Sister Fun Day with Tea & Baking

Heidi called me up last week to ask me what I was doing on Sunday...I thought a second and knew that I wasn't doing anything. I was excited to hang out with Heidi because even though we live closer these days it is still hard to get together.

When I lived in Cambridge there was a nice tea store where Mike and I (pre-Jacob) would go and get a cup of tea. It was also very close to where I worked and I used to stop in on hot days and get a nice fresh brewed ice tea in whatever flavor was brewed that day. We have actually bought a few tins of the many types of loose tea they sell. So I have been searching for a replacement tea shop. Which is hard to find in the area I live in now...oh how I sometimes miss living in the city.

In my search I have come across a website called TeaMap. You can search for a tea room near you by either your zip code or by selecting a city from a drop down list. I searched with my zip code and came across a few that I thought was close to my house. I found one that was 15 minutes away and that was going to be my first place to visit.

I asked Heidi if she would be interested in joining me for tea time at Cups and Saucer Tea Room...and of course she was. It was a really cute place and just the right place to try out the tea time experience. We ended up not ordering the tea time menu but from their brunch menu because we were hungrier then we thought we would be. I ordered a pot of Darjeeling tea, a potato and corn cheddar soup, asparagus and ham quiche (served with a green salad) and a Lemon Blueberry scone for dessert. Heidi ordered a pot of English Breakfast Tea, a cup of chicken and pearl soup, the asparagus and ham quiche and a Lemon Blueberry scone. All was very good and Heidi even cleared her plate!

After our tea time we came back to my house to do a little "baking" and talking. Since this month's theme is peanuts I have had my eye a recipe I found on the blog from Bakerella called Nutter Butter Balls. If you visit the link to her blog you will see all the very nice pictures of the process. I was doing the same thing when Heidi pointed it out to me...so instead of seeing my bad photos just visit her blog to see awesome photos. Here is her recipe below:

Nutter Butter Balls

1 pkg. Nutter Butter cookies (broken… use cookie with the cream center)

1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)

chocolate bark

1. Finely crush all but 5 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency.

2. Combine with cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.

3. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.

4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry.

5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy!

Makes about 30 balls.

Review: The nutter butter balls are super easy to make and I can't wait to try them with the Oreo cookies next. She also has a post using red Velvet cake which I also want to try out. I tried one but when I was totally full from tea time and not really enjoying it too much. I am going to have to try one first thing in the morning when I am super hungry to see what I think about it.