Crinoline Lady Tea Luncheon

You may remember my blog posts last December when I acquired some Crinoline Lady china pieces at an estate sale in Imlay City.  I've been eager to use them at a tea party/luncheon, and yesterday was the day.  

Amy is a sweet lady who follows my blog.  I first met her in person in 2015 at Meadow Brook Hall's Downton Days.  We share many interests even though I'm old enough to be her mother... Afternoon Tea and tea parties, pretty dishes, historic homes, the Edwardian time period, and more. Kindred spirits don't have age boundaries.  When she and her husband came to The Whitney's 2021 Christmas Tea I knew a tea at my house was long overdue.  One of her teacher friends and co-workers, Kim, goes to many tea events with her, so I invited them to come on December 30th.  But I was exposed to COVID on Christmas Eve, so we had to reschedule. Since they are teachers working Mon.-Fri., they're only available on the weekends which doesn't work for me, so we had to wait until Spring Break when they were off school. We set the rescheduled date for yesterday at 1:00 o'clock.

I took two tablescape pictures yesterday morning before they arrived, but was too busy to take anymore after that. 

I'm glad they took lots of pictures and sent them to me to share with you today.

I also invited one of the servers from The Whitney named, Kristin.  She works with me at Mansion Tea every Saturday, and is a lover of teacups and teapots and inherited her grandmother's collection.

[L-R:  Kim and Amy]

[L-R:  Kristin, Me, Kim & Amy]

Our meal began with a toast to tea and friendship with non-alcoholic Sparkling White Grape Juice, followed by Cherry Pinwheel Scones with Cherry Preserves and Mascarpone Cream.

I've never made or served cheese fondue before, but it sounded fun, so I ordered the forks and individual warmers and got a great recipe from wellplated.com/cheese-fondue-recipe/.  It uses Gruyere, Fontina and Gouda cheese.  Everyone declared it delicious.  Dipping foods were lightly steamed Broccoli Florets, roasted Baby Potatoes and cubes of Pumpernickel and French Bread.

Tea served was Sweet Royal Delight Black Tea with hints of Butterscotch.  It was created when Prince George was born, hence the name.

Our main course was a ramekin of Shepherd's Pie [technically Cottage Pie because it was ground beef instead of lamb], Cucumber Sandwich on Pumpernickel shaped teapots, and Chicken Salad Croissants.

~ Dessert was Pistachio Parfaits ~

It was an absolutely delightful afternoon and our time together flew by.  I told them not to bring anything except themselves, but they came with a gift bag.  It contained a beautiful black floral teacup made in Occupied Japan.  Amy knows from my blog that I've begun limiting my teacup collecting to black teacups.  I've never done a tea party using them, but the next time I have them they'll be part of the tablescape.  Their gifts also gave a nod to the Irish [my maternal heritage] with an Irish hanky [for my hanky collection], a leprechaun bottle opener and a cottage mug.  Thanks, ladies!

I wish I had an opportunity to meet everyone in person who follows my blog, but I appreciate all of you.  I'm just 8 posts away from my 2,000th post, and will be having a give away for the milestone so be watching for details. 

To conclude this post, I'm honoring Amy and the times I've been privileged to see her at various events and occasions.  I'm so glad she introduced herself to me so our friendship could begin.

~ 2015 Meadow Brook Hall's Downton Days ~

2017 Hudson's Historic Windows to the Past Exhibit at Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

~ 2018 Whitney Christmas Tea ~

~ 2020 Northville Historical Society's Princesses Tea ~

~ 2020 The Whitney's Teas & Trees Event ~

~ 2021 Sweet Shalom Tearoom ~

~ 2021 Mansion Tea at The Whitney ~

~ 2021 Whitney Christmas Tea ~

Hope you enjoyed the walk down memory lane, Amy!  

Super Bowl Sunday

I'm posting out of order since yesterday I blogged about Valentine's Day and today I'm blogging about Super Bowl Sunday, but I knew yesterday's post would be too long if I combined the two events.

We were in the midst of a snow storm when we left home on Sunday, and when we got on the road Jerry seriously pondered the wisdom of us going.  All the I-696 ramps in our area were closed and from the service drive we could see all the accidents on the expressway below.  We learned later that the 55 + pile-ups made national news.

Below is a sampling of what we saw from the service drive in our area [courtesy of the Detroit News].  

With the expressway closed, Jerry had to take an alternative route.  It took more than double the time to get there, but with a lot of prayers for safety, we made it before kick-off at 6:30 p.m.  

Our son, Steve, has been a Bengals fan since he was a young boy and was elated that they finally made it to another Super Bowl.  My hubby didn't want to disappoint him by not showing up.

Below is a picture of him on his 16th birthday when he asked me to make him a Bengals cake.

He brought all kinds of Bengals memorabilia to decorate Jeremy's living room and brought Bengals jerseys for all of us to wear during the game [from the collection he's accumulated over the years].  We all posed for pictures in the jerseys.

