Celebrating Birthday #77

At 10:25 a.m. my "odometer" officially rolled over another year and it's been a great day. Celebrating actually began last night when my daughter came over with my birthday gift and a piece of Coconut Cream pie from Achatz Pie Company.  Yum!  On Christmas Eve my kids wanted me to tell them about my pregnancies with each of them and share details of their birth.  

When I was pregnant with Lori I craved Coconut Cream Pie so that gave her the idea to give me pie instead of a birthday cake this year, but when she went to the shop to purchase it they didn't have any whole pies left, just one slice so she took what she could get.  No worries, because I've been diligently watching my weight since January 1st, and didn't need a whole pie tempting me.  One slice was perfect.  

Our son, Steve, and daughter-in-law, Sharon, picked us up at noon today and drove us to what was once the thriving Polish community of Hamtramck.  Some Polish residents are still there but over 60% of the population today is Muslim.

The restaurant Steve took us to is called Polish Village Cafe [established in 1979], and they serve authentic polish cuisine.  It was a beautiful, sunny day for traveling the short distance [about 10 miles] to Hamtramck.

The inside was very cozy with an 'old world' feel, and several patrons were coming and going.

 ~ We began with a cup of Kielbasa Soup ~

Jerry and I shared a meal of City Chicken [which is really cubed port on skewers, battered and baked].  It was so tender and delicious.  I have a recipe for City Chicken that I used to make and need to start preparing it again.  By sharing a meal we each got one skewer of City Chicken [instead of two] plus identical sides.  We also shared a plate of Potato and Cheese Pierogies. Everything was so yummy.

When we finished our meal our server brought me a slice of Cheesecake with a candle for my birthday.  We split it four ways because I didn't want to eat the whole piece myself.  

Another server joined our server singing a variation of Happy Birthday in Polish.

Sto lat, sto lat, niech zyje zyje nam.

Sto lat, sto lat, niech zyje zyje nam.

Niech zyje nam!

Happy birthday, happy birthday, may you live long.

Happy birthday, happy birthday, may you live long.

May we live long!

It was such a fun afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating in Polish style.  Thank you, Steve and Sharon for making #77 so special.

On the way home Jeremy called from across the State in Zeeland to wish me a Happy Birthday and I talked to daughter-in-law Samantha on the phone tonight. Almost all of the grandchildren checked in too either by phone or text, so it's been a very good day.

Happy February

 

This is my birth month and my 'odometer' will soon roll over another year! Violets traditionally represent February, and above are a few violet teacups in my small collection. 

I received my first birthday card in today's mail all the way from California.  Thanks, Martha!

An early birthday present - Hubby got me the tea-themed sweater from Talbots that I blogged about on January 25th.  It arrived yesterday and I love it.  Can't wait to wear it.

Not a lot of interesting activity going on right now to blog about. I've been keeping busy making a new Shutterfly album of my recent trip to England and Paris, and looking through cookbooks for yummy, healthy soup recipes for wintry nights.  Last night's supper was French onion soup.  It's been many moons since I've used my oven proof crocks which are perfect for the soup.  Hubby and I each had a crock of the soup last night and two are left for tonight along with a romaine garden salad. Did you know onions are highly nutritious, packed with powerful antioxidants and vitamins? They're low in calories too. 

Tomorrow I will meet my boss at The Whitney at noon to help clean out the 'tea closet' in Mr. Whitney's bedroom.  It currently has non-tea related things stored in it that need to go.

I'll close this post with a photo that came through my Facebook feed [Afternoon Tea Across America] that will leave you smiling.  I love all things tea, and my home is decorated with tea things, but this might be a little over the top!  ;-)

Happy February!  Keep warm and stay healthy!

Talbots Tea-themed Clothing

This post will be short and sweet.  Yesterday I received my Talbots catalog in the mail and was happy to see some tea-themed clothing.  Talbots clothing designers must be tea lovers because they're the only women's clothing store I'm aware of that consistently offers tea-themed garments.

