HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

I have enjoyed decorating

various tables over the years

and finding green items for

a St Patrick's Day theme (though

I am not Catholic I enjoy it just for

the fun).  This little reel reflects

many such times going back through

photos from the past:

  

MARCH IRISH TEA TIME

 Our March has been flying along

 so it's time to have a nice

cup of Irish Breakfast tea 

and take a pause in this day. 

I still have a vase of dried green

hydrangeas from last summer.

I have shared the tea cozy I made

years ago with my Grandmother's

linens she embroidered for me.  There

were quite a few napkins so I cut a 

couple of the stained ones up.

I pulled the March issues of the older

Victoria Magazines to enjoy:

A cup of hot tea and an old Victoria magazine

make for happy moments for sure.

We might get some snow tonight which

is no big thing compared to what many

of you have experienced lately.  I went

 out and took a few photos of some of

the bulbs that may not be so happy

about the snow.

I make collages for by Facebook page

but don't usually share them here so

today I leave one with you:

LEMON VELVET CAKE WITH TEA

 I saw a lovely recipe this week

on a friends site so I thought

it would be fun to bake it.

This cake is a little bit of production

as it has 4 different things:  the

batter for a 3 layer cake, the butter 

cream icing, lemon curd and heavy

 whipping cream.

We really should have refrigerated

this for a while before it was cut.

The recipe for Lemon Velvet

Cake is right here.

We had a lovely warm week but tomorrow

it will revert back to winter temps 

for the day.  How is your weather?

MARCH AND IRISH COLLAGES

 I am sharing a few of the collages that 

I have shared on my BTTCG FB page:

March is all about green and white

and the reminder that spring is just

ahead.

These are all from past photos

 and

March posts:

We continue to pray for the Ukraine.

I hope your weekend is relaxing.

IRISH CURRANT SCONES FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY

 

 I always look forward to getting out 

the tea cozy I made from one of the

napkins in a linen set my Grandmother 

made me 52 years ago when I got

married.  Several of the napkins were

stained over the years so I used those.

 

Today I set a little table for us to enjoy

our tea time down in my basement tea

room.  I have made us some Irish Currant

Scones to enjoy with our tea.

I haven't crafted much this year but

made the little decoration last year.

You might enjoy baking these scones 

which were super easy so I leave the recipe 

at the bottom of this post.

I found the little Dome Tea Cozy 

at a mall in Kansas City last year.

It would be for a tiny teapot.

This is an old vintage shamrock apron

in the collage above.

I love these

darling personal

sized pieces for

cream and sugar.

I have to tell you that we have had a week

of rain.  It just keeps coming and more

is expected tonight.  The little birds

are all wet and this morning I saw a 

squirrel climb into one of the birdhouses

trying to escape the rain.  I

will be glad when the sun comes

back out but I do remember that

our rain in Missouri would have

been snow in Colorado!

And now here are the ingredients

 for some very easy scones.  

IRISH CURRANT SCONES:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line

a baking pan with parchment baking

paper which really helps to keep it clean.

Combine dry ingredients first and then add

the other items:  2 cups flour, 1 Tb baking powder, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1 tsp salt, 3 Tb soft butter, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sour cream, and at the end add 1/2 cup of currants

I cut these 1 1/2" deep with a medium

scone cutter and baked them for 8 minutes in my convection oven so possibly 9-10 in a 

regular oven.

This recipe made 9 scones.

AN IRISH TEA TIME

Now that we can smell the air and

sense that off in the distance there

is just the slightest whiff of spring,

let's celebrate with a cup of Irish
Breakfast tea!

This was the coldest and snowiest

 winter for us since we moved to Missouri 
3 years ago.  So, we are ready for spring.

In the past, I have shared this doll which
 I purchased in Toronto, Canada back in 
the 80's and also the tea cozy I made
 from my Grandmother's napkin's she
embroidered for me when I got 
married in 1968.

This Irish Shamrock decoration was 
made by my friend Gina.  I have been
enjoying it in my kitchen window.

JANE AUSTEN'S IRISH PASSION

If you've seen the movie "Becoming

Jane" then you know a little something

about Jane Austen's relationship

 with the Irish fellow Thomas Lefroy

 and maybe you are the one who

 really knows the answer to the

 question:

  was Thomas Lefroy the inspiration for

 Mr. Darcy (Jane's beloved 

character in Pride and Prejudice

 or was it the infamous

 Mr. Wickham who was 

created to be like Lefroy?

With Saturday being St. Patrick's Day

I thought it best to stay on this journey

of Irish tribute and tea time - at least 

for this blog posting.

I do love the clothing of this Regency Period of time.  Do you? The Regency styles remind me of the sewing I did in the 70's when we wore those puff capped sleeves gathered at the top and then drawn in and went down tightly to the wrist.   The empire style had a lovely raised waist.  That sure brings back memories!

Yes, this photo from 2010 in my shop
brings back memories of a Jane Austen
 Tea Event.  I am retired now and both
 of these ladies (Elizabeth and Katrina)
 are now married and 
 Elizabeth on the left has 2 children.
   These young women were delightfully wonderful!

As you can see we have some lovely Irish
Raisin Apple Scones and you can find
this recipe - HERE.  I suggest a little 
more sugar - maybe 2/3 cup.

This tea cozy has Jane Austen fabric:

GRANDMAW'S LINENS FOR IRISH TEA TIME

Yesterday I was sewing  and had a

great view of the outdoors.  

Suddenly, it began to snow so

I went upstairs to the main level

for a cup of Irish Breakfast Tea!

Doesn't hot tea taste wonderful
on a cold day?

Right here in the kitchen I
set up a little table.

I recently made a tea cozy using
some of the linen embroidered
napkins my Grandmaw made
for me almost 50 years ago.
Since there were 12 large napkins
I used the ones that had some
 stains and cut out pieces that
missed the stained parts.

This little topper was one of the
table cloths Grandmaw embroidered
and I have a larger one.

I also pulled out some fun
 Irish cookbooks to enjoy.

A local friend,  Karen,  sent
me this Shamrock cup and 
saucer recently:

I have shared several recipes over
 the years
of various Irish Scones and one
can be found here.