Coffee beans all ground up,
Coffee in my favourite cup,
Coffee black, coffee white,
Coffee dark, coffee light,
Coffee right, to start the day,
Coffee at work, coffee at play,
Coffee midday, coffee at night,
Coffee to sober, coffee to excite,
Coffee weak, coffee strong,
But maybe instead some Lapsang Souchong! ! ! !
TEA! ! ! ! !    © Ernestine

This week on the Romancing the Home blogs, we talk about making a part of your house, where you probably spend a lot of time, pretty. Your tea and coffee station.

I know the first thing I should have in the morning, is a cup of warm water with fresh lemon juice. But truth be told, the only reason I get out of bed, is the thought of my cup of Nespresso coffee. Black with no sugar thank you. It is kind of a morning ritual for me actually. While I am waiting for my Nespresso machine to do its job, I change the date on the calendar next to the machine and try to remember who’s birthday it is on that day.

On an antique silver tray we have Nespresso capsules, rooibos tea, sugar in Chris’s granny’s sugar pot and honey. I like to mix and match silver, glass and ceramic for added texture and interest. There are also always fresh flowers from the garden and our mosaic pig to put a happy smile on a face.

The girls and I love to bake. Needless to say our rusk and cookie jars are always full.

Here is one of our favorite recipes. Thank you Mariana Esterhuizen of Mariana’s Home Deli and Bistro In Stanford. It is so quick and easy to make and contains no added sugar, except for the sugar in the apricot jam. They are also delicious as a snack with a glass of wine or bubbly!

Apricot Jam biscuits

Ingredients:

150 g cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

130 g cheddar cheese, finely grated

130 g butter, chilled

3 T fine apricot jam

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the grated cheese and mix to combine.

Grate the chilled butter coarsely and rub it into the dry mixture to form a dough.

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 30 even sized balls and place on a greased baking sheet.

Use the back end of a wooden spoon handle to make a hole in the centre of each biscuit. Take care not to push it right through.

Fill each hole with apricot jam.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celcius and bake the biscuits for a further 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Please visit my Romancing the Home friends for more tea and coffee station inspiration:

Talia at My Shabby Shack

Ramona at Ruffles and Rust

Kylie at Our Unique Home