Author Archives: Ellen

Tea Recipes

These are the recipes that I thought worked well for my tea…

Mock Devonshire Cream from If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes ~

1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream

In a chilled bowl, beat cream until medium-stiff peaks form, adding sugar during the last few minutes of beating. Fold in sour cream and blend. Makes 1-1/2 cups.

Cynthia’s Chicken Salad (from Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader)

4 cups diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine the chicken, pecans, green onions, and celery in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir into the chicken mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cucumber-Basil Tea Sandwiches (from Victoria ~ The Pleasures of Tea ~ Hearst Books)
1 – 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons half and half
2 Tablespoons snipped fresh chives
1 unsliced loaf or 12 slices rye or wholewheat bread
1 English (seedless) cucumber, cut into thin slices
24 fresh basil leaves

In a medium-size bowl, beat together the cream cheese and half and half until it is the consistency of soft butter. Stir in the chives.

Spread the cream cheese mixture on the bread and top with several slices of cucumber and a basil leaf. Serve the sandwiches immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes: 24 Sandwiches

Enjoy!

 

ABC’s of the Word ~ Brothers…

Psalm 133

A song of ascents. Of David.

 1 How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!

 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.

 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

For more ABC’s of the Word visit Pam at Grey Like Snuffie

Tablescape Thursday ~ Friendship Tea

It’s time for another fun day of viewing tablescapes in Bloggy World. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is our hostess for this event so click on over to her blog to see all the links to different tables set for us to enjoy.

Welcome to my Friendship Tea. I’m a table leader for our Women’s Bible Study at my church and I invited the ladies over for tea. It was fun putting together a tea table. Our Bible Study Women’s Leader is part of my table and it happened to be her birthday on the day of the tea so we had an extra celebration.

The Places were set and designated with these fun vase place card holders.

We had 3 different types of tea,  an Earl Grey, Peach Herbal, and a Russian Black Tea.

Cucumber- Basil sandwiches, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Scones, Dream Cookies, Heart shaped Red Velvet mini cakes, Mock Clotted Cream and Lemon Curd and Strawberries.

Thank you for visiting my Friendship Tea.

Before you go I just wanted to show you my actual Valentine Tablescape that Dear and I ate at on Valentines Day…

 

 

WFW ~ Psalm 148

Psalm 148

 1 Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens,
praise him in the heights above.

 2 Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

 3 Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars.

 4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.

 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for he commanded and they were created.

 6 He set them in place for ever and ever;
he gave a decree that will never pass away.

 7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

 8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,

 9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,

 10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,

 11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,

 12 young men and maidens,
old men and children.

 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

 14 He has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his saints,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the LORD.

For more Word Filled Wednesday click over to Amydeanne’s

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Walks and Birds!

Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer started Outdoor Wednesday where you can post any outdoor photos you’d like to share.

My outdoor photos this week were taken Saturday at the beach and Tuesday on a walk with my bloggy friend Willow.

These little Sanderlings are so much fun to watch because they move really quickly all together.

On Saturday it seemed like the SeaGulls wanted to fly right at my camera.

We have seen lots of Pelicans flying just above the water on our walks. This is the first one we’ve seen just resting on the sand.

It’s been raining in Southern California for a few days now so on our walk today Willow and I saw this waterfall that we generally do not see during most of our dry days here.

Quail are the State Bird for California and we saw a nice little group of them. Such a great looking bird.

Usually these little birds flit about so much I can’t get a photo but this group decided to sit still long enough for me to click away.

More evidence of our rain here. This little run-off creek is generally bone dry on our walks but today it was babbling quite nicely for us!

For more Oudoor Wednesday visit Susan here.

2nd Time Around Tuesday – Cake Plate

First of all I’d like to say thank-you to everyone who gave me suggestions on how to repair this cake plate I’m showing for the renamed Trash to Treasure Tuesday. Trash to Treasure is now 2nd Time Around Tuesday and our hostess is still Diane at A Picture is worth a 1,000 Words.

I bought the plate and base even though they were separated for $5.00 at a local thrift store. This was before the repair. We just set the top on the base to show what it’s suppose to look like. Dear used Super Glue Epoxy Adhesive since that’s what he already had in the garage. Here it is 24 hours after the repair. It seems to be holding firm. I will never immerse it in water but just wipe it clean when it needs it.

I really like my $5.00 thrift store purchase that will have a second time around…

To see more treasures or to join on in visit Diane at the link above…

Three or More Tuesday!

My Three or more Tuesday this week is from our early morning walk at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura on Valentine’s Day. Four Godwits on the sand digging with their long beaks to find some goodies to eat. Hey look there are 3 or more rocks and 3 or more waves, too.

For more Three or More visit Tam at The Gypsy’s Corner.

 

Metamorphosis Monday With Blue ~

For this weeks Monday Posts I’m combining Met with Blue. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch and Sally at Smiling Sally are the hostesses of these two weekly events. Met Monday is all about transformations, before and afters. Blue Monday is anything Blue.

 

We have been on the lookout for some bookcases to replace a small folding one we’ve been using between our living room and dining room. We wanted to add some width and height to the space. On Valentine’s day we found the bookcases at Target and Dear put them together.

Both Dear and I think this space has a more “grown-up” look now instead of college dorm.

Some closer shots of the shelves where I can put some of my china, too. See the blue :0)?

The photos in this frame got a “Met” job too. I purchased mats and shuffled the photos. These are our children. I really like the transformation with the added black mats.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today. Have a great week.

For more Metamorphosis Monday visit Susan here.  For more Blue Monday visit Sally here.

 

Beloved Let Us Love ~ Hymn

 

Beloved, Let Us Love

Belovèd, let us love: love is of God;
In God alone hath love its true abode.

Belovèd, let us love: for they who love,
They only, are His sons, born from above.

Belovèd, let us love: for love is rest,
And he who loveth not abides unblest.

Belovèd, let us love: for love is light,
And he who loveth not dwelleth in night.

Belovèd, let us love: for only thus
Shall we behold that God Who loveth us.

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bon­ar, in Sup­ple­ment of the Bap­tist Psalms and Hymns, 1880.