The Royal Pomegranate

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

We are fortunate enough to have a daughter whose in-laws
live in London, England. They sent to us this wonderful
magazine to view all the celebrations to honor her Majesty The Queen.

Tea Party
photo credit: Cheryl Christmas

With all the festivities going on in London at this time, I thought I would re-post some of an earlier posting. As I open up my "Sunday Times Magazine" of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration; my eyes glance down at a photo of the Queen. Yes, it is her Majesty the Queen, taking tea or a cuppa as it is called. It seems so elegant sipping tea in the middle of the afternoon. To think that even the Queen with her busy schedule knows the importance of stopping at some point, to relax and reflect before carrying on.

Tea has so many health benefits especially loose tea. I wonder how we got so far away from not taking time out of our day, as so many other countries do, to take time for tea. Maybe if we did we would feel a lot less stressed or rushed in our lives.

Taking tea is really a spa for the soul. If you have never done this why not find a time slot to fill with a nice steeped cup of tea. Find yourself a special cup and treat yourself today. Then sit back and relax as you enjoy every sip. You will feel refreshed and invigorated to then go about your day. Most importantly you will find that you will have more to give others.

I invite you to check out my etsy account for an assortment of pomegranate teas.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRoyalPomegranate

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Psalm 122:6

Photo credit: Cheryl Christmas

Monday, May 7, 2012

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is almost here and what better way to treat your mom and show her how wonderful she is than with a tea. I had a tea party for a group of women to honor the Mother's in our lives.

Photo credit: Cheryl Christmas

A Tea is like a spa for the soul and you can create one yourself for a group; or just for two.

It is all about the unique little touches that make a tea so special. So pull out your teacups and gather some

things to make your tea unique.

I like to send each person away with a small favor. The favors for this tea were made from chocolate in the shape of a purse

and hand painted with edible metallic paint. Then each candy

was placed in a chocolate brown box tied with a satin bow. I stacked them on a three tiered silver tray. My colors that I choose for my theme were Tiffany Blue, silver, gold, and brown.

I found a lovely recipe online for Lavender Scones made with edible lavender flowers. These I purchased in bulk at Better Health Market. You buy the flowers by the scoop. Don't be alarmed when you see the price for a pound because you only need a small amount.These scones had a nice light floral scent and

the perfect pairing with homemade lemon curd.

I cut the scones in half and added a dollop of

lemon curd on each scone. You can serve your scones this way or place your curd in a nice glass

dish compote complete with a beautiful silver spoon.

Lemon Curd is great served cold and spooned onto scones. It is so yummy and tastes like the filling in lemon meringue pie. Lemon curd can also be used to fill tart shells after the crusts have been baked.

I am going to give to you a quick and easy recipe for Microwave Lemon Curd. I came across this recipe some time ago and it really makes the process so much faster.

LEMON CURD
1/2 c. butter
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 1/2 t. grated lemon zest
3 eggs

Melt butter in microwave for 1 minute. Beat eggs in a glass bowl with an electric mixer until frothy. Mix in butter, sugar, lemon juice,
and zest. Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes.

Beat mixture again until smooth. Microwave on HIGH for another 3 minutes. Beat mixture again until smooth. Refrigerate until set/cool. Makes about 1 c. of lemon curd.

Photo credit: Adriana Markovich

POMEGRANATE/PEAR LOOSE GREEN TEA

The tea that was served this day was Pomegranate/Pear Green Tea which can also be

served iced. It is a wonderful tea filled with anti-oxidants. To order this tea you may go to my esty shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/theroyalpomegranate

I chose to make napkin rings from lace with a ribbon strung through in my theme color.

For an added touch to the display table I made a large shoe from bittersweet dark chocolate. Then added a chocolate name plate with "Mother" written in script and dusted in gold metallic edible paint.

The Tiffany's box on the table was the perfect touch to set off the shoe.

Tulle is a great fabric to add a nice feminine touch.