Tea and chicks and T.J.

My sister gave me a T.J. Maxx gift card for my birthday earlier this month, and after buying a couple of journals last week, I still managed to buy a few more goodies this week, included this Peach Mango Cold Brew Green Tea from Harmony Organic Tea. It came in this colorful box, and when I opened it, I was surprised to find …

A resealable pouch! I detected a very strong peach scent as soon as I opened the packet. 

Here's what the tea bags look like, and steeped in cold water for five minutes, the tea's flavor was a little weak, so I just let it continue to steep, then I got a nice peach and mango flavor.

Perfect!

Also, I always check out the home decor, and I was surprised to see a cute teacup Easter decoration that I'd not seen in the dozen or more visits I've made to T.J. Maxx over the past couple of months. It was $9.99 originally, now marked down to $4.50. Yes, please!

Won't this be fun to decorate with next Easter? So do check out those clearance aisles, friends, as the Easter goodies there may surprise you!

June/July 2025 Cottages & Bungalows

One of the magazines I have really enjoyed reading in recent years is Cottages & Bungalows, and the newest one is especially delightful! I love the house on the cover, which somehow reminds me of a newly built cottage that's been going up a few miles down the road from me.

This bridal tea luncheon looks like it was such a spectacular event, and I love that lavish table in the open-air setting!

I always enjoy seeing detailed photos of what is served at a tea. I'm especially drawn to these little circular cakes at lower left, and that gilded teacup cookie was definitely an artisan touch.

And I don't guess I'll ever tire of some dreamy all-white decor, so if you're a fan of this romantic style as well, this is a magazine you may want to check out!

Collecting cookbooks

I've gotten so much reading pleasure from the vintage cookbooks I've come across this year that I wanted to tell you about some of them.

What's Cooking at Neiman-Marcus? is a slim volume I'd never even heard of before, and I certainly wish I'd heard of it before I finished writing Dainty Dining, as these recipes would have been ideal for that. I correctly assumed that the store's famous popover recipe would make an appearance, and it did, but it also has recipes for some decadent-sounding desserts like Cappuccino Pie and Praline Parfait. It's hard to imagine a store giving customers a free anything today, much less a cookbook of beloved recipes, so I'm happy to have found this.

On a visit to the antique mall during my recent crafting retreat, I found this large (8x10-inch) comb-bound book titled Bayou Cuisine. It has lots of tempting regional recipes, including a bacon-and-avocado dip I just made, and it has three recipes for teacakes that I'm hoping to try soon, but the real reason I had to have this was because of the sticker on the cover, showing that this once sold for $9.95 at my beloved Rich's!

Also on the crafting retreat, I bought this hardback book titled Miss Daisy Celebrates Tennessee. I have one of Daisy King's tearoom cookbooks, so I figured I would enjoy this one, too, and I did, especially since it celebrated 200 years of Tennessee history in 1996. I'm enjoying the history as much as the recipes.

And speaking of history … the cookbook I'm most intrigued by is this one, Tignall's Famous Recipes, which was compiled by the Tignall P.T.A. in 1951. You know the recipe for Wacky Cake I shared on Friday? It's one of the recipes that was tucked between the pages of this well-loved cookbook. I'd never heard of Tignall, Georgia, until I bought this book, and curiously enough, as I headed to my friend Kathy's house in Statesboro following the craft retreat in Lavonia, lo and behold, we passed right through the small town of Tignall, so I was delighted!

When I see handwritten or typed recipes and others that appear to have come off a can or a bag of flour, I am smitten. This cookbook is so full of stuff that it was packaged in a plastic bag so the various papers wouldn't fall out, and for just $5, this book has already provided me with far more than $5 worth of entertainment! Are you drawn to old cookbooks and/or old recipes too?

The pleasures of "Wacky Cake"

Recently, I came across a recipe for Wacky Cake that had been tucked into the pages of a 1951 cookbook, and I must tell you that this super-moist cake is absolutely wonderful! I made it for my latest column in the Coweta Shopper, and it’s so good that I know I’ll be making it again. This is such a moist, light cake that I think small squares of it would be perfect as a teatime treat.

Curiously enough, I bought a 1970 cookbook the other day, and it has this same recipe in it, so I think the “wacky” recipe has clearly stood the test of time!

