Tea towel tales

A few weeks before Christmas, I got an e-mail saying that a friend in my Bible study group, Karmen, had suggested we all make each other something for Christmas. Now I wish I could tell you that I had a godly response and thought "Well praise the Lord! Another opportunity to serve my sisters in Christ!" Instead, I thought this: "Has Karmen lost her mind! It's Christmas, for heaven's sake! I can't take on one more project right now! Sheesh ..." But then I thought, "You know, it would be kinda fun. Shoot, I think I'll do it." And would you look what my gift from Karmen ended up being? This wonderful hand-embroidered tea towel! (My gifts to the group we call the Bible Girls: Crocheted scarves, all easily made in one evening.)

It was a *very* good season for tea towels this Christmas. Here is one I received from my friend Maureen. I love the hot pink colors and the appliqued design!

And here is one from tea friend Mary Jane. These old-fashioned tea towels are some of my favorites, and I was so thrilled to get one in a red and green colorway. Three new tea towels was a great way to end the year. And maybe next Christmas I won't be so grumpy when someone suggests we give handmade gifts!

Tea with "Sisters on the Fly"

The new issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine came out on Friday, and inside is one of my all-time favorite features, this one on the local members of that delightful national group "Sisters on the Fly." These women restore vintage campers which they take all over the country before spending some time together shopping, fishing, camping, reading books ... whatever the women happen to be interested in. These are some of the local members, and I couldn't resist sharing some of the photos, especially one that will be of special interest here! (Photos, by the way, are not mine today but appear courtesy of photographer Bob Fraley for Newnan-Coweta Magazine.)


This camper, named "Shabby Foo Foo," belongs to Sharon Robinson, who is a Delta mechanic. I think it's absolutely delightful!


This camper's signage cracks me up! Owner Anita Wallace named her camper "Ida Clair." (And I declare, that's funny!)


This camper, "Hot To Trot," is owned by Sue Edmonson and Nan McGuffey, who are literally "sisters" on the fly.


And the camper feature I most adore, this "tea station" set up by Paula Bush, owner of the camper "Queen Bee." Ohhhhhh, how I do love this!

So, I've already told my husband I want one of these old campers to restore, even if it just stays in the back yard for a while, and I've got my mom on the lookout as well. Can't you just imagine decorating one of these entirely in a tea theme? Oh! My! Goodness! But what will I call mine? Maybe I could borrow the name of a friend's blog and name it Frivoli-tea? Or Traveloci-tea? Any suggestions?

Tea Sandwich Saturday #2 - Hot Cranberry-Pecan Chicken Salad

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and this week I found it necessary to come up with a new recipe that would allow me to use up the last of the fresh cranberries before they go to waste. I also had some chicken breasts I needed to use, so a new chicken salad recipe was in order. The result was this Hot Cranberry-Pecan Chicken Salad Tea Sandwich. I think probably 95 percent of the tea sandwiches I've eaten have been cold or cool sandwiches, but if I were serving guests at home I think it would be possible to add a hot one sometime. (Where do you stand on that? MUST tea sandwiches be cold? I realize hot ones aren't practical on a large scale, but at a small gathering they might work.)

And let me add that although I used fresh cranberries (I love the tart flavor), I would be quite willing to substitute dried ones during those seasons of the year when fresh ones aren't available.

I've also decided I'm going to experiment with my tea sandwich breads this year since I typically use plain white or plain wheat. For this sandwich, I used my home's favorite, the Italian five-grain bread from Publix. I thought this recipe made a fine little tea sandwich, and my husband and I even had the chicken salad as regular size open-faced sandwiches for dinner one night. (He liked it! Hey Mikey!)

Hot Cranberry-Pecan Chicken Salad

1 large cooked chicken breast, finely chopped in food processor (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons pecans, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise, or to taste

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and cook on medium to high heat, stirring constantly, until about half the cranberries have popped. Remove from heat and immediately spread on sandwich bread. Yields enough filling for about 12-14 (2-1/2-inch diameter) tea sandwiches.

Broken dreams

No, this is NOT going to be a depressing blog post today, so please hear me out! Just because I, in all my klutziness, murdered a few teawares the other day, I refuse to spend too much time worrying about it.

I was vacuuming the dining room after putting up the last of the decorations and happened to bump into this teacup display shelf. Yes, yes, I know, a better woman would have thought to install pieces of that gummed stuff to hold her cups and saucers in place, but I had not. So there. What I found most odd, though, is that I broke a cup from one set and a saucer from another. I don't believe I could repeat that trick if I tried!

