CELEBRATING BEATRIX POTTER'S 152nd BIRTHDAY for "Tea In The Garden"

I am not sure how I let Beatrix

Potter's birthday celebration

slip by me last Saturday.  She was

born July 28, 1866.  I am quite a

fan and have shared my Beatrix
 looking garden statuary many 
times with you.

I set up a little child sized table
in front of the peachless peach
 tree as the squirrels have
 removed all but 2 peaches.

Monday I thought I best sew

up a little Peter Rabbit Jacket

for a special tea time in the

garden and invite you to tea!
I saw other's do this in the past
on their blogs so I am not 
pretending to have an original
idea!

As you no doubt recall,  Peter's

blue jacket was made by his

Mother but was caught in a net

in Mr. McGregor's garden. 

 Frankly, Peter was very lucky to 

escape.  I am sorry for him that he

 got sent to bed without the

 delicious blackberries that 

Flopsy, Mopsy

 and Cottontail got to enjoy!

I do think Beatrix would approve.

 Our July was so hot - I doubt Beatrix
 ever experienced anything like the
 high 90's in her darling English
 Hilltop Garden.

I love all the photos I have seen

of Hilltop and I know many of

you have visited there.  I am drawn

to the sweetness of it all. 

Of course, we are drinking Chamomile
tea today that I got at Tuesday
 Morning
which is a favorite store!

TWO YEARS IN THE GARDEN

I saw a photo on facebook today

  of my garden 2 years ago

 and this photo was taken

 earlier this month:

I have certainly made plenty of

mistakes along the journey but

have really enjoyed learning.

I call this my Beatrix Potter

Cottage Garden!

CELEBRATING JANE AUSTEN for "Tea In The Garden"

After purchasing a new book
in Hannibal on Sunday about
 cooking and Jane Austen,  I thought

it would be fun to enjoy a little

tea time today with that theme.

I already had a collection of Jane
 related books and now I have added
 this one published in 2013.

So rather late in the day yesterday,
I set up a little tea area outside.
The mosquitos were definitely
out and about!

I found a few pieces of purple
transferware Sunday too:

The only changes to my scones were:
I used 1 chopped peach instead of 
strawberries and I used 1/2 cup 
of sugar and I used buttermilk!
(see link to the recipe by clicking above)

I have an abundance of zinnias!

So this new book has wonderful recipes that
represent conversations in many of Jane's 
books!  There is a lot of interesting trivia
which is very fun! Recipes are for foods
seen in Pride and Prejudice, Emma,
Persuasion, etc.  I was reading it
out loud on the way home in the car
and my husband and I got a real
eye opener about how spoiled we are
with all our present day kitchen's
 modern conveniences.

I have to tell you that I read that Mrs. Bates 
(from the book and movie "Emma")
 was so poor she had to  "borrow"
 the use of a neighbor's stove
 during the night as the ambers
cooled in the kitchen and it was not 
in use by the neighbor.  That really 
showed me how awful her 
circumstance was, yet she never
complained.  I'd say I have a
new appreciation for my stove!

"Indeed,  I would rather have
nothing but tea."   Jane Austen

And lastly - a friend left a lovely
gift on my front porch - a box
of dried hydrangeas.  I put
them in a wire basket next to
the fireplace area.

HANNIBAL, MISSOURI

Today we made a little day

trip to the home town of Mark

Twain which was Hannibal, Mo.

This sweet couple dressed

 the part of Tom Sawyer

and Becky Thatcher:

People could take a photo of their

kids pretending to

whitewash the fence!

This photo below shows the boyhood

home of Mark Twain (real name Samuel

Clemens- 1835-1920) on the right and

the museum on the left. 

Of course all the Victorian

homes really caught my eyes and

especially this one:

Many were being restored

 and

others needed to be:

Additionally, this town was the

 birthplace of Molly Brown (survivor

on the Titanic).

ZUCCHINI CREAM CHEESE WALNUT BARS for "Tea In The Garden"

Yesterday I had some ladies for lunch so

afterwards I was glad these Zucchini 

Cream Cheese Walnut Bars

 were left over.  I never hesitate to
use a coffee pot for tea too!

 As you can see by our lawn color,

we are needing rain badly.  I think

I heard we are 10" behind.  They

are now using the term drought.

After lunch yesterday, I went out
 and set up my tea time for this photo

shoot on the patio under the deck. 

Please help yourself to tea

and one of the bars! 

The one flower that doesn't seem to mind

days and days of high 90's heat is the

Zinnia.  My hydrangeas are just
 starting to form blooms.

I used regular walnuts in this post
but you see black walnuts in the 
former recipe.

This little cookbook (now out of print)

 was where I originally

 found the recipe.

Zucchini and Walnut Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 1/2 cups loosely packed, coarsely grated zucchini, 2 large eggs,1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup corn oil, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg, 1 cup walnuts chopped plus 1/4 cup for topping

Frosting: 3 oz cream cheese softened, 2 cups softened confectioner's sugar, 2 Tb milk, dash of salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees- butter and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish- set aside.
In a large bowl beat together eggs, sugar and oil until well blended. Beat in vanilla.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg. Stir in flour mix into the egg mix blending well. Add the zucchini and walnuts and mix. Spread into baking dish. Bake about 28-30 minutes in a regular oven or 22 minutes in a convection oven.  Do not burn but bake till top springs back when touched. Let cool

To make frosting in a bowl: beat cream cheese till smooth, add sugar and milk, then salt and vanilla- If too thick - add more milk until spreadable. Ice the cool cake and sprinkle with more walnuts. Slice with very sharp knife.

 

 3 different Cutting suggestions and I

suggest putting the small or tiny ones in

little paper holders (like for candy or muffins) 

1.  SMALL bars which can go into paper cups: cut them 5 x 6= 30 bars 2 bite size

2.  Afternoon Tea Tiny 1 bite bars: cut them 6 x 8 = 48 bars

3.  Larger dessert size: cut them 4 x 8

Right this moment we have some

cloud cover above and that really

helps a lot.

These two cups and saucers are

definitely favorites: