Honey Lavender Tea Bread

I had some wonderful ladies over for tea on Sunday for our ladies salon.  We get together and discuss articles and whatever else we want.  All of the women in the group are wise and insightful.  They were a pleasure to have over and I was so happy I got to have a tea party.

I must admit, I'm a bit obsessed with tea parties.  When I was little I associated them with everything grown up and elegant, and let's be honest I still do.  When we're little, there are so many aspects of the adult world that are awing and that we pretend at.  Usually, when we then have to enter that world it loses a lot of its glamor, but for me a tea party still has the same magic it did when I was a kid.

Hopefully, I have now inspired you to go recapture the joy of youth and have a tea party.  I now I went on a bit about proper scones and while I stand by everything I say, tea parties are about fun and relaxing with friends and sticking your pinky finger out.  You can have a traditional tea party with scones, little cucumber sandwiches and petit fours or you can do what my mother did for my little brother's graduation, which was chai tea, sausage sandwiches and welsh rarebit. 

Or do something simple: once Mom and I were in a tiny town on the border of Scotland and England.  We'd just arrived by train and walked around the walls of the city.  It was probably two in the afternoon and no shops or restaurants were open but we did find a Tesco's and bought some biscuits.  Our room at the bed and breakfast had an electric kettle so we had tea and biscuits and it was perfectly lovely and sophisticated.

What makes tea parties magical is taking the time to indulge a bit in treats, friends, good conversation, in short to luxuriate in the things in life that are most valuable and often overlooked.

Honey Lavender Tea Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp lavender blossoms
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup black brewed tea
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Beat milk, honey, tea, oil, egg and vanilla in large bowl.  Add lavender.
2. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger.  Mix only until combined.
3. Pour into a greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
4. Bake 45 to 60 minutes in a 350°F oven or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

From cooksrecipes.com

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