Miss Spenser's Blog

Toasted Walnut Fudge Bread 1 C Walnuts, coarsely chopped 3 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate, melted and cooled 1 C Butter 1 C Sugar 5 Eggs 2 1/4 C Flour 1 tsp. Salt 1 C Buttermilk 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9x5-in. loaf pans. Toast walnuts on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes or until fragrant. Cool.  Melt chocolate by microwaving on medium for 25-second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Cool.  C ream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in cooled chocolate.   In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Stir buttermilk and vanilla together. Add flour and buttermilk alternately to chocolate mixture. Stir in walnuts.   Divide batter between the two prepared pans. Bake 55-60 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or toasted with butter, it's like eating a warm brownie!

Highlights from our Murder Mystery Dinner! *Warning - Content could cause Fits of Laughter!*

*Cabin Fever Special!* Tropical Paradise   Mango, coconut and passion fruit Delicious I ced... it will "take you away" sip by sip!     - 2 oz. $5. Only while Supplies Last. Offer expires March 31st, 2010

Here's a Picture from our Impromptu Cozy Home Valentine Tea Party on the 14th. We were thrilled on Sunday afternoon when our special Valentine, hubby/dad, arrived safely home after his 3 week work-related trip to Brazil. We gathered around the coffee table in the family room and enjoyed a delicious pot of Hazelnut tea with yummy leftover sweets from the Valentine Tea and donuts, cut in small bites! It was a very joyous afternoon...much talking in between bites and sips...as well as laughter!

Happy Valentine's Day from Miss Spenser's Special-Teas ~ Your Des Moines Area Tearoom! View Highlights from our Valentine Tea today! Now Taking Reservations for our Irish Tea March 13th - 11 a.m. 641-342-1547

If you live anywhere near the Midwest or the East Coast, you know what we're talking about! Snow, snow, snow, and more snow, and oh, did we mention the cold winds and gloom. Yeah...it's been a one of those winters!! However, despite the dreariness, we made the best of it this past week... Being the hopeless romantics that we are, and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, we plopped ourselves in front of the t.v. with cozy warm blankets, a pot of tea and our favorite love stories...Here are a couple of our favorites: ~ Masterpiece's Jane Eyre ~ Mr. Rochester in this movie... need we say anymore?!   ~ Hallmark's The Love Letter ~ Another absolute favorite! Great Civil War costumes! Should you find yourself with the Winter Blues...grab a warm blanket, a hot cup of tea...and snuggle up with a great love story!  

Although we do not live in the pioneer times or in the Dakota territories…and although we are not suffering anything like Laura Ingalls and her family did in the LONG Winter, we do know what she meant when she used terms like “never-ending winter.” After watching the news this evening and learning about another winter snow storm coming through…I had irrational thoughts about driving to the local airport, using my husband’s frequent flyer miles and flying somewhere warm!!  I was brought back to reality when Spenser calmed me with a warm pot of Harmutty tea and some freshly baked Swedish cookies…did I mention those are my favorite?! I guess I will stay until the next storm comes!

Generations of little girls have whiled away long afternoons happily dressing and undressing their dollies, having tea parties and rocking and cuddling them to sleep. I was one of those girls myself...in fact, I actually recall being given my last Barbie at age 14 with the words, 'this would be the last!' I was thrilled upon the birth of my daughter...because I knew then, that dolls would definitely become a part of my life once again...and believe me...we have had our share of fun with them!    Upon Spenser's more mature years, my wise husband commented... "You move from playing with dolls, to becoming a collector of dolls." I like those words...   Naturally...you can imagine how much fun I had when we were selecting things for the gift area in the tea room...I couldn't resist these charming faces...they're available for purchase...that is...if I don't change my mind! (smile). Their sweet faces bring such a smile to mine... *Dolls are $35.00 each