AFTERNOON TEA OR HIGH TEA

 

I came across this fun article

today and think it will help

you understand the difference

between Afternoon Tea and

the evening meal called "High

Tea":

Article to read

Do you see Dad over there

hanging up his coat?

DECORATING TIME #2

 Hello dear Friends!

Every year I look forward to

getting out my angel

collection.  I don't buy anymore

now as I have plenty.

They are certainly some

of my favorite decorations and

are predominately by Nicol Sayre.

At couple years back, I made the

Ephemera Nativity piece

below left.

What's not to love

about decorating

for Christmas?

More to come......

DECORATING TIME IS HERE

 I am sharing my new vintage quilt

I got at the Warson Woods Antique Mall

in St Louis last week.

I have been looking for a red and

white one for a while and I am happy.

I usually do all my indoor decorating

in one very long day but this year I did

it over a four day period taking more

time and not rushing.  I guess I am now

officially guilty of putting things in same

place as last time.

My tea cart out in the kitchen was

the perfect spot for my red

 transferware

tureen.

I love baking and enjoying special foods during this season although I have concerns about what is happening to my waistline for sure. What will you baking this year?

We always enjoy getting out the

nativity my husband's Mom gave us

years ago.  It is well over 100 years old.

I am sure you can relate to the fact that

every year I promise myself I will get

more done than I do.  I think I will have

time for more baking and

crafting but where does time go? 

I love curling up on the sofa in a nice 

warm robe and reading these lovely

English publications and Hoffman

Media specialty magazines.

I hope you have as much

 fun decorating

as I did...

More to come.....

COLONIAL FRUITCAKES FOR THE SEASON

 I never made Colonial Fruitcakes last

year and sometimes when I do make

them it is well into December but this

year on the day before Thanksgiving

I got my act together!

I can hardly think of Fruitcake without

remembering Martha Scott who blogged

for years at "Lines From Linderhof".  She 

always made her Dundee cakes early in

November.  She passed away this year and

I know is greatly missed by many.

This fruitcake is from a very old recipe I cut

out of Family Circle Magazine back in

1978.  The Colonial Fruitcake had one

unusual ingredient which was Watermelon

Rind Pickles.  I was thrilled to find some

at our local Hyvee Grocery Store.

I got quite a few cakes from

this recipe:

Pickled watermelon rind was called American citron in the 18th century.  It adds its special flavor to this chock-full-of-fruits cake.  Bake this cake at 300 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes, I used a 8" tube pan, 1 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" tin and 5 of the mini 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/2" loaf pans.

Here are the ingredients:  2 jars (10 oz. ea) pickled watermelon rind - drained, 1 carton (8 oz.) candied red cherries, 1 carton (8 oz.) candied pineapple, 1 -15 oz, box golden raisins, 2 cups slivered almonds (8 oz.), 2 cups chopped walnuts (8 oz.), 3 cups sifted all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, (reduce to 1 1/2 tsp in high altitude)1 cup (2 sticks) butter, 2 cups sugar, 6 eggs, 1/2 cup of brandy, rum or orange juice. (I uses Bacardi Rum and also I brush it on top after baking and once a week for about a month)

I ended up adding a little more flour this time to my batter and I mixed everything in a large pot.  The tins were buttered and flour coated.

BAKE A LOVELY CARROT CAKE

Yesterday I baked a Carrot Cake.

I had been sewing downstairs and

at about 3:30 pm I thought I'm 

going to quit and go bake something.

Do you love to bake?

As you can see the cake was quickly

cut and enjoyed after dinner.  

Several pieces went to Senior neighbors

and slices were frozen for another

day down the road.

This cake is really so easy to make and

requires 4 cups of grated carrots, 4 eggs,

1 Cup vegetable oil, 2 cups flour,

2 cups sugar, 2 tsp baking powder and

1 cup chopped walnuts for the cake

body.  Always mix the dry ingredients

 first and then add the eggs and oil.

We are talking 350 degrees for

baking 30 minutes in a regular oven

or 25 minutes convection oven.

The icing was wonderful too and easy.  

1 pkg 8 Oz cream cheese, 4 Tb butter, 

1 3/4 Cups of Confectioners Sugar, 

1 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp vanilla

 all mixed together and then another

 1/2 cup walnuts sprinkled on top.

This week I had fun making some little

Ephemera Thanksgiving cards:

To me the Canadians have a better

situation in that they have their 

Thanksgiving in October and move

on to decorating for Christmas.

I also made an ephemera Thanksgiving

medallion for my kitchen

window:

We had a rainy night and now

a very windy day so staying in

seems quite delightful.