Molly's Hat Box

Today is Molly's birthday. Molly is the firecracker that my daughter works with. Together with another girl, they are also house-mates. She is a darling girl and loves all things pretty and girly! So, I made a frilly hat box for her to keep her treasures in.

I first printed out some old French documents, letters, and pictures from Graphics Fairy. Next I tea-dyed them. In this picture you can see them drying in my bathroom and dripping tea all over the bath tub.

 I covered the box with the box with theses papers and "decoupaged" them all smooth and shiny. I finished the inside with pretty ribbon, and more labels.

Next I made some Coffee Filter Roses from a great tutorial from The White Bench.

They were glued on top with pearls, lace and tea-dyed velvet ribbon.

And finally the finished box:

Happy Birthday Molly!

Linking to:

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

Judy at DIY by Design for Swing Into Spring

Kimmie at Sugar and Dots for What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Paula and Patti at Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

http://www.sugaranddots.com/

http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/
My romantic Home: Show and Tell

Don't "kale" the messenger

I'm a little late coming to the Kale party. 

I've been seeing this idea floating around the blog-world for quite some time. Today, I finally got around to trying it. For those of you haven't got around to it, like me - well, I've done the work for you. (you can thank me later when you've tried some) Here's the results:

These leaves are nice and crisp, they almost melt in your mouth. I used the best quality Italian olive oil and French sea salt. I like the mouth feel. Very satisfying. They are a little oily, but I may have been a little too generous with the oil. The flavor of the kale flavor comes through and is a little strong. I tried Parmesan cheese - very compatible. Truffle salt is a winner. I'm not much of a garlic lover, but if you do, I can imagine that would be a good flavoring, too. I've read of chili powder, season salt, etc. Be careful with the salt. It would be a good plan to cut back on the salt, then add a little at a time.
This dish is easy and quick to prepare. The only fiddly part was cutting the ribs of the leaves. That only took a couple of minutes. You can pre-heat the oven while you do that prep. Then just pop them in the oven for a few minutes and enjoy.

 And since you asked (or maybe you didn't) Yes, I will make this again.


Kale Chips
       Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, washed and dried well
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
•  salt of your choice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cut the center rib of the kale and tear into large pieces. Place leaves in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and toss until completely coated.
Divide kale between 2 baking sheets lined with parchment. Arrange in a single layer and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp.

Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 33
Total Fat: 4 grams
Total carbohydrates: 7 grams
Estimated Glycemic Load: 3
Fiber: 4 grams
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams

Linking to:

Blueberries for tea

This afternoon I walked down the hill to the preview of the re-opening of Mark's NW Fresh Produce Stand. He features local produce when available. He contracts with local farmers and growers. I"m so lucky to live near enough to shop there.

 Here is what I brought home today -  biggest blueberries I've ever seen. And so delicious. It is still pretty early for much local vegetables, and there are only strawberries from out of the area. We have had frost for the last two nights.

Afternoon tea v. "high tea"

 Yesterday I asked some friends to join me for afternoon tea. I made a special effort to provide a few extras beyond the snacks I usually make for everyday afternoon tea. I often hear Americans refer to afternoon tea as "high tea". That couldn't be further from the truth.
Let me put this terminology question to rest.

In England -

Afternoon tea:
   Tea with or without small light sandwiches, followed by one or more varieties of sweet treats.

buttered toasted tea ca

It may be a simple snack of tea with toasted tea cakes (a slightly sweet yeast bun with or without fruit) or toasted griddle cakes with or without yeast.






 Cream tea:

   Tea and scones (more like a slightly sweet American breakfast biscuit -  not  the American version of large sweet cookie-like cakes) served with
heavy, thick sweet cream and fruit, or clotted cream popular in the
West country, and jam. There is even debate there, between Cornwall and Devonshire as to whether the cream goes on first or on top of the jam.



 High tea or sometimes called "meat tea":

sausage roll

   Tea with sausage, sausage rolls,

individual pork pie

meat pies, or steaks, chops, or casserole with potatoes and other vegetables, and pudding (dessert).
In USA, it would be called "supper".


