Dining in Frankenmuth, Michigan

Eighty-five miles north of where I live is the quaint city of Frankenmuth, commonly referred to as "Michigan's Little Bavaria."  It was settled and named in 1845 by conservative Lutheran immigrants from Germany, with the purpose of spreading Christianity to the Chippewa Indian tribe.

In 1928 the Zehnder family [residents of Frankenmuth] purchased the New Exchange Hotel  and renovated it to resemble George Washington's home, Mt. Vernon.   The new restaurant, called Zehnder's, opened for business on Mother's Day 1929.  Zehnder's is now a world famous restaurant, with capabilities of accommodating 1,500 guests at one time.   Every year close to one million people enjoy their special all-you-can-eat, family style chicken dinners.

 

We've gone to Zehnder's for Thanksgiving dinner for the past two years, but not this year.

 

 

 

 

2011

 

 

2010

Tiffany & Marissa with the Zehnder's chicken mascot.

 

 

Lori [our daughter], with her daughters, Marissa & Tiffany

 

 

Across the street from Zehnder's is the Bavarian Inn.  It was once the restaurant of  Fischer's Hotel, and was purchased by the Zehnder family in 1950.   After a vacation to Bavaria, Germany the building was remodeled in Bavarian architecture and charm, and expanded to seat 1,200 guests.

 

 

For a while, the Bavarian Inn offered occasional Saturday teas which my girlfriends and I attended.   The photos below are from their 2009 Winter Tea.

 

 

 Blooming Tea Centerpiece

 

Soup

 

Scones

 

The tea was from tea bags and was good, but looked a bit unsightly on the tea table.

Hors d' Oeuvres [including a chicken lollipop]

 

Savories

 

 

Desserts

[L-R:  Sandy, Lori and Me]

A good time was had by all, and it was nice to see men and children in attendance too.

 

Every Good and Perfect Gift...

At this Thanksgiving Season I believe the truth written in James 1:17: "Every good and perfect gift comes from above...".   Today's post is about two of those good and perfect  gifts - my oldest and youngest granddaughters.  [And there are four other granddaughters in between them that are good and perfect gifts too!]
 

"Tiffany Jill"
 

 

I had the pleasure of taking Tiffany to lunch at Macy's Lakeshore Grill last week.  Their restaurant motto is:  "Feeding the shopping tradition since 1905."  And they fed many shoppers that day who  came to the mall to begin their Christmas shopping.  We  waited patiently for a booth in a cozy corner where we could visit and spend some time together. 

 

 

Tiffany ordered iced tea.

 

 

They brought the tea box to the table for me to make my hot tea selection.

 

 

I opted for Organic Chai, which was yummy.

 

 

Tiffany ordered their Soup and Sandwich Combo - A cup of Canadian Cheese Soup and a Pistachio Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwich.

 

 

I got their Mandarine Chicken Salad

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Tiffany, and feel so blessed to have her as my granddaughter.

 

Below is little Ellie who I also visited recently.  She's four and a half months old now, and what a blessing to  be able  to watch her life unfold - just as I've been privileged to do with Tiffany.   I remember when Tiffany was this age and it doesn't seem all that long ago!

 

 

Am I counting my blessings with gratitude?   Absolutely!

 

 

A Jane Austen Tea

On Tuesday, November 13th I attended a Jane Austen Tea at  Longacre House in Farmington Hills, MI.   It was a sold-out event, coordinated by Linda Pudlik [in photo below].

An artificial nosegay was at each place setting for attendees to take home. 

 Menu

 

 

Barbara Gulley was the special speaker.   She shared a few words before the tea began.

 

 

The first course was a Roasted Pear Salad w/Pomegranate Seeds and Balsamic Vinegar.

 

 

 It was accompanied by a Cream Scone

The main course was Chicken Fricassee with Noodles

Dessert was Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Barbara writes about tea for the Detroit Examiner, an online publication.   She is  a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and has attended the Jane Austen Festivals sponsored by the Greater Louisville, KY Jane Austen Society.  She has been to Jane Austen's home in Chawton and Bath, England.   Her program was titled: An Austentacious Tea.

 

She began by sharing how and when tea came to England.  She mentioned that Jane liked to purchase her tea from Twinings in London, and drink it in Wedgewood china.   Her presentation was interestingly categorized:  Jane's Bio;  House in Chawton; Tea in the Morning [in Jane's time]; Tea Sources in Jane's day;  Tea Smuggling;  Regency Influence on Everyday Life [Servants, Attire, and Military/Politics];  Bath, England; and she concluded with Tea at the End of the Day.

 

 

She highly recommended Jane Austen's Handbook by Margaret Sullivan, and Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson.

