We always grow lots of string beans in the garden. We always think we haven’t planted enough beans so you know the drill (pun intended) … we add “just a few more” to the drill for good measure. Well, those vines sure can produce!
Green String Beans
After a few “feeds” of boiled green beans served as a side veggie topped with butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, I find it’s time to do something else with them. A great way to serve the green beans is in a Green Bean Casserole which is my featured recipe today. Continue reading Green Bean Casserole Recipe→
Victoria Sponge Cake – sometimes called Victoria Sandwich – is one of the most basic, simple cake recipes. Essentially, it is made with basic pantry ingredients, filled with a favorite jam and whipped cream, and is unfrosted. Continue reading Classic Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe→
Today, I am making Peach Crumble for dessert. Mid-summer always brings an abundance of lovely seasonal fruits and I adore peaches so it is never a problem coming up with wonderful ways to use them. Continue reading Perfect Peach Crumble Recipe→
Teatime Server filled with tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets
One of my favorite meals to prepare (and enjoy) is afternoon tea. There are so many options for the menu and tea table setting. Today, I am sharing photos from an early summer afternoon tea where I featured Aynsley’s Garden Gate teaware on my tea table.
Delicate Lily of the Valley on the Tea Table
My sweet little Lily of the Valley made an appearance as the main bouquet on the tea table as well as miniature versions in tiny vases at each place setting.
Dainty Lily of the Valley in Miniature Vases Mark Each Place Setting
I don’t have recipes published for all of the foods presented on this tea table but, for those that are published, I will provide hotlinks to the recipes.
Table Set for Teatime
But, first, I am introducing a vintage tea set (circa 1930s) – the Garden Gate pattern from Aynsley. There weren’t many pieces available at time of purchase but, as soon as I saw my beloved lupins on the teaset, I knew I had to have whatever pieces were available! Lupins grow wild in various colors along Prince Edward Island roadsides in June and their colorful presence is highly anticipated each year.
Colorful Lupins in PEI
The blue and gold-edged tea plates feature a border of sprays of colorful flowers (including purple and pink lupins) and garden gates.
Aynsley “Garden Gate” pattern Tea Plate
The matching cream and sugar are quite large but display the pattern very well.
Open Sugar Bowl in Aynsley’s “Garden Gate” patternAynsley creamer in Garden Gate Pattern
There were no cups and saucers available with these pieces though I know they do exist. I’ll keep an eye out for them in my travels so they can be added to my teaset. Part of the charm of being a teacup and teaware collector is the thrill of a find where and when you least expect it and that will complete a cherished set.
When I am setting a tea table, I don’t worry about having all the teaware match unless it is for a formal event. I find mixed pieces, so long as they somewhat match, lend a more curated and interesting look to the table. So, in this tea setting, I mixed and matched some suitable teacups in with the plates.
Most of my teacup collection is floral in some way. I am not particularly drawn to teacups with scenes on them; however, I came across a pair of these Royal Vale cups and saucers (pattern no. 7382) that feature a thatched English cottage set amidst a garden. Apart from the lovely reminder they gave me of past visits to the Cotswolds, I immediately knew they would complement the Garden Gate tea set and I believe they do.
Royal Vale Cup and Saucer Featuring English cottage and garden
For the teapot to hold our King Cole Orange Pekoe tea we enjoyed with the afternoon tea, I chose the Royal Denby (pattern no. 301202) teapot with a larkspur spray. The floral motif, along with the pastel colored teapot with an ivory background and yellow and green trim, blended in well with the floral theme of the tea.
Royal Denby Teapot with Larkspur Pattern
I used a three-tier server for the food but it is not a traditional three-tier server of plates. Rather, it is fold-up server which makes it compact for storage when not in use. This stand is lower in height than a traditional three-plate stand so makes it easy for teatime companions to see each other across the table. I think it presents the three courses of tea fare quite attractively.
