Angela Webster McRae's Blog, page 142

"Elementary, She Read" by Vicki Delany

"That high tea was great," the customer with the grand bust said to me. "I'll be telling all my friends about this place."

"What high tea?" I said. "Oh, you mean afternoon tea. You really shouldn't get those mixed up. High tea, sometimes just called tea, is what the working man calls his dinner, and afternoon tea is what you had."

— From Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany

Tea lovers, I just finished a new cozy mystery that I think you'll enjoy as much as I did, and I particularly love the premise of this one. In the small town of West London, Massachusetts, Gemma Doyle runs a Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium at 222 Baker St. (221 Baker St. wasn't available). Gemma is English but came to America to help her Great Uncle Arthur run his bookstore, and they also own half of the business next door, Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room.

The bookshop sells all things Sherlock, including not only books but also such items as busts, puzzles, mugs, dish towels, and the occasional rare collectible. A near-priceless issue of a magazine that published the first Sherlock Holmes story lands in the shop under some highly unusual circumstances, and when Gemma—along with her tea-shop-owner friend Jayne—tries to restore the magazine to its rightful owner, the two come across a dead body and find themselves suspects in a murder investigation.

Like her store's namesake, Gemma possesses some amazing powers of deduction. It's great fun to watch her do things like introduce herself to a character she's never met before, getting the person's identity correct based simply on her powers of observation. The author gives us plenty of red herrings, the requisite dust-ups with local law enforcement, and, of course, enough cups of tea to make us all want to go browse through the book shop and order "afternoon tea" at Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. The second book in the series hits shelves September 12, and I can't wait!

A teacup pattern that's familiar …

I always love seeing what will be on the cover of the new issue of Tea Time magazine, and this time, the pattern was one that's quite familiar, this rich blue-and-gold-toned Heirloom pattern from Royal Albert.
This pattern is featured (third from top) on the cover of my book Teatime Tales.
I guess everyone sees "fall" when we see this Heirloom china, because I served a yummy fall-ish carrot soup in mine. (The recipe is here.) I don't know about you, but I do my best cooking and baking in the fall. When the weather turns cooler, I love to spend time trying out new recipes, and this new Tea Time has some great ones, from a curried egg salad that I would *not* reserve just for teatime to a chocolate-drizzled peanut butter shortbread whose photo made me want to lick it right off the page. This issue definitely has me drooling ahead to fall. Are you a fall baker too?

This year's Hallmark Tea Time ornaments!

While I've bought a few vintage Hallmark ornaments online and at antique malls over the years, I've rarely collected any tea-themed ornaments the year they actually were introduced. Last year, however, I bought
Here's the teapot…
And here's the teacup and teapot both in the package insert. (I love that they are packaged so carefully in the insert, so hopefully these will stay safe through the years and truly end up being "Keepsake" ornaments.) Are any of you collecting these ornaments as well? Got yours yet?

Alex's book is released this week!

This doesn't have anything to do with tea, but it does have something to do with me, so I thought that those of you who live in the area might like to know that my husband has finally (after many years of requests!) compiled some of his award-winning newspaper columns into a book, and his first book signing will be this Thursday from 3-5 p.m. at Redneck Gourmet in downtown Newnan! (A second signing will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Carnegie downtown.)

Here's a brief description of the book: "Southern humorist Alex McRae shares a collection of his award-winning newspaper columns. From possums and puppies to donuts and dating, these columns are guaranteed to make you laugh, cry or get mad. If you like down-home humor with a side of sass, you won't be disappointed."

His illustrator and friend David Boyd Sr. will be on hand, and Mrs. Earlene Scott, beloved Newnan bookseller, is coming out of retirement to supervise the signing. It should be a fun afternoon, and for those of who know and enjoy Alex's work, I'd love to see you there!

The Grandmother of the Fairy Gardens!

Friends, do I have a treat in store for you today! And this is purely thanks to the kindness of a reader, Pam P., who recently sent me an email and shared photos of some of the fairy gardens she and her grandchildren have made this summer. When I asked whether I might share them here, she graciously said yes, and I hope you'll be as inspired by her ideas as I was! Here is Pam's own fairy garden. 
 I love that her fairy is holding a teapot, and you'll also note that adorable table with two teacups and saucers sitting at the center of the vignette! (And those tiny mushrooms—adorable!)
Here is Pam's granddaughter Lainey, 14, with her fairy garden composed in a beautiful ruffled container and sporting several levels of interest. I had not considered elevating a feature within a fairy garden, but what a great idea!
And here is a more detailed shot of Lainey's garden. "We made the little table for the cup and saucer out of rocks and jewelry-making pieces," Pam said. Brilliant!
Eleven-year-old Saralynn made a fairy garden as well, and I'm so impressed that all three ladies made quite different styles of fairy garden. Pam searched thrift stores for bowls,  she said, but the lovely fairy came from Pike's! (It had not dawned on me to search an actual nursery for fairy garden supplies. But of course!)
For this scene, Pam said, the tiny cups and saucers on that darling little table and chairs are actually *jewelry charms* from Michaels!
And while grandson Carter isn't pictured (and probably wouldn't want to be featured on a tea blog!), Pam did share the "man cave" he made, which I thought was a terrific twist on this idea, and one some of you may wish to keep in mind if you have young grandsons or nephews who might like to make one of these. She said Carter's container is a pot his dad uses when camping, and the "ladder" on the side is made out of Lincoln logs!
After being inspired by Pam, I visited both Michaels and JoAnn over the weekend (and Hobby Lobby is on the list as well), and I'm going to start with a fall-themed fairy garden and try to update it seasonally. Here are my takeaways after reading Pam's advice and checking out the local stores:
— Shop thrift stores for unusual containers for fairy gardens.— "Nature provides beautiful items for decorating them as well." White rocks and river rocks work nicely, she said.— At Michaels, the fairy items and the miniatures are on opposite sides of the store, Pam pointed out, so  check out both.— Pam noted that fairy garden items sometimes get discounted. At the Fayetteville Michaels, she found some fairy garden items for 70 percent off! (And I noticed on Saturday that JoAnn had fall fairy garden items at 50 percent off already.)
I hope to have my fall-themed, tea-themed fairy garden up and in business within the next week or two, so stay tuned. And special thanks to Pam for sharing all these great photos and ideas!

