Giveaway: A signed copy of my new book!

I'm happy to announce that Dyeing for Attention, Book Two in the Silver Sisters Mystery Series, is now published, and I'll be giving away a signed copy to one lucky winner on Friday! To enter, just leave a comment before 7 a.m. EST on Friday, September 25, and answer this question: Are you a fan of pumpkin spice? Yes or no will do! You can leave your answer on the Tea With Friends Facebook page as well. Contest open to US residents only. Good luck!

And here's the synopsis of the book:

The big day has finally arrived at Silver & Salvage, a combination junk store and antiques shop in Redbud, Alabama, and sisters Carolyn Hopeworth and Nan Padgett and their shopkeeping sidekick, Kitty Monroe, couldn’t be more excited. The editor and photography team from Junky Chic magazine have finally arrived for a long-awaited photo shoot, but from a dangerous gas leak to a broken sidewalk, downtown Redbud endures one catastrophe after another. Then the merchant overseeing the weekend’s beloved Harvest Festival confesses they may be forced to cancel all the festivities.

While the locals fuss over festival plans, LA magazine photographer Rox Greene swans around the small town like the snoot he is, criticizing everyone and everything in his path—until he’s silenced by someone who didn’t seem to appreciate his particular gifts.

After offending about half of Redbud, Rox has few defenders in town. Nan and Carolyn had fretted about the state of their graying locks and how they would look in the magazine photos, but that worry ends up being the least of their concerns. Instead of their shop getting good press, someone seems determined to stop the press—permanently.

The winner of the fall tea towels is …

Jenny Young! If you'll send me your snail mail address (to angelamcrae at charter dot net), I'll get these headed your way. Congrats!

On clipper ships

This week, I was busy editing a client's thriller set in and around London, and to my delight, she included several scenes set around the Cutty Sark, the world's last surviving tea clipper. As often happens when I'm editing, I find myself googling little details about the topic, and that's how I ended up finding this brief video about the ship, a vessel I actually visited when I went to England for my birthday years ago. It was stunning to stand aboard the actual ship that once raced across the waters while transporting tea!

Maybe I've subconsciously had ships on the brain, because I happened to find this pretty brown transfer ware plate at our Habitat for Humanity thrift store the other day, and I decided it would be nice to include it in a fall display. I rarely find brown plates, so when I spot one at a good price, I get it.

And isn't this ship majestic? I love the flag waving in the breeze!

I learned even more from the back stamp, and now I'm thinking I'll need to include some of this "ship" stuff in a book one day!

An Ollie's shopping alert

So I ran in Ollie's to grab some toothpaste since I can get in and out there faster than I can at the grocery store, and as always, I had to buzz by the tea aisle. And I found—duh, duh, duh, DUH—some Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Green Tea! And I do mean "some," because the sighting made me check out the entire food section, and this was the only box I found (just $1.99). Was it on the shelves early in the season, or is it close to its expiration date? Well, the box says it expires in January 2027, so it's nearing its sell-by date, but the tea I bought tastes as yummy as it always does, and as fast as I drink this tea, using it up before it expires will not be a problem. Candy Cane Lane has a bit of a cult following with peppermint tea enthusiasts, so … be advised to check your local Ollie's if you're a fan as well.

In addition to the tea, I found this Dove Spiced Chai Latte hand soap. Now, I like "food" scented hand soap only in the kitchen, and I was pleased that this soap has such a light hint of spice, not something heavy that will follow you around all day like the musky hand soap I used in a gift boutique's restroom last week. (If you sniff just right, you can probably still smell it there at your house, wherever you live.)

Ollie's is such a fun discount store because you never know what you'll find there, but I have learned that I can always find tea!

Giveaway: Some fall TEA towels!

One day last week, I went to my car after having lunch with a friend, and the car's thermometer said it was 109 degrees outside. I felt every single one of them, so when I stopped by the grocery store and saw humongous boxes of pumpkins on display, I wasn't exactly feeling the fall vibes. Still, I believe based on past experience that fall will indeed arrive in another month or so, and for that reason, I was happy to find some honest-to-goodness TEA towels at T. J. Maxx the other day.

Sometimes I'm stretching things to call any fall cup a "teacup," but check this out: a tea bag hanging out of this fall cup!