I don't get paid for advertising on my blog, so there's nothing in this post for me except the joy of sharing beautiful, well-made, tea-themed garments.  I love Talbots, and these new spring items in their "Pottery Floral" line are on my agenda to purchase.  To see the teacups better, click on the photo to enlarge it.

Cardigan - $99.50 [Misses, Petite and Plus]

It's on sale right now for 25% off [Code:LOVE]  

 Poplin Top - $89.50

Oblong Scarf - $59.50

Aren't they lovely?  If you don't have a Talbots store near you, online ordering is available.

Keeping in Touch

Not a lot has been happening to blog about during Michigan's cold wintry days, but there's a few things to share...

Awhile back, I joined a Facebook Charcuterie group and last week one of the members posted a picture of Walmart's cute wooden, heart-shaped charcuterie boards for $5 each.  That's an unheard of bargain for a food-safe board, and I thought they'd even make nice chargers for a heart-shaped plate.  The lady who posted lives in St. Johns, MI - 108 miles away, but we have eight Walmarts in my area so the hunt began - to no avail!  I only drove to six of the eight stores and gave up on the two that were farthest away [which is probably the stores that had them!].  

My girlfriend who lives in Woodhaven [37 miles away] went to the Walmart near her and was able to purchase one for me.

Do you enjoy serving food charcuterie style?  Below is a picture of a simple heart-shaped charcuterie I made in a candy container last year.  Charcuterie allows you to be so creative. I enjoy looking through my charcuterie books, watching YouTube videos, and the Facebook pictures are incredible.  I haven't tried looking on Pinterest, but there's probably great photos there too.

While I was standing in the check-out line at Walmart I noticed a tea magazine.  I picked it up to glance through it and it looked good, but it was $14.98 and I'm sure all the information is in books I already own, so I returned it to the rack.  It might, however, be something you're interested in if you're a Walmart shopper.

The focus is on Valentine's Day right now, February 14th, but there's another celebration the day before, Mardi Gras.  I'm seeing Paczki displays in the supermarkets already.  I also belong to a Tablescaping Facebook group, and I love seeing their Mardi Gras tablescapes.  One lady posted these cute napkin rings she bought on Amazon.

I've never done a Mardi Gras themed tea or tablescape, but I think it would be great fun.  I did make a King Cake one year that turned out pretty good.  New Orleans style Mardi Gras food is so yummy!  Have you ever hosted a Mardi Gras tea or dinner?

Last Saturday was a busy day at The Whitney.  We served 88 guests for Mansion Tea, which is pretty good for our cold weather.  A group of 15 came for a birthday party, and one of the servers took a picture of the cake decorated with a 'tea-for-one' on top and sent it to me.

I got my first [of two] Shingles shots yesterday afternoon and suffice it to say this has not been one of my best days.  I keep reminding myself that the reaction from the shot is mild compared to getting the Shingles, and when a body reacts to an injection it's the sign of a healtlhy and strong immune system but that's not much consolation when you ache as though you collided with a moving vehicle.  I'm off to lay down for a bit before it's time to fix dinner. Stuffed cabbage soup is on the menu - a new recipe I'm trying.

A Recipe and a New Detroit Restaurant

It's warmed up a bit in southeastern Michigan.  As I type it's 24 degrees with an expected high of 27 with more snow today and tomorrow.  I took the picture below from my bedroom window this morning.  The footprints are the mailman's.  

It's easy to sleep-in on these cold, wintry mornings and I didn't get up until 8:30.  I got detained with chores so my breakfast was late this morning... normally it's oatmeal, but today I felt like a blueberry smoothie with Harney & Son's blueberry green tea.

