Gifts, Recipes, Repurposing and International Tea Day

Yesterday I drove down to the area where I grew up to have lunch with some high school girlfriends.  My long-time girlfriend, Sandy, was there and brought me a belated birthday gift she had made for me - a cute tea-themed tote bag and a HomeGoods gift card.  Thank you, Sandy!  Distance prevents us from seeing each other more often.

A friend of hers, who I've gotten to know through tea, also sent along the cutest denim bag filled with 40 handmade all-occasion gift cards.   What a labor of love!  Thank you, Lois!

Ironically the restaurant the girls chose to go to yesterday was Mexican and I've been experimenting with recipes since last week.  Timing was perfect.

My hubby and I try to eat more fish and poultry than red meat so last week I tried a good recipe for Fish Tacos using seasoned, baked cod and flour tortillas.  I love wild caught cod from Costco. The tacos were good, but I've got another recipe to try using blackened fried fish with corn tortillas.  I ordered two taco racks from Amazon to make preparation easier and I'm anxious to try them. Even after being married almost 59 years there's still kitchen equipment to be purchased.

On Monday, I experimented with making Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.  I used a recipe that called for canned Cream of Chicken soup mixed with sour cream, but when I make them again I'll use a recipe from Joanna Gaines' cookbook [and season 2 of her cooking show] where the cream sauce is made from scratch.

At the restaurant yesterday, I noticed Seafood Enchiladas on their menu.  Doesn't that sound  good?   Now to search for recipes in my cookbooks.

For Mother's Day, my daughter-in-law tucked a package of granola in my gift bag made by Bowerman's in Holland, MI.  It was SO good on my Kashi whole wheat shredded cereal or steel-cut oatmeal every morning, that I ate it all up.  That sent me searching through my cookbooks for a granola recipe.  I've never made it before but it's quite simple to make.  I found a recipe that sounded good in an Amish cookbook I acquired in 1997, and made a batch this morning.  I'm not a gardener, so my kitchen is my happy place where I can create.  Have you tried any new recipes lately?  Do you enjoy experimenting with recipes?

Below is a picture of it fresh from the oven.  It turned out good, but I will make a few tweaks to the recipe the next time around.  The oatmeal, honey, almonds and cinnamon are healthy, the brown sugar and butter not so much.  ;-)

In 2012 I purchased a set of light blue Madrid Depression glass dishes at an antique mall.  Below is a tablescape picture using of some of them.

Fast forward to this past Easter, when I was assembling Easter baskets for The Whitney.  While shopping for supplies at Target, I saw cute light blue egg cups in the dollar section.  My mind immediately flashed to my light blue Depression glass dishes and how perfect they would be for holding clotted cream for scones at each place setting.  It's always fun to repurpose things and who knows I might use them for egg cups sometime too.  There were only seven in the bin so I took what they had.  I can hardly wait to use them.

In closing, today is International Tea Day.  The United Nations observes the day to highlight the significance of tea, its cultural heritage, economic importance, and health benefits.  Enjoy your cuppa!   Blueberry Green tea is in my cup -  Chinese green tea with lemongrass, blueberry and vanilla.

This and That

On May 4th I blogged about finding a 3-pc. dish set [luncheon plate, cup and saucer] in the Tea Leaves pattern by Department 56 at Salvation Army for $5.99.  Fast forward to my post on May 8th when my girlfriend and I went to The Pink House for tea.  On one of the nearby tables was a fresh floral arrangement in a Tea Leaves teapot.  My instinct told me the lid probably got broke and they repurposed the teapot as a vase.  Our server confirmed I was right.  When I got home I decided to look on E-bay to see if I could find a teapot with lid, and I did!  With shipping it was $25.56 and I had a gift card to cover it.  The teapot arrived this week.  Now I need to find a sugar and creamer.

At least 8 years ago, and maybe longer, my church had a garage sale for our building fund.   I donated several Easter dishes, and when they didn't sell, my daughter-in-law asked if she could have them.  I happily agreed.  Fast forward [again] to last Easter 2024 when I bought a new [to me] set of 222 Fifth Sydney bunny dishes.   My mind went back to the Easter dishes I donated and I remembered a cute butter dish was among the items.  I asked Sharon if she would mind letting me have it to go with my new dishes.  [It's really just a loan because she will get it back again when I'm no longer able to entertain.]  She said she wasn't sure she still had the dishes but she would look in her basement when she got the chance.  She's a very busy gal with many responsibilities, so when I didn't hear back regarding the butter dish I just forgot about it.   This past week I got a text and picture from her saying "Look what I found".

Last night she texted again saying she would bring the box of dishes to church and I could go through it and take out anything else I wanted.  I wasn't a complete Indian giver because I didn't take 10 bunny luncheon plates and six bunny mugs, but I did take a bunny platter and 12 bunny napkin rings. I wonder why I donated them since I love holiday dishware??? Regardless, I'm very happy they're back home now.  ;-)

When my May/June issue of Tea Time magazine arrived, I leafed through it and on page 10 From the Bookshelf I saw the book, Tea Under the Palms. Since my hubby and I had Afternoon Tea in the Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel for our 50th Wedding Anniversary, I decided to order the book.  It arrived this week and I'm anxious to read it.

