Articles

Dec 16 2015

Review: The Garden View Tea Room at The Grand Floridian Resort, Walt Disney World

Author: Jenna

Walt Disney World’s The Garden View Tea Room at The Grand Floridian Resort

Afternoon tea is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Walt Disney World. You think of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, monorails, princesses, and Mickey shaped EVERYTHING. I expected that if there were a tea in WDW, it would be a character princess meal catering to the little ones. So imagine my surprise and delight when I learned that The Grand Floridian Resort—one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever seen—had a traditional afternoon tea! And of course, in Disney fashion, the tea quickly surpassed all previous teas to take the top spot of Favorite Afternoon Tea.

First Impressions and Service

Dec 09 2015

Cranberry Orange Breakfast Scones

Author: Jenna

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why:

cranberry orange scones on Once Upon an Afternoon Tea today!

I mean, look, even Santa put them on his Nice List.

Cranberry Orange Breakfast Scones

Nov 22 2015

Review: Sweet Butter Kitchen

Author: Jenna

It’s only a few days away from Thanksgiving and I’ve already begun my meal prep. No, I’m not crazy (okay yeah I am), but when you have 14 people coming over and you are so obsessive-compulsive that you have to make EVERYTHING from scratch, believe me it is a multi-day process. Thankfully–no pun intended–I have my parents to take on the roles of Sous Chef and Grillmaster. (We are actually smoking one turkey so calling my dad the Grillmaster is completely accurate.)

With all this hustle and bustle of preparation, I can forget to take a rest. What better way to do that than sitting down to a makeshift afternoon tea with my mom? You’re right! Reviewing it for the blog IS better.

So we decided to pick up a selection from Sweet Butter Kitchen and check out how their baked goods stack up.

about sweet butter kitchen

Oct 17 2015

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Author: Jenna

What do you mean you’ve already had your fill of pumpkin?! It’s only been a month and a half of the annual pumpkin spice takeover! We are only halfway done! Trust me, in a few weeks when all the pumpkin yumminess is gone and replaced with gingerbread and eggnog everything, you’ll be glad you took as full advantage of pumpkin season as possible. (Unless you are like me and never get tired of pumpkin/pumpkin spice everything; if that is you I’m going to let you know that pumpkin baked goodies freeze very very well 😉 .)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Oct 09 2015

Apple Cider Scones

Author: Jenna

I’m going to Disneyland today! Confession: I go a lot. Like a lot a lot. Like “I am a Disney addict” lot. But today is a special trip because we are heading off to the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! It’s a special event made even more special by the sheer amount of cool people watching opportunities and the exclusive fireworks show. But about that people watching…

Apple Cider Scones

Normally I am not a huge dress up in costume kind of girl, but I love admiring all the guests’ creative costumes! My favorite are the full family costumes like the family I saw last year with the mom as the Queen of Hearts, the dad as the White Rabbit, the son as the Chesire Cat, and the little daughter was Alice. Cue the “awwww” moment. This year my mom and I are actually dressing up (last year I just made us Halloween hats) and I can’t wait to show off Mom’s amazing sewing skills with my dress 😀

Oct 06 2015

Review: Blueberry Scone at Espresso Profeta

Author: Jenna

The other day I met up for coffee with a friend from college. She is back here from the Bay Area so I had to ask her if there were any Westwood haunts she has been missing. You know, for nostalgia with a side of nostalgia. As I knew she would, she chose Espresso Profeta. I was starving and needed some sort of food, so why not multitask and taste test another cafe’s scone while I was restoring my blood sugar? Hmmm…which flavor to try? Oh, wait. They only have blueberry. Decision made.

Blueberry Scone at Espresso Profeta

Oct 03 2015

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Scones

Author: Jenna

FINALLY! It’s FINALLY October so it’s FINALLY acceptable for me to post something pumpkin. Now, here in Southern California we are amazingly pumpkin spice anything obsessed despite it never really being cold enough to justify the warming, spicy taste of anything pumpkin spice flavored. Maybe it’s a case of wishful thinking, or hope that it’ll turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy (we act like it’s cold maybe it will become cold). But who can blame us when pumpkin is the best thing about this season?!

Pumpkin White Chocolate Scones

The other week I binge-baked pumpkin scones. I couldn’t help myself. I like variety and I love chocolate and I love love pumpkin, so it only made sense to make multiple batches of pumpkin scones.

Sep 02 2015

Review: Funfetti Scones at Buttercelli Bakeshop

Author: Jenna

Funfetti scones are one of my specialties. I make them for every occasion, every holiday, every goodie basket of baked goods, and I’ll probably put them on every second tea tier until people yells “Stop! We are sick of Funfetti Cake Batter Scones!” Says no one, ever. Who could ever get sick of cake batter?

So when I stopped by Buttercelli Organic Bakeshop and saw Funfetti scones, I knew I had to try one and see how they compared. And come on, I’ll use any excuse to have sprinkles at breakfast. I ordered one gluten-free funfetti scone and a coffee and sat outside to conduct my taste test.

Funfetti Scones from Buttercelli Bakeshop

Jun 24 2015

White Chocolate Chip Scones

Author: Jenna

Basic doesn’t always mean plain or boring or bland or simple or unsophisticated or straightforward or adequate or unadorned or spartan or…okaaaayy I need to stop using the thesaurus because half of those synonyms aren’t even making sense anymore. I guess I just want to instill in you that an easy recipe of 6 ingredients with only a few minutes of real work can be amazing. Because it can be. I only speak the truth 😉

White Chocolate Chip Scones

Jun 06 2015

Strawberry Sconecakes

Author: Jenna

This has been a disappointing year in the strawberry department for me. I’ve had the raved about Harry’s Berries….once. See, this is my second strawberry season out of my parents’ house and I weirdly haven’t seen my parents all that much this past month. Typically during strawberry season, visits to parents=raiding the refrigerator for Harry’s Berries. No visits–no strawberries.

Strawberry Sconecakes

Hopefully you are not having a similarly barren strawberry season because some of the best desserts have my favorite fruit! Nothing can’t be improved with a side of strawberries, or with incorporated strawberries, or built around strawberries, or ohmygod I need strawberries. Sorry. Back on topic.

The Art of Afternoon Tea from Los Angeles and Beyond

cranberry orange scones on Once Upon an Afternoon Tea today!

about sweet butter kitchen