No time for tea today......

My mother is going to have a surgery for kidney stones on Friday so I am busy preparing to leave to go to Iowa to be with her. I'll have to postpone this month's tea to another day. Sit down and have a cup for me, okay? :-)
Sandi

Tea Gifts in the mail!

It's TeaTime but I have to be honest....I have had a lot of tea in the last ten days because of the flu and I was not "in the mood" for a "cuppa" today. I did cook up something rather tasty, though, and I'll get to that in a minute.

First, I must tell you about this cute little bag that I received in the mail. It's a gift from Pat at ArtfullyOoglebloops. She was having a little giveaway recently and anyone who signed up to be a follower got a chance in the drawing for this little tea filled gift tote. I couldn't believe it when she e-mailed me that I had won!! The tote was filled with her own tea blends, a little charm and the darling little teapot tea strainer! And then she made a little pincushion that I can add to my collection. I am saving the tea for later on this fall when I'll be having some friends over and we can sample it together. Thank you so much, Pat!!
Another tea-themed package arrived in the mail one day last week when I was totally in the grasp of the flu. It really cheered my up because it was unexpected and held many surprises. The package came from my Aunt Loretta and it contained a cookbook and the letters and photos you see below..........

The cookbook - titled "Economy in Cooking" - belonged to my Grandma Goldie (mother to my Aunt Loretta. Written inside are the lines "give to Loretta when I'm gone". My grandma passed away in 1994 and so the book went to Loretta. But now Loretta is selling her home and down-sizing and she decided it was time to pass the cookbook on to the next family member who will care for it........me. You can see why this really cheered me up. I didn't know the cookbook was "out there" and that it came to me was a real treasure, a real gift! Written on the inside cover of the cookbook is a cookie recipe for "Sultanas" and it says it was a favorite of Loretta's. I thought about making some today but I did not have the right raisins for the job. I need the golden ones and the grocery store downtown only had regular raisins. There were letters (one is written on birchbark!), recipes, newspaper clippings and photos in the package, too. In the photos on the lower right, you can find my Grandma in the center (3rd one from the left) and the photos on the left are pictures of me at Christmas when I was about 3 years old. I am so glad that Loretta passed this on to me so that I can care for it and then pass it on, too. :-)

So, what did I make today that was "rather tasty"? I was hungry for a good meal so I decided to experiment. :-) I made this.............

It's a potpie, of sorts. It made me think of the English pasties that we would eat in pubs years ago on trips we took to England. It really was tasty. Instead of tea, I poured a cold glass of milk to enjoy with a slice of this vegetable pie....................It really was good!

Want to try it? It was easy. Here's all you do.

You will need..........

One box Betty Crocker pie crust mix for 2 crust pie

One can Campbell's Chunky Beef with Country Vegetables Soup

One can Mixed Vegetables (drained and please feel free to remove the lima beans!)

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon flour

Mix pie crust as directed on box. Roll out just over half the dough and place in pie pan. Remaining dough should be rolled out and ready to place on top of pie.

Place Chunky beef soup in mixing bowl.

Next, mix 1/4 cup milk and flour into thin paste and add to beef soup, mix well (this helps thicken the soup broth).

Add drained mixed vegetables and blend.

Pour mixture into pie crust. Place upper crust over this mixture, crimp the edges and then brush milk all over top of pie crust. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Since oven temps vary be sure to watch carefully if you bake this. Makes six servings.

There was not a drop of tea consumed this day but the time still revolved around tea. :-) Comfort tea, comfort food, they both work for me!!!

The Goop Scoop!

I hope you enjoy this post as it makes me smile just to write it. :-)

Yesterday, August 25th, was my mother's birthday ( go here to see her picture). We will celebrate the next time I go home to visit in a month or so. In the meantime, I thought I would bake up one of the things that we (my brother, sister and I) would request as a treat for our birthdays. While her chocolate mayonnaise cake was delicious, for me and my brother, nothing could beat her CHOCOLATE GOOP!! Yes, I know it doesn't sound very elegant but the taste is rich, chocolaty and scrumptious!! It was a recipe from a 1950's cookbook and was called Butter Crunch Crust but we always called it Chocolate Goop. I have no memory of how it got that name. I only remember the taste. ;-)

I haven't made this in several years because when I make it, I generally eat the whole thing. That's not good as it makes a 9 x 13" pan of Goop. But today was Tea Time so I wanted a special treat. Plus, I need a dessert for our crazy quilting meeting tomorrow night so unless I get totally out-of-hand with my Goop cravings, there should be plenty left for tomorrow night!!

This afternoon, I sat down with a good-sized portion and my favorite cup of tea. I added a good book and some fabric for inspiration. What could be better? Hmmm, another slice of Goop!! Hee hee!! Seriously, though, there is nothing quite so good as a favorite piece of pie or cake or a cookie that recalls good times and good folks!!

