The Second Lady and the tea service

You just never know what you'll come across when perusing the photos on the Library of Congress website. I thought this one was wonderful, and it shows "Lois Kimsey Marshall, wife of Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, standing next to a silver tea service."

This photo is from 1920, and Marshall served under President Woodrow Wilson.

I noticed the beautiful silver tea service (actually, it appears to be a tea and coffee service) and Mrs. Marshall's fabulous feathered hat! What catches your attention?

Aloha Tea's Lava Papaya Tea

I met some girlfriends for dinner the other night, and when I arrived, my friend Amy immediately handed me this bag of tea she got for me in Hawaii. I don’t know about you, but I am always so touched that someone was thinking of me on their vacation!

Not surprisingly, a burst of happy tropical scents greeted me when I opened the bag.

But very surprisingly, there was something tucked inside the bag of tea: these tea bags.

And they were nice drawstring tea bags!

I quickly filled one with the tea, plopped it in a teacup, and added boiling water. I knew from the yummy scent alone that I would enjoy this tea, and I did. It was a bright-pink color, and the taste was pleasantly sweet from the mix of apple pieces, hibiscus, rosehip, papaya pieces, strawberry leaves, pomegranate pieces, cornflower petals, passion flowers, and natural flavors. I loved the tea, and the fact that fillable tea bags were included was such a lovely surprise!

A snowy weekend at last!

Those of you who are blessed with snow every year can't imagine how excited Georgians get when we hear that snow is on the way! I prepared early in the week and made sure I had all the necessities on hand, so by Thursday, I was just doing a final load of laundry, making sure I'd gotten a nice hot shower in, and settled in to wait on the weather. When I woke up on Friday, I looked out through my bedroom window and didn't spot anything at first. Then I went downstairs and opened the front door to find it was snowing and had covered the driveway, and from the second floor (and without my glasses on), that snow blended with the driveway. It snowed steadily for several hours, and while I forgot to measure it, I'd say I got a good three or four inches of snow.

I was curious to see whether my teacup rain chain had collected any snow, but it was mostly just icy by midmorning when I went outside.

The color was definitely more pronounced in the snow, though!

I wandered around for a bit to capture a few photos of things like this mahonia bush, but the frigid temperatures and sleet soon had me headed back inside.

I was headed upstairs to work on organizing my craft room, and I decided that was a good time to test drive the new Lily Pulitzer tumbler I received from my friend Deberah for Christmas. The lid was perfect for keeping me from sloshing tea around amongst the crafting papers, and the tumbler kept that tea hot for hours!

I also tried scoring my latest loaf of sourdough bread in a snowflake pattern. It sort of resembled a snowflake, I suppose, but I need to go light on the flour next time so the scoring pattern will be more pronounced. Still, I was grateful for the beautiful snow and especially grateful that I had electricity and running water the whole time! So who else got snow over the weekend?

 

The surprise of a petit déjeuner

So while I was at dinner with friends the other night, my friend Paige texted to say she'd just returned from Paris and had left something for me in my mailbox. Can you guess what it was? The item on top is a major clue!

Even the sea salt butter from Paris is elegant!

Inside the paper bag, of course, were two fresh croissants. They crisp right up in the toaster oven.

With the fancy butter? Yum. And with some Earl Grey she'd already given me, even better. What a great way to end the week!

A new type of tea wings its way to me

When my Bible study friends came here for tea and cookies near Christmas, our leader, Paige, who is a flight attendant, brought us all some tea from her latest travels. I received this adorable tea tin with some English Breakfast Tea inside, and while it's very good, I was perhaps even more excited that Paige also brought me the baggie at left, which was packed with more tea bags she picked up for me on her travels. She's recently been to Rome, Paris, and London, and she even texted me from Fortnum & Mason the other day to share photos and ask if I wanted her to get anything for me. (Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call a friend!)

I started exploring the new tea bags this week, and lo and behold, there's a type of tea bag I've never seen before, these from Bistrotea.

Actually, it's not really a tea bag but a tea stick! You just plop it into your teacup like a single-use tea infuser. As with lots of loose tea infusers, this one let a few tea particles escape into my teacup, and that was just fine. The Organic English Breakfast Tea was just the brisk mid-morning tea I had hoped for, and I felt quite fortunate to experience some new teas without having to even travel to go get them!

