Miss Spenser's Blog

Crustless Apple Pie 3 Baking Apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1 tsp. Cinnamon 1 tsp. Sugar Preheat oven to 350 - lightly grease 9" pie plate; fill 2/3 with sliced apples (do not over fill or it will overflow). Sprinkle apples the apples with the 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp. sugar 1 C Sugar 3/4 C Butter, melted 1/2 C Walnuts or Pecans (chopped) 1 C Flour 1 Egg lightly beaten 1 pinch of salt In medium bowl, mix 1 C sugar and melted butter, stir in the nuts, flour, egg and salt. Mix well and spread over apples. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Serve with warm with ice cream. It's outstanding!

Every August, our family gets together for our annual family reunion, it's generally on one of those very hot and humid days! We had a wonderful time seeing all of our relatives and catching up, however, this year was a bitter-sweet one for me...my mother's immediate family is getting so small...so sad to see. Don and I began to worry a bit when the folks about 10 years older than us were reporting the "s" word quite often -- back "surgery," knee "surgery," etc!! YIKES... It impressed upon us to keep up the exercise program and perhaps we need to cut down on a few tea cakes too! (Frown!) My Uncle Richard and his son, Greg, flew in from Colorado and spent Saturday evening with us. We were sad that my Aunt Lena wasn't able to make it...she is at home caring for her elderly mother. Aunt Lena is one of those very thoughtful people; she sent along a few goodies: Cherry Blossom fragrances from Bath and Body Works...and then, of course, our favorite,...

On Saturday, August 21st we hosted our Garden Tea Party...it was a lovely day! Miss Spenser shared a funny little story about why it's so hard to keep the bunnies and other wildlife out - and then after that, she serenaded the guests with peaceful music from her harp. Here are pictures of some of the guests enjoying this fun day... There are still seats available for our Beatrix Potter Tea on Friday, September 10 - 11 a.m. and Saturday, September 11 at 11.

Here's a black, classy tea cup which Miss Spenser received on one of her birthdays, perhaps it was her 18th birthday?? We enjoyed the unusualness of this cup so much that we went on a search for others. We are up to 4 black tea cups now...so one day when she has a home of her own, she can share a cup of tea with a friend in her two black tea cups, and I can too! We enjoy these black tea cups with our old, black/gold Hall Teapot. Other's Who Are Participating in Teacup Thursday! Bernideens' Tea Time Blog Friendship Tea

This past Friday evening we hosted a little tea outing for the Mom's of the Clarke County Mom's Group. Upon arrival, the ladies went through the many vintage hats available, and all found one appropriate for the attire or mood. The guests enjoyed a delicious four course tea... Fresh Garden Salad with Strawberries and Mandarin Oranges topped with Sugar Coated Nuts and a home made Vinaigrette Dressing Savory Rosemary Chicken Salad in Croissant Lavender Egg Salad on Marbled Rye Tomato Basil Tarts Country Cucumber Sandwiches Creme Scones with jelly, curd and cream English Tea Cakes Brownie Bites Sugar Cookies Fragrant Teas As the evening began to wind down, we shared with them a very humorous book on being a mom..."Five Minutes Peace" by Jill Murphy...all of the mom's could relate to this cute little tale. It was a lovely evening, despite the thunderstorm!! Thank you Clarke County Mom's for allowing Miss Spenser's an opportunity to pamper...

This week we hosted our first Book Review - At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. What a delightful time we had sharing together our thoughts and relishing in the sweetness of this wonderful book. We all deemed it a classic as it is a book you can read over and over again. One of our guests said, "Oh, I loved visiting Mitford again..." If you haven't had a chance to read this  series, we would highly recommend it!! The book review included a buffet tea - here is a sampling of the menu: A Picnic in Baxter Park August 2010 The Rector’s Artichoke Dip and Crackers Mitford’s Fresh Fruit With Dip and Cheese Bites Cynthia’s Chicken Salad Croissant Puny’s Lemon Yogurt Bread and Spread Miss Sadie’s Scones with Toppings Dooley’s Gingersnap Cookies Esther’s Marmalade Cake Follow Your Heart Sugar Cookies Of course, we had to try out Esther's famous Marmalade Cake...I was a little intimidated by this cake...you know how it is, when you don't plan on taking someth...

