Angela Webster McRae's Blog, page 58

Tea Time magazine - July/August 2022

I'm just now getting around to reading the new Tea Time magazine, and of course I knew I would enjoy it since it's their annual British issue.

But what I did not know was that there would be so much Wedgwood history in this issue, and I absolutely love books and articles about Wedgwood china. Bruce Richardson is the author of a piece titled "Josiah Wedgwood: Britain's Pottery Tycoon." It mentioned a few things I already knew—Jane Austen shopped at Wedgwood; Josiah was the grandfather of Charles Darwin—but it also mentioned something that if I ever knew it, I had forgotten it: Josiah had a wooden leg, having had a leg amputated as a result of childhood smallpox! Richardson quotes William Gladstone, who wrote, "In the wonderful way of providence, that disease was probably the occasion of Wedgwood's subsequent excellence," noting that Wedgwood "was the greatest man who ever, in any age, or in any country … applied himself to the important work of uniting art with industry." I find this fascinating!

But wait! There's more! The next feature, titled "A Tea Set for Friendship and Peace," written by editor Lorna Reeves, tells how Wedgwood was commissioned to make 3,000 tea sets commemorating King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's 1939 visit to the US at the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, particularly significant as it was the first time a reigning British monarch had ever visited here. Check out this teapot with the King on one side, the Queen on the other, and an American eagle finial on top. Can you imagine finding one of these? (And yes, I've looked on eBay. No luck.) I so enjoyed these two articles on Wedgwood, and if you're not already a Tea Time subscriber, you may want to pick up this issue if you, too, happen to be an Anglophile!

Hyleys Coconut Tea with Dark Chocolate

 

I was in the mood to try to a new chocolate-flavored tea when I spotted this one on Amazon Saturday morning. I ordered it and that Tea at the Palace cookbook that morning and had them in my hot little hands Saturday night, thanks to the magic of Amazon's same-day delivery. That was a first for me!
Interestingly, this tea is a green tea, not a black, and the coconut flavor was quite pronounced, with the chocolate flavor definitely in second place, and I really enjoyed this tea! Hyleys is a new name in tea to me, though. Are any of you familiar with this vendor? If so, are there any other flavors you recommend?

Some (much-needed) pleasure reading: "Tea at the Palace"

Happy Monday, friends! It's a much happier Monday for me than it has been lately. My husband, Alex, has had heart challenges he's been managing well for years, but he had a scary heart-related episode two weeks ago that landed him (and thus me) in our local hospital, where the doctors did a great job of adjusting his medicines so that we could finally come home. One of the most bizarre things was that he had hiccups for five straight days! That was incredibly frustrating for him, and we finally sent an email asking our prayer warriors at church and our Sunday School class to pray about this. He also got some new medicine shortly after this, and the hiccups stopped the next day. I jokingly (I thought) asked the doctor whether she thought it was the medicine or the prayer, and she pointed both hands upward and said, "Hey, I give all the glory to Him!" So if any of you would feel led to include Alex in your prayers in the days ahead, I would be grateful. He's home now and feeling well, and my greatest prayer is that this will continue. Now as any of you who've "lived" at a hospital for any length of time will recall, it's easy to lose track of the days there. Only when Alex turned the news on from his hospital bed one morning did I realize that it was the week of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and I nearly missed it. It was so lovely for both of us to just watch the celebration coverage for a bit and get our minds off hiccups and hearts! Not surprisingly, I came home determined to catch up on all things royal, and that's one reason I ended up ordering this lovely new book, Tea at the Palace by Carolyn Robb, who once served as personal chef to the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Because Robb cooked for TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales at many grand palaces and castles, she organized her book into chapters based on the teatime treats that would have been served at each royal residence. I particularly enjoyed the aerial views like this one of Kensington Palace.

The food photography is wonderful, and I loved the floral-themed treats in the chapter on Kew Palace, which is known for its Kew Gardens. These miniature Rose and White Chocolate Cupcakes are definitely the sort of thing I would enjoy serving at teatime.

And now that Georgia is seeing temperatures in the nineties, I am naturally thinking ahead to fall, one of my favorite times of year and definitely my favorite *baking* time of year. These Caramel Apple Turnovers are going on my fall baking list.

While most of these recipes would be suitable for any tea, I was pleased to find this charmingly British recipe for Gingerbread Soldiers with Sentry Boxes. What clever treats! Robb's tidbits about cooking for the royals are quite fun to read as well, and if you, too, like teatime and the royal family, this is definitely a cookbook you'll enjoy!

Le Petit Déjeuner … with tea?

I always love coming across new tea-related images on the Library of Congress website, but one that I found this week is a little puzzling. Titled "Le Petit Déjeuner," the print "shows a young woman sitting at a table, reading a letter(?), and having tea or coffee."

Okay. But that sure looks like what I call a Turkish teapot, that metal contraption with a stick-like handle rather than a circular handle. The image is a French etching from 1770-1820, so I sure would have expected to see a traditional china teapot in the photo. (Any readers happen to know about French tea wares of that period? If not, I guess I'm off to do some more research!)