Teatime Fare
So, now the menu for our three-course traditional afternoon tea. A traditional afternoon tea will have three courses – a sandwich (or savory) course, scones course, and a sweets course and the items are eaten in that order. Starting, of course, with the sandwich course, I chose two kinds of sandwiches – cucumber with an avocado spread and alfalfa sprouts presented on both white and whole wheat breads and dainty pinwheel sandwiches filled with my ham salad filling (recipe here).
Teatime sandwiches, of course, are always crustless and of a two-to-three bite size.
Dainty Teatime Sandwiches
Two kinds of scones – plain and currant and orange (recipe here) – were served for the scones course.
Scones for Teatime
The scones were served with rhubarb curd (recipe here), strawberry jam, and naturally, clotted cream.
The sweets course included parfaits made with coconut Greek yogurt and rhubarb curd, Custard Sandwich Cookies (recipe here) sandwiched together with buttercream icing, and sweet little madeleines that are a traditional teatime cake.
Teatime Sweets
Colorful artisan chocolates from Jane & Sue Chocolate in Stanley Bridge, PEI, were a tasty finale to our afternoon tea.
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When you live on an Island where fishing is one of the main industries, it means you have access to wonderful fresh seafood. Yes, we are spoiled! Here in Prince Edward Island, where I reside, I make good use of seafood in my diet and in my recipe creations as I have done here with my Seafood Bubbly Bake. Continue reading My Island Bistro Kitchen’s Seafood Bubbly Bake→
Two of summer’s best flavors marry to create a wonderful summertime drink. This Rhubarb and Strawberry Cordial checks off all of the boxes one would expect to find in a non-alcoholic summertime drink. It’s super tasty, has fabulous color, is refreshing and thirst-quenching, and can be made ahead and frozen. Continue reading Rhubarb and Strawberry Cordial→
Achieving a recipe for gluten-free muffins that closely replicates wheat-based muffins can be a challenge. The good news is, however, that it is indeed possible as demonstrated by these tasty deli-style gluten-free strawberry muffins.
Gluten-free Strawberry Muffins
A large part of the challenge surrounds the right blend of gluten-free flours and starches and then finding the right combination and amount of wet ingredients since, as you probably know if you bake gluten-free, each gluten-free flour reacts differently to liquid ingredients. So, while the list of ingredients in my gluten-free muffin recipes may appear long, each ingredient is necessary when a tasty muffin is desired. Of course, I am always aiming to achieve a nicely dome-shaped muffin and one that has a lovely muffin-like texture, much the same as you would expect a muffin to be like when made with wheat flour.
Gluten-free Strawberry Muffin
Today, fresh locally grown strawberries are my featured ingredients in muffins. The berries provide a lovely little burst of wonderful flavor in the muffins. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Freshly Picked Strawberries
At the bottom of this posting, you will also find links to several other gluten-free muffin recipes I have developed.
Gluten-free Strawberry Muffins
[Printable recipe follows at end of post]
Gluten Free Strawberry Muffins
Ingredients:
¾ cup sorghum flour 1/3 cup gluten-free quick cooking rolled oats ¼ cup brown rice flour ¼ cup almond flour ¼ cup gluten-free oat flour 2½ tbsp potato starch 2 tbsp ground chia seeds 1 tbsp + ¾ tsp tapioca starch 1¾ tsp xanthan gum 1 tbsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cardamom 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten ¼ cup coconut oil 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (no artificial substitutions) 1½ tsp pure vanilla ½ cup Greek-style vanilla yogurt (or ¼ cup plain vanilla yogurt + ¼ cup sour cream) 2 tbsp whole milk mixed with ¼ tsp lemon juice (let sit 5 minutes before using)
1½ cups fresh strawberries, diced (apx. 8 oz)
3 – 4 tsp turbinado sugar (optional)
Method:
Set out the eggs, yogurt, and whole milk to bring them to room temperature. If using solid coconut oil, melt and cool it completely before proceeding with recipe.
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Prepare 12 muffin cups (each at least ½-cup capacity) by spraying each muffin cup with cooking spray or greasing individually.
Whisk the flours, rolled oats, starches, ground chia seeds, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In separate medium-sized bowl, or large measuring cup, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir in the yogurt and milk.
Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients. With large spoon, mix ingredients together just until dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Do not overmix. Gently fold in 1 cup of the diced strawberries. Batter will appear very thick, stiff, and somewhat dry at this point. This is normal for this recipe.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup to the rim. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup of diced strawberries over the muffins and sprinkle each muffin with a few grains of turbinado sugar, if desired. Transfer muffins to pre-heated oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 400°F. Bake for apx. 20 minutes, or until muffins are just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Do not overbake or muffins will be dry. Remove from oven and let muffins rest in pan for 5 minutes then gently remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 12 standard-sized muffins
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2tbsppure maple syrup (no artificial substitutions)
1½tsppure vanilla
½cupGreek-style vanilla yogurt (or ¼ cup plain vanilla yogurt + ¼ cup sour cream)
2tbspwhole milk mixed with ¼ tsp lemon juice (let sit 5 minutes before using)
1½cupsfresh strawberries, diced (apx. 8 oz)
3 - 4tspturbinado sugar (optional)
Instructions
Set out the eggs, yogurt, and whole milk to bring them to room temperature. If using solid coconut oil, melt and cool it completely before proceeding with recipe.
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Prepare 12 muffin cups (each at least ½-cup capacity) by spraying each muffin cup with cooking spray or greasing individually.
Whisk the flours, rolled oats, starches, ground chia seeds, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In separate medium-sized bowl, or large measuring cup, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir in the yogurt and milk.
Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients. With large spoon, mix ingredients together just until dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Do not overmix. Gently fold in 1 cup of the diced strawberries. Batter will appear very thick, stiff, and somewhat dry at this point. This is normal for this recipe.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup to the rim. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup of diced strawberries over the muffins and sprinkle each muffin with a few grains of turbinado sugar, if desired. Transfer muffins to pre-heated oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 400°F. Bake for apx. 20 minutes, or until muffins are just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Do not overbake or muffins will be dry. Remove from oven and let muffins rest in pan for 5 minutes then gently remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
Yield:12 standard-sized muffins
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For other Gluten-free Muffin Recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:
As regular followers of my food blog will know, I love china teacups and teapots! I use them regularly and, in fact, enjoy my daily afternoon tea break with tea in one of the teacups from my collection. Today, my afternoon tea is a little bit more formal than usual and it is centered around PEI’s official floral emblem – the Lady’s Slipper which blooms in June.
Lady’s Slipper – The Provincial Flower of Prince Edward Island
The Lady’s Slipper is not an altogether commonly found flower in PEI though it does indeed exist in both pink and white. I have long adored these beautiful orchids and have amassed a collection of Lady’s Slipper themed dishes and china so, today, I have selected a couple of my Lady’s Slipper teacups, cake plate, teapot, and creamer for teatime.
My latest (at time of writing) Lady’s Slipper teacup acquisition is the lovely Lady’s Slipper pattern from Elizabethan’s Canadian Provincial Flowers series.
Elizabethan Fine Bone China Lady’s Slipper Cup and Saucer
The cup has a potbellied shape and sits upon a stylish little scalloped pedestal base. The cup features heavy embossing as well as gold trim on the rim, handle, and just above the pedestal base. The handle is a classic loop broken style.
A large pink and white Lady’s Slipper set amidst green leaves adorns the front of the cup. A tiny Lady’s Slipper appears on the inside rear of the cup and a slightly larger on the reverse exterior, both mirroring the large floral display on the front exterior of the cup.
The companion cup and saucer I have chosen for my tea table is also from Elizabethan Fine Bone China but is in a different shape with straighter sides. The floral motif on this cup is the same as the potbellied cup above.
Elizabethan Fine Bone China Cup and Saucer Featuring Lady’s Slipper pattern
So, it’s obvious that pink is going to factor significantly into my color scheme for today’s teatime. I have selected tea-sized napkins with a pink background and, not surprising, a teacup pattern! A basic flat fold is simplistic, especially on a small tea table.
Simple Flat Napkin Fold
As it is frowned upon to pick Lady’s Slippers because the orchids tend not to rejuvenate themselves if plucked from their natural habitat, I obviously do not have any of the lovely orchids on my table. Instead, I went to my backyard flower garden and picked a selection of pretty pink and white tulips.
