Silver Sunday: Week One

Gypsy Fish is hosting Silver Sunday Blog Party!  Stop by to see the list of participants on her right side bar.

Baby Silver

Candlestick from my daughters wedding

Antique silver spoons with polished stones wired into the handles

Matching hor dourve forks...or maybe butter picks???

A set of six tea spoons from Mackinac Island, Michigan

Tea Moons - A Re-Run!

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.~Catherine Douzel

While mindlessly flipping through blogs one afternoon, I came across a very interesting site called CHA DAO. It is dedicated to the discussion of tea. The author, Adrian Lurssen, described the making and collection of "tea moons". Adrian has collected many samples of teas and "moons". I decided to try making my own moons. What I would do differently when making tea moons again is to use a more absorbent paper with more texture and beauty. Here are the results of my quick tea moon session. I think this idea would made an incredible tea journal, perhaps for a gift, together with a variety of teas.

Tea moons are made by two different methods. In one, while enjoying a lovely cup of tea you wish to remember, allow a bit to spill onto the saucer, placing the cup back in the tea puddle. Then place the cup bottom on a piece of paper or a tea journal page, thus making a tea moon! The second method of tea moon making is to save a spot of tea in the bottom of your cup or a little dish. Using an artist's brush paint a tea "moon" onto paper or in your tea journal. Personally, I prefer the tea cup method - it seems more natural. Which ever method you use, allow the tea moon to dry. Then write or type the name of the tea, your description of the tea's flavor, and your enjoyment of it. Finally jot down any memories, old or new, that the tea evokes.

Steam rises from a cup of tea and we are wrapped in history,

inhaling ancient times and lands,comfort

of ages in our hands.~Faith Greenbowl

Deena's Fall Open House

Deena from Can I Be Pretty In Pink is having a Autumn Decorating Open House Blog-A-Thon. Go to her blog to see many more Fall Open House postings.

Beginning at the entry and front door, take a tour through the living room, kitchen, and family room of our home.

I Remember Laura: Vintage Recipes

Miss Sandy of Quill Cottage who is hosting the I Remember Laura Blog-A-Thon has directed us to share family recipes this week. I am going to share two of my maternal grandmothers personal recipes and one from my paternal grandmother.

The first recipe is Sweet Potato Balls. My mother said she can remember being the appointed child to sit with grandmother and roll the marshmallows inside the sweet potatoes from the time she was very little. Grandmothers name was Mary Ethel.

Sweet Potato Balls
Wash and peel 5 or 6 fresh sweet potatoes. Cut them into big chunks and cover with water. Add a bit of salt. When water comes to a boil, turn temperature down to low and just let them simmer until tender. Boiling too hard will make them mushy. When they are fork tender drain them very well in a colander. Mash the potatoes with a mixer until fluffy, then beat in a little hunk of butter, a dash of both cinnamon and nutmeg, and a tablespoon or so of sugar. Cover and refrigerate. You can do all this the day before you serve them.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter or spray a glass 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour out a big bag of miniature marshmallows and a big bag of coconut on separate plates. Spoon out about 2 tablespoons of the cold sweet potato mixture into the palm of your left hand and a marshmallow in your right hand. Push the marshmallow into the potatoes and mold the potatoes into a ball around the marshmallow. Roll the sweet potato ball in the coconut and place each ball in the prepared pan. Do not bake until just before serving. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake the sweet potato balls for 5 minutes uncovered.

NOTE:They should be lightly browned and the marshmallows should be getting puffy and gooey, but not totally melted. You can check them by poking one with the point of a knife. If you bake them too long they will have a hole in the middle with no marshmallow!

The next recipe from my maternal grandmother is Oatmeal Cake with Broiled coconut topping. Mother says her mother had it waiting lots of days when she came home from school. I remember my mother doing the same thing for us. It's a great, simple cake for breakfast, dessert, or just a snack.

Oatmeal Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, pour 1 ¼ cups hot tap water over 1 cup raw oats and let stand. Cream 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar, and 1 stick softened butter. Beat 2 big eggs into the mixture. Then add 1 1/3 cups of plain flour in, and ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and a generous teaspoonful of cinnamon and mix well. Add oatmeal from the small bowl to mixture and beat well. I add 1 cup of finely chopped pecans, but this is optional. Just stir them in by hand if you want to add them. Pour batter into a well greased and floured 9x13 glass baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until done. While cake is baking make up your topping.

Topping:
¾ stick butter
1 tablespoon cream or milk
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ cup flaked sweetened coconut
1 ½ chopped pecans

Melt butter in a saucepan and add cream or milk; then mix in brown sugar and let it boil for 1 minute. Take off the heat and add coconut and pecans. Spread carefully on top of the baked cake and put under the broiler to brown lightly. I leave the oven door open while broiling - watch it carefully or you will burn the frosting. This cake is delicious served warm but it is almost as good served cool.

