Love and Tuesday Tea for Two

LOVE - Let Me Count the Ways

You are welcome to come and chat with me about your thoughts on love as Valentine's Day approaches.  Do invite a friend to come along to Silken Purse's tea party at Tuesday Tea for Two and we can all share in the delights of this special day. http://www.silkenpurse.blogspot.com


I  wonder if there is any topic more written about than love. The highs and lows, the hurts and healing, the regrets and dreams. I think the essence of the human condition is the need to be loved and to love.


I  wondered if there was anything new that I could write about love? I didn’t think there was. So I would love to share with you, some favorite quotes of mine on love.




A baby is born with a need to be loved - and never outgrows it.
~Frank A. Clark

 

Shall we compare our hearts to a garden -
with beautiful blooms, straggling weeds,
swooping birds and sunshine, rain -
and most importantly, seeds.


~Grey Livingston




The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree but to hold hands.
~Quoted by Alexandra Penney in Self




The hardest-learned lesson: that people have only their kind of love to give, not our kind.
~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960




Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. ~Peter Ustinov




Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. ~Robert Heinlein




Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
I Corinthians 13: 13

As Valentine’s Day approaches:

 May your days be filled with the warming rays of someone’s love.

May you be a source of some one’s love.

May you feel the Father’s  grace-filled  love for you.

I hope you had a moment to sip a cup of tea and ponder the ways you share love with those around you.  Spouses, children, neighbors, friends, pets and strangers: all flourish with love.


Photo credits hearts-teacup-and-saucer_-_19_95-emma-bridgewater
                   heart_teacup300
                   doggy.blogsome.com/2008/10/01/teacup-yorkies/

Winds of Change

“Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction”

T hank you for dropping by today.  Its a perfect day to ”nest” and savour the aroma and warmth of a steamy brew with a heart-warming chat .


C old! Artic, bone chilling cold.


W indy! A wind so strong that it ensures its frigid fingers


grasp your very essence.


C old! Windy!  The wind is a fierce force of nature today. I can hear the


roar of each gust, echo in the ravine outside my home.  As I watch the


cardinals perched on the barren branches, dancing hither and yon I


too feel an unsettling in my soul.


E ach day this week has brought its challenges and with that, decisions on


what direction our lives should take.  With an eye to the future, and its


uncertainties, I am trying to look at it, as opportunties, with positive


possiblities.   I suspect, if God wasn’t blowing change into my world, I


wouldn’t even take a glance outside my comfy circumstances any other


way or embrace the idea of change.

I would like to share a recipe for soup that my family enjoys on cold days, like today.
 
 

RIB STICKIN' BEAN & BARLEY SOUP

 

1  TBSP  olive oil

2             large carrots,  sliced

2             stalks celery, sliced

1             large onion, chopped

1 BOX     (900mL)    Campbell's Ready to Use Organic Vegetable Broth

1 CAN     (19 oz/540mL) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 CUPS    diced plum tomatoes, fresh or canned with liquid

1/4 CUP   nucooked pearl barley

2 CUPS    firmly packed chopped fresh spinach leaves, washed

Ground pepper, garlic, your favorite herbs to taste

 

1.   Heat oil in large saucepan, over medium-high heat.  Add the carrots, celery and onion, fresh garlic.      Cook and stir until vegies are tender.

2.   Stir in broth, beans, tomatoes and barley.  Heat to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for  30 minutes or until the barley is tender.

3.   Stir in spinach and seasonings to taste .  Cook until spinach is tender.

 

I have used Campbell's Chicken Ready to Use Broth and added leftover chicken or turkey, as well.

 

 

W hat better way to serve a piping hot soup than in pretty cafe au lait cups that a friend gifted me with.

 

Photo credit "Cardinal in Snow Storm" by Jayne

FORWARD...

