Happy New Year

Welcome

2014!

We at Linderhof

wish you and yours

a very very 

Happy New Year!

2013 - The Year In Review

Every afternoon at Half Past Three

We stop for a cup of tea

And often a nosh

Join me month by month

as we enjoy our Afternoon Tea

January

Tea in the breakfast room

Bernideen's Tea Treats for a nosh

Tea served in Weldon Ware

February

Tea again in the breakfast room
Scones for tea
With the Johnson Brothers Indies
Sadly, most lost when a shelf in the sideboard collapsed.
Thankfully, the wee teapot which I bought over 20 years ago
on a trip to England was stored elsewhere.
One cup survived . . .
And I've yet to replace.

March

An Easter tea
Macaroons and macarons
I baked both!
Tea for one with bunnies for company!
Blue and white china, of course!
And colorful cookies!

April

Compant for tea in the living Room
The Wheldon Ware
And some new tea treats
Cinnamon spirals
The Company pronounced them very good!


May

Tea in the breakfast room

Muffins and a pot of Earl Grey

Tea served in the blue and white, of course!

It's May and flowers are on the table!

June

It summer
(or almost)
And the tea is iced!
Flowers on the table
and a lemon, thyme, rose, lavender cake for a teatime treat!

July

Daughter Sarah's raspberries made some wonderful bread
Perfect nosh for an afternoon tea
Blue and white china, of course!

August

The sunroom
With my collection of Asian inspired china
and lemon blueberry scones for tea

September

A cream tea for a dear friend

who watered my thirsty plants

while we went north and visited grand girl Lucy

Real Devonshire cream 

Strawberry jam

Freshly Baked Scones

And blue and white transfer ware, of course!

October

With autumn's chill, there's a fire in the fireplace

Making the parlor a perfect place for tea.

Everything fits on one tray

and we sit by the warming fire

As we sit Harney's Hot Cinnamon Tea and munch on tea cake.

November

My beloved blue and white sets the table for tea in the sunroom

The teapot, however, is a new one

A gift from friend Bernideen

(to compensate for the loss of my Johnson Brothers Indies earlier in the year)

Bright orange blossoms bring fall indoors

And meringues to munch on

December

We always have a special tea on St. Nicholas Day

A treat of a cake from favorite bakery, Wolferman's

And the Christmas china

With a Fitz and Floyd Saint Nicholas presiding over the table

set for tea in the breakfast room.

I enjoyed sharing tea with you.

Come back in 2014 and see what's on the tea table

The Christ Candle

It's the First Sunday After Christmas . . .

And so today we light the

Christ candle

That's the big 

candle in the center 

of the Advent Wreath

And since it is Sunday

it's time for tea!

In the breakfast room

with the Advent Wreath

And the poinsettia that was on the dining room table.

It does bring a spot of Christmas red to the breakfast room!

And for tea treat?

The last of the Christmas mince pies!

Alas, our Christmas dishes are washed and put away

"for a long winter's sleep"

To be gotten out next year

on the First Sunday of Advent

But since it is still a special tea

We're using our "very best" blue and white dishes

Spode's Camilla with a gold rim

I'm sharing my First Sunday in Christmas Tea with Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday and with Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday.

Our First Christmas

Well, not our first

but grand girl Lucy's first!!!

Dressed in a proper outfit

(for the hat announced that it was "Baby's First Christmas")

And Christmas morning we opened presents

as we munched on Kringle, Stollen 

and had mugs of freshly brewed coffee

Lucy and I

Exchanged Christmas ornaments

Hers to me . . .

And mine to her!

And then there were the dogs . . .

Dolly's maternal instinct game forward
And felt that Lucy was deserving of a corgi kiss!

While Doogie thought she was a nuisance and spent most of Christmas
under the afghan on the sofa!

After the ribbons and boxes and paper and tissue were disposed of

(paper to the trash, ribbons and boxes and tissue upstairs to be used next year)

We had Christmas Dinner

The last appearance of the Christmas China

On Christmas Day

We've "toyed" with different menus  . . .

And this was the second year we had

The roasted pear salad -- the center stuffed with bleu cheese, cranberries and nuts

Daughter Sarah and I agreed that two years makes a tradition

and so this is our Christmas Dinner salad!

from now on out!!!

And a long time ago, we came upon this recipe 

And we've fixed it many past Christmases

It's a cornbread and Andouille sausage dressing

Which everyone just adores

And, of course, there needs to be a vegetable . . .

Roasted Brussels sprouts

And the star of the show is neither a turkey or a goose,

but rather

A roasted pork loin with a wine plum sauce

And, of course, Husband Jim brought up a good bottle from the cellar

Dessert was Daughter Sarah's request

Sticky Toffee Pudding

And we all agreed that it will be the Christmas dessert

In fact, we all agreed that this will be our traditional Christmas dinner from now on --

It was that good!!!