Wacky Cake

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa

1/3 cup melted shortening or oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cold water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift dry ingredients into a 9 x 9-inch pan and mix well. Make three holes, then pour oil, vinegar, and vanilla into separate holes. Pour water over all and mix well with a fork but do not beat. Bake for 30 minutes. Leave in pan and frost while still warm.


Topping


1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 stick butter or margarine

1-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup coconut, optional

1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Combine all ingredients except vanilla and cook on medium heat until mixture thickens. Add vanilla, mix well, and spread topping on warm cake.

Just journaling …

A disturbing fact came to my attention the other day: I am running low on journals! Like most writers I know, I’m obsessed with paper and pen, and having just the right journal to write in is very important. And when I say “running low on journals,” please understand that I mean “currently have fewer than ten in waiting,” which, to me, is kind of like the needle on the gas gauge edging toward “E.” I was just about to settle for some new ones that were merely so-so designs when I spotted these two lovelies at T.J. Maxx over the weekend!

You may be surprised to hear that the blue scalloped one ($5.99) is actually my favorite. I’ve always loved scalloped anything—dresses, stationery, potatoes—and this one was right up my alley. Scallops are very much in style this year in home decor, as are all things floral and Laura Ashley and Shabby Chic, so I can hardly visit a T.J. Maxx these days without leaving with something with roses and/or scallops on it.

And who could leave this cute pink teacup journal behind? Certainly not I (and certainly not for just $4.99), and I thought some of you might want to look for it as well. To those who share my obsession, happy journaling!

Yard sales in the rain!

On Saturday, my sister, Rhonda, said she was headed to Newnan to check out some yard sales and asked if I wanted to go with her. Of course I said yes, and even though it was raining off and on, we both found some bargains. Curiously enough, everything I bought was $1, from this pink basket to everything in and around it.

My favorite find? This Avon bunny collectible from 1984 featuring teatime friends quickly caught my eye. I've been wanting more vintage Easter decor, so this was perfect.

And when I saw a matching figurine that said "Come Rain or Shine," I had to have it as well. (A fitting purchase, considering the day's weather.)

I may use this green glass cream pitcher to hold homemade simple syrup when iced tea weather fully arrives. The lid makes it perfect for that!

And I couldn't remember whether I actually own mini Bundt pans, so this set of four seemed like a risk worth taking.

Finally, I almost never buy crafts, because I can usually make them myself, but this whimsical muffin pan was worth buying just to remember how it was made. I want to decorate my kitchen for Christmas this year, and I will use this cute pan and perhaps make one of my own as well. So the Saturday sales may have been wet ones, but they were definitely fun!

A visit to Antiques Roadshow!

On Tuesday, my friend Kathy and I traveled to Savannah for the taping of Antiques Roadshow! I had entered the ticket lottery months ago and told her that if I won two tickets, I was inviting myself to stay overnight with her in Statesboro and would take her to Savannah with me. Fortunately, she was okay with that, and when I got word that I had won tickets, she was all in.

They have time slots spaced at thirty-minute intervals throughout the day, and we arrived promptly for our four-thirty visit, catching a trolley as we ferried our goodies to the site. We could each take two items with us. Kathy took her grandmother’s silver-inlaid wooden snuff box and an antique chocolate mold. 

I took this tea-themed silhouette Alex got for me years ago and …

This antique needlework sampler from 1816. I had already figured out it was probably Dutch, which was confirmed, and the gentleman said it might have been made from a kit, which was surprising. (Maybe they had a Dutch Hobby Lobby back in the day?)

The organization of the event, not surprisingly, was first-rate. Our digital tickets were quickly scanned, and volunteers were absolutely everywhere, eager to help direct us. You simply told them what items you wanted appraised, and they pointed you to the area for that category of appraisal. Both of mine, I learned, fell under Folk Art, and while neither was valuable, I did end up discovering a few things about them, just as I’d hoped. The silhouette might or might not have been die cut, I learned, and the only way to find out for sure would be to take it out of the frame, which would likely damage it, so I’m fine with not knowing. The appraiser said it appeared to be an Art Deco piece, which was news to me. I had assumed it was Victorian and placed in a newer frame. The antique sampler, the other appraiser said, does indeed look right for the 1816 date at the bottom, though, like me, he couldn’t read the name and noted the faded letters. He asked if this was a family piece, and I said oh no, it was something I found at a thrift store, and he said, “Good!” (You know the Heritage Society’s august Timothy Neville from Laura Childs’s tea shop mysteries? That’s who this guy reminded me of.) Because the piece is so worn, he said that it’s worth only about $50, which happens to be exactly what I paid for it. (And I’m still happy with that purchase!)

