A Fiesta Tea Luncheon

Last Friday I invited three ladies to my home for a Mexican themed luncheon.  I wanted something informal yet welcoming and nice.   The sunflowers in the photo below were removed from the table after everyone was seated.

We began with an appetizer of Cowboy Caviar [selsa] and corn chips.  It was my second time to make this recipe recently, and both times to rave reviews.  It's delicious.  The next day I tossed some with Romaine lettuce and it made a great salad too.  Since the recipe has Italian dressing in it, no additional salad dressing was needed for the salad.

Next was Chicken Quesadillas and Mexican Rice.  A video came through my Facebook feed for rice waffles and I thought that sounded like such a fun way to serve the Mexican Rice, so I went out and bought a mini-waffle maker.  It makes 4-inch waffles.  So cute!

I topped the waffles with Pinto Beans, Mexican Cheese, a dollop of Sour Cream and a Black Olive slice.

I read online that Hibiscus is a tradition in Mexico, so I served Hibiscus tea.

I have a red teapot, but opted to use my blue Polish Pottery teapot instead.  One of the guests said that made our luncheon International.  ;-)

Dessert was Fried Ice Cream - which really wasn't fried.  It's Vanilla Ice Cream balls rolled in crushed Corn Flakes sauteed in butter.

We chatted for over two hour and enjoyed a delightful afternoon together.

Part of our table conversation centered around hospitality.  A meal can be simple or elegant.  I can't draw a straight line, but tablescaping and food presentation are my personal art forms - my creative outlet.  I read a quote recently that sums it up perfectly for me - "Food is love on a plate."  It's my way of expressing love and appreciation to those who sit around my table.

A Fun and Busy Weekend

After serving 126 guests for Mansion Tea at The Whitney last Saturday, I came home, changed clothes, then we drove to Ann Arbor for granddaughter Izzy's [Isabella] graduation party.

Because their family is in transition from Chelsea to their newly purchased home in Zeeland, MI, they rented a large room at their church [242 Community Church which stands for Acts 2:42]  for the party.  It was the perfect venue with outdoor and indoor space.  Mother Nature cooperated by providing a beautiful day.  

There was a yummy food buffet inside as well as a food truck outside for grilled options [sliders, quesadillas, hoagies, etc.].  So fun!

There was lots of picture taking... Izzy with her parents, Samantha and Jeremy [below]

~ Papa and Nana ~

~ Cousin Brooke ~

~ Steve, Sharon and Brooke ~

~ Father and Sons ~

Lori was still in California helping granddaughter Tiffany and family get settled into their new apartment, so she couldn't attend the party, but she sent photos from California.

~ Evie enjoying the pool ~

~ Tiffany and Juliette ~

Lori and her granddaughters.  They will miss each other when she returns to Michigan.

After church on Sunday we returned to River Crab restaurant in St. Clair, MI [where we had our anniversary dinner a week earlier] to celebrate Father's Day.

Steve and Sharon treated her parents and Jerry and me for a combination anniversary and Father's Day dinner.  Larry and Sheena's anniversary is a week later than ours, so it was actually on their anniversary. 

I didn't get the combination dinner [coconut shrimp, salmon and crab cake] that I ordered the week before.  This time Jerry and I ordered the coconut shrimp entree.  I had already started eating when it occurred to me I should have taken a photo of the entree.  Trust me, it was delicious!

It was a beautiful day and guests were eating out by the water as well.

What a great weekend, and now new week begins...

Novelty / Figural Teapots Part II

One of my blog readers asked me to share more of my novelty/figural teapots, so this is for you, Judy.  Hope everybody else enjoys seeing them too.

I bought the Lucille Ball teapot for my presentations about her life.  I also bought the Franciscan Ivy teacup that was used on the television show.

I did some Shirley Temple presentations, so I acquired the Shirley Temple watering can tea set by Danbury Mint.

A Paul Cardew Mrs. Potts and Chip teapot.

Disney's Mrs. Potts and Chip tea set.

~ Jeeves [Butler] Teapot by Bombay Co. ~

Eiffel Tower Teapot.  I've done several Parisian tea parties.  It's a very fun theme.

~ Cupcake Teapot ~

I have several house/tearoom teapots.   

