What I'm reading: "Emmanuel" by Ruth Chou Simons

Gifts are wrapped, gift cards are purchased, and after I deliver a few gifts later today, I will (hopefully) be finished and ready for Christmas! And while I wind down and prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ with my family at my dad’s house on Christmas Day, I’ve been reading this beautiful book by Ruth Chou Simons, Emmanuel, which I think some of you might like as well!

I first saw it at my sister’s house and immediately ordered a copy for myself, but it was out of stock and didn’t arrive until Friday. I’ve already found it to be a very insightful book and helpful for slowing down to “prepare Him room” as I anticipate Christmas. Also, I think the artwork is just beautiful.

These lush florals are right up my alley, and Saturday, I spent quite a while just parked under a fuzzy blanket with a cup of tea, reading away. Are you reading any Christmas and/or Advent books? I’ve realized I need to order earlier if I want to read one on December 1 next year, so I’d love to hear any recommendations you may have!

Tea and cookies … and friends!

I'm telling you, one of the smartest things I do each Christmas is bake cookies in November so that I'm not stressed in December. Our church has started a new discipleship program involving small "Grow Groups," and I realized that my group (our sweet leader and three of us gals) would be winding up our latest study on December 18. I told them that if they weren't already overcommitted—a challenge to almost every woman I know at Christmas—I would like to host them for tea and cookies. I can make tea at a moment's notice, and I knew I had cookies in the freezer, so I figured this would be a breeze, and it was. The girls came Wednesday, and we had the same sweets that my friend Beth and I enjoyed last Saturday.

The only difference was that this time, I also served some of the fabulous Peanut Butter Balls that Beth herself had given me as my Christmas gift a few weeks ago. I love her treats, and she makes them extra large and extra buttery, so I have to really like someone before I'll share some of my coveted Peanut Butter Balls. Naturally, everyone loved them! We also had my Spice Cookies (made them into sandwich cookies with pink-tinted cream cheese icing this time) and the No-Bake Chocolate Cookies, which seem to be reproducing in the freezer.

And the mini Chocolate Chip Pies always look pretty on a silver tray. We had Brigadoon Tea (everyone's favorite, which is unfortunate since they'll have to wait four years for it to be released from Adagio again!) and Peppermint Cocoa herbal tea.

I debated using different china, but these Salem China tea and toast sets are my current Christmas favorites, so I used them. So now all I have to do is finish up a little shopping (mostly gift cards) and I'll be done! Where do you stand, friends? Are you all ready for Christmas?

No-Bake Chocolate Cookies

Earlier this fall, I was visiting my friend Kathy in Statesboro when she took me to a local thrift store, and my prize that day was Our Favorite Recipes, a twenty-five-cent booklet that was “compiled by members of the Bleckley County Home Demonstration Council.” The book is undated, but it has a graphic of an atom on the cover, so I’m guessing it’s from the fifties or sixties. Mrs. Roy Zeagler contributed a no-bake recipe that caught my eye, and these tasty little gems take just minutes to whip up, so if you need a few dozen cookies fast this Christmas, here you go. Mrs. Zeagler thoughtfully noted, “A cherry, pecan half or seasonal cream candy may be put on top of each cookie immediately after dropping cookie on paper.” I love the look of the pecan halves on top, and if you're looking for one more cookie to bake this year, I suggest this one.

No-Bake Chocolate Cookies

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

3/4 stick butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

1-1/2 cups quick-cook rolled oats

1/2 cup nuts (I used pecans)

1/2 cup coconut



In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, milk, and cocoa and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly, then turn off heat. Add butter, vanilla, salt, oats, nuts, and coconut, mix thoroughly, and let set 2 or 3 minutes in the hot saucepan. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, gently but firmly mounding the mixture together a bit to help the cookies keep their shape. Add pecan half or other embellishment. Yields 40 cookies.

Christmas tea with a friend

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of hosting my friend Beth for teatime. It was just a simple tea, really, but we enjoyed having all the time we wanted to chat away and catch up on each other's lives. And since it's been chilly lately, I started us off with cups of old-fashioned potato chowder, which of course I forgot to photograph, as well as cheese wafers and cucumber sandwiches. My Christmas Spode teapot here contains some of the Lemongrass & Marigold tea that another friend gave me after falling in love with it on her trip to Scotland this year. It is so good, and I am a bit greedy with this tea and only willing to share it with a true tea lover!

Our sweets included miniature chocolate-chip pies, spice cookies, and no-bake chocolate cookies, those old-fashioned drop cookies made with cocoa and quick oats and pecans.

We had some of my new Peppermint Cocoa tea (served in a Santa Claus teapot) to go with the sweets.