Like most people at the onset of a new year, I resolved to eat healthier in 2024.  18 days into the new year I've stuck to my resolution very well [even though two and a half weeks is short and not much of an accomplishment! ;-)]. I made a recipe for creamy cauliflower soup from Eating Well Magazine last night for dinner. It was yummy and even my hubby who isn't a cauliflower fan, liked it.  It's so simple.  I separated a head of cauliflower in florets and roasted them in a 400 degree oven until tender.  Then pureed them in a blender with chicken stock.  What makes the soup creamy and thick is adding a can of pureed white beans.  [I also added a drained can of whole white beans for texture]. Seasonings are white pepper, ground thyme and sage.  I sprinkled grated Parmesan Cheese on the top of each bowl for additional flavor.

I wish I would have taken pictures while I was making and serving it, but I didn't so I'll have to share Eating Well's magazine photo.  It's a perfect soup for winter.

FYI - Cauliflower is known as a nutrition superstar.  It's high in vitamins C and K and a good source of folate.  It's low in sodium and is fat-free and cholesterol-free.  It's also low in calories and contains dietary fiber.  What's not to like!!!

Moving on to another subject...  Last February I spent the day downtown Detroit with my hubby and son for my birthday, and one of the places we visited was the David Whitney Building.  I wanted to see it since I work at The Whitney mansion [turned restaurant].  I wrote a blog post about it.  The land on which the building was built was owned by David Whitney, Jr. but he passed in 1900 and the David Whitney Building wasn't built until 1914 and opened in January 1915.  David Charles Whitney had the building built as a monument to his father.  The 19-story building was the skyscraper of its time.

Yesterday, while sitting in a medical building examining room for over an hour waiting for my doctor to come in [Grrr... why do they overbook???], I tried to pass the time on my iPhone and accidentally discovered that a new restaurant is opening in the David Whitney Building on January 24th.  It's called Presleys.  [I have no idea how that name was determined but I'll try my best to find out!]  I definitely want to go there and will be sure to blog about it.  Below is an artist's rendering of the exterior, located at the corner of Park and Woodward Avenue.  The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Martin Luther King Day

Today is definitely a tea drinking day in Michigan.  The Weather Channel says it's currently 2 degrees but feels like -15 degrees.  The sun is shining though so it's a good day!

~ In Memory ~

 Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968

Deceased 56 years

National Hot Tea Day

Good Morning!  It's National Hot Tea Day!  I was expecting to see lots of snow when I lifted the bedroom window shade this morning because 1-4 inches has been forecasted for our area, and more on the western side of the state.  There's nothing yet, but the day is just starting. Whether there's snow or not, it's a good day for hot tea.  What's in your cup?  I'm drinking Harney & Sons Blueberry Green Tea.

My daughter-in-law, Samantha, sent the picture below of granddaughter Ellie this morning with her freshly made snowman.  It's a school snow day over in Zeeland, MI where they're predicting anywhere from 8 to 18 inches of snowfall.  Yikes!

It's been a couple of somber days for me.  On Monday one of my high school classmates passed away.  He was the husband of one of the high school gals [Peggy] I have lunch with once a month [when I'm able to make the drive to join them].  Before his passing we were scheduled to have lunch together this past Wednesday, but instead we all went to Peggy's house to spend some time with her [at her request].  Yesterday was Ron's viewing and funeral service.  He was a Vietnam War Veteran serving in the U.S. Army, so the Wyandotte VFW provided a military honors ceremony before the Catholic priest officiated the service.

Below is Peggy to the left of me and Ron standing behind me, with another classmate on the right at our 45th class reunion in 2010.

Ron standing in the middle of us hamming it up.

Our 50th reunion in 2015.  Sadly all three ladies seated have lost their husbands since this photo was taken.  [Peggy is seated on the right]

Over the last few weeks I've had the sobering reminder that there's an appointed time when every mortal person will die and pass into eternity.  Ron is the fourth death in my circle of friends and family to die recently [a paternal uncle died the same day as Ron].  It's SO IMPORTANT our names have been entered into the Book of Life by salvation through Jesus Christ, so we can spend eternity in Heaven. [Revelation 20:11-15].  Confessing our sins to Jesus [our High Priest], seeking His forgiveness, and living a life acceptable and pleasing to Him is the greatest and most important decision we will ever make.  Where we spend eternity depends on it.