Miss Spenser's Blog

As is usually the case here at Miss Spenser’s, we had a very full weekend…for those of you who have been reading blog entries, you will recall that we were hosting an informal tea party with a couple of friends. However, on top of this, prior to the tea party, we had the privilege of being a “Business Highlight” for the Warren County Leadership Committee. At approximately 10:30 in the morning…a bright, yellow school bus made it’s way down our drive with about 30 leadership members on board! What fun it was to show them our newly expanded tearoom and to share with them the history of our little business endeavor! We also shared a sample of our Cottage Blend Tea and asked them to spread the word about our little tearoom in the Dale! Here is a picture of some of the guests that visited.

The after glow of our week of Anticipation...  As you can see there was plenty of yummy treats to enjoy!!  The movie was a big hit! In order to protect the innocent, we won't mention any names, but one of our dear friends had never read the story nor seen any movie adaptions... her facial expressions were priceless as the movie unfolded! Can't wait for next year's sportsmens retreat! Hmm.... what to watch and serve!

Gathering All the Tea Accoutrements for our Tea Party on Saturday!!! Still Anticipating!!!

As we prepared the menu...we took into account the "likes" of those who were going to attend. One of our guests happens to LOVE caramelized onions, so we decided to offer a more unusual tea time savory -- our famous Onion Pie (the recipe is in our Cookbook Vol. II). With that as one of the "focal" points, we decided a great compliment to this entree would be a Roast Beef Croissant Sandwich, from there, other things began to evolve...here's what we came up with: Jane Austen Movie Tea with Friends Saturday, March 27, 2010 - 11 a.m. Cheesy Olive Bites & Asparagus Roll Appetizers Caramelized Onion Pie Roast Beef W/Horseradish Sauce on Croissant Classic Cucumber Tucson Savory (Guest Bringing) Cream Scones with Lemon Curd & Freshly Whipped Cream Cherry Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting Swedish Tea Cookies Two other Sweets (Guests Bringing) A Variety of Fragrant Teas Our friends wanted to contributed to the gathering, so they are bringing a few yummy ...

This past week, our Pastor spoke about "Anticipation" and how exciting it is to anticipate the return of Jesus, our Savior. Of course, we are very much filled with great anticipation of Christ's return, and with Easter just around the corner, find ourselves  reminded of it more each day. This week, we decided to blog about another form of anticipation which we are experiencing here in our day-to-day life. The Hardin guys are going away for the weekend to attend a Hunting Retreat...so Miss Spenser and I decided to have a girl weekend and host a little tea party for a couple of friends. Needless to say, we are quite excited about having some girl time, tea time, and movie time, to be more specific ~ Jane Austen Movie Time! With that in mind we thought we would share with you our "anticipation" and "details"  for this upcoming, fun-filled event! As one prepares for a tea party...there are so many little details that must be attended to.....

Peach Cobbler Dump Cake 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix 2 (16 ounce) Cans Peaches in Heavy Syrup 1 Stick of Butter 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Empty peaches into a 9x13 pan; spread out evenly. Cover with cake mix, press down firmly; cut butter into small pieces and place on top of cake mix. Sprinkle with Cinnamon. Bake for 45 minutes...Yummy with vanilla ice cream!!

As some tea friends were leaving yesterday from our St. Patty's Tea, they told me that they saw Mr. Meadowlark perched on one of the fence posts with his neck outstretched filling the meadow with his song…what a beautiful song he sings…We are so happy to welcome him back!

Aren't surprises the best??? At 40 -- I was gifted with a surprise!! Instead of traveling to England with my husband to celebrate my 40th birthday and our 20th wedding anniversary, I went to the hospital instead and gave birth to our fourth child - Grayson Robert. Here's a picture of my little sweetie...was definitely worth skipping England for!! Last week, I had busy day of running errands...when I came home, I found that he had made me lunch! What a surprise!! Here's a photo of his delicious croissant turkey and cheese...they were very yummy!! I may have to hire him in the tea room!! What do you think?

Daffodils were brought to Virginia by the English settlers...they planted them by their dooryard gardens over 300 years ago to cheer their wintered and homesick spirits. These cheery blooms have been spilling spring gold in glade and meadows for centuries now...also known as 'daffy-down-dillies' or another cute name, 'poor man's rose.'

Irish Teatime Treasures for a perfect Irish Teatime!   Our Irish Breakfast Tea just arrived!  $6 Give Tea away with our New Cottage House Gift Box! $2 Irish Mini Basket ~ $7.00 Good Luck Shamrock Confetti ~ $10.95 Irish Hanging Ornaments ~ $2.00 Irish Rag Doll ~ $14.00 Porcelain Doll ~ $35.00 Lucky Shamrock Sugars ~  $6.99  2 oz.  Shamrock Sprinkles ~  $0.50    Irish Rose Tea Set:  Teapot $42  Teacup $18 To Order some of these Irish Treasures for your very own call:  641-342-1547

"Tea, a daily companion that never fails to warm us when we, or the world feels cold. It gives us strength when we're weary, lends delicious grace notes to our gatherings and can be counted on to smooth and save the day." (I found these words scribbled down in one of my old journals... unfortunately, I didn't make a notation of the author who wrote these beautiful words.)

We're looking forward to Spring and so is our kitty, Gilbert! He's anxious for the birdies to return! As you can see here, he's gone to great heights to welcome them back!