FORWARD…


 On this dreary grey day, it is wonderful to have someone come to my blog door and sit awhile with me and share a cup of tea.  Please feel free to invite others to join me and my friend,   Silken Purse, Wednesday Tea for You and Me, at  theplumedpen.blogspot.com

As I have dropped in on a number of blogging friends I have been relieved to see the
trend has been toward “No New Year’s Resolutions”. I have chosen not to make
resolutions the last few years, simply because doing so has not proven to be effective for
me. High expectations, black and white thinking and the agony of defeat seem counter
productive. And if that is my expectation for myself, what about those poor souls around me?


That is not to say that I have given up on those few extra pounds I need to shed, eat in healthier ways, try a stint as a volunteer somewhere, organize my desk, my life or the other umpteen things on my list. I find for myself, that lists are the key for me to stay on track. One item on my list was to add the promised pictures from a few blogs ago: my aunt’s vintage suitcases with stationary and accoutrements and how I have pressed my orphaned creamer and sugar bowl into service. Every checked off item, regardless of importance, is a step forward.

My attitude and my gratitude towards each day will propel me forward, to accept the gift of the present with the lessons of the past in my head and faith of the unknown future in my heart, to keep trying. It’s a choice, I make.

If I am to offer acceptance, humility and grace to others, shouldn’t I be practicing this

philosophy on my own misadventures, trials and tribulations? Sometimes it is my heart

that needs to softened and accepting of my short comings, so that I treat my family,

friends, and those who may not be my friends, yet, with the same loving consideration.
With God’s grace this is possible.

 

"Tomorrow I will be better than I am today, as a person, …. That's the beauty of tomorrow. There's no such thing as a setback." Tiger Woods, 2008

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Psalms 103:8

T hank you for knocking on my door and stopping in for a visit. Do sit a spell and warm your toes by the fire and your fingers cupping your favorite tea. I hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends and had time to count your blessings.







THE LIGHTER SIDE

The New Year brings a renewed sense of starting fresh, for me. After a busy, bustling social season, with lots of friends and festivities the thought of getting back into routine feels reassuring to me, that there is a season for everything. I definitely enjoyed every sip and extravagant tasty morsel and don’t regret a one. Now its time to get on to the lighter side of life again, with an eye to sunny days when I might like to wear fewer layers and look a little lighter too.

Tea has wonderful healthy properties and there are so many ways to enjoy it, besides the comforting brew. I would like to share a dessert recipe with you that my guests have enjoyed. I don’t believe in denying oneself of dessert.

RED TEA PANNA COTTA

This is a creamy dessert that is satisfying without being at all heavy. I use pink depression glass teacups as my moulds.

¼ CUP berry-flavoured red tea, cooled  (for gelatin mixture
 3 1/2 TSP gelatin powder


3 1/2 CUPS 18% cream


3/4 TSP icing sugar


1/3 CUP berry-flavoured red tea, cooled  (for cream mixture)


Marinate ½ PINT raspberries in


¼ CUP berry-flavoured red tea, cooled


2 TSP sugar



Place ¼ CUP berry-flavoured red tea, cooled, in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin powder. Let stand for 5 minutes.



Heat the cream, icing sugar and remaining red tea in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until warm. Stir ¼ Cup of warm mixture into the softened gelatin, then add back into the saucepan. Gently warm the mixture for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
 

Lightly oil eight ½ cup moulds. Pour mixture into moulds and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.



Dissolve sugar in remaining red tea and marinate washed and dried raspberries.


Top each mould or teacup with a few berries and syrup and a sprig of fresh mint, if you have on hand.


Note: Tea should be well steeped for full flavour, but not bitter.

Serving a simple dessert in an unconventional way adds to the ambience of an evening.

T his is one way I “KISS,” my hostessing. Keeping It Simple and Stylish, your unique style of course.

D o give it a try and let me know how you made it, Keeping It Simple and Stylish.

Peace! Love! Joy!