 I wonder if this might have been a misnomer started and perpetuated by shops that believe they can charge more for afternoon tea by advertising it with the grand title of "high" tea.
So you can have anything you want to eat with your tea, and call it what you want, but I thought I'd let you know what English Tea meals ...and don't get me started on whether it's milk in first or last! That's a whole other argument!!!
Now it's after 3:30 and I'm dying for a cup of tea.

Toasting the Queen with Tea

 

Her Majesty The Queen

 Celebrating The Queen's Jubilee today, at afternoon tea with my friends,

Mary,  and her sister-in-law, Dorraine.

We had a grand time catching up with all the family news. Lots of laughs and fun.(Mary even wore her tiara!)

It was such a treat for me to be able to prepare some English treats for these lovely ladies.

There were tea sandwiches, scones with butter and cherry jam, madelinese, and iced fairy cakes.

...and of course, lots of tea!
The tea cozy is one I made while we lived in England. It's brocade, embellished with bits of antique lace, silk roses, pearls, velvet leaves and decorations from my wedding veil.

Tea cozy detail

Joining:

Let's Dish @ Cuisine Kathleen

Tablescape Thursday @ BNOTP

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Pearls and Lace Thursday @ Faith, Grace, Crafts

Orchids

 Today I received an orchid from each of my daughters. Each different, each special - just like my girls! I have wanted an orchid for such a long time. Can you imagine my surprise when they each walked in carrying one! Thank you, my sweet girls.

The first to arrive was Polly with a lovely plant with small blooms of such an unusual color. It has shades of orange, pink, and purple. I don't ever recall seeing one of this variety.  It does look nice with the colors of the room. I've never had an orchid plant before and I hope I can give it the care it needs to stay healthy and bloom for a long time.

 The next to arrive was my elder daughter, Peggy, with what we used to call a "butterfly" orchid. It was just like the one I wore the first time I when to a dance with my future husband. It was so pretty that he gave me another, the second dance we went to. That makes it pretty special.

My mother

Katherine, John L, Mary Leonore, Goerge Homer, La

brue 1919

 My mother was the baby of the family. Pictured here at one and a half with two of her older brothers and one of her sisters. (missing are Olivia and Arthur) The family lived in Kansas. My mother was the only one of the children to be born there.

In a age when other little girls were having their hair bobbed, her father was from the "old country" and didn't want to have her hair cut. It was deep auburn and hung in big, soft, ringlets.

Her mother dressed her in only white until she started school, at the age of six.

 After she was in school, she finally got her bob and was so happy. She was nicknamed "Kitty" by her father, and called that all her life.

Kitty 1927

Katherine Korreine LaBrue 1917 - 1993

Garage Sale Haul

Today being Friday, my friend Mary, and I hit the neighborhood garage sales. My big score were three silver plate trays. I wish I had photographed them in the state I bought them. They were so black with tarnish that I didn't even realise they had designs on the flat surfaces! It took me an hour to remove most of the tarnish. I will do some more work on them later, but my arm and back began to ache, so I decided they looked pretty good! I know it has been a recent fad to prize tarnished silver, chippy paint, and ratty fabric. Just to let you know, I'm not a fan. To me it just looks plain lazy.
This one is silver over copper and has a heraldic crest with the copper showing in the design.

 

 The next one is round with a very beautiful raised floral motif.

The third tray is a very large, very heavy, rectangle tray that also has a lovely raised grape detail.

OK, now that you have seen how beautiful they are, I'll tell you the best part - they were $1 each!
I know, unbelievable, right? I felt like arguing with them, but I guess they just wanted to avoid having to polish them.

No reason -just pretty

Baby shower

This little bunny is hopping for joy because he and his many siblings were busy decorating the baby shower for my friend, Mary's daughter-in-law. She and Mary's son have decorated baby-to-be's room with bunnies. So, Mary and I used that theme for the shower.

The cookies:

Finished cookie in its celo bag with the "Thank You" tag

The Cupcakes:

The Melon Skewers:

The Profiteroles with chicken salad

TheSpring onions with Prosciutto:

Chocolate dipped Strawberries:

  

The table:

Lovely flower arrangement

The beverage table:

Coffee, tea, punch

Sparkling Guava punch

Mother-in-law, Mother, and Mom-to-be

joining:

Mosaic Monday