Hudson & Middleton Lady Diana teacup

One of my mom's recent yard sale finds was this pretty pink teacup, which I immediately loved when she passed it along! The color is perfect, the shape is attractive, and it's that larger size of teacup I so enjoy using when I sip tea.

The roses on this set are just charming, I think.

But I really loved knowing it's the Lady Diana teacup from Hudson & Middleton, a company in the UK! Mom says the lady at the yard sale told her it originally sold for $40. I didn't ask my mom what she paid, but I can guarantee you she didn't pay anywhere near that. What a fun new find, and it led me to the company's lovely website here. Do any of you have Hudson & Middleton wares? This was definitely a new name in teawares to me!

"The Vintage Teacup Club" by Vanessa Greene

A while back I was searching for tea books on Amazon and came across a British title I thought would be fun to read, "The Vintage Teacup Club" by Vanessa Greene. The story begins with three women reaching for the same tea set at a car boot sale. They decide to share the tea set and help each other find more teacups for all to use. Now, I have to confess to you that I just don't believe that would ever happen. A) The first one to lay a hand on the tea set gets the tea set. B) If I found the tea set first but someone else *really* wanted it, I'd let them have it. (I think.) C) Three strangers are comfortable enough to trust each other with sharing a tea set? My inner skeptic says no.

But once I got past that, I did find myself drawn into the plot. There's Jenny, who's planning to marry Dan. She wants the vintage teawares to use at her wedding. There's Maggie, a flower shop owner, who is young, divorced, and has landed a job doing the flowers at one of the biggest society weddings of the year. It's an "Alice in Wonderland" themed event, and she wants the teawares for that. And then there's Alison, who appears to be happily married, until she finds out her household situation is not as she has believed. She makes candles in vintage teacups, so that's why she wants them.

The women are quickly drawn into each other's lives, and over cups of tea, a bit of gossip, a few tears, and plenty of everyday stress, they become good friends. Along the way they meet a few other important characters, including the original owners of the teawares. The book's characters make some lifestyle choices I dislike (must young women nowadays instantly hop in the sack to get a fella? I say no—gals, you are worth so much more than that!), but at least there is redemption in the form of a gracious older couple who've learned what matters most in life. Also, there's a heart-stopping scene near the end of the book that will shake the soul of every teacup collector. By the time the story wrapped up I was rooting for all three women and even believed in their teaset-prompted friendships.

Have any of you read this book? I'd love to hear what others thought!

Time for a teatime giveaway

I really need to clean out my crafts closet more often. In a bag there, I found several items I had tucked away for future giveaways, so I decided this week would be a nice time to give them all away! The winner will get the goodies shown here PLUS some tea samples and a few other small doodads as well--whatever I can stuff into the box.

First, there's a little teapot pillow from Cracker Barrel. These are so cute!

Are you crafty? There's a teapot-shaped chipboard book that would be fun and easy to decorate. (If you're not crafty, re-gift!)

And last but not least, there's a little Mary Engelbreit teapot rack that needs a good home. It's small, just about 11 inches wide.

It hangs by these hooks on the back. Could you find a spot for it? If so, just leave a comment to this post between now and 7 a.m. next Monday, June 24, and all these teatime treats can be yours. (U.S. and Canada only, please.) Good luck!

Tea Room Recipe #24 - Fort House Tea Room (Waco, Texas)

Consider the humble cheese straw. Do you like to eat them? Do you like to make them? I've rarely met a cheese straw I didn't like, and I associate them with three particular occasions: 1) southern weddings before, oh, the 1990s or so 2) bridal and baby showers 3) tea room luncheons. I was watching TV the other morning when a psychologist was asked his opinion of a recent bride who is experiencing depression now that her big, honkin' hoopla of a wedding is over with. That kind of thing just makes me roll my eyes, and as I told my husband, I think things were better back during those simpler times when weddings (here in the South, at least) meant wedding cake, party mints and cheese straws. (OK, and crustless, triangular pimiento cheese finger sandwiches if you wanted to go *really* fancy.) So maybe that's one reason I had cheese straws on the brain when I flipped through a tea room cookbook the other night.

"Kitchen Delights from Then and Now" is a book of "treasured recipes" from the Fort House Tea Room and the Friends of Historic Waco Foundation. There are many tasty-sounding recipes in this book, and I love the fact that actual Fort House Tea Room recipes in the book are denoted by a teapot icon. Cute!

