Alphabet Thursday - U is for Ugh!

U is for Ugh!  "Ugh, my knee hurts!"

A couple weeks ago, I took off and spent several days moving furniture around my house.  My daughter came by to help me move one really heavy piece ... and declared that the next time she moved it ... would be when she  buried me in it ... a solid oak wardrobe that survived a 1913 Mississippi and Ohio River flood in Cairo, Illinois!  It has a water mark on the bottom of it ... to prove it!  Our bedroom furniture was my husband's grandmother's ... over 100 years old ... and very heavy.  I have a trick knee ... anybody know what I mean?  When I stress it ... it pops and hurts for a few days.  So, my knee still hurts ... but the good news is ... I have moved enough stuff around that I have kind of a fresh look in a couple rooms.  My sunroom was the room I was focused on ... and you'll see a few things in future posts.  But today, have a look at my cute little maple hutch that was hidden for the past couple years in my sewing room. 

Remember my yellow ironstone that I posted a few weeks ago?  Here it is ... and it loves its new spot.

The painted tray stood at the end of my mother's kitchen counter for 30 years!   She used to serve sacks to my daughter on this tray ... so it has some special meaning!  Don't you love the fact that I found a coffee pot, sugar and creamer ... to match my set of ironstone?  I found it on ebay ...

I stuck  some faux plants in the tea cups ... thought I needed a little contrasting color!

I'm linking to Alphabet Thursday ... special thanks to Jenny for making us use our brains a little!

Be sure you click through the favicon on the right ... to visit the party posts!

Tablescape Thursday - Happy Mardi Gras!

We always have a little Mardi Gras celebration at our house ... mostly so I have an excuse to make some Creole or Cajun food! Here's the table I've set for this weekend!

I found these cute mugs at GW.  They were promotional items, so I was able to buy three of them to compose a centerpiece on my round sunroom table!  It was easy to find the colors of Mardi Gras in silk flowers.

 

The place setting begins with a gold charger, then a purple Arcoroc plate ... a square crystal plate and a Depression Glass forest green shell.  I will place the wine glass, stuffed with napkins, in the middle of the placesetting ... the flatware came from IKEA ... like the different style.

My version of Turducken is on our menu ... and if you'd like to see how I make an easy version of the chicken stuffed duck ... stuffed inside a turkey ... you can ready my Made at Home cooking column in today's Southern Illinoisan Newspaper at

Turducken A Mardi Gras Treat!

I'm linking to Between Naps for Tablescape Thursday, so make sure you click through the icon on the right to visit all the other posts!

Oscar was My Neighbor ... Kind of!

You are all probably watching the Oscars as I write this ... do you know who Oscar actually was? Take a look at this article The Southern Illinoisan Newspaper Oscar!! I was delighted to learn tha Oscar Micheaux came from my neck of the woods! Take another look at this one! Who Knew?

A Few Favorite Tables for you to See!

I'm reposting from last summer ... a slide show of favorite tables ... because there are some cute spring scapes in it.  Might give us some inspiration for upcoming holidays!  Special thanks to Chari at Happy to Design for hosting her Sunday Favorites Party!  Make sure you click through to visit the other posts!

Shopping at Atomic Home!

I'm reposting from a few weeks ago ... so I can participate in Junkin Finds Friday at A La Carte.  Thanks to our hostess for letting us show our treasures!


Original Post:

My daughter "dragged" me to her favorite antique store last week!   It's called Atomic Home and located in my hometown, Murphysboro, Illinois.  It's an antique  store to her ... but just stuff from my first kitchen  to me!  We love the owners ... and we love their style of showcasing great collectibles from the 50s-60s-70s!  

Anyway ... I bought this incredible teakwood salad set ... I seldom see the serving bowl with 8 matching bowls ... in any pattern that is interesting!  This one looks like somebody notched little thumb-size chunks out of the outer sides of the bowls ... Just love it and cannot wait to use it! 

I also bought this great set of  1971 (Sears and Roebuck) Federalist ironstone in LEMON yellow!  There are 10 place settings ... some serving pieces ... and I have the perfect glassware to go with it!  I spent less than $75 that afternoon ... and I think I got a thrifty deal!  You'll see all this in future tablescapes!