Table cleared and dishes done, we prepared for the

"Sip and See"

that evening from 5 to 7

So friends of ours could see grand girl Lucy

For she's not been here before she was born

And if you come to Linderhof . . .

You must be fed!

Cookies and candies from the tins in the parlor

And a cheeseball (Ann's cheese ball -- the recipe I've had far longer than I've had Daughter Sarah!)

made especially for the party

And then . . . 

The day after the day after

Breakfast in the dining room

Toast and peanut butter

(The peanut butter, they brought --

The toast, I made)

The very best peanut butter

(but who wouldn't with brown sugar and honey and butter added to the peanuts!)

(We politely didn't clean the jar -- so that they could take some home!

I informed Daughter Sarah that perhaps a jar of that peanut butter should

be a traditional present for dear parents who didn't live near Minneapolis and Hell's Kitchen!)

And, also for Daughter Sarah

Baked oatmeal with sugar and cream to pour on top

Full of Christmas pears and the last palmful of dried cranberries

We lingered, we talked, we had just one more cup of coffee.

For we knew after breakfast that it would be time

To say goodbye!

And into the car they piled one and all

And with a wave as they drove out of sight,

"Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good night"

We're Waiting . . .

It's Christmas Eve . . .

We've been to the service of Carols and Candles,

We've baked the last of the cookies

 And the mince pies

And delivered our gift trays of cookies

Our guest room is ready and awaiting

the arrival of Daughter Sarah and her Andy

and grandgirl Lucy

As we gather together tonight to wait once more . . .

for Christmas!

The Angel's Candle

The Angel's Candle

The Fourth Advent Candle

Was lit today for Afternoon Tea

We missed church this morning

and the lighting of the Advent candles there

For it was cancelled

because of the snow and ice!

But we still have our Advent tradition at home

The Christmas china, a Christmas cake plate found last year

And cookies from Saturday -- 

"leftovers"!

Currant gingerbread (for it makes a lot)

and dried cherry brown sugar shortbread stars.

Stars because it is the Angel's candle!

When the fourth candle is lit,

Christmas is almost here.

We've been baking and cleaning and wrapping

to get ready for Christmas

and the arrival of our grandgirl, Lucy and her parents

on Tuesday night

The last of the cookies --

the cutout ones, frosted because Daughter Sarah and I prefer them that way

still need to be baked as does the gingerbread men.

On Tuesday, I'll join Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday,  and Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday.

Christmas Cookies

Today was Christmas cookie baking day at Linderhof.

Cookies for tea

Cookies for gifts for our neighbors

Cookies for friends

Cookies for our "Sip and See" on Christmas afternoon

Doughs made and chilled

Let the baking begin!

Dried Cherry Brown Sugar Shortbread Stars

The cookie of many names:

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Swedish Tea Cakes

Russian Tea Cakes

Nutballs

 Currant gingerbread

A ginger cookie loaded with dried currants and full of spices

When it was baking it "smelled like Christmas"

Swedish Overnights

A simple coffee cookie

That looks so festive and Christmasy

And I do what my mother did with the cookies

Store them in tins

Most from Christmas befores fruitcakes

Separated with paper doilies

because they're round!

They're all good keepers and they look so pretty in the tins!

Cookies for friends --

Christmas is the season of sharing!

But . . . 

We did save a few for us!

It's Sunday and there is nothing more seasonal than Christmas Cookies -- I'm joining TheTablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.

A Mix of Tartans

Our Christmas China

is

Royal Doulton's Tartan

I've always adored plaids

And this year's Christmas lunch for 

the Lunch Bunch

was a riot of tartans!

A lace tablecloth, the tartans and a blue bowl with a red poinsettia

which picked up the red in the plaids.

The poinsettia at the end of the table 

which I often do

when the centerpiece is too tall and there are only four guests.

All of the plaids have red hues

And in the center of the table

gifts wrapped in plaid

And give miniature loaves of pain d'epice tied with a plaid ribbon

The sun was shining on luncheon day

creating interesting shadows 

On the menu

creamy tomato soup with pesto

the red and green of the season

veal piccata, rice and roasted Brussels sprouts

And a chocolate cake for dessert

decorated with sugared cranberries and rosemary

And to keep us occupied while opening presents

A crystal compote filled with fudge

chocolate and pistachio and white chocolate fudge

Cut in wee pieces

We did have dessert, after all!

It's Thursday and I'm sharing my "Plaid Luncheon" with Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish and Susan at Between Naps On the Porch for Tablescape Thursday