An Array of Pink Tulips from my Garden
My choice of teapot features, not only the Lady’s Slipper, but an iconic PEI lighthouse and a lobster fishing boat. There is no manufacturer’s mark on the teapot so I have no information on its origins.
Pottery Teapot Featuring the Lady’s Slipper, a Lighthouse, and Fishing Boat
I came across a small creamer that has a matching pattern to that of the teapot. The creamer was manufactured by Jubilee Fine Bone China (England).
Creamer with PEI Scene
I think the teapot and creamer make a lovely set. Today, for our teatime, the teapot is holding King Cole Orange Pekoe Tea.
Matching Teapot and Creamer with Lady’s Slippers, Lighthouse, and Lobster Fishing Boat
Because we are making teatime a little special event today, we are starting off with Grapefruit Mimosas, a lovely cool and refreshing drink.
A Tall Glass of Grapefruit Mimosa
So, of course, we are going to begin with the savory course of afternoon tea and then work our way through the scones course, and then finish off with a selection of delectable small desserts. I don’t have recipes published for every food item in this posting but, for those that I do, I will put the hotlinks into the text for easy access.
Two-tiered server filled with Scones, Cucumber Sandwiches, and Mini Lobster-stuffed Croissants
Here’s what my tea table looked like with the savory and scones courses. While I will sometimes put all three courses on a three-tier server and serve it all at once to the table, today I opted to use a two-tier server for the first two courses and then cleared the table from courses one and two and brought out the sweets plate separately.
Lady’s Slipper Themed Teatime Table
Typically, for the savory course, I will provide two to three different items. That, of course, is dependent upon what I am offering and how substantial the offerings are. On today’s tea table, I have two items, the quintessential Cucumber Sandwiches in open-face fashion and the more substantial Mini Lobster Croissants served on a bed of lettuce.
Open-faced Cucumber Tea Sandwich
I have used mini croissants and stuffed them with the same filling as I use in my lobster rolls (recipe here). For teatime fare, I prefer to use the smaller canner lobsters as the pieces are much smaller and identifiable when used in smaller sandwiches or croissants. Using the larger market lobster means chopping the meat resulting in the shapes of the claws, etc., often being lost when used to fill small sandwiches. Everything for teatime should be proportionately small sized and dainty. The items are not meant to be full meal-sized portions.
Mini Lobster Croissants Perfectly Sized for Teatime
How scrumptious does this look!
Mini Lobster Croissants and Open-faced Cucumber Sandwiches
I have opted to use plain scones for today’s teatime. The recipe I have used is my Currant and Orange Scones (click here for recipe) but I have left the currants and orange zest out, resulting in melt-in-the-mouth plain scones. Can you see the layers of buttery good flakiness!
Homemade Scones
The toppings for today’s scones include the traditional strawberry jam along with rhubarb curd (recipe here) and clotted cream, of course.
Strawberry Jam, Rhubarb Curd, and Clotted Cream for Scones
I added a wee bit of pink gel food coloring to my Rhubarb Curd to achieve this pretty deep pink color. Left to its natural color, the curd is more of an orange shade.
Pretty Pink Rhubarb Curd for Scones
I am not going to venture to weigh into whether the proper way to apply clotted cream is before or after the jam or curd is applied to the scone. I am going to take the diplomatic approach and say I like it both ways!
Scones Course of Afternoon Tea
And, then of course, there is the pièce de résistance – the dessert or sweets course! Again, I typically provide a selection of 2-3 sweet treats for teatime, sometimes (but not always) featuring a signature dessert as I have done today.
Sweets for Teatime
Miniature Victoria Sponge Cakes filled with strawberry jam and whipped cream and topped with a fresh strawberry are the signature dessert for today’s teatime.
Miniature Victoria Sponge Cake
Pretty little pink French Macarons are often a teatime offering and they certainly fit into today’s color scheme! Vanilla flavored, the Macarons are filled with buttercream icing.
