From Mrs. Potts' Cupboard | Mulan's Campfire Brew

Today I am pleased to introduce a project I have been working on for months! I am a serious tea drinker. Serious, in that I drink a lot of it, and I know how I like my tea. I would not go so far as to say that I am snobby about my tea; I love a steaming cup of Constant Comment from Bigelow, or Lady Grey from Twinings, as much as I love my French Spice Quartet from Teavana. But I would say this, Starbucks, you have a lot to learn about tea. It is NOT coffee.

As a tea connoisseur, I have been blending my own flavored teas for a while. I still purchase my favorite blends; there is no match for Disney's Mad Tea Party Blend. I always get compliments on it when I serve it at sorority meetings, so I stock up whenever we are in the parks! But I think Disney could do more with princess tea parties and tea blends specific to the princesses. After all, they've done a marvelous job with their cosmetics lines.

So in an effort to accomplish that very task, I've begun blending teas and flavors for my very own teas dedicated to the Disney Princesses. And today we start with Mulan to help celebrate the coming Chinese New Year! If you've never tried Lapsang Souchoung tea, it can be rather surprising. It's a smoked tea and there is no doubt about it. In fact, I had to ask Mr. Photos from the Parks to please store it in the garage while I was pregnant with our last baby! The aroma can be quite strong. But when I'm not pregnant, I love the smoky aroma of the tea. It certainly evokes the feeling of sitting around the campfire. I think it's best when prepared more like a chai. If you've never tried it, I suggest taking a gamble and giving it a go. It's not for everyone, but if you like it, it can be a welcome change in the tea rotation. And if you happen to be in the Animal Kingdom, stop by my favorite Tea Kiosk in Asia: The Royal Anandapur Tea Company and see if they are serving it; I know I've had it on occasion there.

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Mulan Chinese New Year Viewing Party

Chinese New Year is about to begin (January 31st) and it's the Year of the Horse! What better way to ring in the new year than with a Mulan viewing party? Thanks to Pinterest, I had no trouble putting together a Year of the Horse snack bar for our viewing pleasure. Because a good movie deserves good snacks!

We started with these Khan horse cookies, using a new chocolate sugar cookie recipe that I love! The dough was really messy to work with; Little Chef and I had chocolate everywhere! Still, they are well worth the effort. I used my Silhouette portrait to cut out these adorable take out boxes. I used regular scrapbooking paper that I already had on hand to make them, not card stock. I was a little tentative about how sturdy they would be, but they held up really well.

I then cut out these popcorn boxes on the silhouette. I sized them so they were as big as the portrait could take, about 6" wide per side. I had some old China themed Jolee's embellishments that I used to decorate the boxes, but you could always use a horse or lantern cut from the silhouette too.

We rounded out the snack bar with these awesome horseshoe donuts (which we made from scratch using this wonderful recipe; and substituting our left over egg nog for the buttermilk), and "tea" which was really apple juice. I just love this tea pot my sister found while antiquing! So perfect for our party (not to mention my It's A Small World obsession)!

And for those of you looking for a comfy way to enjoy Mulan, check out these adorable cozy socks and satin robe from Hot Topic:

We had a great time watching Mulan and kickstarting the New Year. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!