The recipe for Nell's Cheese Wafers (which are basically round cheese straws) sounded fun and easy, two qualities I like in a recipe. When I made these, my husband commented on how he enjoyed the crispy texture. I asked if he could guess the magic ingredient that made them crispy, and he could not. Can you?

Nell's Cheese Wafers

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 pound sharp Cheddar cheese (Cracker Barrel brand is recommended, but I used store brand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 sticks margarine, melted
2 cups Rice Krispies
Dash of Tabasco sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl combine flour, cheese, salt and cayenne. Add margarine, Rice Krispies and Tabasco. Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Press flat using a fork dipped in flour. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until beginning to brown around the edges. Yields 4-6 dozen, depending on how small you roll them. I rolled mine just under an inch in diameter and got about 4 dozen. (Wafers may be frozen, which is nice to know!)

Republic of Tea's Watermelon Mint Iced Tea

June is National Iced Tea Month, and if you're looking for a new iced tea blend to try, I've got one: this Republic of Tea Watermelon Mint flavor I found at Whole Foods.

I couldn't quite imagine what a combination of watermelon, peppermint and tea would taste like, but I was intrigued enough to try it. This black tea blend is just a cool, refreshing taste with what I'd call a suggestion of watermelon and a hint of peppermint. It's really a most subtle flavor, yet very nice. I don't think I'd up either flavor if I could!

The tea comes in 8 (1-quart) pouches, which we are instructed to steep for 3-5 minutes, let cool and serve over ice. I don't do that. I plop a bag in my tea pitcher, fill it with water, leave it in the fridge overnight and I have delicious tea the next morning!

"Aiken House & Gardens" by Carolyn Aiken

One of the things that's most enjoyable about reading other blogs is coming across information that you wouldn't find any other place. I've learned lots of things (about LOTS of things!) from reading Judith's blog, Lavender Cottage, and recently she mentioned a new book by her fellow Canadian, Carolyn Aiken. I knew that if Judith liked the book I would as well, so I followed her link and was just smitten with what I saw. It was self-published by this lovely woman who, when the last of her seven children left home, had more time to devote to gardening at her home on Prince Edward Island. She is obviously a dedicated gardener, and it is so inspiring to see how she has planted and decorated her gardens!

This book is what publishers these days are calling a "bookazine," a sort of book and magazine hybrid. It's the size of a magazine and printed on good, thick stock (82 pages), largely photographs, but even the small amount of text is simply charming. As you would expect of someone who lives on PEI, there are a few "Anne of Green Gables" quotes, but the eye candy is what has entertained me for several hours with this book. If you're a fan of roses and peonies and lilacs, or old lace, or pastel-hued teawares, well then, Carolyn Aiken is someone you ought to know. This book strikes me as a very personal work, almost a visual diary of her style, and I love that she has published it for others to share and enjoy. She blogs here, if you'd like to get a taste of what she has in store for readers in the book.

There's even a bit of blue and white for those who are fans of that palette. I just adore my copy of this book, and I'm patting myself on the back for reading Judith's blog regularly so I won't miss out on such things. If you think you'd like a copy as well, go here to order.

Miniature African violets in teacups

Earlier this year my friend Deberah gave me this miniature African violet, which got me on another round of trying to grow them. I finally followed some friends' advice to use African violet fertilizer, and that seems to be working!

Encouraged, I picked up a few more of the little plants at a local nursery the other day. Some of you had asked whether I place the violets directly in the demitasse cups or have them in another pot, and I wanted you to see that I do keep them in their original tiny pots so I can water them when needed (letting them soak up water from the bottom) and drain off the water after a bit, since apparently violet roots do not like to be waterlogged.

I think the new violets are rather adorable in their tiny teacup homes!

A most memorable tea room visit!

This is not my usual sort of post, friends, but I hope some of you will find it humorous! You see, I've been cleaning out lots of old files lately, and I came across the poem I wrote following a particularly memorable teatime birthday luncheon with some girlfriends years ago. (Yearrrrrrrs ago. I'm 49 now, and this was the year I turned 31!) My friends Liz and Melissa, along with Melissa's baby daughter Elizabeth, took me to tea at a nearby tea room, which shall remain nameless. We had a lovely time until the end of our meal when Liz bit into her dessert, an ice cream and nut concoction called "Mackinac Delight," and promptly chomped down on a big piece of broken glass (probably from the jar containing the dessert's sauce, we later learned)! There was so much blood it took all our napkins to sop it up, and the nervous tea room owner even offered to call an ambulance!

