Christmas Teatime

 Saturday five tea friends came for afternoon tea.

There was indeed candle light and flowers,

but also there was tea and nibbles.

With the savories we sipped Yunnan Gold from Floating Leaves

and with the sweets there was Shangri-La White from Miro Tea.

The Yunnan Gold was from China.

The Shangri-La White was from Nepal.

Both teas were delicious.

We started with goat cheese and pickled beet with crackers.

Then for the savories there was:

Chicken Curry sandwiches

Cranberry with goat cheese in puff pastry stars.

Smoked salmon with cucumber and herbed goat cheese sandwiches

Toast stars with warmed cream cheese and peppers

 This plate was all gluten free with some slight revisions from the main menu.

Scones with lemon curd and apricot jam were served,

but coming straight from the oven to the table I forgot to take a picture.

The sweets were:

Dundee cake (thanks Tasha Tudor for the recipe) with dried cherries

Mince tarts

Mint cookies with chocolate ganache (recipe from Teatime Magazine)

Dates with pecans tucked inside (a nod to my mom who made them

each year for her friends)

Hallie's ginger star cookies (gluten free and purchased from

the Sims family at Tea Embassy)

There was a bit of a star theme going on here.

This time of year stars twinkle in my mind and on the Christmas tree.

If I am up during the night I love watching for the stars overhead.

There is just something so special about stars.

The glitter and sparkle enchants me.

But as Christmas approaches it also reminds me of the star

that led the way to the manger.

May you be blessed with twinkling stars overhead,

a sip of a good cup of tea,

flickering candlelight,

flowers,

but most of all being surrounded by those you love.

Garden Quotes 2019

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, 

and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."

~Norman Vincent Peale

My garden last January.
Snow just seems to be the magic wand
that makes winter "softer and more beautiful." 

May your week be full of magic and delightful surprises!

Living in a Store Window

 Camas Antiques Christmas window took my breathe away.

I wanted to step right in and I did.

I wanted to live right there in all the sparkles and delights.

After all the pillows said It's a Wonderful Life.

Indeed I would have been in the pink.

 The table was set with my favorite transferware china.

There were bottle brush trees sparkling here and there.

A chandelier to light the day.

And did I say "pink"! Oh my, yes!!!

  I would be puttin' on the sparkles and furs with a bauble or two.

It's fun to step into another world and dream.

Dream'n in the pink with sparkles and glitter all around.

Hoping the sparkles of the season light in your heart and eyes.

Step into that window and dream awhile with me.

Have a great weekend, dear friends!

Baking for the Holiday

Looking at my plates I see there always must be a touch of citrus 

in my Christmas baking.

Mince tarts with a bit of orange peel.

A clementine or two.

Cherry winks with grated lemon peel, my favorite.

A favorite book to read with my morning snack.
And always a cup of tea by my side.

More tea resides among the poinsettias!

A mandarin too!

Date pinwheels are always on the list.

New this year is a mint with chocolate ganache cookie

and a little Dundee cake with dried cherries.

A recipe from Tasha Tudors cookbook from long ago.

Yet to bake on Christmas morning is stollen with candied cherries inside.

You might think this is a lot or maybe you don't.

I love to bake at Christmas time

and then take a break with a good cup of tea and a nibble.

Do you bake at Christmas?

What is your favorite?

Garden Quotes 2019

A book I began reading last Christmas and have continued this Christmas is

Nigel Slater's, The Christmas Chronicles.

It is a recipe book with wonderful stories of this time of year.

I am thoroughly enjoying it with my morning tea.

This morning's quote comes from this book

and hope it gives a glimmer of what his stories are like.