And a teapot! Obviously, I needed to liberate both these sets from the store (one for me and one for you). So if you'd like to be entered to win this set of two fall TEA towels, just leave an "Enter me" type comment to this post (or on Facebook) between now and 7 a.m. EST on Friday, September 18, and you'll be entered to win. US only, please. Good luck!

A new use for an old thing

A few weeks ago, my oldest niece was working on a plate wall for her kitchen and asked if I might have some extra small plates she could use to help her fill in a few spots. Did I have a few extra plates? Um, yes. So I sent her this photo to show her what I quickly gathered from a shelf in the kitchen, and she said she had room for only three, so she chose the chintz one at top left and then the first two on the second row. As I was looking at those plates, which included one smaller dessert plate, it dawned on me that I had been looking for a saucer to use as an underplate with a giant breakfast cup I got at an antique mall last year.

First, I tried this small blue plate from the grouping I’d offered my niece. While the roses and the blue were a good match, it just wasn’t quite large enough.

Then it dawned on me that I should try this blue dessert plate that I found in Wisconsin years ago. I love the pattern and the blue, but that lime-green swirl just never quite seemed to go with anything else I owned, but I think it suits this cup just fine. So now I have a new home for a Christmas cactus a friend gave me that I’m trying to keep alive, and it was delightful to be able to “shop my home,” as they say, for new ways to use some old things!

It's time to talk about *Tea Time*

As Joan Rivers used to say, "Can we talk?" My new issue of Tea Time came in the mail last week, but I wanted to give everyone who subscribes a few days to get their copy in the mail before sharing any comments, as I have lots of thoughts about the magazine's new format. When I got the letter earlier this summer saying they were going to produce just three issues a year but in a larger format, my immediate thought was, "Uh-oh." Print magazines have been in decline for years, and with costs of salaries, paper, printing, and postage going up, up, up, I've wondered how long they could hang on. Some of you will remember when I was editor of our local magazine before I left the news biz thirteen years ago. Well, when I went to the plant in Kentucky to watch an issue of our magazine get printed one time, I was delighted to discover that many of the Hoffman Media magazines were printed there too. Upon leaving journalism, I seriously looked into starting my own regional magazine, had a designer mock up a cover and everything, but just couldn't make the numbers work. The biggest obstacle: the cost of postage. And with the USPS in such disarray today, my prediction is that one day, any remaining print magazines will be delivered by Amazon and/or drones. (And maybe they should be.)

So my guess was that Tea Time was trying to save money on postage yet remain a print product, and since I as a general rule do not like change, I was prepared to thoroughly dislike the new format. Plus, I'd been looking for a preview of the new issue online, and when I learned it was selling for $25 per copy (discounted to $60 for a year's subscription), I thought, "Well, that's it. It's toast for Tea Time. Nobody's gonna pay that."

Ah, but then I got my magazine in the mail, and I just love it! It truly does feel quite substantial, and based on page count alone, you can't argue that it's not like getting two magazines at once. The question is, will most readers go for that? I will, but I'm still in the working phase of life and have a little (a little, I say!) disposable income every month. Online, I've seen older readers on fixed incomes say they can no longer afford it. I definitely understand that. My last subscription invoice was $18 for a year of Tea Time, and to have it increase to $60 is a huge jump. I happen to think it is worth that $60, based on what I've seen so far, and time will tell if other readers agree.

Here, by the way, is Issue #1 of Tea Time. If memory serves, I was shopping at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta one afternoon in 2003, ducked into their ritzy little book shop, and was perusing the magazines when I just happened to spot this premier issue. I had already gotten into teatime thanks to the many features in Victoria magazine over the years, and my heart was racing as I snatched up that issue. A whole magazine devoted to tea? Yes, please. And I hope they'll be around for many, many years to come. If you've gotten your new issue, either on the newsstand or in the mail, what are your thoughts?

Happy Labor Day, friends!

 

A fun find at an antique mall

Earlier this week, I was returning home from a day trip and decided to stop by an antique mall in LaGrange, a town about 40 miles south of my home in Newnan. I had less than an hour before the store closed for the day, so I quickly zipped through the shop. In one room, some china and ceramic pieces were actually tucked beneath a dresser or some piece of furniture (risky, I thought!), and that’s where I spotted what I immediately recognized as a vintage chintz piece.