 

She gave away a package of Jane Austen green tea which she obtained from Lito Gallery in Birmingham, MI.   It's part of their Literary Tea Collection.   I plan to buy some soon!

 

Kudos to Linda and Barbara for a wonderful afternoon!

 

 

 

Blog Giveaway Winner

The winner of my blog giveaway is Donna from Miss Spenser's blog.  Your address is probably in your cookbooks or on your blog, Donna.  If not I'll contact you privately for an address.  Congratulations!  And thanks to everyone who left a comment. 

 

A word of explanation about no blog post yesterday... Due to some physical challenges, I was unable to post.  I hope to get back to it soon.


 

Jeffrey's Antique Mall

Jeffrey's Antique Mall opened in 1990, and is Northwest Ohio's largest antique mall with over 300 dealers.  It's off I-75 at Exit 161 in Findlay.

[Aerial view courtesy of Jeffrey's website]

 

My girlfriend and I covered the entire mall [walking off calories from The Swan House!] and saw LOTS of things we'd like, but only came home with a few items.

On October 5th I blogged about my newest teapot acquisition - a red transferware teapot by Alfred Meakin, made in Staffordshire, England in the Tonquin pattern.   While walking through the antique mall I spotted a red transferware milk jug in the same shape as the teapot, so I was pretty sure it was manufactured by Alfred Meakin.   Sure enough!  When I turned it over it bore Alfred Meakin's backstamp.  Though not the same pattern as the teapot, it's close enough, and I knew it was coming home with me.   It was a bargain at $16.50! 

 

 

 

It's not an "official" collection yet until I get the third piece, but I'm working on it!  ;-)

 

 

I rarely have luck finding tea-themed embroidered linens, but I found two tea towels at Jeffrey's.  They needed an overnight soak in Oxi Clean, but they cleaned up very nice, and I was happy with my purchase.

 

 

 

It was a fun day, and Sandy and I are looking forward to returning to Findlay again after the holidays.

 

 

Afternoon Tea at The Swan House Tea Room

My girlfriend and I had reservations for Afternoon Tea at The Swan House Tea Room in Findlay, Ohio on October 30th, but with superstorm Sandy's broad reaching side effects, we  rescheduled for Friday, November 9th.

 

Below are three photos from a previous visit in June 2004, when it was under different ownership.

 

 

 

 

It's about a two hour and 15 minute drive to Findlay from my house, but from my girlfriend's house it's about an hour less.   Our reservations were for 11:00 a.m.   We were on the road by 9:30 a.m. and arrived in plenty of time.

 

This is the beautiful Victorian Italianate house on Sandusky Street where the tea room is located.

 

 

 

Below, Bev [on the left], is the current owner of Swan House, with her friendly hostess who greeted and seated us.  Christmas music was playing softly in the background to provide holiday atmosphere for their Christmas open house. 

 

 

The photo below is the elegant tea room.  We were the first reservation of the day to be seated, but by the time we left many of the tables were filled with guests.

 

 

The table was set with Blue Danube china, with a silver swan napkin ring.  Blue Danube is a high-quality white china pattern with vivid Meissen blue floral designs on the rim and bowl of the plate, which is scallop-shaped with edges beautifully trimmed in blue.   Swans  symbolize many things, some of which are  love, fidelity, and royalty.  They have a strong association with Greek mythology.

 

 

I ordered pumpkin cream black tea - very smooth and not spicy.

 

 

Scones were brought out first...

 

 

with Devonshire cream, lemon curd, and preserves.

 

 

Three tiered server with their November menu items.

 

 

Bottom tier:  Orange Cranberry Muffin,  Baguette Slice with Almond Cheddar Spread [my favorite item on the entire tray - would love to have the recipe!] and a Grape and Cheese Kabob.

 

 

Middle tier - Savories: Crustless Cheesy Herb Quiche, Mini Ham Puff, and Turkey Tea Sandwich [a ground turkey salad]. 

 

 

Third tier - Desserts:  Chocolate Chai Latte Cookie, Pumpkin Bar and their Signature Swan Cream Puff pastry.

 

 

Afternoon Tea is $17.50 per person and includes tax.   Gratuity is additional.

 

 [L-R:  Sandy & Me]
 

It was a very enjoyable Afternoon Tea.   The only difference that I noticed in this visit compared to 2004 was the servers previously wore black dresses with  white pinafore aprons, and they don't wear those anymore.  The new owner has maintained the same standard and pretty much the same procedures of the previous owner.   I highly recommend The Swan House, and one of the perks for visiting The Swan House is going to Jeffrey's Antique Gallery afterwards, which I'll be blogging about tomorrow.