Guilt Free Snacking!!

So...My secret is out, as far as my passion for tea is concerned, but until now, I've never really confessed that I am also an avid, sometimes compulsive snacker.  Guess that one's out of the hat now too, but with this post, I am waving my snacking flag proudly and guilt-free...

I'm on holidays this week, very fortunate to be able to spend Family Day Week with my kids, and I decided to take this opportunity to spend some time with them in the kitchen.  So far we have overcome my fear of pie pastry (with the help of my dear friend Jen H), decorated a kaleidescope of sugar cookies (thank you Pillsbury), made hotdog spaghetti monsters (gotta love Pinterest for that one), AND discovered a new way to bring dark leafy vegetables into my family's diet (while enjoying a guilt-free snack) - that last item is what I want to share with you here:

Baked Kale Chips with a SalTEA seasoning.



RECIPE:

1 bunch kale (stem removed) broken up into chip sized pieces, tossed in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.
Lay out on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes or until edges are slightly brown, and leaves are crispy - DON'T OVER BAKE.
Remove from the oven and toss with Steeped Tea's SalTEA seasoning.

These were so yummy, they were gone before the bowls of popcorn and pretzels!!!

So yummy in fact, that my 7 year old asked if I could make up another batch for her sleepover party tonight - how crazy is that? A house full of 7 year olds eating KALE chips and watching Shark Boy & Lava Girl.

Cooking withTea: who knew??

We have a weekend sleepover tradition in our house: Pancakes for breakfast!
Usually I fall back on an old faithful pancake recipe handed down from my mom, but recently I had a culinary epiphany, that has forever changed the way I will greet my sleepy little Dickens' and their friends when they finally make their way into the kitchen after a night of giggles, ghost stories and gossip....I substituted Cherry Pie Rooibos tea for water in my pancake mix.  The results were almost magical!!! Here's where I'm going with this....

I will be the first to claim that I am a wannabe foodie, but hardly a food snob - frozen pizza, freezer fries and grocery store roasted chickens are staples at our house during the week.  However, come weekends, there's nothing I love more then perusing my ever growing cookbook collection and dreaming up new dishes to try out.... I am probably one of the few people in the world who actually ENJOYS grocery shopping.  Wherever we travel, a stop into the local grocery store or market is a must on my to do list, and my pantry is full of exotic spices and seasonings.  There's nothing new about this - I've been doing it ever since I came back from a trip to India in the early 1990s.  That said, over the years I've noticed there are fewer and fewer new flavours that I haven't at least sampled yet, until now..... TEA!!!
I've just discovered the JOY of cooking with TEA - not just tea as a liquid base for a sauce or soup, but tea as a SEASONING and tea as a SPICE and tea as a FLAVOUR ESSENCE for a whole world of dishes!!!
Needless to say, I'm only a little excited about this, which is why I referred to the little pancake episode above as a being such an epiphanic moment for me.

Since that fateful Saturday morning, I have since experimented with other tea-y recipes... Earl Grey de la Creme pancakes, Dark Chocolate Chai Crepes, Smoky Lapsang Souchong Baked Beans, Smoky Tea-aki Rub on BBQ Steaks, Chocolate Oolong Cake.... other then that cake exploding out of the pan (serves me right for doubling a recipe first time out) everything has been a marvellous success!!
I plan to use this blog to post all my favourite recipes with tea, once I've tested them a time or two, but in the meantime let me sign off on this post with the inaugural recipes for  tea-based pancakes and invite you to stay tuned for more Steeped Tea deliciousness....

Check this out:

Cherry Pie Rooibos Pancakes

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
pinch salt
1 egg beaten
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla flavour
1 cup room temperature Cherry Pie Rooibos Tea (tea leaves included)

2 mixing bowls

In first mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
In second, larger mixing bowl, mix together beaten egg, canola oil and vanilla.  Add Chery Pie Rooibos tea and mix thoroughly.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until mixture is wet.  Try not to over mix or your pancakes will be heavy.  It's ok if the batter is a bit lumpy.

