Baking Mojo Lost?

I suspect I've lost my baking mojo. First it was the lemon tea cookies for my afternoon tea party I hosted for Downton Abbey's Premiere and then last week it was brownies. Both recipes were followed to the tee and came out edible, but lacking (severely). I'm so incredibly disappointed my long streak of baking success has come to a screeching halt! I suppose you can't say you lost something until the third one comes and you lose that too, so I'll need to try to bake something this week and see if that's a wash too. If it is, I'll be in need of some baking intervention!

And just for photographic reference, below are the brownies that I made poorly. They look somewhat ok, but don't let their appearance fool you. And also for the record, I followed this recipe to the tee - maybe you'll have better luck.

A Tea Party

I'm late in updating about this, but I was SO excited about Downton Abbey's Third Season Premiere last month and decided I had to have a Tea Party! This tea party was different from what I've done before because I had to entertain seven people and had to delicately produce all the prep. It really did take some decent amount of prep because making tea sandwiches isn't exactly something you can do in advance. I literally had to wait until 45 minutes before the party start time to make the sandwiches and then do them all at once. Had I been blessed with a larger kitchen, it probably would've been fine and all ready when the guests arrived, but I ended up not having all the sandwiches complete until nearly an hour into the party! It allowed people to chat, sip tea, and watch Season's 2 amazing finale episode, so it worked out totally fine.

This menu was quite extensive so I'll include photos with links to the recipes. Not everything turned out great though -  - I'd pass on the cucumber/avocado and apple/cheddar "tea" sandwiches as they seemed a bit too gourmet for a simple tea party and I also just didn't like how they tasted. Always a hit is the egg salad tea sandwich, which is my own from scratch recipe. And I personally enjoy the pecan-goat cheese watercress sandwiches served on cinnamon-raisin bread. I am so thankful for Fresh Direct, which saved me a lot of time of having to go and lug 5 loaves of bread. I didn't realize how much bread these little sandwiches would take!

Oh and let's not forget the desserts! I made a tea cookie, which I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong (it was too crumbly), and pots de creme, which I can still taste. Aside from the homemade desserts, I bought some tea cookies from my local Irish butcher shop that imports everything from England/Ireland and my friend Lisa brought over delicious creme puffs. I hadn't had those in years so it was a real nice treat.

Hosting this party justified having to buy bigger and better teapots so I ordered these:

Aren't they so lovely and dainty?

And I pulled out all my teacup snack plates which I've collected several sets of over the course of the past year. I also received two sets of them as gifts as everyone's realized how obsessed I am with this tea hobby!

I'm hoping I can host another tea party for the season finale ... though I should really start planning now!

These Fennel, Leek, Spinach Roll Ups were AMAZING. So easy to make as well. I'm sure an adventurous type would prefer to make the dough from scratch, but I opted to buy the frozen phyllo sheets.  

The egg salad sandwiches! I "wing-it" on making this egg salad and never write down the recipe (sorry), but I will say that I use as little mayo as possible (I really dislike mayo), add celery, salt, and pepper, and some green to add a crunch. I added spinach to these.

These were the not-so-great cucumber/avocado sandwich. Next time, I'm sticking with the traditional cucumber sandwich. 

To the left: Radish Poppy Seed Tea Sandwiches (different, not my favorite, but not my least favorite either) and to the right: Pecan-Goat Cheese Watercress Sandwiches - my favorite!

Apple-Cheddar toasted sandwich - not a favorite

What's a tea party without some soda bread, clotted cream, and jams? The clotted cream is just out of this world. 

My full plate of sandwiches and tea!

Tea Selections 

And now to the dessert ... my most favorite part of any meal or tea party!

Lemon Tea Cookies. These just did not come out right. I don't know if I was having an off day (quite possible) or if the recipe is all wrong! I will not be baking these again.

Assorted shortbread cookies & cream puffs.

Pots de Creme. Oh my goodness. Whoever created this is a genius. SO rich just a few spoonfuls is enough. I served these in my demitasse cups. I really wanted to incorporate some sort of tea cup into the desserts so I'm glad this worked out! 

This tea party was quite the adventure! But so very fun and delicious! I have picked up a few tips with these parties: 

1. Freeze the bread before you make the sandwiches. It'll keep the bread from crumbling and will be easier to handle. 

2. If you do make the sandwiches a bit in advance, you can cover them with a kitchen towel, then cover the towel with a wet paper towel to keep the sandwiches from drying out (this works very well!). 

3. A tea warmer is essential and I need to add this to my collection!

I hope this inspires you to host a tea party!