~ Jerry and Me with Steve and Jeremy ~

~ Steve, Sharon and Brooke ~

~ Jeremy, Samantha, Izzy, Landon and Ellie ~

Ellie made a Bengals drawing to go with Steve's other memorabilia.

Sharon and Brooke made yummy Bengals sugar cookies.

Arnold Palmers were in the beverage offerings.  That's the only tea I can work into this post.  ;-)

It was a fun family gathering, but if you watched the game you know the Bengals lost to the  Rams 23-20.  Steve was disappointed, but wasn't a sore loser.  He was happy that former Detroit Lions Quarterback, Matt Stafford, was finally on a winning team!  I have a feeling there'll be some kind of analogy or take away from the game that will make its way into a Sunday sermon!  ;-)

The bottle of non-alcoholic bubbly on the table never got opened in celebration, but hopefully there'll be another time to cheer them on.

Our drive back home was much better than the drive going.  The snow had stopped and the salt trucks were out to make the roads a lot easier and safer to drive on. 

Did you watch the game?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day.   My hubby and I celebrated quietly at home.  We gave our cards and gifts to each other first thing this morning.  We were both thinking about satisfying each other's sweet tooth!  ;-)  I gave Jerry a gift bag filled with an assortment of dark chocolate candy and he gave me a large box of chocolate covered cherries [my favorite].

Because I love to celebrate holidays, I wanted to do a new Valentine's tablescape this year.  I purchased a tablecloth from Marshall's and placemats and napkins from Kohl's.  I have been eying Fiesta's 9-inch Valentine's plates for a long time but thought $34 each plus shipping was a bit pricey, so when they went on sale with free shipping I ordered four of them.

E-bay was the source for two Eileen's Reserve teacups, and a Sadler teapot and matching container.

The seller wasn't sure what the matching lidded container was for - sugar cubes, or tea?  But I decided to use it for a vase.

I ordered a tin of Harney & Sons Little Women Orchard House Blend for our tea.  It's a green tea with apple pieces, apple and honey flavor, cornflowers, and natural flavors.  Delicious!

I was inspired by one of the blogs I follow to create a charcuterie for two using a heart-shaped container purchased from the Dollar Store.  My hubby really enjoyed it.  I was so excited when I found heart-shaped crackers at Gordon Foods.  The blogger used a heart-shaped candy box, but I didn't have one, so was happy when I found a metal tin, which I actually like better.

We began our dinner by toasting to many more Valentine's dinners together with Welch's Sparking non-alcoholic Rosé, followed by a garden salad.

Our main entree was Chicken Marsala, Sweet Potatoes, and Peas & Carrots.

Dessert was Red Velvet Cupcakes.

It was an enjoyable day and evening after a fast-paced weekend.  While Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance between lovers, I never want to forget the greatest Love Story of all time - God revealing His love for mankind by sending His Son to be the atonement for our sins.

  How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

An Extended Birthday and More

Last Wednesday I drove to the area where I grew up to have lunch with six girlfriends I went to high school with.  Sadly one gal who used to join us [when she was able] passed away last month.  While the gathering wasn't to celebrate my birthday, my girlfriend, Sandy, brought me a birthday present. The gift bag contained a blue and white china night light for my living room, a tea-themed wall hanging, and a HomeGoods gift card.   Thank you, Sandy!

Friday night we had dinner with my daughter and son-in-law for a belated birthday celebration. [Lori was sick last Sunday when I celebrated with the rest of the family.]  Our table was right next to the fireplace and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the wintry scene.

They also came bearing gifts - a soft, comfy nightgown and slippers.

Lori and Dave's 3rd Wedding Anniversary is on Valentine's Day, so I baked a Carrot Cake [one of Dave's favorites], for them to take home to enjoy on Monday.

Yesterday was a big day at The Whitney.  We served 99 guests for our annual Valentine's Tea and a Valentine's Bridal Brunch.  

I was pleasantly surprised to see two friends at the tea - Cheryl and Ann.  They're sisters, nurses, and were travel mates on the 2018 Southern Tea-time Getaway.  It was great seeing them again. [Don't know who the lady in the middle is.]

With everything that was going on I didn't get a picture of the scone course, but I did get a picture of the other three courses.   The tea was a special blend for The Whitney - Strawberry Chocolate [a black tea].

[Mixed Berries on Chocolate Chantilly Cream]

[Savories and Sandwiches]

[Desserts]

It's always fun to wear holiday clothing to work, and I found a cute sweater at Kohl's to wear to the Valentine's Tea this year.  A pair of red slacks accompanied it.

I got up early this morning to finish up a Boston Cream Cake to take to my son, Jeremy's, for the Super Bowl gathering at his house later this afternoon.  It was a cake baking weekend!

I put together a Valentine gift bag for each of the grands [Brooke is home from college, but returning tomorrow].

As I type this post, we are under a winter snow storm advisory, and the snow is really coming down. Not the best time to be traveling 75 miles for a family Super Bowl gathering! I stepped out on the front porch to take the photo below.   Will report back later.