T is for T-Bone!

I'm participating in the Alphabet Party at Jenny's place!  Make sure you click through to visit the other posts!


T is for T-Bone ... what else could it stand for?  Here's a good one, positioned with another favorite thing, Southern Illinois sweet corn!  I always take a week off around the Fourth of July holiday, and last summer I set out to photograph everything I cooked.   All we do is hang out around the house, entertain a little, enjoy family and food!  I've included  a few other foodie photographs from the week!  The only thing "T" about this is that they might have been "too" good!  Enjoy!

The Music of Tea

I'm ... participating in the High Tea Tablescapes party at Decor to Adore, so make sure you click through to visit all the other party posts.   Special thanks to our hostess.  I'll also be including this post in Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch and Home Sweet Home party at the Charm of Home.  You'll also want to visit those linky parties to enjoy all the other posts. 


I think the perfect High Tea begins with beautiful silver service and porcelain teapots!  I'm sharing a photo of my new Towle service ... and yes, I have others, but this style is more in line with the way we entertain these days.  I'm all about making things a little more casual and less stuffy!

My tea theme is "The Music of Tea" and I've chosen to include some of my wooden music boxes in the tablescape.  My large one is a reproduction of the 1800s style with turning punched disks ... with ballerinas in the window.  Mine was made by "Mr. Christmas" and is electric, so I have to hide the cord under the table covering!  Children (of all ages) are always fascinated by the turning disk and dancers!

Some of the other special things on my table are two of my collection of Moss Rose teapots.   I like to serve more than one kind of tea at "high tea", so I use multiple pots.  I actually serve tea with the courses of food ... and yes, I think high tea has evolved into supper ... so I usually have three courses ... soup with a strong blend of tea ... sandwiches with a moderate blend of tea ... and dessert with a delicate floral blend.  I always serve iced water (sometimes flavored) with tea ... and sometimes I freeze ice cubes in special shapes and/or colors.  In my effort to create topics of table talk, I've included my husband's grandmother's hand tatted lace tablecloth in my layers of table coverings ... and a wooden tray that I bought at an antique shop ... that has been hand made.  I love the chiseled pattern on the tray!  Notice the wooden box I've used as a teapot perch?  I would probably fill similar boxes with the tea sandwiches, scones and cakes ... leaving them open, of course.

Here's my full place setting ... mostly Depression Glass. 

I love using the little teapot shaped tea bag holders ... but never use tea bags ... so I've used them to hold sugar stick/stirrers at each place. I'm serving scones with cream cheese and jam, so the bread and butter plate and butter knife is a must.  I've used a round soup spoon and the grill knife and fork in my set of silver.  Grille knives and forks were designed with longer handles ... to allow users to "dig into" salads and open faced sandwiches ... without getting anything on their hands!

In this final collage, you can see the teaspoon I used.  It is actually shorter than the typical teaspoon ... called an "afternoon spoon" ... and is designed specifically for afternoon tea or coffee!  The silver plate flatware is Oneida, in the Evening Star pattern ... from the 1950s ... collected at shops and flea markets!

Hope you've enjoyed High Tea at my house.   Rest assured ... you will have been visited by at least one of two four-legged friends.  They are both built-in vacuum cleaners ... one trained and the other one self-taught!  The food was fabulous ... the music was relaxing ... and the company, as always, was the best part!  Thanks for joining me.

Five things that Make me Smile!

I'm linking to Chef Laurie's Yum Yum Party, so make sure you visit the The Turner Farm to see all the other party posts!  I just don't have any problem finding photographs in my archives that make me smile!  Let me introduce you to my great-grandparents, Anna and Jacob Mueller (Miller).  Anna and Jacob were my mother's grandparents ... her mother's parents.  My mother looked just like her mother ... who looked just like her mother, Anna.  I have a brother who now looks exactly like Jacob ... eerily like Jacob!  Anyway, here they are on the 1890 wedding day and then, on their 50th wedding anniversary day!



