A Valentine's Day Tea With Babies and Pup

Today has been so pleasant and cozy for Valentines. After Zane's nap we had some lunch and then turned on Cranford to watch and a nice cozy tea.

Zane and Strydess waiting together for tea to be brought out. They were watching a lady and little girl walking down the side walk.

 Zane loves watching period dramas. He loves looking for the horses and when he sees them he says, "MOOO" :)

Nana Strydess caring for the baby while I am busy.

When tea and the cookies were ready Zane couldn't stop saying "more, more, more, please, please"

When he saw the steam coming off the tea cup he loved playing with it.

In the middle of our tea and Cranford time the post arrived and a Valentine's Card from Grandma Ginny. Inclosed inside the card was a sweet gift for Ezra. 

Zane loved the teddy bear on the front of the card. 

So he had to kiss it of course :)

Zane insists the tea isn't hot for him, with his "more, more, more"I can't resist him and I let him sip my tea after warning him it is hot So he sips it very gently and carefully and then he says, "please, please, please, more, more, more" :)

Little Ezra was enjoying the sun shine coming through the window on the couch. He slept a bit and then he awoke for tea which he kicked his legs up and down and stared up at me. His cute little nose and lips are so kissable for mommy,

Here he fell asleep again after a nice long feeding. 

Hope you have time to get cozy and snug this sweet day. 

Much Love to you all!

Love 

~ Marie

Tea In The Garden With Honey Man and Baby

This afternoon Jon, Baby and I lounged in the Garden and enjoyed Tea with 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread.

One of my bloomers hiding from the ferocious puppy who has been eating my flowers

and everything else in the yard.

Peanut Butter Banana Moist Bread:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 

* 1 tsp baking powder 

* 1 tsp baking soda

 * 2 cup jaggery ( I just used a 1 cup and 1/2 regular sugar )

* 1/2 cup butter 

* 1 cup milk 

* 2 eggs lightly beaten

 * 2 mashed bananas 

* 1 tsp vanilla

 * 1 cup crunchy peanut butter ( I also altered the 1 cup to 1/2 cup Peanut Butter )

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C.  

2. Coat a pan with butter to grease it.  3. Mix flour, jaggery, peanut butter, melted butter with a wide spatula in a bowl till it becomes a crumbly mixture. Reserve one cup of mixture for later use.  4. Make a small well right in the middle of the mixture and add milk, eggs, mashed bananas, vanilla, baking Powder and baking soda.  5. Mix all the ingredients well into a batter.  6. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan and top it with the reserved crumble mixture.  7. Bake the cake for about 40-45 minutes and ensure that the top mixture (crumble layer) does not get burnt.  8. Check if the cake is ready by inserting a toothpick after 40 minutes. If it comes out clean, it’s ready to be taken out of the oven.  9. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the cake from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I wish everyone a delightful weekend!
Much Love
~ Marie

Tea with Julie, Lemon Lavender Cake

“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea”

Strydess helping me set up tea.

Julie and I try to get together for tea if were lucky once every week. It is something we haven't stopped practicing ever since I lived next door. 

This Weeks Menu:

Lemon Lavender Tea Cake

Fresh Strawberries 

Hot Black Tea

Tea Cake Recipe

Lemon Lavender Tea Cake:

6 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

1 1/4 cup cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract ( I didn't have )

* Because I didn't have lemon extract I used pure lavender oil ( 2 drops ) instead. If you don't have lavender oil you can use dried lavender leaves. 

Heat oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 5x9x3-inch loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy.

 In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until light and lemon colored; blend thoroughly into creamed mixture.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to the first mixture, alternating with the milk. Beat well. Blend in the lemon zest and juice and the extracts. Spoon batter into the prepared loaf pan. 

Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for about 45 minutes; remove from pan and cool thoroughly. If desired, sift powdered sugar over the top.

I spy a baby in this post,

 do you spy a baby?