The Fall Baking magazine winner is …

Ruthie Miller! And I've just sent you an email so that I can see about getting this in the mail to you. Thanks to all who entered!

Who was growing tea in 1813? We were!

Granted, I am a tea nerd, but I was quite excited to come across a publication with some tea history I'd not read before! This is the 1879 Special Report titled "Tea-culture As A Probable American Industry" by William Saunders, Superintendent of Gardens and Grounds, Department of Agriculture. (I found this, of course, on the Library of Congress website, and you can access it here.)

Here's some intriguing info I found on page 5:

"With regard to the introduction of the tea-plant into the United States, the earliest notice which has come under my observation is contained in the following extract taken from the Southern Agriculturist, published in 1828:

I find that the tea-tree grows perfectly well in the open air near Charleston, where it has been raised for the last fifteen years at M. Noisette's nursery. Tea, as exported from China, would cost too much in the preparation, for each leaf goes through a particular process there. But, as this is probably done with a view of economizing room and preserving its freshness in the long sea voyage to which it is exposed, we might, in raising it as a crop, use it and export it, at least northwardly, dried in the same manner as senna or hops."

So, if my calculations are correct, if in 1828 tea had been growing for 15 years in M. Noisette's nursery, that means tea was growing near Charleston in 1813, much earlier than I'd believed!

The piece goes on to mention efforts by a Junius Smith to grow tea in Greenville, S.C. "about 1848." And 1848 is also the earliest date I have found for Dr. Charles Shepard's tea-growing experiment at Pinehurst Tea Plantation in South Carolina, which provided some of the plants that later became part of the Charleston Tea Plantation.

Yet another fun discovery in the never-ending history of tea!

Wild about Teavivre's Wild Tree Black Tea!

This week I got around to sampling a new tea I recently received from Teavivre, their Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Ancient Wild Tree Black Tea. As soon as I opened the package, I got the sense something was different about this tea. The scent was similar to fresh wood shavings but with a pleasantly musky note as well.

The thin, wiry leaves were a deep, inky black, with a few of those golden bits you find in Yunnan teas. Here's what the website says about this tea: "The local tea tree is Fengqing large leaf species, (which) can produce thick tea leaf. Our Ancient Wild Tree black tea then has large, strong leaves. The dry tea is glossy and dark, covered with thin pekoes. Its full aroma and bold taste can be revealed when brewed, as well as the particular strong taste which brings a characteristic of raw pu-erh to this black tea."

Steeped, the tea had a somewhat smoky fragrance, a pleasant one, and the taste was rich and layered, so much so that I detected different notes with each sip. A rich black tea? Yes, but also smooth and with a taste that, for some reason, made me go, "Aah, fall is on the way." And all that in an unflavored black tea. I was impressed and look forward to enjoying more cups of this fine tea!

August Giveaway: Victoria Classics Fall Baking magazine

Fall is not officially here yet, and won't be for a while, but the fall magazines have started to hit the newsstands, and the Fall Baking issue from Victoria Classics is one of the most tempting fall issues I've come across in ages. From the Pumpkin-White Chocolate Soufflé Cake on the cover to the mile-high Caramel Cake, at top right, and Orange Chocolate Caramel Tart, at bottom right, these treats look amazing.

Some of the recipes are for individual serving size treats that would be perfect on the tea table, including the Cappuccino Blondies and Chocolate and Sea-Salted Caramel Nut Tartlets. So if you'd like to win a copy of this issue for yourself, just leave a comment to this post between now and 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, telling me which of the five recipes I've mentioned here sounds *most* appealing to you, and you'll be entered to win. And please make sure you've included an email address where I can contact you if you're the winner. Good luck!

Some new teatime fabrics

Lately I've been spending many of my free hours of the weekend stitching. Last weekend I finally finished the last block of a quilt I've been working on for years, and I've been inspired to start shopping for fabrics again so that I'll have plenty to see me through the fall and winter. When I came across this new teapot-and-teacup fabric, I wanted to be sure to share it here. I ordered it from the Fat Quarter Shop, and it's called "Royal Teapots" by Timeless Treasures.  I love how they even package their fabrics in plastic, so it's protected from dust until I get a chance to use it one day!

I've started collecting dark blue fabrics for a tea-themed quilt I've long had on my to-do list, and I knew that by the time this quilt moves to the front of the line on my project list, this fabric won't be around any more, so I decided to get it now.

And that prompted me to see what other tea-themed fabrics are out there these days. So for my fellow stitchers and crafters, here are a few of the ones I've found, some of which were shared with me by blog readers!

• Chicks on the Run by Cheryl Hanes for Benartex Fabrics

• High Tea by Jera Brandvig for Lecien Fabrics (I like the "Lemon Scone" colorway)

• Afternoon Tea — Rosette Tea Set — by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics

• Sausalito Cottage - Teacup Bliss by Holly Halderman for Lakehouse (I have a similar design in another colorway, but the lavender is lovely and reminds me a lavender-loving former blogger I know!)

• Tea Party Recipe Fabric

And if you know of any other fun new teapot and teacup fabrics, please feel free to share a link in the comments, because I know I'm not the only one who would like to know!