One More Birthday Present

Yesterday was a busy day.  The ladies gathered at my house at 11:00 a.m. for Bible study. Between the chapters of Genesis 18-23 are several women to study - Sarah, Hagar, Lot's wife and his two daughters.  At the conclusion of Bible study I always serve a light lunch of soup, tea, and dessert.  

When Hagar gave birth to her son, Ishmael, she became the mother of the Arab nations, so I thought it would be a fun twist to serve a Middle-Eastern soup. It was the first time I've ever prepared lentils [and only the second time I've eaten them - the first time was in Washington, D.C. at Teaism], but the ladies all said they enjoyed it. [Sorry no pictures, I forgot.]  Had I known rice pudding is a Middle-Eastern dessert I would have made that [and maybe I will for our next Bible study]. Instead I made a very easy Crock-Pot dessert that only requires three ingredients.

Crock-Pot Apple Cobbler

2 cans Apple Pie Filling

1 Spice Cake Mix [I used Betty Crocker]

2 sticks butter

Spread the pie filling on bottom of crock-pot.  Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the apple pie filling but do not mix.  Cut butter into tablespoons and place on top of cake mix.  Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours.  Serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.  [If that much butter is an issue, you could use margarine or a butter substitute.] 

One of the ladies brought homemade hummus and pita bread to go with the soup, and we spent a lovely afternoon together.  Our tea was "Ginger, Ginger" - a black tea blended with dried Ginger, Calendula and Sunflower Petals, and natural flavors, by Intutea based here in Michigan.

Later last night when I was in my office, I heard a knock at the front door. When I opened the door nobody was there, but a package was sitting on the porch.  Once inside, I noticed it was from my tea friend, Angela McRae, who writes Tea With Friends blog.   She had given me a heads-up in an e-mail that a package was coming.

I eagerly opened the package marked fragile.  She had mentioned in her e-mail that it was something I said I wanted a while back, and she hoped I hadn't acquired it since. Inside the mailing box was another pretty pink box with a silver crown imprinted in the middle and the word Althorp [the Spencer family home where Lady Diana, Princess of Wales grew up].

Oh! My! Goodness!  It couldn't be the commemorative English Rose teacup, could it?  Yes, it was! I could barely contain my excitement.  I immediately rushed to show my hubby who was in another room.

It's gorgeous!

Talk about a good memory... On September 5, 2012 [five years ago, mind you - sometimes I can't remember yesterday!] I blogged about attending the "DIANA -A Celebration" exhibit in Feb. 2011, when it was in Grand Rapids, MI with my girlfriend. You can read that post here, but in it I said, "I drooled over the commemorative bone china teacup but at $59 I settled for a tin of Althorp English Breakfast tea instead - a decision I've regretted ever since."  Angela wrote a comment that she had purchased the teacup when the exhibit was in Atlanta and thought afterwards that she needed to have her head examined for paying that much!  ;-)

When I e-mailed her last night to tell her the package arrived safely and to THANK her for the much desired teacup, she responded, "I had a feeling you would enjoy it more than me, so it was time it became a part of your collection!"  I'm still pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. There are no adequate words to express my gratitude to you, Angela, not only for the beautiful teacup, but for your willingness to give up a teacup that you treasured.  God bless YOU! 

~ Now, thanks to Angela, I have two Princess Diana commemorative teacups.  ~

I just read recently that Princes William and Harry have commissioned a statue to be sculpted in honor of their mother, which will be erected in Kensington Palace Gardens by the end of this year. It hardly seems possible that 20 years will have lapsed this August since the tragic, fatal car crash of their mother, Diana, The People's Princess.  Farewell English Rose!