Angela Webster McRae's Blog, page 129

Planning your "Royal Wedding" viewing

Two friends shared this graphic with me yesterday, and I found it so helpful, I wanted to share it here with you!

(Image courtesy of Town & Country magazine)

Some timely teatime finds at Goodwill

Saturday's visit to the Goodwill in Rome was a good one! I have been pondering what foods I want to make ahead to have ready for the royal wedding on Saturday, and lo and behold, there appears the book "Eating Royally" by Darren McGrady, private chef to Princess Diana. I know some of you have this book already, and I'd been tempted to buy it myself, so I "splurged" on this copy for $2.92.
I knew I would love reading the stories about Princess Diana and her boys, and I did. I was especially amused by one anecdote the chef shared. McGrady aimed to serve healthy meals, he says, but one day, he found in the kitchen a note that read, "Darren, Please give the boys pizza tonight. Thank you." It was "signed" by the nanny, but Darren strongly suspected the handwriting belonged to eight-year-old Prince Harry, who was later called on it and dashed out of the kitchen. That's the Prince Harry we all know and love! The book also has the chef's scone recipe and plenty of teatime treats (and stories), so I wish I'd gotten this book sooner. If you don't have it, you might want to look into getting a copy!
As I looked through the book and thought about Saturday's festivities, I found a very simple recipe for Sausage Rolls that looks like the perfect breakfast food. (Are any of you planning to have a special viewing on Saturday?)
And of course I make it a point never to pass through a Goodwill without checking out the Christmas aisle. This time, I found a box of what I believe are vintage but new-looking Christmas cookie cutters for 99 cents. The heart, bell, star, and Christmas tree are perfect for cutting out tea sandwiches, and Santa and the reindeer will come in handy if I decorate sugar cookies this year. Christmas will be here before we know it, and I noted with interest (and mild shock) that Hobby Lobby already has the fall decorations out! Me? With a busy week ahead, I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row for the royal wedding. Let's focus on one thing at a time, I say!

Finding tea in unexpected places …

On Monday, I was at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta where my husband had some (non-life-threatening) surgery on his leg. After he was in recovery, he asked if I would go find him some cheese crackers. As I was on my way to the gift shop, I noticed many vintage items attractively displayed in cases along a hallway, and all the vignettes had some connection to Piedmont Hospital history. I was speeding by this case when something made me hit the brakes.
(Who knew that I would ever have cause to picture a bedpan on this blog?) But I spotted this teapot and plate and had to know more. What did that small silver teapot have to do with Piedmont?
And then I read this: "From the hospital's founding in 1905, when Fannie Amster served as the first dietician, Piedmont has built a reputation for providing high-quality, nutritious food to help with a patient's recovery. Frances Wikle Whitaker headed the dietetics department from 1917 to 1926. This plate, pitcher and menu were used by Piedmont patients. Today more than 125 different patient menus are available at Piedmont." But the name "Frances Wikle Whitaker" got my attention because that is the woman who went on to open the Frances Virginia Tearoom, an Atlanta legend!
In fact, I've gotten to meet France's niece on a few occasions and have even written about the fabulous tea room cookbook she wrote using her aunt's recipes. So even though a hospital visit is never exactly fun, it was certainly nice to find a teatime connection in the hallway. (And happily, my husband is up and at 'em already and has recovered just fine!)

The dish on dishes

So my birthday was last week, and I decided to head to Douglasville for the day. I had received some birthday money and gift cards, and when I saw that a brand-spanking-new HomeGoods store had opened (in the old Kmart shopping center, if you know Douglasville), I knew it was a sign I should stop by!
I was immediately smitten with these Royal Stafford plates, which say on the back that they're "Made in Burslem, the Heart of the Potteries, England." I'm thinking these may be used to serve a royal wedding breakfast on May 19! I read something not long ago that really influenced how I shop. It said something to the effect of not buying things you merely "like" but saving your pennies for things you "love," and I do "love" these plates because of both the soft denim-blue color palette and the lush roses!
I even had plates on the brain as I was reading the new issue of Afar, a travel magazine I somehow started getting for free.
 It includes this random two-page spread titled "Dish it up," featuring 22 plates that it says provide a "sense of place." For most of the plates, I would agree, but what about …

This pattern at top right from the United States. It looks like restaurant ware to me, and it's also rather plain, but then I realized I couldn't quite think of a single plate to represent the U.S. At first I thought of "Old Country Roses," since I've read that it is the most popular pattern here, but then I realized it's made in England. So … yeah, there's that. What about a Fiestaware plate? If you'd had to choose a single plate to represent the U.S., what would you have chosen?

Harney & Sons Royal Palace Tea

When I got a marketing email from Harney & Sons a few weeks ago, one of the new tea tins pictured immediately caught my eye, and for an obvious and quite colorful reason. So I knew I wanted the tin no matter what type of tea it contained, but then it struck me that "Royal Palace Tea" would make a terrific tea to have in honor of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19.
Naturally, a tea tasting was in order for this "black tea with lemon and grapefruit," and I wasn't surprised at all that I loved it. It's a brisk-tasting tea with those citrusy notes I adore, and while I've only had it hot, I'm sure it would be delicious iced as well.
But those graphics make this tin a real keeper and one I'll proudly have on my tea table (or tea trolley; I haven't decided yet) come May 19! You can find this tea for yourself by clicking here. Plus, you can save 20 percent sitewide right now AND get free shipping on any size order. (No connection to Harney other than being a longtime happy customer who likes to see my friends get a deal!)

