Visiting Plymouth and Sheboygan Falls, Wisc.

The flowers I saw on my Wisconsin trip last week offered a surprise at every turn. Their lushness (in July!) was quite the surprise, but it was also fun to see so many beautiful wildflowers I don't see back home, like this Spotted Knapweed.

And though we have lots of White Clover, this Red Clover (which really looks pink to me) also struck me as quite lovely.


The plant I found most unique was this blue wildflower. I noticed it along some of the country roads around Elkhart Lake, and it was still on my mind when we got to the lovely little town of Plymouth, which was a shopper's delight! While I checked out the Sewing Basket quilt shop and an antique mall, Alex had explored on his own and, as requested, located a bookstore, Book Heads, that had a nice selection of local gardening books. The pleasant lady there, who happens to garden herself, was kind enough to look at the photos on my digital camera and tell me that oh yes, this is chicory! I like chicory flavor in coffee but not in tea, and I had no idea its famous root was attached to such a beautiful flower!

The wonderful book she recommended, "Wildflowers of Wisconsin" by Stan Tekiela, had information on chicory and about 200 other wildflowers, which is how I was able to identify the ones above as well as the ones I would see later in the trip. Tekiela has written lots of state guidebooks for flowers and birds, including a bird book for Georgia that's now on my wish list.

In addition to the bookstore, I was happy to visit the Sewing Basket and find some great fabrics to add to my stash. (I think they're really supposed to be "coffee" fabrics, but since they don't actually say coffee or have coffee beans in the design, I decided they could join the tea fabrics.) This was one of several places where I was politely asked, "Do I detect an accent there?" I later learned from a Wisconsinite that my husband and I talk fast for southerners, so I guess that's a good thing!

My favorite find in Plymouth, though, came from an antique mall where I found some vintage booklets about Spode, Royal Doulton and Haviland china. At first I thought these old books must have been aimed at shop owners, but as I read them, it seemed they were offered to the general public.

Later I'll try to share more of the fun stuff I'm finding in these booklets, but I was so fascinated I had to scan this inserted page from the Spode booklet because it has such great information about what was going on in china sales during the WWII years. (Double-click on the image if you want to read it.)


The afternoon concluded with a stop by picturesque Sheboygan Falls.


This Crown Vetch covers the banks there in an absolutely gorgeous display.

I spotted this Field Thistle there too, which was quite fortunate since I would be seeing both these flowers in an unlikely place the very next day, and thanks to my new wildflower book I knew enough to recognize them!

Tea and travels in Wisconsin

Most of last week I spent in Wisconsin, where my husband and I were enjoying a nice leisurely visit with my stepdaughter and her husband and exploring the local sights, which to my delight were more than I had even hoped for! The fun included some great tea finds at antique shops and quilt stores, lunch at a unique tea room, a visit to the Mecca of bath fixtures, and even a personal tour of a small dairy farm! Today, I thought I'd tell you about Elkhart Lake, where we enjoyed a nice visit before heading on to stay with family. The historic Siebkens Resort was our home base, and I loved it immediately. After all the hot, humid days we've had lately, I could not get over how pleasant it was there.

I would like to have taken one of Siebkens' frilly iron rockers home with me, but I couldn't figure out a way to get it on the plane. (Legally, I mean.)

Here is a back view of the newer rooms, which were later additions to the resort. The flowers in the foreground mark the entrance to a public walking area to the lake, whose name comes from a wonderful old Indian legend you can find here.


I am still just stunned that it looks like the height of spring in Wisconsin while, back home, the flowers are drooping and the people are too! On the walk back to the hotel, I was impressed by the giant white mophead hydrangeas and the blue-eyed daisies, which I'd never seen before.


The next morning, my first retail stop among all the quaint shops was a place my husband actually scouted out online, Gina's Custom Framing and Specialty Prints, which offers more than 100 varieties of tea. The shop had a great selection, and I bought a couple of new iced teas that looked yummy. (Just got home last night and haven't had time to try them yet, so the tea reviews will come later.)

I found two different kinds of tea soaps I'd not come across before, including these Tea Leaf and Wild Honey travel soaps from Lucia. (I got extras for future blog giveaways!)

I also got a box of Botanicus green tea soaps, which smell divine!

Next to Gina's is the old Elkhart Lake train depot, now restored as an antique shop called Mix & Mingle.


