Miss Spenser's Blog

One of the things that has happened since the tea room started is the fact that we don't have much time to bake for the family, in fact, the big joke is, all the guys get to eat are the corners  and over baked goodies!! So, we've beening doing some thinking... since Grayson is the one with the most 'free' time around here, we decided to get him involved in goodie baking for the family. We have found in the past what works really well with beginning bakers is to start them out with a good cookie mix. This allows the trainee a chance to get used to practice baking without worrying so much about all the measuring. Naturally, when we were selecting a cookie mix, we thought of Miss Spenser's Crunchy Munchy Mix. This is a delicious oatmeal based cookie mix that takes butter, an egg and vanilla...mix together and bake for 8-10 minutes. Grayson did a fantastic job, see for yourself! Now, the boys should be happy around here...well, for at least a day as cookie...

Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope everyone is enjoying this time of gratefulness with family and friends! These dishes are called "His Majesty" ~ Perfect for thanks giving don't you think! Thanksgiving Delights On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for Our blessings all year through, For family we dearly love, For good friends, old and new. For sun to light and warm our days, For stars that glow at night, For trees of green and skies of blue, And puffy clouds of white. We’re grateful for our eyes that see The beauty all around, For arms to hug, and legs to walk, And ears to hear each sound. The list of all we’re grateful for Would fill a great big book; Our thankful hearts find new delights Everywhere we look! By Joanna Fuchs   Other's Who Are Participating in Teacup Thursday! Bernideens' Tea Time Blog The Hope Chest Rose Chintz Cottage

8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened 1/2 C Mayonnaise 1 C Sugar 2 (12 ounce) Cans Cranberry Sauce 2 C Heavy Whipping Cream 1 C Powered Sugar In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and sugar using the whip attachment on mixer until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine heavy cream and powered sugar and whip to medium stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream mixture into cream cheese mixture, add cranberry sauce and gently combine. Scoop cranberry salad into individual cups and place in freezer for 1 hour until forzen. Serve chilled with dollop of whipped cream.

This Fall we have been experiencing some incredible sunrises and sunsets... This is what happens when you're doing the dishes and "tea" on the brain at all times! I thought this cloud looked like a teapot...no one else saw it...what do you think??? Have a great Day!!

For those of you who don't know already, Autumn is my favorite time of year! I've often said that I think it would be wonderful if we could just have two season of Autumn and skip Winter all together! I love everything about fall, the crispness of the weather, the beautiful sunsets, wearing jackets and scarves, harvest moons, bonfires, and of course the colors of fall, as brown is my favorite color!   This teacup today has beautiful golden roses with dark purple violets. It's made by Royal Patrician. Once again this is a teacup and teapot that I received for one of my many birthdays. (smile) I think the teapot has such a cute shape!  Speaking of Autumn and Harvest time... I'm off to brew myself a pot of "Frost on the Pumpkin" tea. This is one of our new seasonal teas and has fast become my new favorite!  If you'd like to order some of this fantastic tea yourself, give us a call: 641-342-1547. Other's Who Are Participa...

Well, I think everyone enjoyed themselves this past Saturday... It was a relaxing atmosphere, with cozy warm colors of Fall and tasty comfort foods. Zach's Piano music was amazing... hope to have a CD available soon!  Here are some pictures of our guests... and as usual we forgot to take pictures of the food, but here's the menu!  Sweet Potato and Pear Soup Waldorf Chicken Salad in Croissant Cranberry Egg Salad on Rye Pear & Brie Tarts Country Cucumber Traditional Scones with Apple Butter & Fresh Cream Fall Apple Cake with Carmel Glaze Molasses Cookies dipped in White Chocolate Brownie Bites with Peanut Butter Frosting

With the harvest season closing in, we wanted to share with you this pretty teacup called “Duchess” from the Chatsworth Collection. The golden fruit in the middle of the teacup and saucer reminds me of the Fruit of the Spirit… “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 Such a lovely reminder this harvest season. Other's Who Are Participating in Teacup Thursday! Bernideens' Tea Time Blog The Hope Chest Rose Chintz Cottage

Yesterday, my brother Chase and I had some friends over from church for a teaparty and bonfire at the farm! The girls had fun dressing up in Victorian Costumes! Don't they look Lovely! The Teatime Tables... Special Thank you to those who contributed to the teatime trays! The men were such great sports and wanted to join in the teaparty fun! They actually out-drank the girls with tea! Their motto - "Real Men Drink Tea!" Oh, so true!! :)   Anna the Duchess came for a visit and gave some advice on proper teatime etiquette. The Men were very attentive! Some Girls and I enjoying a stroll... Pinkies in the Air! More teatime fun! Cherrio, until the next teatime event! (Rumor has it that, that it might be a Murder Mystery Dinner!)

This past Sunday afternoon, Miss Selah celebrated her 5 year old Birthday Party here at Miss Spenser's! What a delightful time we had with Selah, her Mommy, cousins, Auntie and Grandmas! The girls were greeted by Miss Spenser dressed in Victorian Costume. The girls (and adults) had the opportunity to dress up in hats, gloves and jewelry.  Here's a picture of cousins, enjoying tea, treats and conversation! Such lovely little ladies" Trays were adorned with delicious tea time foods - all prepared with a child's palate in mind, to name a few, Grilled Cheese Flower Breads, Pepperoni Pizza Tarts along with scones, banana bread with peanut butter spread, frosted teacakes, gingersnaps and fairy smores. The girls enjoyed Raspberry Lemonade along with cups of Friendship Tea. What a fun day of celebrating... Thanks for sharing your special day with us Selah! Happy Birthday and Many Blessings for a wonderful new year!!

Today's special tea cup - is actually a beautiful "Tea Set" we acquired about 3 years ago from a woman named, Zella. Her name is easy to remember because she actually has the same name as my (Donna's) Grandmother. When we saw the ad in the paper, we couldn't resist a peek as we are ones who naturally love almost anything made by Royal Albert... in our opinion, this is one of their most "exquisite" patterns...it sums up the word, "elegance." The pattern is Heirloom - and we hope that this will ring true over the years, that this lovely tea set will be handed down for generations to come. Zella told us her husband purchased this wonderful tea set for her back in the 1970's in Victoria Canada. This set contains 8 dessert plates, 8 teacup/saucers, a cake plate, candy dish, teapot with creamer and sugar. We do use it on special occasions, and little Grayson, (9), believes with all his heart, that tea does taste better in this fine cup!! (SMILES)...

 Bette Dickinson  This past month, we had the opportunity to host a tea for ladies from Walnut Ridge Retirement Center. What a delightful group of ladies!! One of our guests, Bette Dickinson, went on to tell us about her experiences with Afternoon Tea. We thought it was especially "sweet" and thought our readers would enjoy it...so Bette has graciously allowed us to share this endearing story with you. Bette's parents were both from Hull, England, her maiden name was Beilby. Her parents came to America in the early 1900's - their passage to America was actually their "honeymoon." They ended up settling in Yankton, South Dakota where Bette's mother continued her heritage of English afternoon tea with her neighbors and friends. Bette said her mother would take a quick nap in the early afternoon and then get cleaned up, always dressing in her best, and then around 3 p.m. she would invite the neighbors in for tea. She always presented a beautiful ...