Monday, June 21, 2010

Red, White, and Blueberry









































Welcome Friends! Did you know that June is National Iced Tea Month? I decided to take this week's tea party outside on the front porch. There are no fine bone china teacups and tea pots, no three tiered tray, and not even a lace tablecloth. To celebrate summer, I have a large pitcher of freshly steeped and iced blueberry green tea served in a Kerr's canning jar.





I recently purchased this color bowl from one of my favorite nurseries. I'll have to remember to take my camera with me the next time I visit.





To go along with our refreshing iced tea, I made some fresh blueberry streusel muffins. My kids could hardly wait for me to finish my photo shoot and sink their teeth into these wonderful treats. I will have the recipes for the muffins and the iced tea at the end of this post. I hope you give them a try.


























And here's this week's tea trivia. Ice tea was invented in America by an Englishman who lived in Calcutta, India. Richard Blechynden was selling hot tea at the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair. No one was interested in drinking hot tea on a hot day, so he poured the tea over ice and served it in tall glasses. The rest is history. Now you know!


Blueberry Streusel Muffins
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C softened butter
1 egg beatened
2-1/3 C flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 C milk
1 t vanilla extract
1-1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries
Streusel:
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C flour
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 C butter
Directions
In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well. In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, alternating with milk. You may add more milk if the batter is too thick. Add vanilla extract, then fold in blueberries.
For streusel, cut butter into sugar, flour, and cinnamon until it becomes coarse crumbs.
Fill 12 muffin cups with batter. Top with streusel mixture.
Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 1 dozen muffins

Iced Blueberry Green Tea
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries
1 C sugar
1 C water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
8 C steeped green tea. You may use black tea or white tea.
In saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool. Strain syrup in a strainer, crushing the blueberries with a spoon. Squeeze lemon through strainer to catch seeds.
To steep tea, boil 8 cups of water and steep 8 bags of tea for 10 minutes. Remove bags and let tea cool.
In a large pitcher, combine blueberry syrup with tea and refrigerate until cold. Serve over ice.


I'll be joing a week's full of blog parties with the following hostesses











Thanks for visiting the Lace and Ivy Cottage.
Till next time,























38 comments:

Simply Debbie said...

HI LORNA,
SIMPLICITY THAT IS VERY ELEGANT.
SO PRETTY. YOU DIDN'T NEED TEACUPS. I THINK THIS WOULD MAKE A PRETTY MAGAZINE COVER.
IT IS AWESOME THAT YOU COULD PARTICIPATE IN 8 DIFFERENT GET-TOGETHERS WITH THIS POST...THAT IS TALENT.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK
HUGS AND BLESSINGS
SIMPLY DEBBIE

kate said...

Hey Lorna,
what a great table!!! the muffins, look wonderful cant wait to try them and the tea in those glasses are great, you went to alot of time to do this!!! thanks so much
kate :)

parTea lady said...

What a perfect setting to enjoy the iced tea and muffins. I love blueberries and will have to try your iced tea recipe. I've been making blueberry streusel muffins since I got the recipe in the 1993 Milk Calendar - yummy.

I like your mix and match china with the cheerful red placemats.

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Hi Lorna,
What a wonderful tea! Love iced tea! Your muffins have my mouth watering! I just happened to stop by and saw that you had linked up to my tea party so I've added your link to my post. You do have Martha's URL in mine however. Hope you will change that out: http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/ Thanks for sharing and thanks for joining me for Tea Time Tuesday. I hope you have a beautiful day.

Blessings,
Sandi

Unknown said...

Lorna...your tea al fresco is wonderful! I love using mason jars as drinking glasses. Adds such a touch of vintage whimsey. Your muffins are picture perfect and your tablescape so inviting!

Blessings!
Gail

Brenda ~ The Heminger Farmhouse said...

Hi Lorna :) I did not know this was National Ice Tea month...once again I'm learning new things here in blogland :) I've just started making "Sun" Tea, and have been drinking lots of it. Your tablescape looks fabulous and so festive...perfect for 4th of July celebrations :)

happy Teacup Tuesday!

Warmest, Brenda

Theresa said...

Wow Lorna! That is such a lovely tablescape! Thanks for sharing your recipes too! That sure looks tasty and I was wondering what made that tea so dark and pretty! Thanks for sharing~
Have a wonderful week, Theresa

Beansieleigh said...

Hi Lorna! What a perfect post today! LOVE your table setting, and the white wicker handle basket for your centerpiece! The muffins look wonderful, but what intrigues me more is the tea! I have made an iced tea mixture of Blueberry teabags (Celestial True Blueberry) and apple juice, which is nice once in a while; but your blueberry tea comes out a whole lot prettier, and sounds delicious! I will have to try this, so thank you for sharing your recipe! Enjoy your afternoon! ~tina

Unknown said...

Oh I did enjoy my visit ths week Iced tead in a jam jar look FAB! and the muffins too I wil have to write the recipy down hubby loves BB Muffins. Thanx for the invite

love Dawn xx

Appleshoe said...

Hello Lorna- I didn't even notice that there weren't teacups because I was enjoying your wonderful post so much. I also enjoyed "The Way I Am" playing in the background. I love that song. Take care.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh this looks so cool and yummy. I just love it. So pretty. The colors are fantastic and the recipe sounds sooooooooo good. I will definitely give this a try. Thanks so much for joining TTT, Hugs, Marty

Ro said...