It was there I found a vintage tablecloth with embroidered teapots on it for just $6, and I was pretty happy about that!

And finally, at Nordic Accents I saw this beautiful Russian teacup. Naturally I *needed* a good teacup souvenir from Elkhart Lake, and I decided this would be the one breakable I would carry back home on the plane. The shop owner wrapped and boxed it extremely well, and when I thanked her, she said, in her delightful accent, "You're VEL-come!" We don't talk like that back home, y'all, and the fun was just getting started!

Tea and Books Saturday #28 - "Tea-Time at the Inn"

Tea-Time at the Inn
By Gail Greco
Rutledge Hill Press, 1991

"Tea-Time at the Inn" by Gail Greco is one of the first teatime cookbooks I ever purchased. It was recommended to me many years ago by the talented woman who wrote the local food column in the newspaper. Since she was a serious, Le Cordon Bleu-trained cook, I took any of her cookbook recommendations as gospel. The recommendation was a good one. The tomato-cheese spread I wrote about earlier this week is a variation on a recipe in this book, and I have probably made hundreds of lovely, tasty Victorian Chocolate Lace Cookies from this book. Although I'd certainly read through the recipes on numerous occasions, I don't believe I had ever sat down and read the text from cover to cover. This week I did, and it was like discovering a whole new book!

Although I've been to events in B&B's, I don't recall ever actually staying at one overnight, although the idea does have its charm. (Are any of you B&B fans? Taken tea there?) But whether you frequent these lovely establishments or not, Greco pays tribute to one delightful aspect of these businesses, saying they are "proliferating the art of afternoon tea" and are "largely responsible for the resurgence of tea-time in America because its spread coincides with the growing popularity of small inns." This book is almost 20 years old now, and we still associate tea with B&B's.

The book is organized by inn and by type of tea event. Since I was reading more than just the recipes this time, I found dozens of great ideas for creative teas, such as a Butler's Tea, a Chamber Music Tea, a White Linen Tea and a Book Lover's Tea. Over and over I found myself thinking "Yes, I'm going to try that idea next time I have a tea!" Greco's tips for teatime decor were helpful and sound easy to achieve.

Although I'm not really a Civil War buff, I was still delighted to come across some interesting history in the section on a Civil War Tea. A Gettysburg Battlefield guide shared this tale: "In the summer of 1864, Confederate Major General George Pickett and his wife announced the birth of a baby girl. Upon hearing the news, Union generals -- all fellow graduates of West Point (as was Pickett) -- did, under a flag of truce, cross into the Confederate lines, carrying a gift of a silver tea set for the general and his wife. After sharing a spot of tea, friendly congratulations and small talk, the Union generals departed, crossed back into their own lines and began an artillery bombardment of the Confederate fortifications." I also read that tea was a favorite drink of Robert E. Lee!

I imagine that a number of you, like me, already own this book. If you haven't *read* it, or you simply haven't read it lately, I suggest you give it a try!

A creative new ad campaign

It's not often I come across a print advertisement I think is so wonderful I feel the need to share it with friends, but this current ad campaign from AT&T is just the most brilliant thing I've seen in a while! This ad appeared in the June 7 issue of Forbes. Naturally, the teapots caught my eye, but ...

... do you see what the teapots and handles ARE? How very creative! I'd love to know if these hands were really and truly HANDpainted or whether this design is Photoshopped, but either way I think it's very clever.

These ads must be part of a series, because this one (in the July 5 Bloomberg Businessweek) uses the same idea. Again, I say, brilliant! And I'm a Verizon customer, not an AT&T customer! (But maybe I'd reconsider if they'd change their name to "A TEA & TEA.")

"Tea" is for Tomato!

If you're a tomato lover like I am, there's no summertime meal that can compete with a nice glass of iced tea and a fresh tomato sandwich! My friend Deberah's heirloom tomatoes ripened before mine did, so I was all too happy to relieve her of some of them when she offered to share.

One of the best and easiest tea sandwich recipes I've ever tried is this one: Combine two parts shredded cheddar cheese to one part diced tomato and moisten with mayonnaise. That's it! I used 1/2 cup of cheese, 1/4 cup of tomato and about a spoon of mayonnaise and got enough filling for two sandwiches. So yummy, and so easy! When I'm making tea sandwiches for tea parties, I tend to use my small-sized teapot cookie cutter to cut out "finger sandwich" size pieces of bread.