Liz recovered, by the way, and no, she didn't file a lawsuit.

The tea room soon went out of business. (You're shocked, aren't you?)

Here's what I wrote about the day to share with my friends:

My 31st Birthday

It was to be a birthday tea
Melissa, 'Lizbeth, Liz and me
To Sharpsburg we would go and eat
A simple meal, a birthday treat!

Ladylike and finely dressed
We found a seat to sit and rest
while ordering such tearoom fare
as we considered proper there.

A glass of water, lemon spiked,
was just the sort of thing I liked
to quench a simple little thirst—
I was the one to order first.

My lady friends, they followed me
(Melissa even ordered tea).
The sandwiches would soon be here
so we enjoyed the atmosphere

Of pretty tables, floral things,
wishing we had diamond rings.
The kindly owner brought our food
and hoped it would be very good.

We liked our meal, it soon was blessed,
but with dessert would come the test!
Scarlett's Favorite was my first choice
the name alone says why, of course.

Melissa wanted cheesecake, though;
the list of desserts continued to grow.
But Liz saw something she found appealing;
This dessert would leave her reeling.

The menu said "Mackinac Delight"
and Liz thought this would be just right.
Soon a smiling woman came
And said to enjoy our dessert game.

For, typically, we planned to share
so all could sample the lovely fare.
Melissa's, mine, they both were great
But something was wrong with Liz's plate.

And while on chocolate we were feeding
she cried aloud, "My tongue is bleeding!"
What should we do, where should we go,
the correct response we did not know.

But what we did know occurred at last
that Liz had somehow eaten glass!
The horrified owner felt sick and hurt
while watching Liz's tongue's blood spurt.

"Ith OK," said my nurturing friend.
"Reary, thith ith not the end."
So we somehow managed to enjoy the lunch
Too bad about the ice cream's crunch.

Question of the Day: Have YOU ever been to tea where something bad happened? If so, how did you handle it? (I write bad poems, obviously!)

A 'Tea and Crumpets' Hosta

When my garden club visited a local hosta grower recently, I was hoping-hoping-hoping I'd go home with a tea-themed hosta, and I did: the charming 'Tea and Crumpets' hosta!

This little sign tells more about the hosta, including the fact it has spoon-shaped leaves.

I absolutely love it!

It was so much fun when members of our Crossroads Garden Club visited Pine Forest Gardens in Tyrone. Owner Richard Jolly, center, was recently a guest speaker at our club, so it was fun to follow up his educational presentation with a visit to the amazing site where he actually grows his hostas.

Here's our club's secretary/treasurer, Wilma, checking out the hostas. I love her t-shirt: "Hangin' on by the seed of my plants." Cute!

There were so many colors, shapes and sizes of hosta, and I had no idea so many existed. There were miniatures (under 12 inches tall), some in lime green, some dark green, ruffled ones, piecrust-edge ones, variegated ones, and some that are considered "blue" because of the appearance of the waxy coating of the leaf. Of course I always have to like the name and/or meaning of a plant as well, so it's no surprise I also came home with this small 'Crown Jewel' hosta.

A larger hosta with a similar name was the 'Royal Standard' hosta. I'll bet someone out there has a royalty-themed garden, or at least a section of a garden, don't you?

This one was called 'Night Before Christmas.'

And this one was 'Valentine Lace.' Isn't that lovely?

Richard even permitted us to go into the greenhouse where his private stash of hostas is located. All of us garden club members left Pine Forest Gardens with new plants, and it was so fun to get to see so many of these great hostas all in one place. If you happen to be a hosta lover too, I should mention that Richard ships plants all over the world, and his website is here. And now I can't wait to see my new 'Tea and Crumpets' flourish!

Tea Room Recipe #23 - The Rose Cottage (Clear Lake, Iowa)

Have you ever made muffins with cream cheese? Doesn't seem that exotic an idea, really, but I had never baked muffins with cream cheese in the batter, so this Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffin recipe struck me as a mighty fine idea!