The next recipe was one my paternal grandmother made for her children. Her name was Tiny Violet because when she was born she weighed two pounds and her "bassinet" was a shoe box!

Fried Apple Pies
11 ounces dried apples
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 cups water
2 pinches salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg, optional
Put all but the spices in a heavy pan, simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally. When fruit is done add 1 big teaspoon of cinnamon and a half spoon of nutmeg if you like it. Mash fruit up, leaving it a bit chunky.

Pastry:
4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup lard (recipe is revised to use Crisco)
1 cup iced water
granulated sugar and cinnamon to dust on fried pies

Mix flour and salt; cut in shortening. Add iced water. Stir until it forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out pastry. Cut out 6 inch circles with the top of a shortening can or by cutting around a 6 inch plate. Put a good sized tablespoon of fruit in the center of the circle, dampen the lower edge of the pastry. Fold pastry over in half and seal with a fork. Fry in hot grease until golden brown. Drain on brown paper or paper towels. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Tea Pots!

Compared to many of you I have a fairly pitiful collection of tea pots! I don't have very many, but I do love what I have and they all have a sentimental value to me. This is the last week for the Gracious Hospitality tea blog-a-thon and I didn't want to miss it. It has been such an enjoyable experience. Thank you, La Tea Dah, for investing so much time in this fun project!

This pot is so sweet. It's about 10 inches high and it's covered with pink roses and green leaves. The band at the top and the top of the lid is a soft minty green. My husband bought this pot for me at a flea market - no special occasion, just because I liked it! I keep the pot on a corner shelf to the side of my kitchen window.

My sister-in-law gave me this clear glass pot with the infuser for Christmas along with a large collection of "blooming" tea pods. I love the pot even more because it was a thoughtful gift from my very dear friend.


This is a one cup size tea pot, sitting on it's own little matching tea cup. My daughter gave it to me for Mother's Day one year. Love it!


My daughter brought this pot home from a trip she took to England and Wales when she was about 17. It is Royal Albert Moss Rose. It is just lovely - I suppose I should give it back to her now that she is a grown woman with a home of her own!


This pot is a Continental Kilns pot, Green Arbor pattern. My parents gave it to me for my 30th birthday, along with a matching cream and sugar. I wrote the story about how they purchased it for me in another post, "A Blessed Woman". I cherish this set.

This white pot with purple violets is also a pot I posted about in the "A Blessed Woman" post. My mom gave it to me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It is special to me because she chose it for me, but also because of the significance of violets to me. In an earlier post "Daddy's Violets", I wrote about my love of violets and the memory of my dad digging them up for me when I moved away for the first time as a new bride.

Tea For One

This week, Gracious Hospitality's Blog-a-Thon has suggested our posts demonstrate an afternoon tea setting. The scene I have photographed this week is in my living room.

The cup was given to my mother and father in law on their 50th wedding anniversary. The spoon is twisted silver and a natural unpolished gem is held in the handle by a twisted silver casing. I bought a set of 8, each with a different stone, at an antique shop years ago. I've never seen any like them anywhere else.

The little tea pot for one was a Mother's Day gift from my daughter the year she married, 2001.

The creamer and sugar are part of my Depression Glass collection.

This 6" linen napkin is one of of 8. I bought them in Barbados when my husband and I took a Southern Caribbean cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary. I love bringing home special linens from places I visit. If you ever go to Barbados, it's the place for linens!

A beautiful book to enjoy any afternoon when enjoying a tea break.

This sweet bite is a homemade miniature cream puff, filled with berry sorbet and topped with a little homemade fudge sauce. A fresh strawberry is a pretty garnish. The dessert is served on a pink depression glass plate. Recipes below...

The table my tea setting is on is new to our home. It has been a part of my husbands family for some time, however. It is a Victorian antique, dark mahogany or cherry wood with a rose colored marble top. I imagine it would have been perfect for use in a dining room as a server or beverage table.

The chair is also a Victorian antique. It is a rocker and is quite ornate. Both the chair and the table were left to my husband when his parents died recently.

Cream Puffs
½ cup butter
1 cup boiling water
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add shortening to water, bring to boil. Add flour and stir with mixer over heat until dough forms a ball. Cool. Add eggs; heat and mix thoroughly with a mixer over heat until stiff. Drop dough from a spoon, 8 round dollops; bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 degrees and bake an additional 30 minutes. Makes 8 large cream puffs.

Hot Fudge Sauce
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk (1 small can)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients and stir constantly over low heat for 1 minute. Add butter and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, continue to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool to warm before serving over ice cream or cake.