Tea and More!

A short time ago my cousin posted a picture on her Facebook page for healthy banana splits [yogurt instead of ice cream].  The picture looked so good, I decided to give it a try, but first I had to find some banana split dishes.  A trip to a nearby Salvation Army store provided them.

~ Picture my cousin posted ~

Banana Split dishes at Salvation Army for $1.99 each

~ Banana Splits I made ~

I'm not a huge banana fan, but I know they're healthy and this way of eating them is palatable.  I used plain Greek yogurt and flavored it with a bit of almond flavoring. Next time I will try a fruit flavored yogurt. Harney & Sons Citron Green tea was a great accompaniment.

The first thing I made in the Ninja Air Fryer that I received for Christmas was breaded mushrooms.  I think they would be great on a Charcuterie Board.  I've tried two different recipes so far and both were good, but not as crispy as deep fried.  My next experiment will be spraying them with Olive Oil before air frying them to see if that makes a difference.

I'm having three cousins over for a post-Christmas gathering on February 1st and am thinking about beginning our meal with a Charcuterie Board.  I enjoy watching Natascha's Kitchen on Facebook and she recently did a Charcuterie Board demo.   They are so versatile.  I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday [first time since the pandemic shutdown], and saw a lovely board that I plan to get.  Of course, tea will be an important part of the meal too.

I'm also having a lady my son works with over for tea on Jan. 30th.  She's the Executive Director of an Independent Living facility and wants to discuss incorporating tea into their activities program.  Since my Christmas decorations are still up [I'm leaving them up until my cousins come], I decided to do a light blue snowy tablescape.  I bought a pretty lantern at Hobby Lobby yesterday that will be the centerpiece.  I love Hobby Lobby!  Every year when my birthday approaches my kids ask my hubby for gift ideas.  After I got home yesterday I told him if they should ask this year tell them a Hobby Lobby gift card! ;-)  So many lovely things in that store.

I'm still working on the menu, but I'll be serving Snowflake black tea by The East Indies Tea Co. in Lebanon, PA.  It's flavored with coconut rasps and almond flakes, and is so good.  

The Plaid Poinsettia teapot [Grace's Teaware] that I ordered from Replacements, Ltd. arrived by FedEx this week.  It's not the one I ordered in early December that USPS unexplainably lost. I'm glad Replacements, Ltd. was able to locate another one.  It'll be ready to use next Christmas along with the teacups and cream and sugar bowl that I received this past Christmas.

I completed another Shutterfly album this week and sent it off for printing.  I've packed away the pictures temporarily until after my company and entertaining are over.  Below is the cover of the latest album.  It goes up to the time when my daughter was born.  Just 54 more years in photos to go.  I think I'll be scanning pictures and making Shutterfly albums for a long time to come!

What have you been doing to keep occupied this January?