Guest Blog by Kim Berry from kimsdiytribe ♥

I met Kim through our mutual love of blogging and crafts, we got to chatting and have worked together to Guest Blog for each other. Kim is the creator of Kimsdiytribe where she brings people together with a passion for craft and cooking. Kim did an amazing job on a blog post about Painting and Stamping Tea Bags that came from my original post about beautiful artsy endeavours with teabags. I love Kim’s profile pic on her blog – “Given enough glitter I could rule the world!” Says it all ♥ I really hope you enjoy this guest blog written by Kim, whose passion for cooking is truly shown here. As a special bonus there is a free download for a delicious Tea Party Treat at the end.

I asked Kim a few questions about herself:

Where are you from? I am based in St. Petersburg, Florida. I have lived here for 46 years.

How long have you been a blogger? I’ve been blogging for 2 months. 

Favourite thing to bake? My favorite thing to bake is cookies for every season that my daughters and I decorate with icing.  They come out gorgeous and are quickly eaten.

Favourite movie? My favorite movie is You’ve Got Mail.

Favourite Song? My favorite song changes by the month.

What inspires you? My inspiration literally comes from EVERYWHERE.  Sights, smells, colors, and being highly curious.

Twisted Tea Party by Kim Berry from kimsdiytribe

When my girls were little they loved playing “tea party”.  They would get dressed up as the preferred princess of the moment, complete with brightly colored plastic jewelry, high heels, and a tiara. Given we live in hot and sunny Florida they grew up drinking what mommy liked – plain, brewed, black, iced tea.  They would ask me to fill their little pink, plastic teapot with “real tea” and I would always surprise them and do one better. I would fill their tea pot with our ice tea and whip up a few “tea party- worthy” snacks. I would use their little plastic dishes to serve my little ladies in waiting.  They would always looked so thrilled and “ooh” and “ahhh”. Their tea parties were as much fun for me as for them since I got to feel like a mommy rock star on those occasions. And we all know you take those moments whenever you can get them- Lol.  
As the girls out grew the dressing up and pink plastic teapot they did not outgrow the desire to have a “mom tea party”.  Their tastes changed and they wanted to experience a slightly more authentic tea party so we did some research together. We decided we would still be blasphemous and drink our ice tea in this ninety plus degree weather, but now out of our new favorite ceramic teapot and our porcelain cups and saucers.  Our boldest undertaking was to make scones. We had never tried one before so I started baking several different types. We loved them! Finally, I got brave enough with the basics to make my own recipe using tart, dried cherries and lemons which is still our favorite to this day.

Here’s my recipe for Tart Cherry Scones with Lemon Drizzle ♥
Ingredients for Scones:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 6 Tbsp. cold butter (cut into small cubes)
• 1 cup heavy cream (plus extra to brush on scones before baking)
• 1 cup of dried cherries

Glaze:

• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Put first 5 ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.  The mixture should look coarse and crumbly.  

Pour this out into a bowl, toss cherries into the mix to coat.  Then make a well in the center of the crumbly mixture.

Pour the heavy cream into the well and gradually combine using a spatula or fork.  Be careful not to overwork the dough. It will not hold together at this point. That will happen in the next step. Dump the crumbly mixture onto a floured board and press together using your hands. 

Press into approximately an 8” square.  Cut into 3 rows both horizontally and vertically creating 9 smaller squares.  Cut each of these squares into triangles by cutting diagonally, corner to corner.  

Gently brush the exterior surfaces of each scone with the remaining heavy cream and place on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 20 minutes but keep your eye on them. Once they have reached the level of golden brown coloring you prefer, take them out of the oven. We like our scones darker than the norm.  (I guess we don’t do anything “normal”- Lol)

As the scones cool a bit, mix the lemon juice, zest and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.  If the glaze is not drizzling consistency then feel free to add a bit more sugar or water as needed.  Drizzle the glaze on slightly warm scones and serve immediately. (Although, they keep quite well for a couple of days in an airtight container, if they last that long!!)

Tea sandwiches were the next addition to our grown-up mother daughter tea party.  We are on the coast and thought we needed something light and refreshing to go with our unconventional twist on tea parties.  Crab salad was the perfect choice! It’s a recipe I made when we first discovered we all liked crab. I whipped up a batch and served it on tiny slices of pumpernickel bread.  

Ingredients:

• 8oz. Crab meat – be sure to remove any bits of shell (You can substitute imitation crab if you choose)
• 3 sliced green onions
• 1 large rib of celery diced
• Juice from half a lemon
• ½ cup to ¾ cup of mayonnaise (We are always watching calories so we go light on the mayo and loosen the mixture with a couple of Tbsp. of water if needed.) 
• ½ cup of grated cheddar cheese
• 1 Tbsp. of poppy seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 loaf of cocktail pumpernickel (or rye) bread for serving

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and allow to chill and blend in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.  Eat and enjoy as a salad, stuffed in an avocado half or in mini sandwiches as shown.  

One last snack was needed to round out our trio of treats and it needed to be something that went well with tea, not overly sweet but would pair well with the other foods.  I chose a cookie recipe. Basically it starts with an almost pie crust type of dough and has a spicy, slightly sweet nut filling. We call them Walnut Bowties.

Ingredients for the crust:

One recipe of your favorite pie dough or a box of pre-made pie dough from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. 

For the filling:

• 2 ½ cups of finely crushed walnuts
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• ¼ cup of honey
• ¼ tsp each of the following spices: cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom
• 2 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Put all filling ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. 

Roll the pie dough into a rectangle.

Cut dough into 2 inch squares. 

Place a heaped Tbsp. of filling in center of each dough square.

Pinch together opposite corners of the dough to create the “bow tie” appearance.  

Bake in oven for approximately 15-20 min.  

Remove when they reach the desired level of doneness.  Enjoy!!

We brewed and iced our tea, sat down and enjoyed our slightly unconventional idea of the perfect tea party.  We talked, laughed and remembered how it all started with a pink plastic teapot. Tea definitely has special powers.  Powers to connect generations, cultures and traditions. I hope you enjoy trying our twisted tea party recipes and invent a few of your own.  Let me know your favorite tea party treats. (P.S. Here’s a free bonus…A printable recipe card for my Apricot Tea Cake . Yes, it uses actual tea in the recipe. Justine’s blog inspired this one!)

To follow Kim have a look here:

• Facebook
• Kim’s DIY Tribe Page
• Instagram
• YouTube

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Kim’s tea party with her children and the memories that will create for them all. Let’s hope it becomes a family tradition that is passed on through the generations. For more tea party ideas check out my post on How to Create the Perfect Tea Party.

Disclosure: Occasionally I link to companies using affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link and chose to make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate you supporting my blog ♥