 

Here they are with their children.  My grandmother Ida Dora Mueller is the little girl on the right ... and yes, I have a great niece who would look just like her if we  braided her hair and pinned it up!  My Great-Aunt Margaret is the little girl on the left.

Here's Aunt Margaret with her fiance upon their engagement.  I loved her ... they had a big dairy farm and she tried to teach me how to milk a cow!  They really had milking machines when I was a little girl ... but she loved to milk enough for her cats ... and did she ever have cats!

This is my Grandmother Ida ... We were never allowed to use first names, so this is Grandma and Grandpa Schuster in their elder years.  I was so lucky ... Grandma and Grandpa lived just one block from my childhood home.   My other grandfather lived just across the street from them!  Pretty convenient for my siblings and me.  I always knew when Grandma was baking!  I could probably smell the sweet aromas, she was so close to us!  (We certainly knew when she was canning kraut!)

Tabletop of Coke!

Here's a cute post from my daughter's Coke collection! Her dining room table and buffet are covered with memorabilia. We were doing a photo shoot of cakes that included soda pop in the ingredients! Pretty cute.


I'm linking to Marty's Tabletop Tuesdays, so make sure you visit the other posts at the party!

Getting Ready for High Tea!

I'm getting ready for the High Tea Tablescapes party this week ... at Decor to Adore, so I was going through some of my favorite teatime recipes.  These Peaches and Cream Scones are really good.  They are moist and the fruit keeps them that way, so they are great to freeze.   Three months in the freezer is probably the limit, but they are just as fresh out of the freezer as they are out of the oven.

Try them and check out Decor to Adore to see the details of the upcoming party!




Peaches & Cream Scones


1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup peach puree/ juice
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold
3/4 cup fresh peaches, chopped

Canned or frozen peaches can be substituted for the fresh peaches in this recipe. If you use canned, use ¼ cup of the juice in the recipe. If you are using fresh or frozen peaches, puree half a peach with 2 Tablespoons of water in a blender or food processer and that will make about ¼ cup of puree. Add additional water if necessary.

In a big bowl, whisk the egg, cream, extract and juice/puree until frothy. In another bowl, blend all the dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter until you have crumbles. Add the liquid and gently mix. Fold in the peaches. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. If the dough is sticky, knead in a little extra flour, but the less you handle the dough the better the scones! Shape into two rounds ½ inch thick. Cut into wedges and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. If you like a crunchy top, brush them with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar and slivered almonds before baking.

S is for the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail

S is for the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail in Southern Illinois!   In 1995 I had the pleasure of working with a group of three local winery owners to create the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail ... which now has a dozen wineries!  The region is designated an American Vitacultural Area just like the well-known Sonoma Valley!  We make good wine ... and we love it at our house!

I'm liking with Alphabet Thursday, so make sure you click through the button to visit all the other posts!  First, make sure you take a look at my delicious wine photographs.  You can also visit the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail by clicking through the link in the first line of this post!  Enjoy!

Yums!

It isn't hard for me to find pictures of things that make me smile!  I'm linking to Chef Laurie's Yum Yum Party, so make sure youvisit the The Turner Farm to see all the other party posts!

1. Don't you just love my fancy fried balogna sandwiches?
2. How about persimmon bread?  Just the thought of a bitter persimmon making me pucker ... makes me laugh!
3. Then there are fresh strawberries from Southern Illinois' Flamm Orchard ... and strawberry wine from our favorite Pomona Vineyard ... made with Flamm strawberries!  Oh, yum, yum!
4. Here's a picture from my Chocolate party last summer.   All my girlfriends gathered on the deck for a fabulous meal ... using chocolate in every course.   They sat in a gentle rain storm ... wouldn't go in the house ... and finally it thundered and came an absolute downpour ... and everybody ran inside!  Trust me ... we were laughing!
5. Then ... there's my precious Miss Phoebe!  We haven't had much snow this year ... but she certainly has enjoyed playing in it!  My daughter has a perfect video of her daddy teaching her how to make snowballs ... and she throws each one at him!