Blueberry green tea made into ice tea sounds WONDERFUL! And I laughed so hard just imagining your kids anxiously waiting for you to get the perfect shot so they jump in there and get at those delicious muffins. :) Too funny.

My tea party is a little informal this week too, in fact you might even call it downright "unorthodox" ... definitely no lacy tablecloth in sight! Hope you have a moment to pop over and visit.

www.softwindsandroses.blogspot.com

Princesa Nadie said...

Meet you has been a pleasure

Kathleen said...

That looks just lovely! I have never had blueberry iced tea! Looks delicious!

spindlecottage/nannykim said...

mmm, that tea does look good. I have to cut back on sugar (watching the weight, ya know and the tri. levels for choloesterol) so perhaps I will just try some frozen berries in my tea! Everything looks nice and inviting!! Your poor kids, having to wait!!!

Martha's Favorites said...

Hi: Your table makes me just want to drive by and visit. It looks so happy and pretty. Thank you so much for sharing this delight with us. Blessings, Martha

Terri said...

You have set a lovely table on your porch, it is very inviting.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us today.
Hugs,
Terri

Yellow Rose Arbor said...

What a refreshing tea party! Love the colors! The blueberry muffins and tea look delicious!

Katherine

The Charm of Home said...

Your tea looks wonderful! And, I love your flowers.
Sherry

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

What a beautiful summer setting for a nice tea escape!!!!
Everything looks so yummy!! Charming!!

Debbie

Marguerite (Tina) Smith Hart said...

Dear Lorna;
What an awesome and original table, I just want to sit down and have a sip of tea. You set an entirely inspiring table!
Tina xo

Kathryn @ Bonafide Southern said...

Such a lovely table, and the menu looks and sound delicious! Thanks for sharing and happy TT to you!

Marigene said...

What a lovely table, Lorna...I can see why your kids can't wait for you to get done with the photo shoot! Thanks for sharing the recipes.

Tricia said...

What a lovely table! And adding the yellow flowers to the basket of muffins added SO much style! (Note to self: copy this idea!) Great color scheme!

Barbara said...

I love the simplicity of this. It is so inviting and summery. I like how you tucked the flowers into the basket. I can't imagine life without iced tea! Your playlist has a lot of my favorites.

Bill said...

Hi there, Ms. Lorna! SO pretty -- everything looks delicious, and you photographed it all wonderfully!

I was doing something today that I don't find time to do often enough these days -- visiting Tablescape Thursday participants. I was working in reverse order (thinking some who linked late might be new to blogging and not get many visits). I looked up to see how I was progressing and saw LORNA! Well, I must admit I forgot all about my orderly plan and came straight to Lace & Ivy Cottage for a visit. It's always a pleasure to see what you've been doing.

Hope you and yours have a wonderful weekend!

Warmest regards,
Bill

Lady Katherine said...

Your red white and blue Tea is wonderful! Love seeing it outdoors! My hubby loves to drink his Tea out of canning jars! I love your dishes, the blue plate is so pretty. The napkins are perfect! The flowers are beautiful, perfect for a summer Tea outdoors! Now as I love anything blueberry, your Tea has my taste buds wanting Blueberries! I loved seeing the recipes for your tea and muffins!
Thank you so much for joining me each week for Tea Time Tuesday. I been sick, and hope soon to feel well enough to visit all I have missed. I will have Tea Time up every week. Loved your Tea Today!

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Oh Wow... I can't wait to try this blueberry iced tea. That color is amazing!

Happy Foodie Friday!
:)
ButterYum

Johanna Gehrlein said...

All those pretty flowrs make the table colorfull and happy. So many nice ideas and yummy food.
Thank you for sharing all this recipes.
Greetings, Johanna

RachelD said...

Charming, cool and refreshing!!

The pictures portray a seasonal welcome and a gracious afternoon.

Thank you for inviting us!

rachel

xinex said...

The muffins and blueberry tea look so good, Lorna. Perfect for this season. What a lovely table you set!..Christine

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Cute table - so relaxing and fun. Those muffins and the tea look sooo good. Thanks for the recipes. laurie

Sara's Sweet Surprise said...

Hello Lorna~this is perfect timing...
we've just picked our blueberries.
The fresh blueberry tea looks cool and refreshing and would be a welcomed drink, especially with the heat wave we're having.
I like freezing blueberries, so that we can have fresh tarts or muffins in the winter. It's such a treat to have summer fruit in the cold of winter, don't you think?

Sweet wishes,
Sara

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I'm French, then, sorry in advance for my bad English language.

I love you blog, I love you pretty tablescape, vintage english teapot etc... I place a link of your blog on my blog today for to discover to my countrywomen that the table decorations are also very successful in other countrie than ours ! Again, congratulations for your pretty blog, I'll follow your tables as often as possible. See you soon.
Frédérique - fredecoandco.canalblog.com
Paris - France

xinex said...

Hi Lorna! So nice to see you again. This is just beautiful and those muffins and tea look delish! I am glad you gave us the recipe. I tried making blueberry tea once and it was so sour, nobody could drink it, lol...Christine

Crystal said...

Hi Lorna,
It has been awhile since I was over for a visit, so sorry I missed the tea party, maybe next time. Everything looks just perfect to sit down and have a nice, long comfortable chat.
Hope everything is going well with you. Have a blessed week.
Crystal

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