Pretty Pink French Macaron
Melt-in-the-mouth Melting Moments Cookies covered in a delectable pink buttercream frosting are always a teatime favorite. The recipe for my Melting Moments can be found here.
Melting Moments Dressed in Pink Buttercream Frosting
As an added treat to the sweet plate, I have included some locally handmade artisan chocolates produced by Jane and Sue Chocolate of Stanley Bridge, PEI. How grandly did the color of these marbleized chocolates fit in with my tea table color scheme! I simply could not resist including them.
Pink and Purple Marbleized Chocolates
A sugar high for days!
Plate of Sweet Treats to end off Teatime
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into our afternoon teatime! Have a lovely week, everyone!
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These Deli-style Strawberry Muffins are a must make when local strawberries are in season. Those lovely plump, juicy berries add wonderful flavor to a muffin batter that is lightly spiced with cardamom and nutmeg and has just a whisper of citrus notes. Continue reading Deli-style Strawberry Muffins→
Lupin Patterned Cup and Saucer by Windsor Bone China
June is one of my favorite months of the year. Prince Edward Island is so incredibly colorful with verdant green fields and the tilled red soil freshly planted with crops at this time of year. Against this backdrop are the many wildflowers that bloom in June and none are more prolific or more beautiful, in my opinion, than the tall, elegant, colorful lupins. These stunning wildflowers are the inspiration for today’s Teatime in the Lupins. Continue reading Teatime in the Lupins→
For those of you who are regular followers of my food blog, you know my love of rhubarb! I am always creating new recipes for it and that includes this fabulous beautiful-colored Rosy Rhubarb Jelly made from the strained juice of cooked rhubarb. With the smaller household in mind, I have created this stunning Rhubarb Jelly recipe to be a small batch – it should yield 3 half-pint and 1 quarter-pint jars. Continue reading Rosy Rhubarb Jelly Recipe→
This classic Broccoli Salad is wonderfully tasty and can be served with a number of different meals. It is great for potlucks, cookouts, and picnics (provided, of course, it is kept cold due to the mayo and sour cream content). Continue reading Classic Broccoli Salad Recipe→
Goat Cheese and Basil Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Designed with the smaller household of two in mind, the recipe for these delectable Goat Cheese and Basil Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts is easily scalable to the number of servings required. So, for example, if you need four servings, simply double the ingredients called for in the recipe. Continue reading Goat Cheese and Basil Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts→
These Custard Sandwich Cookies bear some resemblance to those that many know as Melting Moments, my recipe for which can be found here. The primary difference between these Custard Sandwich Cookies and Melting Moments is that the latter contains cornstarch giving the cookies what is commonly known as a “short”, ever-so-slightly crisp, texture while the Custard Sandwich Cookies contain vanilla custard powder that gives them a wonderful soft, creamy, and slightly crumbly texture as well as additional flavor and a more yellowish color. Continue reading Custard Sandwich Cookies Recipe→
St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect time to create and serve a delightful St. Patrick’s Day Grazing Board filled with all kinds of green, orange, and white snacking foods! Continue reading St. Patrick’s Day Grazing Board→
Sharper and with a tangier taste than lemon curd, lime curd (in its natural state) is a slightly duller color than the traditional lemon curd with which most people are probably more familiar. One would think lime curd would automatically have a lime green color but this is not the case as the juice from limes is actually a very pale bland color. I added just a touch of green gel icing coloring to brighten up the curd and give it a pretty lime green color, more consistent to what might be expected of the appearance of a lime curd. Continue reading Luscious Lime Curd Recipe→
This self-saucing Clementine Sponge Pudding, baked in a bain marie, consists of a lovely citrus-flavored sauce topped with a light-as-air sponge cake. The pudding is proportionately sized for two servings making it ideal for the small household. Continue reading Clementine Sponge Pudding for Two→
As I write this post, it is a statutory holiday known as Islander Day here in Prince Edward Island. As such, I thought it would be an appropriate time to showcase my small collection of PEI commemorative cups and saucers. Continue reading An Islander Day Cream Tea→
(Mostly) PEI and Maritime Food – Good Food for a Good Life!