Speaking of good times and good folks, you will find that in the book you see in the photo. My friend Arlis gave me the book "Aprons on the Line" for my birthday and it is a lovely story of an elderly lady named Virginia who learns to see life anew after a stroke. I highly recommend it. And interestingly, author Traci DePree is a Minnesotan and has other titles that are just as good. Be sure to check it out at your local library.

There's one final charming item in this photo and it's that pack of fabrics, Charm squares by Moda. Instead of a project this month I thought I would offer up a little prize. Several weeks ago, I bought two of these packs at Firefly Quilt Shop and I'm keeping one for me and the other one................will be won by one of you reading this post. Summer's coming to an end and I thought "why not give away a sort-of Last Rose of Summer" and that's what this fabric represents. All you have to do to win is leave your name (make sure your comment links back to your e-mail address or include it in your comment) and tell me what your favorite cup of tea is. And if you want more than one chance to win, then tell me what my favorite tea is and you'll get your name in the drawing twice! Comments must be left on this post and a winner will be announced on Friday at 6:00 p.m. August 28th.

Edit: It's Friday night and my husband has drawn the lucky winner........and it is.........Anett!! Congrats, Anett and thank you all for joining me for tea!

And in case you haven't heard enough about Goop, then read on.........because, you see, when my kids were small, we had this old book and in it was this poem..........

The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops, they lick their knives,
They spill their broth on the tablecloth,
Oh!, they lead disgusting lives!

Well, that poem is 100 years old and if you want to learn more about the poem, it's author, minding your manners and more, then check out TheGOOPS. I think you'll enjoy the visit. :-)

Now would you like the recipe for Chocolate Goop............here it is..................

The recipe for Chocolate Goop!

Chocolate Goop isn't difficult to make and requires ingredients you might have on hand. If you don't have chocolate pudding on hand then any pudding will do.

Assemble these items:

A 9 x 13 pan (mist with cooking spray)

1 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup angel flake coconut

2 cups flour

You will also need....Two packages pudding mix and 4 cups milk.

Soften butter (but not as much as I did) and then mix in brown sugar. Blend well and add the coconut. Add one cup flour and mix, then second cup of flour and blend til crumbly.

Place mixture in baking pan and press til flat. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden.

While the crust bakes, you can prepare the pudding mixture. Combine milk and pudding mix and follow package directions to prepare pudding. When pudding is done, set aside but stir frequently so that you do not get a hard layer on top of pudding.

Your crust should look like this when you remove it from the oven.

Let it cool a bit and then chop it up with a spoon and fill one cup of mixture in a measuring cup. You will use this mixture for top of pudding.

Next step is to press the crust back down in the pan and pour in the pudding.

Spread the pudding across the entire crust, then with your hands, sprinkle the cup of crust crumbs over the top of the pudding mixture.

Adding a dollop of whipped creme is highly recommended but I had no whipped creme on hand. Cool whip would do in a pinch. :-) I enjoy it just as it is!!

A Saturday morning cup of tea.......

I only really post once a month here on my tea blog but this morning I am sitting down with a cup of tea and thought I would share two things with you..........

one, is that I am reading that lovely book that my friend, Barb gave me titled "Time for Tea - Tea and Conversation with Thirteen English Women" - and I love it! It's such a relaxing "read" and it makes me wish I was in England. If you go to my stitchingblog you will see Barb and how she delivered this lovely little gift. :-)
Now, the very best cup of tea I ever had was in a little tea garden in the English countryside. I was a lucky girl. My husband's job took him overseas a great deal and as airline miles accumulated, I would get to go along about once a year. I have some lovely photos that I should share of those trips. That means unpacking photo boxes so it could be winter before I get anything posted. That will give you something to look forward to.

Second thing, is that I have had a link on my sidebar to "TheTeaGuy" ever since I started this blog. There are wonderful links there to other tea sites, too, and many things to check out while you are also sitting down with a favorite cup of tea. But what I really enjoyed over at the "TheTeaGuy" this morning was the videos he shares. I do not recall ever hearing Paul McCartney and the English Tea song. It was too cute! Check it out!

Now it's time to get back to relaxing with my morning "cuppa". Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend wherever you are!

Sandi

Perfect summer day and a cold glass of iced tea!