"The Tea Room Business" by Mrs. Ida Lee Cary

Can you read the title of this booklet?
It's "The Tea Room Business" by Mrs. Ida Lee Cary, and I found it on the Library of Congress website through the link here. So 98 years ago, women were being enticed into the business world this way: "Tea Room Business is the most attractive and profitable way for a woman to earn money in her own home. Though married you will find you can buy many things for yourself and family that you could not buy if you did not have a business of your own."
Mrs. Cary goes on to give some suggested menu items for your tea room, and it's clear that in 1920, this was more of the "country cooking" style of tea room than the tea-and-crumpets tea rooms we enjoy today. I was happy to see a chicken salad sandwich on the menu, though, although the "lettuce sandwich" didn't sound very appetizing. I wished the booklet included the recipe for the chocolate cake that Mrs. Cary says is "a great favorite with everyone," but a few more seconds of prowling the internet led me to this. More fun reading courtesy of Mrs. Cary and her tea room!

The merry, merry month of May

In my neck of the woods, May is indeed one of the merriest months for flowers, and I thought I'd share a few blooms that I've been enjoying! The iris are very happy this year, and I love the purple ones but especially the mauve and yellow ones.
A few late-blooming daffodils are still around. 

The roses are starting to bloom …

And I'll forever be partial to the pink ones, I suppose!
Most tea lovers I know are also great fans of all things floral, so I wanted to mention a book I've been enjoying, Rachel Ashwell's newest release, My Floral Affair.
This two-page spread of pretty dishes has me hankering to spread out all my dishes and create a similar photograph, so don't be surprised if something like that turns up here soon.
And aren't these pretty pink roses and macarons simply dreamy? I'll bet some of you have this book already. If you do, what's your favorite part?

A royal wedding mug and "English" silverplate

The weekend's shopping finds both have an English influence, and I feel compelled to share them now that we're just weeks away from the next royal wedding! First, there's this lovely commemorative mug by Molly Green that I found at T. J. Maxx for $5.99. Every tea-loving wedding watcher needs one of these, right?
With so many tea wares made in China and merely decorated in England anymore, I was surprised to find this sticker inside the mug reading "Designed & Made in England."
Here's the back of the mug, and I'll be interested to see if it bears any resemblance to real life!
My bargain find for the weekend was an old silverplated dish I found at a new-to-me thrift store in Carrollton, the Blake House Thrift Store (it's near the Publix Shopping Center, if any of you locals are curious). If I had an antique store or a place to resell items, I would have loaded up there! They had beautiful glass-handled tidbit plates, china platters, a few teacups and teapots, and nothing was over about $4. But I'd been searching for a small candy dish, and I love the pierced design on this one.
"Old English Silver Plate by Poole," it says, and I've purchased a fresh new container of Wright's Silver Polish so I can pretty it up. I believe Poole was a Massachusetts company, but I can't blame them if they, like me, like all things English!

Tea Lovers' Book Club: "Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes" by Karen Rose Smith

Summary: In this new Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery series from Karen Rose Smith, young widow and mother of two Daisy Swanson runs a tea garden along with her aunt, Iris Albright, in the town of Willow Creek, Pennsylvania. Iris has been seeing a local businessman named Harvey who is close to finalizing his divorce from his gold digger of a wife, but before the divorce is finalized, Harvey is found dead in Daisy and Iris's herb garden. Plenty of folks seem to have had a possible motive for killing Harvey, including some business associates and his almost ex-wife.
My thoughts:  I enjoyed the scenes in the tea room as well as the interactions with the Amish locals. Plus, it's always fun to put myself in the position of "tea room owner," especially since I enjoy reading about female entrepreneurs. I appreciated knowing that one of Daisy's daughters was adopted and the storyline surrounding that.
The judgment: I found it interesting that both Daisy and Aunt Iris had to deal with grief, and I pondered the fact that cozy mysteries don't normally make me sad, as this one did. Daisy is still mourning her late husband, Ryan, although she's clearly thinking about moving on with her life. For Iris, the grief is much fresher, and at times, I felt sympathy for both women.

For discussion: The "Lemon Tea Cakes" of the title are mentioned quite a few times  in this book, and I had a hard time figuring out exactly what they were based on the picture on the cover. That looks like a miniature pound cake of some type. In my neck of the woods, however, a "tea cake" is an old-fashioned, very light and cake-like cookie. When I got to the recipes at the end of the book, I found that the cookie version of "tea cake" is what this author had in mind too. Were you picturing a cake or a cookie as you read?

Next Month's Book: I'm ready for some nonfiction again, and a book that I'm intrigued by is "The Way of Tea and Justice: Rescuing the World's Favorite Beverage From its Violent History" by Becca Stevens.

Shopping day with a 19-year-old birthday girl

Some of you who've been reading this blog for years may remember this little girl. Well, niece Cari turned 19 last week and decided to come here to Newnan for a shopping day.
So here are my sister Rhonda, Cari's mom, and myself out at Ashley Park, our "lifestyle center" that gets a lot of out-of-town visitors. Cari used her birthday money and gift cards to buy the typical 19-year-old's favorite treats: clothes, shoes, and jewelry. She also wanted to go to Charming Charlie, so we did.
And my sister immediately spotted this travel mug and turned to me and said, "You need this." My sister isn't one for impulse purchases, but she was right about this. 
If you're having trouble reading it, it says, "I like to party and by party I mean stay home and drink tea." This mug is absolutely perfect for a tea-loving introvert like myself, and it's a fun souvenir of my day helping Cari celebrate turning 19!