Tuesday, August 31, 2021

RURAL MISSOURI

 


Doesn't this old Victorian have potential?
We passed it today in a little town we
visited north of our area.  It is in Monroe,
Missouri.

This was not a good sign that the antique
place had a for sale sign on the door.

The local Ben Franklin does a huge business


in this little town selling cotton quilting fabrics.  There are tables with unbolted calicos.  Rural ladies come from all around to purchase fabric for their quilts.



And lots of corn which I thought
looked pretty poor compared to
other years:




Monday, August 30, 2021

REST IN PEACE

 


My heart is heavy because of
the horrible decisions concerning
the handling of our nations departure
 from Afghanistan.  Please pray
for the civilians who have stayed to
continue to try and get people out.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

ZINNIAS HANDLE THE HEAT for "Tea In The Garden"

 I was hoping by now to have set up many more little "Tea In The Garden" photo shoots but August has been really hot.  I did
go out earlier and set a tea cart up
in front of some zinnias.


Last year I got some seeds from
a landscaped area in a subdivision
nearby.  At the end of the summer they
were looking pretty ugly and I knew
the company they hired would be
replacing them with chrysanthemums
like they usually do.



We are in need of some soaking rain.



Early this summer my husband moved this
arbor to the side fence so now the
 bittersweet is growing up it nicely.
As you can see, our yard is not flat but
has hills every direction.


This yellow plant is a Missouri
native wildflower called Rudbeckia
 and is in the Coneflower family.





Friday, August 27, 2021

A MORNING VISITOR

 


As I was enjoying my morning coffee
today I also spied a visitor to our yard.
We have a huge cedar in the very
back and there he sat on a limb!

I hope your summer is going well.  We
are praying for our nation and the decisions
being made by our present government.
This is a very concerning time.

We have had a very hot week and I need
to spend 2 full days in the garden dealing
with weeds but will wait hoping for
a little cooler weather.

Thursday, August 19, 2021

OLD ORIGINAL BOOKBINDER'S APPLE WALNUT PIE for "Tea In The Garden"

 We have had some apples on our kitchen counter for far too many days.  Today I thought I better do something with them.  I have been trying some recipes from an old Victoria cookbook that was published in 1997 called "Sweet Baking".


This pie is different than the usual apple
pie because it has a lot of sour cream in it.



I set a little tea table up out on the deck
off the kitchen:


Here is the cookbook I used from the
days when Victoria was owned by
Hearst Publishing:




I think I would add raisins to this recipe
and a little less sour cream.







And oh my - we need some rain:

Thursday, August 12, 2021

AUGUST IS FLYING BY AND OHIO TEA ROOMS


 August is flying by and fall will be here
before we know it.  I am so excited to
find that the church we attend will be
having it's first tea for ladies this fall.
August 21st we are meeting at a restaurant
to begin making plans and I was invited
to help. Of course I can help!

  When we
lived in Colorado many of the
churches in Colorado Springs had
teas for the women.

I share a collage today of some of my
2021 summer bouquets.  They bring me
so much joy as my garden is ever changing!


I love my new TEA TIME MAGAZINE
and if you live in Northern Ohio you will
love the tea rooms they feature in your
area:


These tea rooms are the type I love with
charm and comfort:  Quintealia's Tea Room in Burton, Sisters Tea Room in Mentor, Piccadilly Parlour Victorian Tearoom in Canfield, Macaron Tea Room in Woodere and Miss Molly's Tea Room in Medina,  Clementine's Victorian Restaurant in
 Omlsted Falls.

Friday, August 6, 2021

LITTLE WOMEN RECIPE BOOK for "Tea In The Garden"





Welcome to a "Little Women
Tea In The Garden":


A darling cookbook I ordered recently came in the mail. It was published in 2019 and I was reminded why I love this type of cookbook.  I adore cookbooks that are historical and those that feature recipes to do with classic books and movies.