This heavy tray, which was marked $25, is designed to hold a breakfast set. I’ve never owned a vintage breakfast set, one of those charming pieces with a small teapot, teacup, sugar and creamer, and toast rack. But not long ago, I read online about a woman who collects these sets inexpensively by gathering them a piece at a time instead of spending hundreds of dollars on the completed set.

The pattern is by Wade Heath of England, and as best I can tell, it’s called Butterfly Chintz. The only matching piece currently on eBay is the small teapot, but it’s in Canada, where the shipping and import fees make it out of my budget. But that’s okay, because I think the tray is pretty on its own, and I’m curious to see how long it will take me to collect all the pieces that go on it. Fingers crossed!

A cute presentation idea to tuck in your pocket

When it comes to serving treats, I am always up for a cute presentation, and last week at mahjong, my friend Deborah ("Deborah of the new dishes") had prepared a tray of mahjong-themed paper napkin "pockets" holding cookies.

Is this not the cutest thing? I happen to have some mahjong-themed napkins myself (thank you, T. J. Maxx), and Deborah showed us how easy it was to fold them into pockets for the cookies.

I just knew there would be a YouTube video showing the process, and there is, right here. Have any of you tried this presentation before? I think it's charming!

Here's a story … of some new dishes …

 

Here’s a story

Of some new dishes

Did I need them?

Why, absolutely no.

I was minding

my own business

there at mahjong,

when Deb said we could go…

To her garage

and check her cabinets

for the chargers

And candlesticks galore.

She had stacks and stacks

Of all these

pretty dishes

But one set made her sore.

Didn’t like 'em.

Wished she’d not bought 'em.

We’ve all been there

And surely understand.

Then my mouth piped up and said,

“Well, I just love them.”

And that’s when Deb put these new dishes

In my hand.

It’s not my fault

It’s not my fault

That’s the way these dishes

Entered my dish vault!

Royal Mail by Myott Staffordshire, some of the eight dinner plates and bread-and-butter plates rescued from my friend Deborah's house when she hosted mahjong last week. Up top are some of the pieces I'm auditioning with this fabulous gift of transfer ware!

Goodbye, Dolly

Like many of you, I'll bet, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time this week looking at old photos and video clips of Dolly Parton. I was so stunned at the news of her death on Tuesday. Dolly always seemed so vibrant and larger than life that it just never occurred to me that she would pass away during my lifetime. Once I heard the news, I reached for the Dolly Parton tea bag rests I found at Dollar General last year, which are undoubtedly the only Dolly-themed tea wares I own.

Many of you will remember me writing about my Aunt Jane over the years until she passed away in late 2023. Aunt Jane was a huge Dolly fan, and whenever Dolly had a new CD out, Aunt Jane wouldn't let it rest until one of us took her to Walmart or Target in search of the CD. And Aunt Jane was very, very proud of that CD player of hers. We often gave her picture books about Dolly Parton, and my aunt loved them. One of my nieces and I find it quite interesting that Dolly passed away on Aunt Jane's birthday. I like to think that my "special needs" aunt had a "special" guest show up at her birthday party this year!

There will never be another Dolly, and I have been heartened this week to discover that, by golly, there IS one thing Americans can agree on, and that is the near universal respect for the country superstar and philanthropist. From her book donations for young readers to the band uniforms she funded for high school students, seems like everyone has popped up with a story to share about this gifted child of the mountains who made it big and never forgot where she came from. RIP, Dolly.

Publix Sweet Tea & Lemonade Float Ice Cream

Now this was a surprise! I was just looking for some chocolate or caramel ice cream at Publix last week when I spotted this flavor. Naturally, it jumped into my grocery cart!

And it is yummy! I like ice cream as an occasional treat and never buy it except during the summer. I've had this carton for a week, and I've eaten maybe a third of it, so this will last me a while, but these little yellow lemon-flavored bits in the creamy ice cream really do remind me of sweet tea with lemon!

Does it actually have tea in it, though? I have no idea. What's a "tea flavor base"? And does the "natural flavor"include tea?

I tried asking the bots at Publix, but apparently this question was beyond their ability to answer. Still, I had to give it a shot! (And the ice cream really is tasty!)

 

A new treat and a new pan

I've been diligently finishing up new novels that are coming out this fall and didn't have time to even visit the grocery store last week. One day, though, I was really craving something sweet, so I decided to make a variation* of my Kitchen Sink Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies (recipe here) that you can whip up and bake all at once on a sheet pan.