I took time out for tea earlier today. However, I had a number of things to do and I'm only now sitting down to type. Yes, I am sitting down and I am not in too much pain!! Gotta take advantage of it!!
I went to the doctor early this morning and he was amazed at how well I was doing. And he was right as I am doing really well considering where I was a few days ago. But long story short, and if you want the details go here, I will be going for a cortisone shot next week and perhaps that really will give me complete relief from pain.
Actually, I was feeling almost no pain at all about 4:00 this afternoon when I took to the front porch and my favorite plastic lawn chair. Instead of hot tea, I chose iced tea today and I enjoyed it with cookies, not the "Chocolate Goop" that I promised. I'll share that concoction in August when I am sure I will be doing a lot better.

That cheap plastic lawn chair is so comfortable that I have thought of bringing it into the house! Instead, since it was a beautiful summer day, although pretty windy, I gathered up my basket of sewing, a glass of cold iced tea and some strawberries and a couple of cookies. They were yummy. The local grocery store carries this macaroon sandwich cookie that is really good and I dressed it up a bit like this.................

Warm left-over chocolate frosting in the microwave and dip macaroons in the frosting and place on waxed paper or parchment paper.

There was no leftover vanilla frosting in the fridge, so I opened a new container and put some in a bowl, warmed it up and drizzled it across the cookies. Let set until frosting hardens. Wash the strawberries while you wait. :-)
Soak up the sun while you enjoy the iced tea and every last bite of the cookies and strawberries!

Kaiser got a crumb or two and he enjoyed watching some guys working at the house "kitty-corner" from us. I wish he was always this mellow. Anyway, I'll keep some of the cookies and some are going across the street to my neighbor.

I started feeling pretty good yesterday and just had to do some sewing. Check out my recipe for a "Cinderella Tea Towel" that follows. Plus, you'll want to watch my pincushion blog for a little tutorial on that pincushion with attached needlecase that is shown in the photo with my iced tea and cookies. I'll get that posted shortly. When you're laying around in pain, sometimes the mind saves you by thinking up things you can do when you get better. :-)

Hope you all had a great day!

Sandi

Recipe for a "Cinderella Tea Towel"

The "Cinderella Tea Towel" starts with a bargain-priced fabric panel (with a flaw), that is combined with a bargain-priced dishtowel (from the dollar store, of course) and it becomes a cute and sassy dishtowel that adds class to your kitchen!! The fabric panel is shown on the right. There's a flaw in the printing on the other half of this panel and so it was only $1.00. :-) I loved the cherries. They made me think of Erma Bombeck as I think she's the one who authored the phrase...."if life is bowl of cherries, why am I in the pits". Correct me, if I am wrong. Either way, they seemed an appropriate theme for me as I have felt like my life is in the pits with this annoying leg and back pain.
This idea came to me pre-pain and so a few weeks ago, I picked up (yes, I paid for them) several dishtowels at the Dollar Tree store.

As some of you who may be reading this already know, I proposed a "Tea Towel" challenge on my SeasonsBOM Yahoo group. I wanted to make a sample to encourage members to make a tea towel and get their name in the drawing for a bag full of goodies. I didn't get a sample done but Anett from HouseOfMouse stepped up to the challenge and not only made tea towels to inspire members of the Seasons group, but she also made potholders to inspire members of my Wooly Buddies group (yep, there's a potholder challenge going on in that group). She saved the day, make that - the month - for me!! Many thanks to Anett! And also, to Pat, my Wooly Buddies moderator who keeps the "flock" connected! :-)

SO, to make a not-so-great towel into a cute and sassy towel, you'll need one dishtowel and one fabric panel (any will do), or any favorite fabric that might have borders on it. I forgot to take a picture of the step where I cut out the strip of unwanted vegetables you see in the photo above, so imagine now that you are seeing the towel minus that border. :-)

Cut two pieces of border print that are one inch wider than the width of the dishtowel. You'll use one on the front and one on the back.

In the photo above, I have pinned the two border strips to the larger section of the dishtowel. Stitch along this edge following any border line that is a straight edge and preferrably gives you at least a 1/4" seam. When stitching is complete, remove pins and fold fabric over for the front of the dishtowel and press.

In this photo, you will see that I have sewn the bottom section of the dishtowel to the border piece used on the front of the towel, plus I have pressed the back border piece down. Remove your pins and press.

Your towel should look like the one above except in different fabrics. On the back border piece, turn under the bottom edge and press. You will stitch this down later on.

Time to pin the side seams.........above is front view........and below is back view.

Handstitch the side seams on the dishtowel, then pin along the bottom edge. On the front of the dishtowel, topstitch along the border piece on the upper and

lower edges and you are done. Just press it up and hang it on your stove or a decorative towel rack and a plain old dishtowel is now fit for Cinderella's kitchen!
I realize that I missed taking a photo or two that might have made this easier to explain. I stitched this up yesterday and did it in a hurry while I was feeling good. Took me less than an hour to do. I want a pretty towel for each season or holiday so I will be sure to post what I do with the rest of those towels. :-)