Kathy’s pieces, by the way, were the treasures of the day for us! I believe she said the wooden box was a French souvenir worth about $30-$50, and the heart-shaped candy mold (which she says I may borrow sometime to make chocolate) may be worth as much as $150! Neither of us was interviewed on camera, but you know that little segment at the end of the show where the riffraff collectors tell you what they learned about their items? Yes, that was where we ended up. So there’s only a small chance that we’ll be on TV after the new episodes begin airing next January, but stranger things have happened!

It was fun to see all the items folks brought to the event (like this table, which barely made it onto the trolley), and despite all that we saw and did, we were in and out in about thirty minutes.

The event was held at the Georgia State Railroad Museum, and I hope to return someday for a visit—when I'm not lugging antiques around!

A Washington socialite who knew how to leverage teatime

Courtesy of Library of Congress

The Library of Congress never fails to intrigue me with its tea-themed papers and photographs, and this one from 1937 shows Louise Leahy, at left, taking tea with "fellow hostess Helen Griffin Swift at a fundraiser for the American Red Cross."

This article details how Leahy, wife of William D. Leahy, chief of naval operations, used her hostessing skills to help advance her husband's political career. The article says, "At the Leahy family’s inaugural tea, strains of the navy band drifted down from the second floor as Louise and William mingled with notables like Lulie Swanson (the navy secretary’s wife), an assortment of naval officers, and diplomats from far-flung locales like France, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Peru. The Leahys received guests in the home’s drawing room, with blue coverings on sofas and chairs marking the room’s 'dominant color note' while 'palms and ferns and bouquets of pink roses added to the attractive setting.' Tea was served in the dining room across a red-carpeted hall…"

Wouldn't you love to have been invited to one of those soirees? I sure would have! If you're as interested in history as I am, you can read the full article here.

Teatime card making at the lake

Last fall, I was looking forward to using these new stamps and dies, a gift from my friend Joy, at the crafting retreat I enjoy twice a year at Lake Hartwell. Well, guess you who left that entire tote of supplies at the top of her staircase? Yep. This girl. For the spring retreat this weekend, however, I did like Santa Claus and made a list and checked it twice, and I am happy to report that I finally got to break in these lovely new designs!

I knew I wanted to emboss some cards with my gold embossing powder, but I'm very rusty at this technique and had to get reacquainted it.

Once I got the hang of it, I was embossing up a storm!

Then I made more cards using the new Honeybee Stamps I recently got. I wanted to try making the teapots in a lot of different colors, and I did.

Also, I got inspired by my friend Jennifer's Christmas stocking, a knitted work in progress.

Vicki was busy making her beautiful cards …

Janis was readying for Christmas with some diamond art …

And Becky continues to wow us all by making a quilt in the time it takes the rest of us to make a few cards!

As always, I found time for a little of this activity as well. It was a fun weekend, and I loved having the opportunity to catch up on my teatime card making while enjoying another great retreat with my sweet crafty friends!

Recommended Reading: May/June 2025 Victoria Magazine

The new issue of Victoria magazine that landed in my mailbox this week is themed "Escape With Us to France," and it has so many lovely articles that I wanted to share a few thoughts about them.

First, the recipes include what may be the most beautiful shortbread I've ever seen. Wouldn't this Vanilla Rose Shortbread at left be a stunner at a tea party?

But what most fascinated me was this article on Haviland china. It's fun to learn about the teacups and other wares we use each day, and Haviland teacups always seem to be some of the prettiest designs out there. I was intrigued to learn that though the company dynasty started in 1835, it was founded in 1924 "when Robert Haviland established his factory in Limoges, later partnering with Camille Parlon." In 2021, two sisters, Marie-Caroline Guillot Kowal and Marie-Amélie Guillot, took over leadership of the company and "have been hard at work to waken this remarkable porcelain house but have intentionally refrained from making changes to the actual fabrication process." Isn't that refreshing to hear?

And while everything is still handmade, they do use computers in the design process! If you're a fan of "dish history" like I am (or just a Francophile in general), you may want to check out this issue.