine. Thus, my DIY Paint and Sip Night was born. I’m including all of the elements I took into consideration, and some fun tips for how you can host your own paint and sip night too!

1. Who to invite to your paint and sip night

I started with my guest list (you may want to swap step 1 and 2, totally up to your preference). This was important to me, because who I am inviting will determine the location, the activities and the food. I even put my guest list above choosing a date. I have a small group of friends, so I prefer deciding on a date together, to maximize the turnout and include everyone. So first, decide who you want to paint and sip with, then invite them.

2. Setting a date for your paint and sip night

I like to set a date after I’ve come up with my guest list, so that I can work with my friends to find a date that works for all, or most of us. But of course if you’ve got a big flourishing list of potential guests, you may want to set the date first and whoever can come, comes!

Other than finding a date that works for most of my friends, I also like to consider the day of the week and optimal time frame.

Weeknight vs. weekend: I love having fun on weeknights, but if there are drinks involved, who wants to wake up at 6 a.m. after a paint and sip?

Time of the day: Should we wind down with a paint and sip? Or use it to start our day? Don’t forget, if you’re hosting during a meal time, you should be feeding your guests more than just snacks!

3. Food and drinks for a DIY paint and sip night

Great, you’ve got a date and guest list. Now if you’re like me, this step is the best part. Setting the menu for a paint and sip night can be so much fun. Start off by setting some of the basics.

What time is my paint and sip? If you’ll have guests over around noon, or 5 p.m. it is best hosting etiquette to provide a meal for your guests. If you want to avoid that and just stick to snacks, be sure to choose a timeframe that avoids those major meal times in step 2.

I decided on a 4 p.m. start time, starting with appetizers and wine, and making our way to spaghetti and meatballs as the main course. No, spaghetti and meatballs is not the cleanest meal, but I’ve been leaning into my Italian heritage and wanted to share it a little bit with my friends!

I personally think appetizers are the most important part of a party. They are a key discussion piece, they keep your guests fed and happy, and they’re delicious, duh. You can never go wrong with a charcuterie board, so my appetizer was a board full of delicious meats and cheeses from Trader Joe’s, along with their mini baguettes, and fig jam.

Some other paint and sip friendly appetizers are these mini caprese skewers, grilled peach and burrata crostinis, or these honey sriracha turkey meatballs.

As for drinks, this is a great place to get your guests involved. Ask each of your guests to bring their favorite bottle of wine. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but by everyone bringing a bottle, you can ensure there is something everyone likes, and you get to have fun sampling each other’s wines!

4. The actual painting at your DIY Paint and Sip night

Oh yeah, we gathered to paint huh? Once the drinks are flowing and the appetizers start to disappear, it’s a great time to start on the painting portion of your at home paint and sip night. There are a few key logistical considerations to make with this.

Where will you paint? I have a small apartment, so there weren’t many options for me. But you’ll want to paint somewhere that you won’t be distraught if someone spills a bit of paint (or wine), and somewhere that is comfortable to sit. For my paint and sip night, this meant setting up pillows and blankets on the floor, around my living room coffee table.

What will you paint with? If one of your friends is a creative, or has paints of their own, awesome! But as the host, you should be providing the materials. I got water color paint, brushes, and paper from Target.

Will you have guided painting, or is it a free for all? You could set up a paint as you go video on YouTube like this one, or everyone can find something that inspires them and paint away. We went the route of painting on our own because we all had different tastes. But it was so fun to see what everyone came up with at the end.

6. Other activities for your paint and sip night

I know, a paint and sip should be enough. But once the drinks are flowing and you’re done painting, your guests may not be ready to leave. Have a few other activities up your sleeve so that you don’t have to panic when there is nothing left to do. We personally always have Scattergories on hand (our favorite game ever!) But this time we also had a TikTok challenge we wanted to do. The challenge includes everyone being blindfolded, and dancing to a selected song while being recorded. Then you can remove your blindfold and laugh at how differently everyone danced to the same song! So fun, but I will spare you from watching the footage.

7. Set the ambience for your paint and sip night

Part of my goal for more intentional gatherings, includes taking it a step further! I want everyone to have a great time, and enjoy great food. But I also want to set a great ambience for people to be transported into our get together, and away from any worries or outside life!

Light every candle you have in your house, grab the prettiest bunch of flowers from Trader Joe’s and find a great playlist.

With great guests, delicious food, fun activities, and a specially curated ambience, your guests are sure to love your DIY Paint and Sip night.

The post DIY Paint and Sip Night appeared first on The Girl with a Cat.