Fall Hodgepodge

As you know, I've taken a little break from blogging, but I didn't want the month to end without a catch-up post.   

My son, Steve, turned 56 on Monday, so we celebrated with him in Marine City - a quaint little city on the St. Clair River about 43 miles north of where we live.  

We ate at the Riviera Restaurant. Their Monday night special is an all you can eat Perch dinner, so we all ordered the same thing.  The Perch was lightly breaded and SO good.  With a start off of five pieces there was no need to ask for seconds, and to discourage seconds, they don't allow doggy-bags.

Boston Cream Pie has always been Steve's favorite dessert for his birthday, so I bought one and took it to the restaurant.

While we were eating we saw two big freighters sailing down the St. Clair river.  I took a pic of both but will only post one.

Fall officially began September 22nd, but I've been slow to decorate my house for the season.  I hung a fall wreath on the front door [purchased last fall], put a wicker cornucopia on the dining room table [that I made eons ago] and bought a new fall garland at Michael's to hang from my kitchen window.  So far, that's it!  Do you decorate for fall?

With Halloween tomorrow, and a work day at The Whitney, I went online to shop for a sweater suitable to wear.  I found one at Target for only $30 and purchased it.

I'm still trying to shed some pounds, and have crossed the 20 lb. weight loss threshold, but am still not where I want to be yet.  I found a great Pumpkin recipe online that satisfies dessert cravings, but doesn't sabotage weight loss.  It has no sugar - just 2 Tbsp. honey or pure maple syrup [both are good] and 1 cup low fat cottage cheese [which I puree so there's no visible cottage cheese curds].  It also contains two eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice along with 1 cup pumpkin puree.  I always associate pumpkin with fall, so this recipe is perfect, healthy and  tastes really good.   I just made some today.

Yesterday I drove down to my old childhood stomping grounds, and had lunch with a few high school girlfriends [only four were able to make it yesterday].  We had a nice time getting caught up on each other's news.  I ordered Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad and it was my meal for the day.  Yummy!

On my way home, I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of a beautiful Maple tree on my street.  It's leaves had turned a beautiful red.  Michigan's color change will supposedly be over Nov. 3rd and then we'll be looking at barren trees for several months.

Our church had their annual Harvest Festival on Oct. 11th.  I had to work but my hubby went. I asked him to take pictures but he was so busy he didn't get a chance.  It's always a big event with hayrides, a petting zoo, chili cookoff contest and trunk or treat.  It was well attended and a good time was had by all.  Below are the only two pics I have to share.

I saw the cute fabric pumpkin [below] on Facebook and couldn't resist sharing it here.  

I'll wrap up this fall post with pictures of my sweet granddaughter, Izzy.  She turned 20 the end of September and got a car for her birthday present from her parents.  She lives off campus at MSU this year so now she won't have to take the bus or ride her bike anymore.  

What's new with you this fall?  I hope you're enjoying this season when our thoughts turn to  gratefulness.  

Pink House Tearoom

I met up with my girlfriend, Lori, last Thursday at the Pink House Tearoom in New Baltimore, MI.  Our reservations were for 12:00 noon.  It was a beautiful fall day showcasing their yard decorations for Halloween.

We ordered the Signature Pink House Experience [$29.99] which included a pot of tea from their tea selection list, three scones per person, 2 cucumber sandwich wedges, and a slice of quiche accompanied by a fruit salad or mixed green salad.  

Our pot of tea and scones came out first.  As much as I wanted to enjoy one, I brought mine home to my hubby.

We enjoyed two pots of tea with our meal.  The first was an almond flavored black tea and the second was a tropical citrus green tea.  

Next came our cucumber sandwiches.

~ Our server took our picture ~

I order the Quiche Lorraine and mixed green salad.

The food was delicious, but the fellowship was even better!  We enjoyed our time together so much.  Tea is always better when shared with a friend.  

A Fall Breakfast

I love watching food shows on the Discovery + channel and I'm particularly enjoying Joanna Gaines new Magnolia Table: At the Farm series.  In the most recent episode of season one [episode 5], Joanna made a Maple Pecan Baked Oatmeal that looked delicious and with the exception of the 3/4 c. pure maple syrup it's quite calorie friendly - but I wouldn't recommend leaving it out because it definitely adds to the flavor.

I decided to make it this morning and it didn't disappoint.  Joanna poured a warm, spiced brown sugar flavored milk over her oatmeal, but I opted for a dallop of 2% plain Greek yogurt on mine.  It was yummy.  I enjoyed it with my usual Harney & Sons blueberry green tea.

The recipe is available at:  https://magnolia.com/blogs/recipe/maple-pecan-baked-oatmeal

Yesterday afternoon my hubby and I enjoyed going to the theater to watch Downton Abbey, The Grand Finale for the second time.  It was Tuesday $5 ticket day.

It was fun noticing things I missed the first time.  I remembered seeing Lady Mary and Edith Pelham shopping together in London shortly after the movie began, but I didn't remember the store was Fortnum & Mason and that they enjoyed tea together there during their shopping outing.  I tried to find an image of it online to share, but no luck.  You'll just have to see the movie, if you haven't already.  There's so many tea scenes in the movie [and too many cocktails! ;-)]  The British seem to love their alcohol as much as their tea.

Tomorrow will be a fun day as I'm meeting my girlfriend at the Pink House Tearoom in New Baltimore, MI.  I'll be sure to write a post about it.

