Book Club: Three Cups of Tea

I love book club. It's a great excuse for a bunch of girls to get together to eat, drink and... gossip! My favorite part about this month's book club was that I got to host. It was so much fun to have everyone over and I got to make use of some of the platters I received as wedding gifts.

A fellow nestie and book club member, Gillian, suggested that we have a Tea theme because of our book, Three Cups of Tea. It was a great idea and I tried to run with it. I served sandwiches, quiche, scones, salad, veggies and lots of tea!

Below are a few snipets of the goodies I served. I was also lucky enough to receive wine and desserts from some of my guests. Thank you to all who attended!


Heavenly Whole Wheat Bread (for cheese & crackers platter)

*this recipe is for a small loaf*

• 3/4 to 7/8 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used butter)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
• 2 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast (I used Red Star brand)

Place all ingredients in bread pan, using the least amount of liquid listed in the recipe. Select Medium Crust setting then the Whole Wheat cycle and press start. (you didn't think I'd be doing this by hand, right? I <3 my bread machine!) Observe the dough as it kneads. After 5 to 10 minutes, if appears dry and stiff, or if your machine sounds as if it's straining to knead it, add more liquid 1 tablespoon at a time until dough forms as smooth, soft, pliable ball that is slightly tacky to the touch. After the baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on cake rack, and allow to cool 1 hour before slicing.

Source: Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway

No WW point info just yet

Victoria's Quiche

• 1 1/2 cups eggbeaters
• 1 onion
• 8 oz reduced fat shredded cheddar
• 16 oz fat free cottage cheese
• 1 cup broccoli (I added this)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Pour in pie dish and bake for 10 minues. Reduce oven temp to 350 and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy! (How easy was that??)

Source: My WW friend, Victoria

8 Servings, 4 WW points


Blueberry Scones (I doubled this recipe)

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles pea-size crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl, add the blueberries and stir to mix.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cream until blended and add to the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir to form large, moist clumps of dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press with your hands until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough, flouring as needed, into a 10-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 equal-size wedges and place on baking sheet (my dough was too sticky so I ended up making scone globs). Bake until the scones are golden, about 25 minutes.

Transfer scones to cooling rack. Let the scones cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 scones.

Source: Williams Sonoma

If doubled, 16 servings. 5 WW points each (lots of fat in these but oh so good!)