T he wind is mischievously blowing the fluffy flakes of snow about this afternoon. Hither and yon like a game of tag they float gently almost settling on the ground only to be swept up by a jovial gust of wind to touch the top of a tree. Up and down, around and around they go to eventually settle with their friends who have been sidelined on the ground.

   
This playfulness reminds me of the child-like awe that I sometimes struggle to bring to this season of joy. You may have some memories in the distant past that some how take on a new sting, or be missing a loved, this time of year, too. Then now would be a good time to sit with a cuppa of your favorite tea, hot chocolate or latte and share the memories and the truths that you know in your heart and pause to savour them, nuture them lovingly like a child, so they will grow and heal that corner of your heart.

Please feel welcome to join the party at silkenpurse.blogspot.com for "Wednesday Tea for Me and Thee," and bring a friend. The more the joy!!

Isaiah 66:13    As a mother comforts her child,    so will I comfort you;

Luke 2:10     But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

My Pleasure to Meet You

My Pleasure to Meet You!

I am so glad to sit a spell with a fragrant cup of tea. I have missed my writing time the last few weeks, which surprises me, since this is very new to me. Once time permits I will be more diligent to post on a consistant basis and to drop in on you as well. What surprises me even more and encourages me more than I can say is to have comments from such wonderful, talented bloggers.

I am thankful to my dear friend, Silken Purse, from "Tuesday Tea for Two" and "Wednesday Tea for Me and Thee ", for her patient encouraging words that have given me the confidence to try to blog. A true friend, indeed. I know you enjoy her creativity as much as I do!

I hope you enjoy the couple of pictures I have taken and forgive my quick retreat as things need to be tended to. I am going to be testing a couple of recipes soon and will let you know the results.

I look forward to getting to know you better. Do drop in again!

Ready and waiting...

A little angel dropped in to
wish you Merry Christmas!

Tuesday Tea for Two

Thank you once again to Silken Purse www.plumedpen.blogspot for inviting me to tea. Lovely to be back and I hope you enjoy your time and tea with me.


Twice Baked Apple Crisp With a Cup of Tea


I t was a splendid autumn day. The air was crisp like the apples we were about to pick and the sun that had ripened them felt warm while the strong wind blew heartily. We were protected in the shelter of the rows of trees in the apple orchard. We were together, each with his own basket to fill with our choice of apples.

L ater in the kitchen with mountains of apples, each of us took his or her station and the fun began. The apples were peeled, sliced, and gathered into several bowls waiting for their deployment into either pie crusts or casseroles. The appropriate toppings were set aside. By the time the last core was tossed there were 3 apple pies and 4 apple crisps and some very hungry workers. The rest of the meal was completed as our “just desserts” were baking.

I t was a great feast. The turkey was proclaimed to be the best of my accomplishments to date,(thanks to Martha’s recipe) potatoes fluffy and buttery and the desserts grand! As we reclined, our appetites satisfied and us feeling satisfied with ourselves, I could smell something burning. When I entered the kitchen what did I find but an unattended apple crisp with a rather charcoal-ly extra crisp topping. Such horror and disappointment!

W ell, I just could not throw out all our hard work!! I popped it all in the fridge and wondered what to do. The next day, I knew what had to be done! Gingerly, I dissected the black topping from the still juicy apples. Then I mixed up a new batch of topping, spread it evenly onto parchment paper and baked it for 10 -12 minutes at 350 F and before it cooled placed it on top of the already baked apples that had come to room temperature.. Then I slowly re-warmed the apple crisp. Twice Baked Apple Crisp!! Yummy the second time around! Just add a cup of tea and some ice cream.

L ife can be a little like that don’t you think? Burnt toppings of our human frailties can be redeemed by God’s grace and change our lives back into something sweet.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

T ip:
My best pastry recipe: A trip to the Mennonite market an hour away from our house and buy their fresh pastry shells, store in the freezer until I want to spoil my loved ones. Perfect pie crust every time!