The recipe comes from one of my recent eBay finds, this charming little spiral cookbook from The Rose Cottage, a garden-themed tea room and gift shop in Clear Lake, Iowa. The book also includes photos of the proprietress and her family and friends. I always love it when folks are thoughtful enough to thank all of those who helped make their success possible.

These muffins were incredibly moist and delicious, with a sponge-cake sort of texture. I liked them a lot and may start incorporating cream cheese into some of my other favorite muffin recipes now!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (I used frozen)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional (I did not add the nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and combine. Add cranberries (and walnuts, if desired). Spoon batter into greased muffins tins, or line tins with paper baking cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Yields 18 muffins.

The David Austin Wedgwood Rose

Today I wanted to share how I am just tickled pink with the first blooms on my David Austin Wedgwood Rose, which was a gift from my friend Deberah!

David Austin roses, like my beloved Tea Clipper rose (shown here), are the prettiest, most lavish rose blossoms I've ever seen, and I love that this Wedgwood rose is named for a beloved purveyor of teawares!

The petals are so crinkledy they almost look like super elegant tissue paper flowers. I wish I could embed the scent into a blog post so you could inhale and sigh as I did when I first took a sniff! Are any of you fans of David Austin roses?

"English Tea Murder" by Leslie Meier

Among the birthday goodies I received from my friend Sandra recently was a tea-themed mystery I had somehow failed to hear about, "English Tea Murder" by Leslie Meier. This book is part of the Lucy Stone Mystery series, and I quickly became a fan! Happily, this book was a great stand-alone read that didn't make me feel I was missing out on anything by not having read other books in the series first.

Reporter Lucy Stone lives in the fictional town of Tinker's Cove, Maine, and she and some girlfriends have signed up for a trip to England organized by the local college. It's the first such trip for Lucy, who feels a little anxious about leaving her husband and family behind while she travels. The group is on the plane and headed across the pond when the professor leading the trip suddenly dies of an asthma attack mid-flight. Or, was it an asthma attack after all? It's certainly a dramatic kickoff of their trip to England, and this whodunnit had me guessing who the culprit was deep into the book!

If you've never been to London, you'll enjoy the armchair travel this book provides, but if you *have* been, you may enjoy it even more! I've been to England only once, and my itinerary closely followed that of Lucy and her friends. Author Leslie Meier captures quite well the experience of making it to the tour bus on time, accommodating the preferences of a group of women traveling together, and she gives an accurate first-timer's view of England as well. So many times I found myself thinking, "Yes, that's exactly how it was!" On an excursion to Bath, the characters even mention one of the very shops where I bought souvenirs, and it was fun to relive that experience in these pages. When I went to England, I had tea somewhere every day of my trip, but Lucy and her friends find themselves coming across tea rooms that are closed for one reason or another. So forget who may have killed the professor. The real question in this book is, will Lucy and her friends ever make it to afternoon tea? I highly recommend this book, and I've added the Lucy Stone Mysteries to my growing list of cozy mysteries I plan to follow!

Tenacious Tea & other RTD teas

On a recent visit to Whole Foods I came across a new bottled tea I selected to try with the salad I was enjoying for lunch. The Tenacious Tea was absolutely delicious, and I chose it simply for the flavor, Powerhouse Peach. I didn't drink all of the tea with my lunch, however, and I'm glad because when I got home with the bottle I was delighted to see this tea is from the Alpharetta Beverage Company right here in the Atlanta area! Furthermore, the tea has zero calories. What are the ingredients? Filtered water, brewed rooibos tea (I LOVE rooibos tea!), caramel color, natural peach flavor, stevia extract and citric acid. I'm not sure I've had a bottled tea sweetened with stevia before, but I sure like this one. The surprising story of how this company was founded is well worth a read. Find it here. If you're like me you'll want to go drink a gallon of rooibos as preventive medicine! Now I can't wait to go back to Whole Foods and try more flavors of Tenacious Tea's Sports Red Tea. A big thumbs up!

Another new RTD (ready to drink) tea I tried recently was this Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea from Lipton, found at a convenience store on our recent road trip to Wisconsin. I remembered Phyllis blogging about Pure Leaf and decided to give it a try. The taste was light and refreshing, not overly sweet, and 80 calories per serving (2 servings per bottle) isn't bad!