And we took a selfie at the end to commemorate the day! We agreed that we enjoyed having the luxury of a leisurely teatime with no schedule, and I look forward to enjoying more teatimes with Beth in 2025!

Some longed-for teacups arrive!

My late mother loved finding just the right gift for everyone on her Christmas list, and about 15 years ago, my vintage loot from her one year included a box of pink Depression glass plates I’d been wanting. Months after Christmas had passed, I finally pulled all those plates out and discovered that Mama had also included eight Made-in-the-USA Primuline dinner plates from Homer Laughlin, and I thought they were so beautiful.

For years, I stalked that pattern on eBay in hopes of finding matching pieces but nada. The other week, a woman named Rebecca in Indiana was researching these dishes and came across an old, old blog post in which I’d written about my plates and quest for the teacups. She said she’d received these teacups from “a packed-up garage sale” and wanted to GIVE them to me if I was still interested!

Rebecca said she didn’t want me to think she was “a kook” (her words) but that she simply liked spreading kindness. Frankly, I didn’t much care if she WAS a kook if she was willing to share those teacups, but of course she's proved to be a lovely and obviously generous-hearted person! And my goodness, aren’t the teacups beautiful? I think my table at Easter next year (which happens to fall on Mama’s birthday) will be gorgeous!

Tiesta Tea's Peppermint Cocoa Herbal Tea

I’m so glad I had this new Peppermint Cocoa tea from Tiesta Tea on hand on Monday afternoon. I'd won a $5 gift card for Amazon.com recently, and this was one of the few things on my list for under $5.

My young friends from the neighborhood came over to visit and told me they are not supposed to have any more sugary treats for a while. I’d just bought them a box of Swiss Miss Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix and thought, “Uh-oh.” Then I remembered this tea, which is an herbal blend (yay!) that features rooibos tea, peppermint, cocoa shells, cocoa nibs, natural flavors, and cornflowers.

While the seven-year-old sister and I made construction-paper chains, the six-year-old little brother sampled the tea with his teaspoon and said it tasted “a little yummy” but that he would give his final judgment when it cooled off a little. The verdict? He said “it’s really pretty yummy,” so whew! And I quite agree with his assessment. I need to go light on the sugary cocoa myself, and this delicious chocolate tea is a great guilt-free substitute.

Amelia gets married!

My third and final niece is now married! Amelia and Korbin were wed in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday at Korbin's church (now "their" church), Grace Presbyterian, and we couldn't have had a lovelier day for it!

I got there bright and early to help my sister with some last-minute tasks, and I enjoyed the peacefulness of the morning as the sunlight reflected on the beautiful church.

When I was there a few days before, I was looking for dishcloths in the kitchen and discovered they had *four drawers* full of teas (and was told to help myself), so I am now thinking of switching from Baptist to Presbyterian! The pastor's daughter told me they have a coffee hour every Sunday morning and they always set out teas, but most people want coffee.

I had some Twinings Earl Grey, and it got me through the morning just fine!

The afternoon wedding's reception featured a variety of finger foods ranging from cute pasta salad cups to roll-ups, chicken salad croissants, cranberry-pecan cheese balls, enchilada cups, and more.

Guests could choose from the water and sweet tea station as well as coffee and the cutest hot chocolate station ever.

I asked my sister where she found all the cups with teacups and mugs on them, and you can probably guess what she said: Amazon!

I think Amelia stuck with water, though, as she was getting ready.

And she and the bridesmaids, including her two older sisters, at right, looked just stunning! Amelia wanted them to wear sage-green gowns and let them select the style on their own, and I thought they all looked like Grecian maidens. So pretty!

Once she had her gown on, I asked for a photo since I knew I'd probably not think of it again before the day was over.

I thought the wedding cake was just beautiful.

And I loved the groom's cake, too, although I'm told that my Texas-born brother-in-law grumpily asked if his money had to pay for that. (If you're not a college football fan, the SEC championship between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs was Saturday afternoon, and it's ironic that while the bride and her family are all Texas fans, the groom, like me, is a Georgia fan. I'm so happy to have this fine young man on my side!)

It was truly a joyous day, and now that it's over and the newlyweds are off on their honeymoon, my sister and I agreed that we both need to focus on our Christmas shopping!

The PINK tea tin winner is …

 Purple North, whose Christmas decor tends to be mauve, purple, and PINK. Congratulations!

Some giftwrap ideas …

I love to find gift wrap items with mugs and cups on them, so when I ran in Dollar General the other day (their gray eyeliner is the best I've tried, and I was out!), I couldn't help noticing the mugs on these designs.

They have cute ribbon and gift card boxes.

