8th Annual Mad Tea Party *plus* a Giveaway

Welcome to the 8th Annual Mad Tea Party hosted by Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist.

Once upon a time there was a little girl whose mom was preparing a tea party for her and her big sister.  The mom asked the little girl what theme she'd like for this tea party, and the little girl replied, "Strawberries!"  The little girl is now a grown-up 18 years old, but one is never to old to enjoy strawberries!

A Strawberry Themed Mad Tea Party

*Press Play

Candy Flip- Strawberry Fields Forever

"Who dares to taint with vulgar paint the Royal Flower Bed?

For painting my roses red someone will lose his head!"

~the Queen of Hearts

"The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back."

The Victorian comfit consisted of nuts, seeds, spice pieces, and dried fruit covered in hard sugar.  They used the treat as a breath freshener.  The confit above consists of nuts, ginger, and dried strawberries, of course!



"She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled ORANGE MARMALADE but to her great disappointment it was empty."

No orange marmalade today, but we do have lemon curd…




…for our strawberry lemonade muffins.








“Why the hell are we conditioned into the smooth strawberry-and-cream Mother-Goose-world, Alice-in-Wonderland fable, only to be broken on the wheel as we grow older and become aware of ourselves as individuals with a dull responsibility in life?”  ― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath


“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” ~Alice 


"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice very earnestly.  "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone: "so I can't take more."


Well, by all means, please tuck-in, and let's have some tea!

Do you prefer hot tea…



…or iced?  We have iced strawberry basil tea, of course!



“Yes, that's it! Said the Hatter with a sigh, it's always tea time.”  at Art @ Home!

Resources:
Everything on the table is from our MacKenzie-Childs collection except: Tablecloth:  Macy's Napkins and muffin pan:  Anthropologie Strawberry Basket:  Williams Sonoma Flatware:  Horchow's hotel collection

“And what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversation?” 

Recipe for Strawberry-Lemonade Muffins from Southern Living's Feel Good Food

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided (I used India Tree gourmet caster sugar)

1 (8-oz.) container sour cream  (I used Daisy brand)

1/2 cup butter, melted (I used Land O Lakes unsalted butter)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups diced fresh strawberries 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Combine flour and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

2. Stir together sour cream and next 4 ingredients; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently fold strawberries into batter. Spoon batter into lightly greased 12-cup muffin pans, filling three-fourths full. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar over batter.

3. Bake at 400° for 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 1 minute; remove from pans to wire rack, and cool 10 minutes.

This is one of the easiest and most delicious muffin recipes I've ever baked.

And now on to the giveaway…
I'm giving away one copy of Everything Alice pictured above.  Just fill out the form below.  Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks to Vanessa @ A Fanciful Twist for hosting!


Also Linking to:




Until next time...
Blessings! Ricki Jill