Finally, another convenience store find was this Nestea Red Tea in the Pomegranate Passion Fruit flavor. It had 2.5 servings in the 20-ounce bottle, just 60 calories each, and had a terrific fruity and sweet taste. Funny that I've come across two new *red* teas in bottled tea form lately. I think the increased popularity of bottled teas these days is a great sign for the tea industry, and it's always fun to come across new ones. Have you tried any new bottled teas I need to know about?

Blue teacup prints from Ross

A new Ross store in Atlanta pointed out to me *by my husband* was the source of some new teacup treasures the other day!

Do you love these canvas prints as much as I do? Oh. My. Goodness. I'll tell you, I actually looked for a second set because I know some of you blue lovers are going to want some and I thought this would make a fine giveaway. I haven't found another set yet, but if I do I promise I will get them for gifting. (If you want to go ahead and look for some yourself, these 11 x 14 prints are just $8.99 each, which I thought was a deal!)

The DH and I both have so many projects whirling I probably don't need to get obsessed over the upcoming kitchen re-do just yet, but when I do, I have been thinking: blue. Maybe sky blue, maybe aqua blue, but whatever shade of blue we paint the kitchen, I want to be able to mix in some Blue Willow and blue toile type things.

With teacups, roses, old type, and even the crackle look of the background, I think these are going to be absolutely perfect!

A Kindness Kingdom Tea Party

Recently I was asked if I'd like to review a new children's board game which involved good manners and tea parties. Why not? I thought. So one day last week I drove over to my friend Nikki's house and borrowed some of her younger children to test drive the game for me at a Kindness Kingdom Tea Party. First we had a light tea of tea sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, PB&J), Peanut Butter Brownies, Lemon Bars and peppermint tea. And so here we have my little friends Gracie, Rosie and Malachi ready to visit Kindness Kingdom!

The box says, "Kindness Kingdom: Where marvelous manners are your invitation to the best tea party ever!" I explained to the kids that this was a game about having good manners, and the goal was to correctly answer questions about good manners and earn charms to go on their cardboard bracelets.

The winner of the game is the first person to collect all 8 charms from the game's different neighborhoods and the key to the "Golden Gate of the Golden Rule" and arrive at the tea party.

Malachi, by the way, had no problem with the charm bracelet part of things as long as he could be in charge of the box and dole out the charms.

I was impressed with how the creators designed the box to hold everything in a neat and orderly fashion. Plus, once you've punched out all the charms from the boards they come on, it's great that they are secure down in the well of the box and can be housed right there!

The game board folds up neatly into quarters for storage, but here's what it looks like opened. I actually liked the fact that when I got home I found some crumbs inside! I also liked the fact the game is sturdy and well made, as all the pieces stood up well to little hands.

I think I enjoyed the game as much as the kids did, especially seeing the well-mannered characters along the way such as Thoughtful Lady Tulip and …

Lovely Lady Lily. (Kudos to the designers for thoughtfully including different colors of characters!)

I must admit I was delighted whenever one of the kids landed on a space with a teacup, because that meant they got to answer a tea party question! (Confession: A better woman would have let the children keep this game, but I decided the next time I have a big girl tea party, we are going to play too, only all we're going to do is answer the tea party questions!)

While I loved Kindness Kingdom from the minute I opened it, one reason I wanted children to try the game is because I knew their reactions to it, not mine, were most important. I wanted to be sure children would indeed enjoy the game and learn the lessons from it as well. I'm delighted to report they did! Here Gracie and Rosie are before playing …

… and here they are *during* play! The game questions include multiple choice answers, and some of the wrong answers struck the kids as quite funny, like a question about place settings which offered a wrong answer about the forks being placed in the centerpiece. I enjoyed seeing that! I asked their mom Nikki's take on the game, and we both agreed it's good that the game rules include some "optional rules for younger players," who may be more interested in winning charms than answering the manners questions (and that's fine). Another funny moment of the game came when Malachi's game piece landed on a "Powder Room" question and he got asked about makeup. He was a great sport, though, and played right along! The game is recommended for 2-4 players ages 5 and up, and Nikki and I both think older girls like Rosie (age 9) will get the most out of it, but clearly Kindness Kingdom was a hit with all ages — and sexes! If you'd like to read more about the game or order it for yourself, go here to visit the Kindness Kingdom website.