This past weekend would have been my mother's 76th birthday ~ August 8. My mom died when I was 7 years old...she was one of those unfortunate souls who was stricken with breast cancer before there were any remedies for the sickness. Here is a picture of my mom back when she graduated from High School...my mom went on to marry her high school sweetheart...the sweetest guy on earth, my dad, Burl. This past month, we Miss Spenser and I were thrilled to learn that one of our guests visiting the tea room was actually a classmate of my parents. She told us that it was very apparent that they were "in love...for when you saw one, you'd see the other." It was very endearing to hear these words. This pretty teacup that you see today is from my mother's china. My father purchased them for her as a wedding gift back in April 1954. I have always admired these pretty cups, the cream background with the pink coral bell flowers in the center set off with a platinum rim, just so ...

As they say, "Never a Dull Moment..." boy does that ring true, even at 3 a.m.! This past evening, we were all sleeping so peacefully, when our ferocious (not really) collie dogs started barking in high pitched tones. I knew, that type of bark, meant something was terribly wrong!! So, being the mom I am, I got up to check it out -- Farmer Don slept peacefully on!! I turned on the light to see that they were after something that looked like a HUGE gray cat...so I stuck my head out the back door and said, "Hey guys, leave it alone, calm down..." when all of a sudden, I heard this noise behind my head...it was a scratching sound...I turned my head around only to find a raccoon hanging on the eves-spout!! NOW...needless to say, I screamed, and I am sure he screamed! We live on the prairie, and there are not a lot of mature trees yet, so finding a raccoon hanging on our eves-pout spout was quite startling!! I am not sure if my screaming or the dogs did it...but everyone ...

This past weekend, my honey and I got away for a two day reprieve from work, kiddos and farm life! We went to Kansas City to celebrate our 29 years of marriage! We had a splendid time staying downtown near the plaza. On Saturday evening, we ventured out to Fogo de Chao restaurant, which is a Brazilian Steak House - beware, it was a bit pricey...but it was our anniversary, right?! The food was very fresh and delicious and Don said it was presented and tasted pretty close to the food experiences he had had while visiting Brazil last year. On our little trip, we stopped at one of my favorite antique shops - The Enchanted Frog -- there we found some wonderful finds, one of them was this lovely tea cup. I probably would have passed it up, because of the price, but Don said we had to have it! I was thrilled!! This pretty is a Coalport - Made in England, entitled "Broadway-Green" I am so excited to be it's new owner and when I sip tea out of it, will cherish the memory of 29...

The other evening, while Don, Miss Spenser, and I were out for a walk, Miss Spenser heard this crying sound. The noise sounded like a little kitty in distress and, as Spenser's other job should be Kitty Rescue League, we had to stop and figure out who was crying.  The sound seemed to be coming from a small culvert nearby, so she went over to peer inside, but soon realized the sound wasn't actually coming from there. It was coming from a grassy area that had just been mowed. The strange thing was, we could hear a crying but saw nothing! We were all baffled... Don (Spenser's dad) began flipping the grass back and discovered a garter snake! It appeared that the garter snake was in the middle of his dinner and Prince Charming was on the menu! Apparently, the Prince's right leg was the first course and that's who was screaming for help! Miss Spenser ran to get a stick with which Don flipped the snake...

August 1st is National Friendship Day so we thought it would be fun to share some pretty pictures and friendship quotes with you. We also want to tell all of our Tea friends how much we've enjoyed your friendship this past year ~ our lives have been enriched by knowing you! We that hope you are inspired to drop your dear friends a note today to tell them how much you cherish their friendship... "A friend is someone who reaches for your hand but touches your heart." ~Kathleen Grove "A friend is a rare book, of which one copy is made." ~From Friend to Friend, 1913 "Friendship is the golden thread that tied the hearts of all the world." ~ Evelyn, From Friend to Friend, 1913