Celestial Seasonings Vermont Maple Ginger Tea

When I was at a Whole Foods store not long ago, I came across a new blend of Celestial Seasonings in a maple flavor, one of my favorites, but I don't normally drink what I think of as fall-flavored teas until much later in the year.

This herbal blend sounded too good not to try, though, so it went home with me, and it was delicious! I've only found this one at Whole Foods, but it has a lovely, smooth maple flavor with a touch of ginger, and surprisingly, I like it anytime, including in this warmer weather when I usually drink only black teas and fruity blends.

And while Celestial Seasonings always has great graphics, I thought this one was especially fun. Have any of you tried this blend? I'm sure a fan!




 

China finds , the Queen's red box, and a bucket list bracelet!

On a recent Saturday of thrifting with Aunt Jane in nearby Carrollton, I came across some fun finds that were just too great to pass up. 

This RS Germany cup and saucer set at Goodwill looked so old and Victorian that it immediately caught my eye. I stood there holding it, examining the back stamp with my readers on and trying to decide whether I really needed this $2.99 set, when I heard, "Angela!"

I turned around and saw my friend Yana, who lives in Newnan and is originally from Ukraine. Yana designs all the beautiful, romantic jewelry she wears (and sells), and I had to take a selfie to share with a friend who knows us both. ("Look who I ran into!") Yana took a look at my teacup and said that yes, I needed that.

But the ReThread thrift store in Carrollton is where I really racked up! I had already decided to start collecting pretty butter pats with roses on them, and this $2.99 piece, Haviland French Limoges, fit the bill. I need about a dozen of these small (2-1/2- to 3-inch) pieces to fill a display case I've got, but I'm not in any hurry to find them and will add them only when I find them at bargain prices like this.

I also picked up this red velvet case just because it was so unique! Can't decide whether it will hold craft supplies or my vintage tea-themed valentines or even jewelry, but it was just $6.99 and reminded me of Queen Elizabeth's famous red boxes.

But the REAL find of the day was this bracelet. Those of you who've read my Junkin' Jewelry mysteries may (I hope!) remember that my main character's cat is named Miriam Haskell in honor of one of her favorite jewelry designers. And while I had a few pieces of Miriam Haskell when I was a teen (I've been into vintage for a longggg time), I currently own not one piece. I love the jewelry, but I am just not willing to shell out the hundreds and even thousands of dollars this costume jewelry currently commands. I took one look at this pretty purple-and-magenta bracelet in the case at ReThread and suspected it might be Haskell. 

When I saw the signature, I had to have it. Just $45? It's probably worth ten times that, so yes, please. I asked to try it on, and then I mentioned that I noticed a few stones missing. I debated for half a second, remembering there are services that will replace rhinestones on old jewelry, and before I could say, "I'll take it," the clerk said, "Since there are stones missing, how about $20?" I was stunned but delighted, so I'm betting this lovely piece will make an appearance in an upcoming book!

Celebrating Queen Elizabeth!

Didn't the Queen look lovely on the balcony at Buckingham Palace yesterday for her Platinum Jubilee? I was so happy to see that smile, and her dress and hat were beautiful. I was so sorry to hear that she wasn't feeling well afterward, so today, I'm sharing photos of my Queen Elizabeth coronation teacup and other memorabilia as I wish her well!

Seeking advice from floral-design friends!

Recently, I found a pretty blue chintz flowerpot at a thrift store for just $1.99. I love the pattern (I think I used to have a teacup in this same pattern), and I thought this piece would be fun for growing herbs like the mint I enjoy in my summertime tea. But some old floral oasis has practically petrified inside, and I am worried about harming the flower pot if I keep trying to chunk away at it. Soaking it in dish soap didn't do it. Neither did leaving it out in the rain for a few days.

I've never arranged flowers, but I'll bet *somebody* here has done so and knows what to do about stubborn oasis. My Googling has not produced any possibilities I feel safe trying, so if any of you know how to get dried oasis out of a flowerpot, I would be more than grateful if you'd share it!

Remember and honor …

 

A teacup rain chain

This pretty verdigris finish teacup?

I now have eight of them thanks to a new rain chain I bought over the weekend! I've had teacup bird feeders and teacup wind chimes, but I'd never even seen a teacup *rain chain* until I spotted this one at a cute shop called the Vintage Owl in Lavonia, Georgia, last weekend. Originating in Japan, rain chimes, I learned, were designed as an alternative to gutter downspouts, a decorative way to collect water or direct it away from the house.

But this huge sweetgum tree in my front yard had a metal swing arm mounted on it when we moved here sixteen years ago, so I removed the bird feeder I'd had hanging there and hung the rain chain. It's been raining a bit off and on all week, but I'm waiting on a real gullywasher to see how this piece performs. I have a feeling that rainstorms this summer are going to be much more fun to watch!