Another book... when I met up with my cousins last fall at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island they told me a paternal aunt [by marriage] had written a nice cookbook in 2004 to go with her specialty food store in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which eventually transitioned into a popular restaurant.  The last time I saw my former aunt [she and my uncle divorced] was in 1958.  Her son [my first cousin 14 years younger than me], recently emailed regarding family genealogy.  In our correspondence I asked him if I could obtain one of his mother's cookbooks if any were left, and it arrived in last week's mail.   Probably one of the best recipes in the book for me will be my dear grandmothers oatmeal cookies.  Can't wait to make them.

My sweet daughter came over on Monday with a pre-planted geranium arrangement to go in a small decorative planter on my front porch and individual geraniums to plant in a larger plant box, for my Mother's Day gift.  

Tiffany, her daughter [my granddaughter], spent Mother's Day at Huntington Beach in California.  Tiffany posted this picture of her and her daughters, Evie and Juliette, on Monday.

For a bit of humor in wrapping up this post, I saw the cute teacup cartoon below on Facebook and wanted to share it.

Mother's Day 2025

Mother's Day 2025 has come and gone, but the happiness and great memories are still with me.  Yesterday was a wonderful day with my family - just 4 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren were missing.

I couldn't resist posting a picture taken at church yesterday with my 'bestie'.

 Brooke and another girl handed out roses to all ladies at the end of the morning worship service.

A photo outside church with my daughter, Lori, and granddaughter, Brooke, before we went to the restaurant.

The family at Ike's restaurant - Lori & Dave, and Jerry & Me [below].  

Everybody ordered something different, but Jerry and I got Chicken Shawarma, and had more than enough for a take-out for lunch today.

Jeremy, Samantha & Landon

Sharon, Brooke, Izzy, and Ellie

Steve and Jerry 

The family always humors me with my picture taking, so more were taken outside.  ;-)

My three babies all grown up with families of their own. Where have the years gone???

Lori and Dave

Steve, Sharon, and Brooke [Brianna, their oldest lives in Nashville, TN]

Jeremy, Samantha, Landon, Ellie & Izzy

'The Cousins'

Jerry, the kids and grands were very good to me in addition to spending the day with me.

Candy and money for shopping

I loved the tea-themed gift bag filled with...

Granola and Blueberry Muffin Mix.  I had the yummy granola for breakfast this morning.

A sweet lady from church gave me a lovely tea-themed pin.  The center teacup says 'fill me with kindness' in keeping with our recent ladies' spring tea, If Teacups Could Talk.

Lori is coming over later today to plant flowers in my front porch planter for Mother's Day.  God has blessed me beyond measure with wonderful children/spouses and grand and great-grand children.  

Jeremy's family headed back to Zeeland yesterday, but Jeremy spent the night with us as he had meetings on this side of the state today.  It was such a beautiful day, so we sat on the patio visiting for awhile when we got home from the restaurant.  And eventually we enjoyed some tea together! 

Did you have a good Mother's Day celebrating your mother, or your own motherhood?

Generations Tea at The Whitney

Yesterday, at 11:00 a.m. was the Generations Tea at The Whitney celebrating Mothers.   55 ladies attended.  A soloist sang in the Grand Hall throughout the tea meal.

Guests were seated in the 1st floor Receiving and Drawing Room, the Formal Dining Room, and Mr. Whitney's study.   The photo below are guests in the Drawing Room.

Our regular afternoon Mansion Tea began at 12:00 noon on the second and third floors serving 58 guests, so it was a busy day for me. 

One of the servers came to me and said a table of two guests seated in the Drawing Room requested to see me.  When I went in, it was Lisa Kokko and her mother, Jo.  Lisa is the administrator of the Facebook group, Christian Tea Time & Hospitality that I belong to.

~ Lisa and Me ~

Lisa photographed her favor from The Whitney.  The window they were seated by has a Woodward Avenue view.

Today was almost as busy as yesterday serving 103 guests on the second and third floors [a wedding reception was on the first floor]. The passenger and dumb waiter were both inoperable today so I made countless trips up and down the stairs.  To say I'm a bit tired tonight is an understatement!

Earlier in the week when I was looking through estate sale photos, I saw a brass Southern Lady tea bell at a home not far from where I live.  I had already made plans to go to The Pink House for tea with my girlfriend so my hubby said he'd go and see if it was worth buying.  He bought it for $20.  So I'm now the owner of a tea bell.  The photo below is the one that was on the estate sale website.  I'm too tired to take a better photo right now.  ;-)

Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow, whether you're a mother or celebrating your mother.   I will be going to church with my family and out to dinner afterwards and will try to post photos.

Below is a cute Mother's Day card I received from my girlfriend.  The inside says... they're friends like you.  Happy Mother's Day.  The two of us have shared many cups of tea together over the years.

 

The Pink House Tearoom

Everyone needs a 'bestie' they can count on for support and help whenever it's needed and my 'bestie' is my girlfriend, Lori.  She is my right hand at every tea I do at church.  To help express my gratitude, I took her to the Pink House Tearoom in New Baltimore, MI yesterday.  It was a picture perfect day.

Jennifer, the owner, used to own the Royal Treat Tearoom in Roseville [which I've blogged about several times] but she closed it to focus on the Pink House.

~ Lori ~

We ordered a slice of quiche with the 'queens greens'.  It also came with a pair of petit cucumber tea sandwiches, three assorted scones, and a pot of tea.  We chose Wild Berry Hibiscus.  

We see each other at church every Sunday, but don't get to enjoy a lengthy visit like we had over tea yesterday.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon and I thank the Lord for the gift of friendship.