A LONELY UNUSED TEA ROOM

I imagine I am not alone in saying that

I am very sad that with the Pandemic I

have not been able to use my downstairs

personal tearoom.  This has been a big

disappointment as I am sure numerous

teas could have been history down here by now.

Up on top are some of

my collection of birdhouses:

Last year I divided this wall of shelving 

 into many little tea time vignettes

using various themes.

Then a shelf for Jane Austen with my Royal

Winton yellow chintz sold years ago by Victoria magazine.   I used one of the shelves for Downton Abbey with 

cookbooks and one of my decoupage clipboards along with a Spode

 Duberry coffee pot, cream and sugar.  

Then there are lots of other favorites

like Anne of Green Gables

and my collection of antique Bibles:

That is my Gideon Bible above given

to me in public elementary school in 1959.

Above of course - I made room for

 Tasha Tudor two shelves up above!

The Titanic below is always a theme that

interested me.  See the Titanic Salt and Pepper Shakers that split into?  

 My Chocolate pots are displayed to

 the top left below and of

course I love Beatrix Potter

one of my what not shelves in the room:

A few tins and hat boxes on top feature

the art of Edith Holden from the

Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.

I certainly understand that this cottage

style isn't everyone's "Cup of Tea" as they say.

I personally do not like beads, feathers

 or what is commonly referred to as

 Frou Frou Victorian.

STRAWBERRY CREAM TARTS for "Tea In The Garden"

The heat is on in Missouri now but I 

slipped out this morning for a little

"Tea In The Garden":

This morning by 10:00 am it was

already 92 degrees with 50% humidity

so I did this tea time as quickly as

I could.  This year we have little

Carolina Wrens nesting in the

birdhouse on the wall of our little

porch entry area.  It really wasn't

intended to be "used" by birds so

they were most unhappy this morning

with me scooting by with  things I brought out

the  front door nearby.

During the Corona Virus we have spent

time on many projects at home and also

in the garden.  Several long term

garden projects are done including mulching

all the flower beds front, sides and back.

So let's sit and enjoy

 these sweet little

Strawberry Tarts!

My recipe called for a quart of strawberries

but I only had a pint of them and it still

worked fine to make a 2 by 9 inch oblong tart

 and 3 small round 3 1/2" tarts too!

Here is the recipe for a Strawberry Cream Tart: Ingredients for the Pastry:  1/2 Cup Butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla and 

1 cup flour

This pastry makes what taste like a shortbread  cookie and is delicious!  In a small bowl, cream the butter and sugar, vanilla and add flour. 

 Press this onto the sides and bottom of your

 tart pan with a removable bottom (2 x 9")

 Make the cream cheese filling next. 

Ingredients for the Filling:

1 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, mix all this and set aside while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  You are going to spread the filling over the pastry and bake it at

 450 degrees for 8 minutes - reduce heat to 

350 degrees and bake 8-10 more minutes.

Now cool this tart shell.

Ingredients for strawberry topping:

1 pint - 1 quart strawberries, Reserve 1 cup of strawberries sliced for final top and chop the rest putting them in a sauce pan with 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup water and 3 Tb cornstarch

Bring all this to a boil until it thickens - cool!

When your strawberry topping is cooled it is ready to pour over the cream cheese base.  It is nice to have sliced fresh berries to fill in across the top.

This recipe is really very easy to do and once you make it once -

 even easier the next time!

You may have noticed the hummingbird feeders are no longer on the deck.  We

 caught one raccoon in a cage and a friend relocated him for us but unfortunately we seem to have an abundance of them and

 they are not afraid of us.  I was refilling

 the hummingbird feeders every day which

 is a lot of work.  Yes, they drank it all.

 

If you make the tarts - I think 

you will love them!  

I hope you find ways to enjoy

 each day this summer! 

#2 FRONT YARD BULBS

I have a few more photos to share of

my front yard bulbs:

It will be interesting to see how many

of these come up next year as they

were called perennial bulbs.

As you can see, the Hollyhocks

are already leafing out.

I took these photos Wednesday but then

it turned cold again.  At night we had

a freeze but the bulbs seemed fine the

next day.

I hung out a birdhouse that neighbors
 across the street made me last year.  The
 husband made the birdhouse and his wife
 painted it - like a little house.  The very next day after I hung it,  house  wrens arrived
 and they are building a nest. 

 I love the way the male house wren sings.

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

I hope you continue to stay at home.

FRONT YARD BULBS

Welcome to spring in our front yard this April.

This is out retirement cottage:

Yesterday a huge moving truck was parked

out front for neighbors but I was determined
 to get some photos.

This is the new little flower bed I

dug out last fall looking back

to our backyard.

Today it is much cooler but 

yesterday it was in the 80's 

which was quite a shock.

I hope you are staying home and

doing your part to end this horrible disease.

I'll share the rest of these photos

another day.

FIRST TEA IN THE GARDEN FOR 2020

Today the weather was so lovely and

absolutely perfect for my first "Tea In

The Garden" for this season of 2020:

This is the kind of dreamy day we love.
I baked us something yummy too and you can
find the recipe here if you'd like to bake it.

I have been looking at Victoria Magazine's
new May/June issue all about France.  I have a friend who adores everything French.

Have a seat and a cup of tea and
help yourself to some of the tart.
The recipe made this one and a 
larger square one.  I did double
the amount of the apricot jam.

I am trying to stop myself from putting
 exclamation points at
the end of my sentences.  I know
that is a very bad habit of mine.

I love watching the birds in my backyard.
The goldfinches have been abundant.

What sort of things have kept you busy
during this indoor time?  I have been
sewing for my Etsy site and baking more
than I should....must walk regularly to
help with that!

I am happy to have these lovely tulips and
daffodils that I planted last fall.  I always
wonder if they will actually come up.
I ordered mine from Color Blend.

I hope you are staying in during this time,
washing your hands a lot and doing your
part to help stop this terrible disease.

This was my 170th "Tea In The Garden".