 

'Proud Great-Grandma Day'

I wonder who thinks up all the special celebration days???  I didn't even know a great-grandma day existed until I went on Facebook this morning and saw a friend's post. 

If you've followed my blog very long you know I'm a proud great-grandma to two sweet little girls and I blog about them from time to time.  What a blessing to have four generations of our family living and enjoying life together.  

I only knew one of my great-grandmothers and she passed when I was seven.  The other three were deceased before I was born.  I pulled out a picture of my paternal great-grandmother and made the side-by-side picture below.  She was actually two years younger than me in the photo.  She was the mother of four and grandmother and great-grandmother of many.  I've had the benefit of all the modern conveniences, while she had to work much harder in her lifetime. She lived to be 84.  In her later years she was an invalid [due to a broken hip] and lived with my grandparents.  I remember her as demanding and crotchety and I was afraid of her.  Yikes!  I don't want to leave those kind of memories behind for my great-granddaughters. Do you remember your great-grandmothers?  Are you a proud great-grandma?

Speaking of family... my hubby and I were in Zeeland last Wednesday through Saturday visiting our son Jeremy and his family.  We had a wonderful time, and of course I took pictures!  ;-)

Jeremy celebrated his 46th birthday two days before we arrived, and Samantha still had the decorations up.  I baked his favorite - Boston Cream Cake -and took it to him.

Shortly after our arrival we were off to granddaughter Ellie's volleyball game, and her team won.  [She's in the middle in the white shirt below.]

We had unseasonably warm and beautiful weather the whole time we were there - mid 80 degree temps which is unusual for October.  We saw very little color change as we traveled from the eastern side of the state to the the western side. Most of the trees are still green and keeping their leaves.

Thursday we met up with Jeremy for lunch in downtown Zeeland at a place called Taco Kitchen [he was downtown at the public library doing some work].  I got chicken tacos and they were yummy.  As you can see, we opted to eat outdoors.

Thursday night was football on the big screen TV watching Jeremy's favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers play the LA Rams.  It was a close game and went into overtime.  I went to bed and learned Friday morning the 49ers won 26-23.  

Friday, we drove to the nearby Post Family Farm.  It was busy with lots of young school children. Ellie only had a half day of school so she went with us.

We got some fresh apple cider and yummy pumpkin donuts to eat onsite and bought some to take home as well.  I was disciplined and only ate a half a donut [still watching my weight].  The apple cider was SO good - much better than Blake's Apple Cider available near our house.

Zeeland isn't an over populated area like where we live, so there's a lot more roadside farmer's markets/stands to shop for fresh produce.  When we left the Post Farm we stopped at a smaller market a few miles up the road where Samantha purchased THE BEST freshly picked strawberries.  [Notice the very green trees in the background.]

Then we went home to grab a bite to eat before heading off to Grand Rapids for Landon's high school football game.

Below Landon is #10 looking towards us in the stands.  He was disappointed the Grand Rapids Pioneers beat his team [Holland Christian Maroons] but at least his family was in the stands to lend support.

Saturday morning got off to a busy start for this very athletic family.  Zeeland was celebrating their pumpkin festival and Ellie ran in the 5K for some extra school credit.  The race began at 8:30 a.m. and Sam and Jerry said she did very well.

All good things must come to an end, so around noon we got in our car and headed for home.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

Our family activities are much different than what my great-grandma would have experienced.  Life for her and her family would have been keeping the farm in Ohio going seven days a week.  I like things just the way they are now, but when Evie and Jules grow up I wonder what they will say as they reflect on me and my lifestyle.  Life is always changing and it's hard to imagine what life will be like in another 50 years.

An Additional Tea Time Offering

I belong to a Facebook group [Christian Tea Time & Hospitaity], and a member recently posted a visit to The Huntington Library, Art Museum & Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA [an upscale area south east of Pasadena], where she had Afternoon Tea at the Rose Garden Tearoom, situated in the historic rose garden.  

What piqued my interest was following the scone course, a cheese course [$16 ala carte] can be added which I've never seen offered at Afternoon Tea before, and I think it's a great addition.

Apparently it's served on tiered servers or plates and both make a lovely presentation.

I went to their website and their cheese offering consists of Spanish Manchego, California Brie and White Cheddar or Gouda cheeses served with toasties, crackers, assorted fruit [Champagne grapes and California strawberries] and nuts [Marcona almonds or toasted pecans], and fig jam.  That sounds and looks so delicious and I would gladly pay $16.  Would you?   It serves two or more.  I don't know if the management at The Whitney would be open to such a menu option, but I'm definitely going to tell them about it.  Charcuterie is so popular and this is a form of it.

I wish I would have known about this venue when I visited Pasadena in 2019.

Being the history buff that I am, I had to read up on it.  I discovered [in a nutshell] Henry Edward Huntington was a railroad and real estate businessman.  In 1903 he bought the San Marino Ranch [now the Huntington].  He married Arabella in 1913 and in 1919 they signed a trust document that transformed their private estate into a public institution.  The Huntington opened publicly to visitors in 1928 and has grown over the past century to become an internationally renowned collections-based non-profit institution that supports the humanities, the arts, and botanical science.  

The Art Gallery was originally the home of Henry and Arabella and the library was built in 1919.  The Rose Garden Tearoom has recently been remodeled to mixed reviews.  Have any of you been there?  If so, please share your comments.