It so happened that I'd been meaning to try out a new sheet pan I got at T. J. Maxx recently. I actually needed a new sheet pan, and this one was that pretty pastel green that I like—and a generous size. But would that textured bottom really be a good nonstick surface? There was nothing to do but try it out.

And look how cleanly these cookies slid out of the (ungreased) pan! I was impressed, and I will be looking for another of these pans the next time I'm in T. J. Maxx. Since I had a nice big pan of cookies, later in the week, I decided to try a trick I saw online and cut them into small bite-size round cookies as shown up top. (The baker whose video I watched used the scraps in a creamy layered dessert, which I thought was a fun idea.) Wouldn't these little round cookies be cute on a tea tray? But then, I liked them just fine on my tea-and-toast set.

*For this variation, in place of the chips and nuts, I used 3/4 cup reduced-sugar dried cranberries, 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, and 3 tablespoons cocoa.

When afternoon tea was just fifty cents …

The New York Public Library has loads of digital images you can browse online, and these images of a 1914 menu from the Lord & Taylor Tea Rooms caught my eye.

It's interesting to see the various ice creams named. I could figure out what a Charlotte Glacée was, but the Coupe Julia Marlowe? No idea. (I did learn that she was an English-born American actress and fought for women's right to vote. Maybe the ice cream honored her popularity?)

And while I'd no doubt let them keep the stewed prunes, don't you wish we could still enjoy afternoon tea for just fifty cents?

A teacup needle minder

 

I love it when my interests overlap. Needlepoint is having a moment, and since I've been revisiting some old needlepoint canvases I've had tucked away, I learned that all sorts of new needlepoint accessories exist, including a new-to-me gadget, a magnetic needle minder. 

This one, shaped like a teacup with those famous British "Rich Tea" biscuits on the side, is one I found on Amazon. (The link is here.)

A tiny magnet is on the back of the card, and you use it to attach your needle minder to your needlepoint canvas.

It looks like this when in use, and then you don't have to continuously poke holes in your canvas when "storing" your needle away. Some stitching gadgets are a waste of time and money, but this one? I'm impressed. Are you a lapsed needlepointer like I was?

Bow-Tied!

When I got home from shopping last Saturday, a friend asked if I'd bought anything. I told her I'd just bought two cute coffee mugs with bows on them on clearance at Kirkland's for $3 each. She said, "I thought you weren't buying any more coffee mugs?" That's when I explained that technically, these were Christmas mugs, and I don't put limits on Christmas decorations and tea wares.

You see, last Christmas, I found these darling dinner plates at a T. J. Maxx or HomeGoods, but I wished there had been teacups or tea mugs to match.

Then I found the salad plates that matched the dinner plates. I'm aiming to go full pink with my Christmas decorating this year, so I'm glad I picked these dishes up last year (and I think I remember using rewards points, so they might've been free). While I would like to have found four of either the pink or the green mugs (or maybe both), at least I have two. While I can't stage a full tea party, I can have a friend over for "luncheon," as they used to say on Downton Abbey, and I don't think it's that big a deal that our mugs will be different. (Plus, who even knows what pink tea wares may materialize this Christmas.) And yes, I know it's not even fall yet, but when it come to seasonal décor, you really have to plan ahead!

Honey Lemon Black Tea from Nature's Hearth Tea Co.

Occasionally, I am lured in by a tea's packaging and decide to take a chance on a new tea vendor or tea flavor. This Honey Lemon Black Tea from Nature's Hearth Tea Co. caught my eye at T. J. Maxx last weekend, and the tin was so pretty, I decided I wanted it for décor and would take a chance on the tea (just $4.99 for 50 tea bags).

It's hard to capture in the photo, but the tin is an unusual shape. It's almost a pyramid (or a trapezoid, maybe), and the graphics make me think of fall. With temps in the nineties here in Georgia this week, I am definitely dreaming of cooler fall temperatures and new fall flavors.

And guess what? This tea was lovely! As soon as I opened the foil pouch containing all the tea bags, I caught a nice whiff of lemon. I steeped my tea for about three minutes and got a delightfully lemony brew. Now, if I could just acquire cooler weather as quickly as I acquire new tea!