Teacup Tales

Merry Christmas Tea Friends! I'm excited to share with you photos from the Afternoon Tea I hosted last Sunday. It seems like every year I hope to host an Afternoon Tea, but other holiday commitments seem to get in the way. This year I was determined to host one because my goal for the season is to quality spend time with friends and family. Menu Scone Course Tea: Chestnut by Adagio Eggnog Scones with cream and homemade strawberry jam Savory Course Tea: Paris by Harney and Sons Cucumber and smoked salmon tea sandwiches Mini Spinach Florentine Quiches Honey Goat Cheese Phyllo Cups Spring Mix Salad with dried cranberries, Mandarin oranges and blue cheese crumble Sweets Course Tea: Honey Oolong by Esteemed Tea Collective Early Grey Homemade Truffles Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake (shown above) Assorted Walker shortbread cookies The scones (Tea Time Magazine recipe) and Chestnut tea appeared to be the "stars" of the tea.   Se...

Christmas Greetings! This season I participated in an ornament swap graciously hosted by Stephanie of  The Enchanting Rose . Stephanie matched us with partners and we gifted one another with an ornament and some holiday goodies. Look at this adorable ornament Susan in Michigan gifted me. I love snowmen, so this is the perfect ornament. Here's the back side with this important message.   She included these goodies too! I'm wearing these super soft socks right now. Love the herbal fruit tea sampler! Of course, chocolate is always welcomed and appreciated. I was matched with Adria in Colorado. She also loves snowmen, so this was a perfect match. I sent her a cloche ornament, Christmas tree notepad, Harney and Sons Holiday Tea and some chocolates. If you're reading this Adria, thank you for your sweet note. To view more ornament swap exchanges, please visit Stephanie's blog:  The Enchanting Rose . Participants will be posting their new ...

Season's Greetings, Tea Friends Last week I shared that I am hosting a Christmas Tea with friends this upcoming Saturday. I've been slowly collecting bone china Christmas teacups. In the last post I featured "Christmas Roses" by Queens. Here are three more vintage Christmas teacups that I've added to my collection. All were purchased on etsy.   I must admit that this is my favorite holiday teacup . It is a Royal Albert from the Flower of the Month series. I would love to collect more from this series. There are two Flower of the Month series. The first one was produced from the 1950s to 1960s and featured holly as the December flower. The cup shapes were Hampton, Countess and Gainsborough.  My teacup is from the second series produced in the 1970s with Montrose shape cups. Here is another Royal Albert titled "Poinsettia." This was produced in 1976 and has the same high quality of bone china as earlier patterns.   The la...

Welcome December and the Christmas season! I always look forward to Christmas and each year I try to do something a bit different. After mulling it over for a couple of years, I am (finally) going to host a Christmas Tea with new and old friends. Some years I get caught up in the last minute holiday shopping, decorating, cleaning the house and don't spend enough time with those closest to me. My overall hope for this season is to simply enjoy the company of others and invite people over. I started collecting vintage Christmas English bone china teacups a few years ago with the hope of one day hosting a Christmas Tea. I have to admit I've been spending a lot of time on etsy looking for other holiday themed teacups (at good prices). Here is the newest one in my collection:  December Christmas Rose by Queen's The rest of my Christmas teacups are red and green, so it is nice to have a different palette.  The design reminds me of Royal Albert's Flow...

Hello Tea Friends, Hope you are enjoying the magic of the season and not feeling the stresses that can be attributed to Christmas. This year I acknowledge that I'm pretty behind with shopping and cards, but I'm trying my best not to let this dampen my spirits. Last night I listened to some classical Christmas music and finally sat down to address my cards.  I set out a plate of peppermint bark, Danish butter cookies, along with a cup of fantastic white tea. Wednesday night I made a large cookie sheet of peppermint bark. I broke the pieces and wrapped them in cellophane bags. Makes a nice simple gift! This is all that is left...I definitely need to make some more. Last July I had the pleasure of experiencing afternoon tea at  Tea's Me Tearoom  in Hillsboro, Oregon. It remains the best food I've ever enjoyed in a tea room.  White Christmas Tea   I've been really eager to try more white teas recently. Even during a Ju...

I hope all of you are enjoying the start of the Christmas season. Our weather has cooled considerably and we are now finally able to wear sweaters.  It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... ~The house is decorated and the outside lights went up yesterday. ~I certainly haven't finished my shopping, but I know what I want to gift each person on my list. ~I want to "treat" myself to a new Nativity scene. Growing up I had one with a lit background for the stars. I would like one in that style again. I've been looking on amazon. ~I've cut out some new cookie recipes from HGTV magazine and Southern Living. I really want to try and bake the red velvet cake featured on the December issue of Tea Time Magazine. I look forward to a big baking day soon. After teacup collecting, ornaments are second on my list of favorite collectibles. I love glass ornaments! I also look for ornaments while on vacation and each Christmas we choose an ornament that represents s...

Welcome December! A month of decorating, cooking, entertaining, gift giving and of course tea drinking is heading our way! No matter how much I plan and organize, this month remains a busy one. My goal is to remember the real reason for the season and simply just enjoy being in the moment. Today's featured teacup is Royal Albert's Flower of the Month December cup and saucer: Christmas Rose This teacup and saucer features a Lenten rose, holly and berries. The cup shape is Montrose. I've been wanting to collect this series for some time and purchased my first (this) one last December on ebay. Next I would like to add the June teacup to my collection since it is my birth month, but the prices are pretty high for this series. Here's a pictorial link:  Royal Albert Flower of the Month Series Royal Albert began producing this series in 1970. Well, this December teacup needs some tea. So what better teas than holiday ones?...