"Winter gardens hold a spell all of their own. Roses frozen in bud, beads of glassy dew on the leaves of the hellebores, orange berries peeping from beneath a layer of sugar-snow. Today is the first morning cold enough to demand a sheepskin. There is plenty of work in the garden, medlar and chestnut leaves to sweep; a wayward rose bush to tame with the secateurs, bulbs to plant. It feels late to be planting tulips but I know others who leave it later. This year I plant Cairo, a soft orange-scarlet, like a tulip painted by Ambrosius Bosschaert, a tulip whose scent in early spring carries the sweetness of wallflowers. I plant them a good eight inches deep into the old green copper on the terrace. And idea borrowed from Sissinghurst. I dust the bulbs with chili powder and cover them with netting in an attempt to thwart the light-fingered squirrels."

"The time is right for a cheap, cold-weather potato supper."

A bit longer than usual, but hope you enjoyed it.

It does give one thought on the winter garden

where my roses are indeed frozen now. 

And I might just need to have a baked potato sort of supper soon.

Christmas Memory

I can imagine you all have Christmas memories.

Were they joyful memories filled with sugarplums and family?

When I was in junior high my little family of my mom, sister, and I

were given to a family through the welfare system to bring us gifts.

The day arrived and my mom made sure our little house was neat, tidy

and that we were neat and tidy too. This was important to my mom.

I had bargained with the tree lot guy to buy a tree with my babysitting money

and carried it home. It was a huge pine tree that he said no one wanted.

We made paper chains and decorated it with our meager ornaments.

Our home looked quite festive.

We waited.

The family arrived.

I think the parents were trying to teach their children about poor people.

The children remarked that our house looked better than theirs.

The parents were a bit miffed that we didn't look poor.

 They said as much.

They didn't notice that we had a chair propping up the refrigerator

door, so it wouldn't fall to the floor.

They didn't notice that my mother had her bed in the dining room,

because she made it look like a place to sit with pillows during the day.

They didn't notice the moldy cheese we got from surplus government surplus.

They didn't notice that though our clothes were clean and ironed

they were hand me downs.

They didn't notice that sometimes our church had to help us out

with a food basket or pay our power bill.

Maybe they noticed there was no father in the house, but

they didn't know he didn't send us support.

Needless to say, it taught me some lessons.

Never take what you see as fact, you don't know the story.

Don't look down and criticize those that have less than you.

Show love to each and every person around you.

And when giving give with an open heart,

give a little extra.

After all people that are poor still like a bar of chocolate

or a pretty bouquet.

The pictures are my only childhood Christmas pictures.
They just didn't take many pictures then.
They are from an earlier Christmas with it's own memories.
I am the one with the bow in my hair, the oldest girl grandchild.
My sister is the other one with a bow in her hair.
Yes, my mother always tried her best to keep us looking good.
The others are special cousins.

Give with a happy, loving heart.
Give the gift of JOY. 
Happy weekend, dear friends!

It's Beginning to Look like Christmas

A peek through the window into my Christmas living room.

Santa is away from his chair at the moment,

but the lights do shine.

This is the first year for a fake tree and my "live-in gardener" and I

are trying to adjust.

Somehow I got most of our ornaments on this little tree.

One thing for sure is that we don't have to feed it water

and the needles won't fall to the floor.

It is fun to see the clusters through out the tree

of whimsy and delights and memories too.

The clothespin ballerina's were made as a fund raiser when

our daughter was a wee little ballerina.

Love the vintage teapot hanging by the cupcake.

And another silver vintage teapot by the glass bear.

Is that a pickle that bear is holding?

The mantle has a very old family quilt. It is too delicate to use, but fun to hang for awhile.

Then there is the village and bottle brush trees.

And Santas to delight any child at heart.

This dark Santa doesn't get noticed much, but he is very old, carved out of wood.

He is a form for making papermache Santas.

This year I placed him by the lamp, so maybe we would notice him.

And even the bedroom has a bit of the festivity of Christmas

with a teacup for the occasion and poinsettias too.

Anyone for Christmas morning tea in bed?

Sounds good to me. There are goodies in the freezer, just tuck one or two on the tray.

Enjoy December with however you celebrate.

Just remember to toss in a bit of whimsy and delight.

Then sprinkle with glitter and stardust.

Twirl and sing with the music.

Isn't that what Christmas celebrating is all about?

Happy first week of Advent!