That wasn't quite big enough to satisfy the desires of someone wanting to celebrate the beginnings of the tomato harvest, so instead I just used my cookie cutter to make a cutout in my regular-sized sandwich. I'm not sure whether I really like the look of that big sandwich enough to serve it to company, but I can tell you I LOVE the taste!

And because I feel like a proud new mother, I have to show you that I *do* have heirloom tomatoes of my own on the way! Not sure which of the three heirloom varieties these "mystery tomatoes" are, as they got all mixed up during planting, but I'll bet I'm going to like them! (And if you're a fellow tomato lover and/or grower, I'd love your advice on which heirloom varieties to try next year!)

"The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook"

While I've dedicated my Saturdays this year to reviewing older or even out-of-print tea books, I'm always happy to get a review copy of a new tea book as well. Over the holiday weekend I finished reading a new release from Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss, "The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook: A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas." This is a tremendously useful book, and those of you who favor "pure" teas will especially want to get a copy. I'm betting you'll devour it just as I did!

Now I'm quite the fan of a 2008 tea book, "The Harney and Sons Guide to Tea," and I was curious whether this book could have any information I hadn't already come across. Wow! is all I can say. The Harney book will certainly remain a favorite, and I think every tea library should have it, but this guidebook takes a rather different approach to exploring the world of tea. The authors, who have been tea retailers themselves since 1974, obviously know a thing or two about sourcing good teas, and their passion for the beverage comes across on every page of this book. What I appreciate most, however, is the fact their information is presented so simply and clearly that it was accessible to me, someone who is not a tea expert but just an ordinary "tea enthusiast" who hopes to learn more.

I had so many "aha" moments reading this book that there are far too many of them to list, but one was this. You know how most books or tea packages tell you to use one spoon of tea (and sometimes "one for the pot")? I've always wondered how that applied to fluffy, bulky teas, which so clearly require more tea when steeping. The Heisses share a simply analogy about how a pound of nails and a pound of feathers weigh the same, but the feathers are obviously more bulky. "Bulky teas require that you use a greater volume of leaf per six-ounce serving than a small, denser leaf," they say. Sometimes, just having a simple explanation is all it takes for something to click with me! Here are some of the other tidbits I gleaned:

-- When first tasting a new tea, they say, steep it for two minutes and then taste it every 30 seconds thereafter, keeping notes.

-- Japan's famous shade-grown green tea actually "alters the chemistry of the plant, forcing it to produce an extra abundance of chlorophyll."

-- Teas produced in the Nilgiri mountains of India tend to lack the amino acid that causes cloudiness in cold tea, making them good choices for those who want clear iced tea.

-- Only 1 percent of the total tea production in India is Darjeeling! (I must confess I had to "fact check" that before I believed it!)

The book includes great photos of tea in production around the world, and there are also detailed reviews and photos for 30-plus teas. There's a glossary and a brief list of tea vendors, and the index will be helpful for those of us who will, no doubt, be turning to this book again and again thanks to its abundance of great information and advice.

Royal Albert's Petit Point China

Do you have any teawares on your wish list? One design I have long wanted was Royal Albert's "Petit Point China" pattern cup and saucer. I think perhaps it's because I am a former cross-stitcher and needlepointer that I have always loved this pattern, simply because you could indeed use it as a stitchery pattern if you so desired. However, this cup and saucer always seemed to run about $30 to $40 when I'd come across it, and I knew I could do better if I waited.

When I was out antiquing with my mom over the weekend, we went to an antique mall in Marietta and I saw some pretty teacups. There was a lovely pink Royal Albert pattern I'd not seen before, but it was $28, as were all the other teacups near it. And then I spied the Petit Point China set. Would it be $28 too? No, it was actually $12. I wondered why. Nothing was wrong with it. I did my old trick of looking away from the cup and saucer while running my finger around the rim and base of the cup and the rim of the saucer. (You're more likely to "feel" a chip before you see it, so I always do that test when buying cups and saucers.) It was perfect!

I got to the counter and realized they were having a special Fourth of July promotion where you selected a red, white and blue ribbon that was hiding a special discount. Mine was 20 percent, so the new cup and saucer cost me just $9.60. Not bad! (And interestingly enough, the set does seem to feature the colors red, white and blue pretty prominently.)

And I do have a matching piece, a beautiful little scalloped dish that was a gift from a friend. The eBay prices for other pieces in this pattern aren't bad, but the shipping definitely ruins the bargains, so I may just have to continue my strategy of wishing, waiting and watching!

Red, white and blueberries

Earlier this year, when my parents moved to their new home, I learned they have lots of great flowers, fruit trees and bushes on their property. The blueberries are just starting to come in, so before I pulled away Saturday evening, my mom, dad, niece Amelia and I picked blueberries for me to take home. We were probably out there less than 20 minutes, yet I left with quite a stash of blueberries from these early arrivals!

That meant the July 4 cooking at my house had a distinct "blue" theme. My husband made some wonderful blueberry pancakes for breakfast. He said that with the white of the pancake batter and the red of his neck (he's joking!), he figured it would serve as a red, white and blue breakfast! My own treat was this Blueberry Pound Cake. So last evening I enjoyed a slice of cake with some oolong tea, and I thought I'd share the recipe here in case some of you are blueberry lovers as well!

Blueberry Pound Cake

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, divided
2-1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a tube pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter and sprinkle 1/4 cup of the sugar on the bottom. (I used a Wilton 9-3/4 inch tube pan with removable tube insert.)

Using an electric mixer, cream the 1 cup of butter and slowly add the 2 cups of granulated sugar. When combined, add the eggs one at a time, combining well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Gradually add 2-3/4 cups of the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Coat the blueberries in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour to keep them from sinking in the batter. Carefully fold the blueberries into the mixture and then pour into tube pan. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a testing knife comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.

Tea and Books Saturday #27 - "A Little English Book of Teas"

A Little English Book of Teas
By Rosa Mashiter, illustrated by Milanda Lopez
Chronicle Books, 1989

This book was, I believe, a gift from a friend many years ago. Although it's small in size (just 4-1/4 x 6 inches), it's still a great resource for educational information and for recipes! Each of the recipes is accompanied by a charming illustration of the prepared food, but it's the information on all these English treats that makes this book such a unique one.

I love the English way of phrasing things. In the recipe for Lancashire Cheese Scones, the author notes you can "ring the changes" (change the recipe) by using cheeses from different regions in these scones. The recipe for Banana and Walnut Loaf, she says, has "good keeping qualities." Crumpets are described as "delicious round 'holey' scones." Love that!

What I most enjoyed about this little book, however, is the author's explanation of the names and history of some of her teatime treats. Northumberland 'Singin' Hinny,' for instance, is a little flat cake which made a "singing" noise while being cooked on the griddle. Children waiting for their teas "would pester their mothers as to whether it was ready or not, and as the little cakes would be cooking away she would answer them by saying, 'No, no, they're not ready yet, just singin', hinny.'" I also enjoyed learning that William Wordsworth was a fan of Gingerbread, and George III a fan of Chelsea Buns. If you like to bake *and* learn a bit about the history of your teatime treats, this is definitely a book you'll want to have.

Have a Happy July 4th!

Happy Friday! I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and SAFE Fourth of July weekend! Hope you enjoy celebrating the red, white and blue!

Luzianne's Green Tea

For cheap, quick and easy iced tea this summer, I'd been relying on a box of plain Red Rose black tea I had in the pantry. This week, however, I decided to purchase a new tea from an old familiar brand, Luzianne's new Green Tea I'd been seeing advertised on TV.


I made some of the tea and, to be quite honest, was a little concerned at how dark it got after just three minutes of steeping. "This is going to be bitter," I thought, and I braced myself as I took a sip. Happily, it was actually just pleasant tasting green tea! While it didn't have the nuances of those fine Japanese greens from Harney that are my favorites, for a simple pitcher of "everyday" iced green tea in the summer this is really good!



Did any of you, like me, grow up watching Burl Ives say that unlike Tetley and Lipton teas, whose boxes told you what to do when the tea gets cloudy, "Luzianne says nothin' 'bout cloudy, 'cause it doesn't GET cloudy!" This video really brought back some memories "clear as a bell," and I couldn't help wondering if my tea friends know Burl Ives as not only the man who sang "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" and starred in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, but also as the Luzianne pitchman. (And the new green tea, it must be said, did not get cloudy!) If yours wasn't a Luzianne household, what brand of everyday tea did you drink growing up?