Our Jane Austen Tea was a Huge Success!!!

Today was the day...  I had been planning  my Jane Austen Tea party  for a couple of weeks and today it finally came to fruition!

(Each place card had this lovely welcome )

Tea pot is on, the cups are waiting,
Favourite chairs anticipating,
No matter what I have to do,
My friends there’s always time for you.

 I had  created  some table  decorations  whose inspiration came from pinterest..  the Jane Austen theme and menu was inspired by  the December issue of Tea Time magazine.. And  my  very special friends and prayer pals  got together this morning to  enjoy the pleasures of tea, and fellowship...  It was  marvelous! 

First of all, I created these bookmarks   and  got them laminated at Staples  for each place setting~

This photo  graced the table 

As well  as, Mr. Darcy, who was also present! 

There, as well, you can see the place card with a delightful poem   decorated with blue transfer ware which I understand was  Jane's favorite. 

    I took this photo to send to our  sista'  who  has  recently moved to Utah...  We had never had a gathering without her....  We miss you, Colleen!!!

 These darling  silhouettes  are found on pinterest, too!

There were 5 of us in attendance... and  life's  complications  had kept us from  getting together for a few months.. Today was  just awesome...  the sharing,  the  edifying and prayer  was  amazing!

 One of the  items  suggested in the magazine was chocolate  meringues...  with a recipe...  they are nothing more than Mallomars so I just  bought a package  and  called it done!!!  No way was I going to make them!!!

I was  rather dismayed all week because our local grocers  didn't carry the cinnamon chips anymore  for my Cinnamon scones...  but I finally found them yesterday  at a smaller  market in town....  They were  delish slathered in Devonshire Cream!

My favorite item was  this platter of Mini Victoria Sponge cakes with raspberry preserves and  raspberry creme in the middle... YUM!  and the  cake  could be baked the day before which was a great help this morning getting it all together!!!

These Egg  and Cress canapes were super easy to  put together..  toast rounds,  a schmear of Dijon and mayo mixture. .. a slice of egg and  a garnish of Italian parsley!!!  They were a huge hit!!!The  Cress was  way to pricey and I had to purchase a  truckload of it so  a .99 package of parsley  did the trick!!! I was so pleased to locate the super thin sliced  Pepperidge Farm bread!

source  Tea Time

All in all it was a glorious morning with great friends and they all  went away feeling greatly  loved, appreciated and  with happy tummies!!!

For this tea I used Barry's Scottish  blend!

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It's a Red and White Christmas

So excited about  Sandi's new   Monday meme.... celebrating    the holidays in style!  Today  was  my day of transition....  time to pack up autumn and   start  the  big plan   for  Christmas!

So  right now.   I  am starting with a clean slate!Looks pretty dull doesn't it....  Well,   as  I am planning   for  the    holiday  festivities  I   have  made the first   great  decision... I have traded in my  black transfer ware  for the red!   HAHAHAHA!   

and  this lovely   English pastoral    by Johnson  Brothers is my  inspiration....    the tea is also putting a smile  on my face and a lilt in my step.....

So now I   will take  a stroll through the past few years  to  glean a few ideas...

Now  this    was  a favorite    from a couple of years ago....

I love  working plaids  into  every  room!  Must be the Scotch  in me... and I'm not talking the liquid kind!
That year I was  working the fruit theme, at least on the mantel....

it looked pretty  great  at night  all alight!

  but all mantels look  wonderful a t night... like the  angel one...

  I  loved the  dining room,  but alas,   there was no red transfer ware   to be seen...

I  am loving the   Christmas  village  and  once we cleaned the basement  we found  our    houses! yayayaya
  (My bad)
 
 and that year the   fox family and the red transfer ware  found  their home in the dining room!

But actually I had just started  collecting it back then....

IN 2013  daddy  went to heaven the week before Christmas....  it was a more serious  time... but  still  very  lovely,  because our   precious granddaughter  had recently been born!

it appears that the   red  transfer ware  will be  something a bit   new and fresh this year!!!
hmmmmm...

I  am pretty excited about  this   plan for the  2015....  I have this whole week to think about and put it into action!!!!   YAYAYAYA!
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Today's word: Cosy!

So bright and early this morning  I was up  preparing for my  brunch/chat   event with  my  BFF"s.. I was,  also,   taking advantage of this time to give my   Christmas gifts to  my friends  because  every one's  Christmas is   very  busy and   complicated this year. Plus,    we as a group  had  had the opportunity to go view the film War Room  last month,     and  when I saw   this book,

 I  knew we needed to have our own copies, and  I   didn't want them  to go ahead and get one when they saw it on  the book stands..  But this morning   was  so  cold and  dreary....   the sun wouldn't shine and the rain  would pour today.    So I  immediately set about warming up every room with   lights aglow....

 I love the    lamplight  and   cosy   look   of the rooms   this morning...

  The  mantel lights  and  harvest tree lights   made their statement of  " Come in, and  let's   have a cup of   warm  tea or coffee!"

 As I was  taking these photos this morning it registered with me  that  this very likely will  be  the extent of my holiday  decorating  this  season...    so I   revelled all the more  with my  harvest  lights and hues!

 Even the den   was  looking   inviting    with its  lamplight glow!

 Now this morning I didn't  get the  tea cups out...   today   was meant for a  hefty mug of coffee, so I used  my  wonderful collection of Bed and Breakfast mugs!    Every time we  stay at a B &B  I purchase their signature mug...  I love the  deep  tones of   autumn  best...in the above photo you can see the  gold and orange,     below the  maroon and green....    I just   love these  fabulous mugs.

 Then I turned my attention to the  point of entry...   friends  come to visit through the sunroom..

                                            After I got the  lights   and the heat  adjusted, 

it was  now time to get  busy in the kitchen. 

My offering for the morning  besides  a  busy coffee pot,    was   my  crustless Quiche... for a 12 inch  quiche dish,  I    cut up  1/2  of a large onion and 1/2 of a red pepper.

 I added that into a saute' pan  with about  1/2 of  a pound of sausage  crumbled and   sauteed them together.....

 meanwhile, I  broke 10 eggs into a mixing bowl  and  seasoned them with  salt, pepper, and  a  tsp of  nutmeg.  I added  at least 1/2 c  of half and half and   whisked  them together..  I added  at least  3 oz.  of     shredded Parmesan cheese  to the mixture.  I sprayed the  quiche  pan with    PAM,  added     all of the sauteed veggies and sausage and  spread it evenly  in the bottom of the pan, then poured the  egg mixture  over the top.  Using  a folk I   just  sort of  pushed  the  sausage down into the eggs and   evenly distributed the  cheese.  

 Then I   placed the   pan into  a preheated  400 degree oven.  It  baked for   around  30 minutes until  it was  solidly   cooked and  beginning to get golden brown around the edges.

   My  friend, Dot, brought the most   delicious  Honey Crisp  stewed  apples ....    the recipe  was 

 from a Taste of Home  site

We all had a grand time  around the table...   with  sweet fellowship,   tasty   food, and  

   gracious sharing!!!

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