The Tea Trolley: Thanksgiving

Certainly this has been one of the fullest weeks of the fall! Last Saturday morning found us at Traders Point Creamery participating in their Thanksgiving market. We had fresh flowers, wool flowers, and mom's artwork.

We had so much fun! We all loved interacting with the people that attended and getting feedback in person is also very helpful.

Behind the table I made good use of my wonderful "airpot" and we all enjoyed hot tea (that's my new from Scotland green enamelware teapot!) or hot chocolate in my vintage mugs and I brought along a basket of my gingerbread muffins to go with it.

Here are some of the hard workers:

We had lots of visits from friends and family members which made the morning feel so festive!!!! We will be back at the Christmas Market on December 14th and looking forward to what a beautiful setting that will be!

I tried another new soup recipe this week: Portuguese soup. Something similar to this recipe but mine had turnips in it as well as a tin of tomatoes. It was a popular creation.

Our visitors this week began with missionary friends home on furlough. Dr. Jim is very popular with the kids. Maybe it is good for everyone involved that he lives so far away??? Here are the boys sporting their beards.

Grandma spent the night one evening so that Michael and I could travel south to visit friends we rarely get to see. The next morning I woke up to gluten free apple fritters on the stove. Nice!

Tuesday a friend came over for wedding flower planning! yay! Tea was a necessity.

Winter seems like it will go on forever, but in three and half months, when we do this wedding, spring will be about to burst forth in all its glory. Something to look forward to.......

I just happened to spy this tea at Meijer this week and snatched up the very last box on the shelf! YUM!!! Christina and I have been looking for an American version of the Twining's chamomile and spiced apple we love so much from the UK. This is it! I'll be buying a winter's worth next time I go to Meijer and it is in stock.

We were so happy to have a brief visit from Michael's sister-in-law and her sister as they made their way east for Thanksgiving! We rarely get to see family from out of state and the children had lots of fun making music with Crystal's sister and we all enjoyed catching up a bit.

I got my hutch changed over to winter dishes on some of the shelves (thanks to mom!) and got the bunting made just in time for Thanksgiving. Nothing like last minute.......

Thanksgiving was at our house this year! The first time for me to cook State-side. We had a lovely day with friends and family here.

Since I'm running a bit on empty, it was not surprising that when I went upstairs around 11am to grab the white tablecloths I discovered they had never been washed after the last event six weeks ago! (They were waiting for special treatment). Fortunately, there was still time to run them through before the 2:30 arrival time!

Laura was the littlest at the celebration this year.

It was fun to have one long table.

Everyone pitched in and brought something delicious. We had turkey, potatoes mashed with turnips, blue cheese green beans, pear, fennel, and leek stuffing, cornbread sausage stuffing, sauerkraut, rolls, kale salad, cranberry relish, and a root vegetable gratin.

Mom helped out by getting the kids to make all these name place markers.

The best parts of the year are always those times gathered around the table.

 I was so happy that the turkey went well! I tried a parchment paper roasting technique that left the turkey nice and moist!


Emily's chocolate tart from Jamie Oliver was the star of the dessert table.

We also had pumpkin pie, apple pie, blueberry pie, and pear/raspberry pie.

The children enjoyed themselves and we all knew when the sugar hit their systems!

My dessert plate:

Friday was quiet and I had the chance to slip away for a few hours and enjoy tea with a friend in her glass conservatory room surrounded by books and crochet. A good recovery plan!

And now I'm catching up on desk work, planning school for the coming month, and mentally switching from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Happy Weekend!