So here's what I ended up with, a very Victorian cup with soft, faded colors and a bright, darker floral saucer. Sigh. But you know what? I'm going to save these pieces and use them in my little tea garden this spring! The broken pieces, I've decided, will become mosaic designs on some stepping stones that are already out there but a little dull looking. So ... when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you broken cups and saucers, dream a little! But help me out here and please tell me about the last item you broke. It'll make me feel better to know I'm not alone!

"Alice's Tea Cup" by Haley Fox and Lauren Fox

Over the years I've picked up on the names of a few tea rooms across the country that seem to be getting lots of buzz, such as Crown and Crumpet in San Francisco, which I'd dearly love to visit one day. Thanks to a welcome Christmas gift from a friend, I now have another destination tea room I'd like to visit, Alice's Tea Cup in New York City. In the meantime, I can experience some of that tea room's delightful offerings through the pages of my new cookbook bearing the same name as the tea room, "Alice's Tea Cup" by Haley Fox and Lauren Fox. The Fox sisters' paths to tea room ownership are not the usual ones -- Haley is a film school grad and worked in film development before opening the restaurant. Lauren is an actress and writer in addition to operating the tea room (or tea rooms, I should say; there are now three locations) with her sister.

This book is quite a departure from the usual tea room cookbook: the recipes are new and different, the tone is friendly and chatty, the photography is outstanding, and quite a few of the recipes use tea as an ingredient. How can you even read the name "Lavender Earl Grey Scones" and not want to try those? There are 19 different scone recipes to try, and one tip they included sounded especially appealing: if you have leftover scones sometime, slice them up, place slices on their sides, bake and turn into biscotti. I think "scone biscotti" is a terrific idea!

One of the many things I love about "Alice's Tea Cup" is that it features what you might call younger, hipper teatime recipes. Some of the sandwich flavors, for instance, are Grilled Veggie, Black Forest Ham and Gruyère, Curried Chicken, and Hummus. One idea aimed at children but which I fully intend to try myself: PB&J sandwiches made with banana bread. Brilliant idea! And in a chapter on "Other Sweets and Treats" I was quite smitten with the idea of an Indian-Spiced Chai Tea-Infused Crème brûlée. If this book isn't on your wish list, friends, it certainly deserves to be!

The "blessings" of tea

Many years ago now, I stopped going to those popular home sales parties, cold turkey. I'd found them to be a vicious cycle: You go to your friend's jewelry party and desperately want the cute "hostess gift" you can only receive for having a party. Then you have to go to the 10 parties that your friends throw because *they* want the hostess gift. Or if someone doesn't have a jewelry party but they have a home decor party, then you have to go to that. I met all my outstanding party obligations, gently let my friends know I didn't "do" such parties anymore, and that was that.

But just before Thanksgiving, a friend who didn't know me back then sent me an invitation to a new home sales party, Blessings Unlimited, and I broke my decades-long pledge and decided to go. I was (and am) impressed by the idea of a home party business featuring an inspirational line of products, especially since my town no longer has a Christian bookstore. While I didn't book a party, I did purchase this teapot and two teacups, and I love that many of the products have scripture on them. The teapot says "Flowers appear on the earth, the season of singing has come" (Song of Songs 2:12).


From overhead, the teacup and saucer set sports a sort of tiled, mosaic looking design, but remove the cup and you can see that the saucer reads "Moment by moment grace unfolds."

I actually have a plan for this new tea set. Have you ever read about those thoughtful women who surprise their friends one day by just showing up with a basket full of ready-to-drink tea and teatime treats? Well, I want to *be* one of those women. I have no idea who or when, but I dearly hope to "bless" someone with these tea blessings in the coming year. That's probably the most fun New Year's resolution I could make!

A teatime toy report

Yesterday I felt I went into "overtime" with Bella's birthday tea party, but her gifts included several tea-themed toys I wanted to tell you about. My favorite, and something I'd certainly never seen before, was this personalized beanbag chair from another set of grandparents. I'm told it came from Lillian Vernon, and if they had these in my size, one would be on order!

I mean, really, is this adorable or what?

Bella has always been such a fan of tea toys that I am afraid I will run out of new ones to get for her one day, but this year I found a new (to me) Fisher-Price set with a tea pot that has magical "disappearing" tea. You know those old playtime baby bottles where the liquid seems to disappear? Same idea.

And something that was totally a lucky find was this set of four teatime books, displayed puzzle style. (Don't tell, but I came across this at Office Max, of all places, for just $3 on the after-Christmas clearance table! Wish they'd had more than one, as these would make great gifts!)

And finally, this little tea cart was actually one of our Christmas gifts to Bella, and I noticed at her tea party that quite a few of the little girls enjoyed playing with it. I'm not sure whether it's the rolling cart or the tea set that gets their attention, but I can tell you I had a very attentive server that afternoon and enjoyed many delicious cups of "pretend" tea!

