BLESSINGS IN A CUP

As soon as the leaves start to change to fall hues (which could happen as early as August here in the U.P. of Michigan), a great deal of excitement starts.  Its not that we want summer to end, but all that the autumn season brings is so enjoyable.

We are so blessed to live in an area where the changing of the leaves from green to golden yellow, orange and red is a welcome sight, especially because we know the season to follow can be so long and dreary.  Every year is different, and it seems that there are other sights that make the colored leaves really stand out even more:   the blue sky above, the white birch within the trees of color, the bright sunshine, and the dark pine that proudly stand along side the maples.  The oak tree leaves are not as colorful, and hang on till there is often a lot of snow on the ground, but their brown leathery shades are part of the fall colors, too.

Fall also is the beginning of hosting tea parties for me.  The weather has changed, the days are cooler and shorter, and though we're all trying to enjoy every day outdoors, we're also spending more time indoors.   My list of expected guests is ever growing, so here is the first tea of the fifth season of having tea parties.    When asked why I continue to invite friends and strangers for tea, here are the answers.

• I like to share my creativity with others - handmade invitations, themed tablescapes, creative take home favors   
  
• I enjoy trying new recipes especially from Tea Time Magazine and other places around the web such as my Pinterest boards   
  
• I love to serve others

• #1 reason: I love to create a time when every one can leave the cares of the world behind, meet new people, participate in delightful conversation, and enjoy a respite afternoon while drinking tea and eating delectable foods.

Today's tea was all these reasons, and one more.  Having guests in for tea brings me such a blessing as well - that the people I meet out and about are asking to come to tea, which tells me that I have succeeded in offering an event that ladies want and need.

Once I set the date, I review the notes of people who weren't able to attend last month's tea, the one's that have spoken to and asked to come to tea, others I've met along the way, and always, one or two that have come to tea before. 

Here's the menu I chose:

The recipes for the salad (South by Southwest, with my own variations)

pumpkin scones, 

chocolate oranges

and pumpkin pound cake can be found in my Pinterest Boards: Tea Party and Healthy, and the cloth pumpkins are in the Fall board.  

The Apple Brie scones recipe is in the September issue of Tea Time Magazine.

The tea I served, Peach Rhubarb, and the take home teas are from Tea Forte, one of my favorite tea sources.  

From the moment the first guest arrived, excitement and conversation filled the house.

The "tea time attire" requested was evident with each of the guests - so much beauty.  They found their places around the table, and in no time a buzz of conversation, networking, sharing, laughing and enjoying one another began.

Looking back, I can smile with contentment, knowing I've been able to meet my goals, and again have found blessings in a cup.

Thank you ladies for a delightful afternoon - you have been a blessing to me: Janice, JoAnn, Bonnie, Rosie and Kathy.   

If you or someone you know, would like to come to tea, just leave a comment.  I'd love to meet you and welcome you to my home.  If you are joining me from far away, keep coming back and sharing in my afternoon teas.

Thanks for stopping by, and until we meet again, may you find a small blessing in every day! SB

SUMMER TEA

Summer is so short here in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan, and this year, it seemed even shorter.  We had an unusually long, cold winter, cool spring, and not so hot summer. With summer coming to an end soon, I did a quick rewind to what I look forward to doing in the summer, and what hadn't I done yet.
All winter, I long to sit in my front porch, only accessible in the summer as it is not heated. And of course, I look forward to having a summer tea. The front porch has been a quiet corner to read or take a nap, so now was the time to have the summer tea.  A couple of tea-loving friends are teachers and will be going back to their classroom next week, August 28, so time was of the essence.  I'm still meeting people who want to come to tea, so I sent a note to a few friends and soon-to-be new friends, inviting them to a summer tea.

There is an abundance of ripe fruit right now - wild blueberries and raspberries, and  I added nectarines and kiwi.

I chose a colorful hand-embroidered white table cloth, colorful napkins, and chose my fruit-patterned dishes and cups.

Here is the menu, some of which is from the latest issue of Tea Time Magazine and my own boards on Pinterest.  The teas are Rose Raspberry (Downton Abbey) and Blackberry Sage.

I made biscuit "cones" out of crescent rolls, by making a cone shape out of aluminum foil, and wrapping the dough around it.  The filling was a spread made from local, fresh salmon, cream cheese and sour cream; and a golden cherry tomato from my garden.  I laid each salmon biscuit on a leaf of romaine lettuce.  

I don't believe its a tea party without serving scones and mock devonshire cream. This is the first time I made the blueberry thyme scones, two ingredients I wondered about pairing together.  But the recipe in the lastest issue of Tea Time Magazine, again, proved to be wonderful!  I also learned a new technique from this recipe that keeps the blueberries mostly whole, which holds in the flavor.

Start by putting half the blueberries on one side of the dough, and fold the dough over, gently kneading or rolling them in.  Finish by adding the remaining blueberries to the dough and repeating the kneading and rolling.

Fruit Cup: to enhance the fruit with big flavor, combine fresh chopped fruit and berries in a bowl, mixing just to blend.  Add enough berry flavor wine cooler to cover the fruit, and refrigerate for several hours or over night.  Strain the fruit, saving the juice/wine liquid. (this makes a great drink) I served the fruit cup in double shot glasses with a little dollup of mock devonshire cream on top.

Dessert was a mini ice cream cone filled with a mock cheese cake filling, just like a little ice cream cone (!), and a mini pink cake heart with chocolate ganache drizzled on top.

I packaged raspberry muffins for my guests to take home.  They were baked in paper/cardboard cups, which are available at World Market stores.

Thanks to friends Marsha N. and Sandy A. and their families' estates, I now have a collection of hats for my guests to choose from.

Here's to you, teachers - Lori and Louise; and friends - Darleen, Wendy and Nancy. Thanks for sharing a summer afternoon tea. It was a delight!

SereniTea-sb and Friends meet Two Cottages and Tea

 

We've been talking about doing this for almost a year.  We've been planning since July.  We set the menu in August.  Now it is September 22, and Nancy at Two Cottages and Tea has graciously opened her little red cottage so that 14 of my tea friends can share the most amazing experience of having tea in the country. Perhaps many more will enjoy tea there in the spring.

Nancy and I have had tea parties of our own, as we strive to share the experience of delectable foods, dishes, linens and tea.

She with her shabby sheek, transfer wear, and cottage in the country, and me with the love of tiny foods, table settings, serving others, and of course, tea.

 

 

 

Here I am, enjoying tea at the cottage, the beginning of the Holiday Season 2012

 

Thank you, Nancy, for opening your doors to an afternoon of tea at the cottage. It's going to be an day to remember - You are a great inspiration!

  

Thank you Notes

Do you send thank you notes?   I do.  Hand-written ones, that is.  I must admit that I use electronic media often to communicate, but try to send hand-written cards and notes as much as possible.  Recently while visiting my mother, she shared with me a hand-written note that was in my father's wallet.  It was about the joy of loving and being loved.  I treasure old things, like vintage belongings, especially from my own family.  If we gradually stop sending hand-written notes, what will there be to treasure for the generations that follow? 

Tea Parties

January 2012
Pearl Tea


We celebrated the white of winter with pearls.