~ Leprechaun Teapot ~

Lastly, Victorian Little Old Lady by Tony Wood.  I 'borrowed' the image from his website because his photo was better than mine.

While this isn't my complete collection of novelty/figural teapots, it gives you an idea of what I have, and what I've been interested in obtaining.

 

Novelty / Figural Teapots

This past Tuesday, Teacup Attic,  a Facebook member, featured a lady from Australia highlighting her 1,100 novelty/figural teapots.  Trish [photo below] began her collection in 1993 and now has three rooms in her home devoted to them.  They are organized by categories [cats, birds, cars, clowns, etc.] and she has a photo record of each one.  Ironically, she said she doesn't use any of them as she prefers a teabag in a cup/mug.

It made me wonder how many novelty/figural teapots I have, and that I should probably photograph mine for record keeping purposes too - not that I have anywhere near the number Trish has.  My intent has never been to collect as many different ones as possible, but to use specific ones in themed tea party tablescapes.  I was surprised to count 37 in my collection.  I started the task of photographing them last night - 23 done and 12 to go.

I won't publish all 23 in this post, but I will share a few of my favorites.  I'd love to know if you collect novelty/figural teapots.

 

I bought the camel teapot for a Tea Around the World prop - Turkey and/or India.

~ Christopher Columbus ~

I've never done a Sherlock Holmes mystery tea, but it's on my 'to do' list. 

When I went to England in 2007, my two girlfriends and I went to the Sherlock Holmes museum in London [221b Baker St.] and I bought several things for a Sherlock Holmes mystery tea party.

 

Love clock teapots for a New Year's tea party.

I bought Mrs. Piggy for my mother, and when she passed away I added the teapot to my collection.

The Sadler Daintee Lady is probably my newest figural teapot.

I was so happy when I found Paul Cardew's teapot of Queen Elizabeth II.

The last one I'll share is my Annie Rowe handbag teapot, called 'Picadilly'.  I've done several handbag presentations, and this makes a nice prop to go with the theme.

I'm so grateful to Teacup Attic for featuring Trish's collection.  It brought all of mine to memory because many of mine aren't on display, and when they're not visable there's a tendency to forget them.

57th Wedding Anniversary... and More

Yesterday [Sunday] my hubby and I celebrated our 57th Wedding Anniversary.  After church we went to River Crab Restaurant in St. Clair, Michigan for our celebration dinner.

We were seated by the window so we could view the St. Clair River, but the hostess took our picture first.

A freighter going by.

Our meal began with a classic Caesar Salad.

We both ordered the same thing - the Ultimate Seafood Mixed Trio of Salmon, Crab Cake, Coconut Shrimp, with Coconut-Ginger Rice, and roasted Asparagus.  It was delicious!

Dessert was Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee.

Now for the "More" part of this post...  I rarely drive any distance to an estate sale, but I saw a listing for a sale in Ann Arbor [60 miles away] that was exclusively glassware - no furniture, clothing or home goods.  I counted at least 22 different colors [amber, cranberry, pink, red, light blue, cobalt blue, green and on and on] in several different vintage patterns.  The deceased lady was a dealer.  I wanted to complete my Forest Green set [particularly teacups since I already had the plates and bowls], so we headed out early [8:30 a.m.] Friday morning. 

We arrived 15 minutes before opening and I was expecting a long line in front of the house, but to my surprise we were numbers 8 and 9 - which meant we'd be in the first group to enter the house.  As you can see in the photo below, it was a fairly large house and every room was full of glassware - living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, sun porch, and basement [very little was in the upstairs bedrooms].  It was almost like attending a Depression Glass show. I was able to complete my Forest Green set, so my mission was accomplished.  

In closing I'm sharing some recent family photos - the first is great-granddaughter Evie's last day of Kindergarten last Wednesday, June 7th.

They left last Saturday morning for Oceanside, California.  John's the driver of one vehicle with their Golden Retriever [Oliver], and our daughter is driving the other vehicle with Tiffany and the two girls.  John posted the pic below.

My daughter's been texting updates everyday, and today she sent these pictures taken at Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado.  They've completed 1,373 miles and have 1,200 miles to go.  They hope to arrive on Wednesday.

She said it was snowing and 34 degrees at higher elevations.   No thank you - not in June!

That's John standing on the rocks taking a picture while being adventurous and daring!

 ~ John and Tiffany ~