Bella's Birthday Tea Party

Well now, I am happy to report that I have already attended my first tea party of 2011, no doubt the earliest in the year I've ever been to a tea!

Today is actually the birthday of 4-year-old Bella, the daughter of my stepson and his wife, and we celebrated the occasion yesterday at their home. When her mom called up a few weeks before Christmas to say Bella had asked for a tea party for her birthday this year, I was all ears! Bella had been very specific in saying "No Boys" this year, so her little brother, her dad and my husband had to make themselves scarce while the house was turned into a tea room, and it was just beautiful! There were about 10 little girls, I believe, and each got to make and decorate her own hat, including Bella.

Here is the hat-making station set up with ribbons and flowers (and later, a helpful mother with a hot-glue gun!).

And I didn't want you to miss the decor on the entryway from the living room into the dining room. Love this!

A very frou-frou look reigned throughout the dining room and kitchen, and I thought it was all just perfect for a 4-year-old's first tea party!

Naomi had borrowed tea-and-toast sets from her step-mom and me to use for the party, and they made for a beautiful table. Each guest's place was marked with a placecard, and beads and baubles for the girls were scattered about the table. Handles of the teacups served as "napkin rings" for the girls' pink paper napkins.

Each girl got a boa, too!

A shelf on the wall displayed the tiny bottles of blow bubbles the girls got to play with.

My contribution to the party this year was easy: cupcakes out of a box, iced in pink, some decorated with white chocolate chips, some with chopped almonds, some with pink sugar sprinkles. At JoAnn I had come across these new Pink Petal cupcake papers from Wilton which turn plain cupcakes into something really special!


I didn't realize 'til later that oh yes, that vintage tablecloth with teapots on it is one I loaned for the party. It looks cute here!

Naomi made these dragonflies from pretzels, and I thought they were just adorable!

Although there was hot tea and coffee for us big gals, the little ones had sweet tea and pink lemonade. I filled several teacups with sweet tea, and even though it wasn't hot, I was just happy they were drinking tea!


The little ladies also enjoyed tarts, meringues, and a variety of finger sandwiches: pimiento cheese, cream cheese and pineapple, cream cheese and preserves, all cut into different shapes.

Brownies and more pretzel treats featured the party's bright pastel colors.

The ice cream was served in these super cute cones Naomi dipped in almond bark and embellished with Wilton sprinkles. I love this idea!

I greatly enjoyed watching the little girls at play in the living room. Here, Bella leads the guests in singing "I'm a Little Teapot."

In addition to their jewelry, hats and baubles, each little girl got to select a purse-shaped notepad to take home with her. And while I know this party was for the little girls, I have to say this big girl certainly enjoyed herself as well!

Turning 4 has never been so fun!

Tea Sandwich Saturday #1 - Shrimp Crescents

Happy New Year! A new year means it's time for a new tea-related project, and this year I'm going to be broadening my horizons as far as the humble tea sandwich is concerned. You see, if you've been to tea at my house in, oh, the past 10 years or so, you've probably had some combination of these: Waldorf Chicken Salad on mini-croissants, cucumber sandwiches on white bread, Egg-Olive Salad on wheat bread, and perhaps another cream cheese concoction. In other words, I've gotten boring! One day a friend at work commented on how much she loves tea foods and wishes she could get them at the drive-through because then she'd have tea foods all the time. That comment was an epiphany for me. What's keeping me from enjoying tea foods as often as I have fast food? This year, I aim to spend these Saturday posts trying 52 new tea sandwiches, and at the end of the year I'll have a great new repertoire of tea sandwiches to rely on!



Today's recipe is based on one I saw in Emilie Barnes' "Twelve Teas of Christmas" book. I could happily eat shrimp three times a day, and this recipe was super easy to make and so very tasty. I almost used dried onion instead of taking time to chop the 1-1/2 teaspoons of onion in this recipe, but I'm glad I went with all fresh ingredients. Also, I substituted "reduced fat" versions of the cream cheese and crescent rolls (why not?) and was pleased with the results.

So here is my "tweaked" recipe for Tea Sandwich Saturday #1, and I hope you'll join me as I experiment with new tea sandwiches this year!

Shrimp Crescents

3 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup finely chopped cooked shrimp (about 1/2 pound)
1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
1-1/2 teaspoons onion, finely chopped
1 package (8-count) reduced-fat crescent rolls

Bake crescent rolls according to package directions. While the rolls bake, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard and blend well. Add shrimp, celery and onion and combine. When rolls are done, slice and fill with spread.