Love 

National Tea Month

These last couple of weeks I have been declaring a National Tea Day just because I have such a itch for Tea, not even knowing that there was such a thing. I was reading Blessed Femina and she made a delightful post about January being the National Tea Month.

I loved her post so much. I loved the pictures of all her tea cups and pots. I screamed when she had names for them all. You can read her post hear.

So because we are nearing the end of January and our Tea Month is slipping through our fingers and won't come until next year.

*Alice Roosevelt

I thought I would post all my china that I take so much delight in. If you like you can also make a post about all your Tea China and leave a comment letting me know so I can link you to my post. If you love tea but don't have time posting all your favorite china you can leave a comment about your love of tea.

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I hope you get this before the month is over!!

You all have a most Blessed Day!

Links of those of you who are participating in celebrating National Tea Month.

Elizabeth ~ Asailingjourney

Connie ~ Downerhilights

4 O'clock Tea

I was pondering how good God is to me. Here is a picture of my sister Elizabeth on Skype having tea with me not too long ago when she still lived in Phoenix Arizona. We tried to have tea time at least once a week. but now I get her every day. We have 4 O'clock tea and it is our reading time. We get all of our books out and start reading and discussing what we are reading. I'm reading a book called Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. Its about Teddy Roosevelt' life. Elizabeth is reading a book by Celia Sandys, Wiston Churchill's granddaughter. The book is called, Churchill Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Marie's Nursing Tea

I made my own Nursing Tea the other day. I have been having a hard time producing enough milk for the precious Baby. I hope this is helpful for any mother out there :)

Here are all my ingredients for my Nursing Tea

1. Fenugreek
2. Marshmallow Root
3. Fennel Seed
4. Alfalfa Leaf
5. Chamomile
6. Nettle
7. Raspberry Leaf

I just mixed all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and then sealed it in a ziplock bag.

Directions:

Just add two teaspoons of tea to a boiling 4 oz tea cup of hot water and enjoy :)

Lilacs

Julie and I had a cozy tea time together on this rainy Wednesday afternoon. She brought over these beautiful lilacs from her garden, which are filling the entire house with their gorgeous scent. They brighton up the house is such a lovely way!

Tea and Scones

I am still here I have just been out of the blogging zone lately. I have a lot of posts to post but not much blogging energy. Our internet was off for a little but now it is up and operating.

 I have been busy researching a little Tea and Scone business for myself. I started wanting to sell cupcakes at a local Farmer's Market, when I went down to it last week to scope it out I realized I need to make something a little more authentic. John helped submit my Vendors application today and I hope to hear if I have been approved as a qualified vendor! I am testing out my scones this week to see if they are any good :) If I get approved and the Vendors Insurance isn't too much money I will hopefully start selling Scones and Tea every Saturday!

I hope everyone is well and had a wonderful Easter celebrating Christ Resurrection! 

Tea With Julie

Julie walked over for tea tonight! Her husband had a class and my husband was still working so we both had a night together! Oh what fun we had! I like her more every time I see her!

She brought me over two books that she recommended and I have started one already and it is very good, its called At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. The other book is by L.M. Montgomery who wrote Anne of Green Gables. We both are Green Gables and Jane Austin fans! I was so happy to hear that her favorite Pride and Prejudice movie was the A&E version. 

We talked about kids, family and her life in the military! Our time went by so fast! I think we will be making our little tea a weekly custom! 

Late Night of Home Work

Its Friday night and Jonathan is studying for his math test for tomorrow morning. 10:44 and we are having tea and tuna sandwiches! I found this blog searching for a picture on google and this girl made a beautiful peach cobbler! It got me up out of my seat to do the same! I found a white cake mix and a can of apricots. I just finishing making this peach cobbler (dump cake) I used my little red ramekins! Hopefully it tastes alright! The house is starting to smell of something yummy! I am enjoying my time with Jonathan. He is doing full time school and has his full time job. I don't get to see him that much any more. Just in the early mornings and the late evenings.