Pour the batter by large spoonful,  onto a hot non-stick griddle.  Flip pancakes when top starts to dry and bubble - keep an eye on them so they don't burn - some griddles cook hotter than others.

Serve warm with vanilla yogourt or whipped cream and fresh berries.

Heard at the Kitchen Table: 
"Honey, slow down, don't you want some syrup or whipped cream for your pancakes?"
"MMMRMph  MMMrmph MMrmph"
"Honey, please don't talk with your mouth full."
(swallow)
"No, these are the best pancakes ever!!! Can we have these every weekend mommy???"
FAMILY TASTE TEST VERDICT: These pancakes are a nice light pink/peach colour.  The vanilla flavour compliments the Rooibos perfectly and they almost don't need any topping.
A definite new addition to the Dickens family cookbook.

Earl Grey de la Creme Pancakes

Same recipe as for Cherry Pie Rooibos Pancakes, only substituted Chery Pie Rooibos tea for Earl Grey de la Creme tea.
For this version, I ground the Earl Grey de la Creme tea leaves to a fine powder in a spice grinder before steeping them.  Once the tea reached room temperature, I added it, leaves and all into the mix.

Prepare as you would the Cherry Pie Rooibos Pancakes.

Serve with Vanilla Yogourt or Real Whipped Cream.


FAMILY TASTE TEST VERDICT: The distinctive essence of Earl Grey was complimented by the vanilla flavouring in a way I've never tasted before.  Sitting down to eat these pancakes with my family made me feel like I was actually dining in an elegant high-end bed and breakfast, rather than in my busy kitchen surrounded by clutter.  My 10 year old son actually liked these pancakes better than the Cherry Pie Rooibos ones I made the day before.  Another winner for the Dickens family cookbook.

Kicking things off...

I've been dreaming about starting this particular blog for a while now, mostly because whenever I'm out with my friends, or back in the office Monday mornings, inevitably I find myself going on about the latest amazing book I started reading, or my latest cooking adventure, or my latest thrift shot foray or loose leaf tea-find.  Together we've shared lots of good laughs, along with book suggestions, recipe tips, a smattering of gossip and lots and lots of tea.

Unfortunately, I have never been one to keep a journal, and to my eternal regret, the older my children get, the busier our lives are becoming and I have started to realize how many details of our wonderful life I am forgetting. My hope for this blog is that I get in the habit of posting my adventures with Tea and Books and Friendship, while keeping everything in some semblance of order that will allow me to recall some of the funner details when my brain is otherwise mush from all the other stresses of everyday life.

I don't have the time I used to have, to cater to my creative brain in the ways I could pre-motherhood.  I used to draw and paint all the time......Having neither the time nor space to keep up that hobby these days, I've found other outlets to keep my mind sharp:

• creative interpretations of traditional family recipes (NO not all of them work) and experiments with international cuisine (I have to feed my family anyways, so why not kill two birds with one stone eh?)
• zentangle doodles, (I might not have studio space in our busy house, nor studio time in my busy life, but I can always find 10 minutes to doodle a stray thought or two out of my head with no more than a small notepad and a sharpie)
• thrift shop treasure hunting (nothing quite like retail therapy on a budget) 
• searching around southern Alberta for new flavours of tea (if I have to have a vice, loose leaf tea isn't a bad one to have)
• and now blogging (I spend so much professional time in cyberspace anyways, I am starting to feel like I'm missing out if I don't start contributing something more personal to the conversation)

I live in a small town surrounded by a wonderful community of friends who have become like family to us, but I remain half a country away from my extended family and oldest friends which can sometimes feel isolating and lonely.  There are many times I have wished I could bring both of these worlds together. Perhaps here in this space that can happen - we can each curl up with our favourite beverages and solve the world's problems by stretching our worldviews and nurturing our imaginations through the sharing of thoughts about books and cooking and life in general. 

I've got the kettle on and a tea shrine waiting to be worshipped, so pull up a cushion, wrap yourself in a warm blanket and let's chat. 

The NovelTEA Time Cafe is open.