Recommended reading: "Around the Table"

For my first Saturday of the new year, I decided it was time to go antiquing in Marietta. What’s more, I decided to “face my fears” by visiting an antique mall I’d been avoiding for more than a decade. I used to love shopping at the Big Shanty Antique Mall with my mom, and even though she’s been gone eleven years now, until Saturday, I just couldn’t make myself go back to Big Shanty. Well, guess what? It’s not even there anymore! There’s a scaled-down Big Shanty in the area—I guess “Little Shanty” didn’t have a nice ring to it—and when I finally got there with the help of Google Maps on my phone, I couldn’t help grinning. I’d been avoiding something that existed only in my imagination! Isn’t that crazy? (Maybe you all have thought some crazy things too. I sure hope so!) At any rate, I didn’t find anything I needed there, but I had driven right by the Cobb Antique Mall on the way, and there, I found this $4 book that has been an absolute delight to read!

From the folks behind Reminisce magazine, this 2011 book is titled Around the Table: Fond Memories of Food, Family and Friends. It shares so many sweet stories of mealtimes past, and of course I was hooked as soon as I flipped it open and saw this picture of a little girl celebrating her eighth birthday on May 4, 1948. That’s my birthday! (Well, not the year, but the date is right.) A Suzanne Jones of Granbury, Texas, writes, “The girls were delighted with being served from the silver tea service seen on the counter at left and using the demitasse cups of ‘fine china.’” The author later owned the tea service, which was given to her daughter as a wedding gift. Isn’t that lovely?

LeeBerta Graham of Paso Robles, California, shared a charming story about Willard’s, the upscale restaurant that her parents once ran in Beverly Hills. There, she and her younger sister, Wilda, got dressed up for their “tea parties.” They didn’t drink real tea but had Kool-Aid instead! Yesterday, my little neighbor friends visited and had Swiss Miss hot cocoa in their “teacups,” so I understand. With lots of lovely stories, vintage photos, and period advertisements, this book is one that I think many of you would enjoy as well.

A fabulous new piece of teatime art

Shortly before Christmas, the doorbell rang, and it was my seven-year-old friend Adelaide, bearing a gift. I love to receive her artwork and have a nice collection of it on my refrigerator, so I stood there and studied it with my usual response, which was something like, "Oh my goodness! I love it! Now tell me about it!" (That's a great way to make sure I understand the artist's intent.)

I was, frankly, a little concerned that Adelaide appeared to be lying on a gurney, but she explained that this was her sleeping (thus the zzzz's) and dreaming and …

She was dreaming of having a tea party with me! (That's me on the left, lest you wonder.) Now, I don't guess I've ever had a friend tell me she was actually dreaming of having tea with me. Isn't that absolutely charming?

Happy New Year!

 

Enjoying some new Christmas gifts

It is always delightful when friends surprise me with a gift I just love, and that was the case with several goodies I received this Christmas. My friend Andrea surprised me with an extravagant bag full of gifts, and my favorite of the many lovely items inside was this pink pottery mug as well as some tea blended in her hometown of Carrollton!

The London Fog tea tastes even better, I'm sure, because it was sipped from this pretty mug made by a woman in Haiti. I love that Andrea was also supporting a local ministry to Haiti by choosing such a gift, and the fact that it's beautiful *and* useful makes me so happy.

When I found a pretty box from my friend Susan waiting at my front door one night before Christmas, the first thing I noted was that it weighed a ton. When I opened the lid, I could see why: it was the Dolly Parton pan I had been wanting!

Everybody loves Dolly, and I couldn't help wanting one of these pans as soon as I saw them and realized they said "Jolene, please don't take my pan" on the back. Hilarious! I told Susan I'd been coveting one of these pans, and she said she knew that because I'd mentioned it on Facebook over the summer, and she'd ordered it for me that day. I'll have to be more careful of what I post online about things I want (I mean, someone might go get me that Italian villa I'm hankering for), but boy, what a fun gift. Tea and kitchen items are always welcome gifts. Did you get any fun tea and/or kitchen gifts for Christmas this year?

My Primuline collection grows …

Remember Rebecca, the lovely lady who sent me those longed-for Primuline teacups and saucers a few weeks ago? Well, when I arrived home from my dad's after our family's Christmas Day celebration, I had a second package from her waiting, this time with nine more pieces, including a spare saucer to go with the cup-and-saucer sets she sent earlier and …

Eight of the gorgeous gold-rimmed dessert plates! Years ago, my mother surprised me with the plates at Christmas. This year, Rebecca has surprised me with the matching dessert plates.

And my favorite Christmas dessert is Daddy's coconut cake, some of which I brought home with me and promptly enjoyed on a new Primuline plate. While Christmas was different this year without my beloved Alex, the day was still a good one, and I continue to count my blessings—including the greatest one, the gift of a Savior, as well as earthly blessings like a kind stranger who gifted me with teacups and saucers and dessert plates. I hope your Christmas was a good one too!

Merry Christmas!

 

"For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

— Luke 2:10, 11

Merry Christmas, tea friends!

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.