38 replies to this topic

[Snadra]

So, my faculty has hosted two or three morning teas since I was last here. Yesterday was a bit of a disaster in some ways, because we are all in the middle of reports and a zillion other end-of-term things, so the last thing any of us wanted was a marathon cooking session. Still, we did well. There were home made brownies, little cheesecakes, party pies and spring rolls, oranges (because it's orange season now) and other things. I made shortbread, which was slightly overbaked, but still disappeared. I make the kind with rice flour after a friend introduced me to it. She pats the mixture into a pan, scores it, bakes it then cuts through agai Whe it's just out of the oven. No fancy shapes, etc, which makes it very quick! I also did homemade tzatiki (with fresh mint) and hummus with pits bread triangles and cut up veggies (my houseguest did the cutting while I whirled the dips). The tzatiki was a huge hit and I will do it again (as long as cucumbers don't go back to nearly $5 each). we had a lot of people out so it didn't all get eaten, but I put out the left overs at lunch and they disappeared.

At the one we hosted before some enterprising people brought out their crockpots, and put out some hot dishes. Unfortunately I was supervising a makeup exam so I completely missed out, but apparently they were really popular and totally cleaned out at the end of the 20 minutes.

When the weather warms up we have decided we will do an ice cream bar, with home made sauces and lots of different fun toppings.

[Darienne]

When the weather warms up we have decided we will do an ice cream bar, with home made sauces and lots of different fun toppings.

Surely you'll have homemade ice creams???

[Snadra]

When the weather warms up we have decided we will do an ice cream bar, with home made sauces and lots of different fun toppings.

Surely you'll have homemade ice creams???

Yeah....sure we will! I'd love to, but not to feed thirty people. Plus my ice cream maker died.... They will have blue ribbon and like it!

[Snadra]

So last day of school yesterday and the end of the academic year. At my faculty's last morning tea we did an ice cream bar, with purchased toppings, lollies, marshmallows and fruit (cherry season is in full swing!). It went down a treat, and my Year 7 class appreciated the leftovers in a cone in last period.

Some of my hits this year:

• cucumber sandwiches with herbed cream cheese
• lighter-than-air chocolate cake with vanilla whipped cream
• butterscotch squares with chocolate chunks, dried cherries and pecans
• mud hen bars
• mini brocolli and cheddar quiches
• cocoa brownies
• flourless peanut butter cookies
• tzatziki

Although the food I've brought in has always been appreciated, it is hard to keep up the momentum through the year, particularly this last term! As a few others predicted not everyone makes a full effort, but as a rule we've had some enjoyable teas.

I'm always on the lookout for more ideas, and we've recently had a stove and oven hooked up into the common room, so I'll be able to do a few more exciting things.

[Darienne]

Sounds delicious. But no photos? I wanted to see a photo of a Mud Hen Bar.

[SylviaLovegren]

Sounds delicious. But no photos? I wanted to see a photo of a Mud Hen Bar.

And I want to know what it is!

[Snadra]

Mud Hen Bars! I came across them on Pinterest: a cookie base with brown sugar meringue topping, and chocolate and marshmallow inbetween.

http://www.cookingwi...d-hen-bars.html

This is the recipe I used, except I baked the base for 10 minutes before putting on the topping. They were quite a hit and completely devoured.



Of course the best thing for me at morning teas this year was the opportunity to eat lots of delicious sponge cakes, scones and pikelets with jam and cream.

[Snadra]

We are already 1/4 of the way through the new school year and there has been little to report on the morning tea front so far this year. My faculty hosted two teas in term one - cocoa brownies and blondes with chocolate were my contributions.

Yesterday we hosted our first for term 2 - there was a pumpkin soup, some party pies, mini quiches and individual cheesecakes amongst other things. My own contribution was a vaguely trashy warm bean dip with tortilla chips (a gluten free and vegetarian offering so it ticked two necessary boxes) and people went pretty mad for it. Given the cool weather, I'd like to try a few more warm dips next time - does anyone have any suggestions?

Here is the 'recipe' for the bean dip: combine two tins of refried beans with about two cups of shredded cheese, 1/2 cup of crushed tinned tomatoes a bit of garlic powder and some chiles (I used Vietnamese pickled ground chiles because I had them) and just enough water to make it a little loose. Microwave until cheese is melted then top with chopped tomato, avocado, green onion and fresh coriander mixed with a bit of salt and lime and sour cream. Stupidly simple and it took me less than 10 minutes to put together at home that morning, and just needed heating and topping at school.

[SylviaLovegren]

Mud Hen Bars! I came across them on Pinterest: a cookie base with brown sugar meringue topping, and chocolate and marshmallow inbetween.

http://www.cookingwi...d-hen-bars.html

This is the recipe I used, except I baked the base for 10 minutes before putting on the topping. They were quite a hit and completely devoured.

Those look and sound delish. Will definitely give them a try.

Classic warm dips are artichoke dip and hot crab dip. A simple google search should you give tons of recipes for them. And there's always chili con queso -- which you sort of did with the bean/cheese/tomato already.

We had a tea luncheon the other day at church and I made little sandwiches -- white bread buttered with egg salad and brown bread buttered with tuna salad. They disappeared rapidly. We also had a cold zucchini soup (which I didn't make but was quite good) and I made an oldy recipe from the Joy of Cooking -- Brown Sugar Coconut Bars -- basically a brown sugar cookie base with eggs beaten with brown sugar, then coconut and chopped almonds stirred in, pour over the partly baked base and cook until brown. They come out nicely chewy and butterscotchy. They used to be popular when I was a kid and I see why -- easy and yummy.