Have you seen any of the Little Women movies?  I have at least three.  I prefer the one with Winona Ryder in it but enjoy them all. I feel I need to actually read the book because
I can see from the cookbook that there is of course much more to enjoy about the March family than what is presented on the screen.


So The Little Women Cookbook by Wini Moranville is really sweet. Many of you will remember when Amy March said that Pickled Limes were all the rage at school and her sister Meg felt sorry for her. She gave Amy the rag money so that she could buy some to trade or give away with friends.
 

"Amy's Pickled Lime Sugar Cookies"
suggests you purchase a market sugar
cookie mix and add the icing.  I took my own sugar cookie recipe and reduced the quantity.
 So here is the recipe I made for todays "Tea in the Garden".


Sugar Cookie Base 
if you want homemade:
makes 2 Dz medium cookies
1 stick butter - 1/2 cup , 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2 med eggs, 1 3/4 cup sifted flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp cream of tartar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt
I prefer to roll this out and cut it with a medium size scone cutter or round cutter
Bake 375 degrees for about 8 minutes
in a regular oven or 7 1/2 convection
Cool completely and then ice

Icing here:
1 1/2 Tb butter unsalted/soft, 1 1/2 Cup confectioners sugar, 4 1/2 tsp lime juice. 1 1/2 tsp grated lime zest, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, little milk if need to thin, green food coloring, 8 small jellied line green candies sliced into 4 pieces each

I could not find the lime slices but found something else that worked....be flexible right?


I hope this has been fun and I would suggest it for a tea time with little girls or teens
and especially with a "Little Women" tea themed party.

Late note: Now I am in therapy twice a week
and will be doing exercises three times a day.
As you may be surprised to see this post and
me out setting it up - I am not one to sit but
I am moving slow and easy!

Thursday, August 5, 2021

COMFORTING BREAD PUDDING

 Certain foods just evoke comfort and bring wonderful and familiar smells to the kitchen.


Today I baked a simple Bread Pudding and will share the recipe here.  I think you might already have these ingredients on hand.


Apple, Pecan, Maple, Raisin
and Cinnamon Bread Pudding

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes in a convection oven or longer in a regular oven and serves around 8 in a 
8 x 8 butter greased metal or pyrex pan

2 apples peeled and chopped and sautéed till tender in a pan with 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), combined with 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp maple extract, 1 cup milk, 2 large or 3 medium eggs, 4 cups of torn small bread slices, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup raisins

So now you have a simple dessert!



I did not have any regular bread so I used
(2) two day old rolls, a thick sliced of day old homemade bread and some raisin bread slices combined making 4 cups of pieces of bread.
...yes, I still added 1/2 cup raisins

If you don't have any apples - no problem!  You could use peaches, plums, etc and you
only need to melt the butter but not saute them  

Sunday, August 1, 2021

COMPANY FOR A WEEK

 Last Sunday (7/25) we enjoyed the
arrival of some house guests who
are lifelong friends.

We took our friends to the usual
places like shopping, going to 
Osage Beach to the Yankee Peddler 
Tea Room and visiting the Churchill 
Museum in Fulton, Missouri.

This is the house in Fulton that
houses the offices for the
Churchill Institute.


To understand about Winston Churchill's
visit to Fulton, Missouri in 1946

The museum is housed in
the basement of the rebuilt



As we entered the museum we received a 
history lesson from our guide below:


I was reminded on the tour of
several things Hitler did in Germany
after he became a leader.  He brainwashed
the young people and formed Youth
Organizations to indoctrinate them with his
values of hate for the Jewish people.  He burned past history, Bibles and
books to rewrite and erase and he took away
the guns so people could not defend
or protect themselves.
 
This was an actual display
piece of the
Berlin Wall outside:


We enjoyed our visit with our
friends, John and Lou Ann:
 

 On one day this week,  the men went to
several car museums while we went
shopping and antiquing.  I really 
enjoyed cooking and baking for our
guests and yes we still have some
leftovers in the freezer!