January: Bible Study Tea Party

A cold January afternoon inspired the idea for this tea party. It was snowing and the wind was blowing bitterly sharp. I had unexpectedly gotten off of work early, because of the weather, and as I thought about how grateful I was to have this serendipitous time off to myself, it occurred to me that a warm cup of apple spice tea and Snickerdoodle cookies would be just the thing to help me celebrate this gift of time.

My motto is: any time is perfect time for a tea party. So I looked through my cupboards and found a lovely Cinnamon Apple Tea by Davidson’s. Being that this was a spur of the moment celebration, and I really hadn’t had time to prepare anything more elaborate, I went to my freezer and got out a roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookies. I had bought them a week or so ago, after finding a wonderful recipe online and a coupon from Pillsbury for a dollar off two packages of sugar cookies. Now that's my idea of quick and economic!

TIME LINE

    Start off by turning on your oven to 350° F, to let it pre-warm for the cookies.

    If your cookie dough is frozen, like mine was, then snip both of the metal ends off of the cover on the Pillsbury Sugar Cookies, and place the roll on a paper towel in your microwave and defrost them on 50% power for 45 seconds. (If your cookie dough is NOT frozen, skip this step).

    Follow the directions for making the Snickerdoodle Cookies below.

    While the cookies are baking, put a kettle on with fresh cold water.

    Prepare your teapot by pre-warming it, and assemble your tea cup, honey, spoon, desert plate and tray.

    As soon as your tea kettle whistle blows, dump the hot water out of your teapot that has been pre-warming, place your tea bag in the teapot, and quickly pour the boiling water over the tea bag.

    While the tea steeps, pour or spoon honey into your cup. Then return to your tea pot, stir the tea, and remove the tea bag. Replace the lid on the tea pot, and pour the warm aromatic Cinnamon Apple Tea into your honey laden cup. Stir honey and tea.

    Sip and enjoy!

    Soon your cookies should be done, and ready to move to the rack to cool. Sample one (once it has cooled) and move the rest over to cool.


Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 350° F. Spray a large cookie sheet with Pam or other type of cooking spray, or line with parchment paper (this will go a long way to making your clean up a snap). In small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon.
  2. Cut cookie dough into 32 (1/4 –inch) slices. Shape each into a ball and roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture; place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
  3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.
  4. Best if eaten while they are still slightly warm.



TEA

Davidson’s Organic Cinnamon Apple Tea and honey to sweeten.

I like Davidson’s Cinnamon Apple Tea with honey, instead of sugar, as it gives the tea a heavenly smell. Try it; I think you’ll agree.

For those who are environmentally and health conscious, all of Davidson's Teas are organic and their tea bags are made of biodegradable unbleached paper. They also offer a variety of decaffeinated versions of some of their most popular teas.

This party idea could be used for a bible study group or individually. I find it a wonderful way to strengthen my personal relationship with God. As everyone's lives becoming more hectic, and time more scarce, participating in this tea ritual reminds me to make time for God, and to enter into this time with anticipation and joy, just as I would when visiting with a dear friend.

One of my favorite Tea Ideas is a Tea with God. The inspiration for this Tea came from a combination of sources, the main two being the website www.Coffee Tea & Thee and Emilie Barnes and Sheri Torelli's book "More Hours in My Day" section on Prayer Organization.