And I loved the bags best of all and bought all they had, which was just three. If you like to give tea-ish gifts with some cup-ish flair, you may want to visit your local Dollar General!

Some new teatime advent calendars to enjoy

A few weeks ago, my friend Marie texted to say that she had ordered something for me and it was arriving that day. It was an advent calendar from Vahdam Tea, and I was thrilled to receive it! In the past, tea companies used to send advent calendars for me to review, but I hadn't seen any new ones in years, and I was delighted to check out this one.

When you open the box, there's a chart that shows you which tea to drink each day. I tend to be a rule follower, so of course I'm drinking them in the prescribed order.

And the teas are nice big tea sachets, each individually packaged, which is lovely.

I kicked off this advent calendar with some spice teas, so it was nice to try their delicious English Breakfast tea yesterday.

A few days after Marie's gift arrived, my friend Lynn came up from Florida for work, and we had arranged to meet while she was in town. She showed up to dinner bearing … another advent calendar! And you know what? This is no duplication at all, as far as I'm concerned. Marie's gifted teas are my a.m. teas, and Lynn's gifted teas are my p.m. teas. 

These little boxes are clearly labeled with each day of the month, so later today, I'll be trying this peach-flavored tea.

And when they're all gone, the boxes can be put back together puzzle-style, so I'll be sharing this box with my young neighbors once I've gone through all the teas. Isn't it lovely when friends know you so well? And who else is sipping advent-calendar teas this Christmas?

A Tale of Two Tea Tins

It was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines. But there I stood, in the long, long line at my local T. J. Maxx, and I pondered which of the cute tea tins I should purchase. I had found some delightful Christmas decor and wasn't about to get out of line, but still, I pondered. You see, I have an idea for a craft for next Christmas, and it's a little silver tea shop for which one of these tins will make a great companion, but which one? Will I go with a pastel sidekick since pastels are my default for favorite colors? Or would it make more sense to go with the classic red so that I can use my vintage pieces with it? Alas, I could not decide, and I do not need a total of 200 new tea bags, so … you get to decide! I'm giving away one of these tea tins, and it honestly doesn't matter to me which one.

So would you like to win the red tea tin with Christmas Chai Black Tea?

Or the pink tea tin with English Breakfast Tea? To enter this giveaway, just let me know which color tin YOU prefer, and you'll be entered to win! Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you're the winner. I do realize Google sometimes gives us fits if we aren't logged in to our account, so once you leave a comment below, you may want to double-check to be sure it doesn't say "Anonymous." You can also leave your entry (i.e., the name of your desired color) on the Tea With Friends Facebook page here. As long as you comment somewhere by 7 a.m. EST on Friday, December 6, you'll be entered to win. (And then I can figure out my crafting color palette for next year.) Thank you for the assist, and good luck!

Chocolate drinkers vs. tea drinkers

I'm always in the market for new vintage recipes to try, and I found a little booklet of chocolate recipes online that is quite intriguing. It was published in 1909 compliments of Walter Baker & Co., Ltd., the same folks whose Baker's Chocolate we often use in baked goods today. 

Health claims from food manufacturers are certainly nothing new, but these kind of cracked me up: "It is evident that the coming American is going to be less of a tea and coffee drinker, and more of a cocoa and chocolate drinker. This is the natural result of a better knowledge of the laws of health, and of the food value of a beverage which nourishes the body while it also stimulates the brain." If only!

The recipes in the book look pretty tempting, though, and the graphics alone make this worth a look. Interested? Click here to check it out for yourself!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I'll be preparing the foods I'm taking to my sister's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I wanted to go ahead and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

A fun weekend with crafty friends

I've just returned from my twice-yearly crafting retreat at Lake Hartwell with a bunch of crafty girlfriends, and once again, I had a fabulous time filled with good friends, creative inspiration, yummy meals, and super shopping!

I joined the group through my dear friend Kathy, whom I first met years ago when I interviewed her for a newspaper article about her crafting (Fimo clay at the time, I believe). We bonded immediately and have been friends for thirty-some-odd years now!

These gals are so creative, with expert knitters and quilters as well as paper crafters who've been at it for years!

We always enjoy dining at the area restaurants, and at one of them, I enjoyed a Turkey Apple Brie sandwich with sweet potato fries and mango tea.

We also enjoy visiting the local Dollar Tree for crafting supplies. At this one, my Santa-mug-collecting heart was warmed by these cute platters.

I also found matching treat bags with Christmas mugs, which I will certainly put to good use.

Finally, my friend Vicki surprised me with these dimensional teatime stickers she found for me at a Dollar Tree. So if you haven't been to Dollar Tree in a while, you may want to make a visit soon!