Author: suzielinn

Lover of nature and gardening, good food and fresh air.
vintage

A Good Mystery

suzielinn

Who doesn’t love a good mystery?

While some may want nothing more than to curl up with an Agatha Christie novel, I prefer my mysteries a bit more real. As in: What is this object I just bought?!

Such was the case last week when I happened to buy… A German Pretzel Holder?

pretzel holder1

Who even knew there was such a thing as a pretzel holder? Certainly not I. But thanks to a lovely group of ladies on a Facebook junkin’ site, I was able to find out exactly what it was that I had purchased. Eighty posts and many fascinating ideas later, the mystery was solved.

I adore estate sales, second hand stores, antique markets, flea markets, anywhere that I might find oddities and curiosities.

I spied this item at an estate sale in Grapevine, Texas, last week and knew I had to have it.

Whatever “it” was.

The home was filled with items brought back from Germany and Africa – and a whole wall of German books in German! (In addition to the pretzel holder, I bought a wooden clothes hanger that is stamped with “clean clothes properly” in German.)

The mystery item, which I think would make an adorable flower vase, turns out to be… An Ilkra Edel Keramik pretzel holder, designed by Ernst Werner in 1958. Such a fun mystery!

bibliophile

Cranberry Thanksgiving

suzielinn

Every Thanksgiving, we visit old friends.

Maggie. Her grandmother. And Mr. Whiskers.

Mr. Whiskers has too many whiskers and not enough soap, grandmother says. But that doesn’t bother us.

You see, they are literary friends. We met them over a decade ago when we were introduced to Wende and Harry Devlin’s Cranberry series for children.

cranberry thanksgiving 1

Every Thanksgiving, we pull out Cranberry Thanksgiving. I re-read the book, and we make Grandmother’s Famous Cranberry Bread.

cranberry thanksgiving 2

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without grandma’s cranberry bread. Or Mr. Whiskers.

herbal fare

Strawberry Basil Doughnuts (baked and gluten-free)

suzielinn

On my continued quest to use herbs in unusual ways in the kitchen, I have cobbled together a recipe for strawberry basil doughnuts. Baked. And gluten-free.

Not your typical cardboard gluten-free snack.

Nor are they your grandma’s homemade doughnuts.

strawberry doughnuts2

1 2/3 cup gluten free baking mix (I used King Arthur, as it is my favorite gluten-free product)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup strawberries
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease doughnut pan and set aside.
Mix all ingredients together in blender until strawberries and basil are well chopped and incorporated.
Carefully pour the batter into the doughnut pan. (I used a canning ladle for this, but a small measuring cup with spout would work as well.)

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let set on cooling rack for 5-10 minutes.

If desired, dip the doughnuts first in melted butter then sugar.

(I had extra batter so I made mini muffin with the remaining batter. Same baking time.)

bibliophile, herbal fare, vintage

Vintage Tea Party, a book reviewed

suzielinn

Vintage Tea Party by Carolyn Caldicott is one of those books that need repeated readings to be fully absorbed.

Once through just for the photographs, which are simply stunning. From the double page spreads of English landscapes to the smaller photographs of tea cups, finger sandwiches and beautiful tablescapes, the photographs draw you in and make you want to linger a bit.

Another trip through the book and you glean the history and importance of tea, the rise of afternoon tea, the difference between low and high tea, the joy of a fireside tea and the petite adventures of a nursery tea.

The book draws you back again for the recipes, which require another – now deeper – study of the photographs. The recipes are written in English measurements, but can be easily converted.

From beginning to end, this book is charming. To quote, Vintage Tea Party tells “how afternoon tea developed from its modest beginnings to become a much-loved celebration of indulgent pleasures.” A century and a half may have passed, but I am absolutely in love with Anna, the Duchess of Bedford’s idea of “a tea and a walk in the fields.”

How to get that vintage tea party look?

Step one: Check your attic or Grandma’s china hutch for cups, silver and linens. Antique markets always offer an abundant selection of tea party essentials. One need not have matching dishes. Mix and match and coordinate to please your tastes and style.

tea 2

Step two: The food… When homemade treats are not possible, shop at a local bakery or pastry shop for tiny morsels. A baguette sliced and topped with butter and fresh jam and a few bits of fine cheese are simple enough yet pleasing. I adore Ms. Caldicott’s advice: “You don’t need to be a domestic goddess to have a tea party. As long as the tea ingredients look home-made and are served with vintage style, there are ways to cheat and make life easier.”

tea 3

Step three: The tea… Ah. The tea. So many possibilities and so many personal favorites. The British Emporium in Grapevine is one of my favorite places to shop for tea, but most groceries now carry a variety of options.

Now, about that tea and a walk in the fields. Brisk fall days such as today are the perfect pairing!

tea 1

 

herbal fare

Go Texan!

suzielinn

One of my favorite things to do at the Texas State Fair is cruise through the Go Texan Pavilion and check out all of the Texas-made products.

This year, I tried out a new (to me) jam – Jammit! Jam. I was drawn in by the herbal combinations… peach and thyme… papaya rosemary… lemon dill…

I ended up buying the Peach Thyme Prosecco and the Cherry Clove Cabernet.  The guys enjoyed the peach thyme jam tonight on a fresh baguette. I am saving the cherry jam for closer to the holidays. It tastes like Christmas in a jar! I can’t wait to try it as a cheesecake topping.

jam

While standing in line to pay for the jams, I spotted a soap combination I had not seen previously – lavender sage. It smells heavenly. I haven’t bathed with it yet, but am looking forward to it.

soap

soap 2

bibliophile, vintage

Once Upon An Autumn Day

suzielinn

Aren’t these saucers the perfect addition to a fall tea party?

fall dish 2

I will be reviewing Vintage Tea Party by Carolyn Caldicott later this week. (Sneak preview: Neat book! Loved the vintage dishes and photography.)

Tea time is a nice pause in the middle of a hectic day, a chance to settle in, relax, enjoy a quiet moment, reflect for a bit. Once a little boy, now a young man, my son still sits down to tea. The draw? Food. He comes to the table for a snack, stays for the tea and a poem or two. The best part of a vintage tea party is that one can mix and match the dishes, cut a few early fall flowers for a small bouquet. It need not be fancy (or the food homemade) to a perfect tea party.

fall dish 1

Once upon an autumn day,
Colorful leaves began to fade
In the midst of a chilly, frosty air
As multitude of trees grew steadily bare.

Once upon an autumn day,
The whispering breeze was here to stay
Moving aimlessly through the countless trees
Scattering leaves with the greatest of ease.

Once upon an autumn day,
The leaves whirled freely in every way,
Until at last they came to rest
Finding a haven in which to nest.

Once upon an autumn day,
The trees were dormant, and the leaves lay
Waiting for the winter snow to fall
To quickly obscure them one and all.

~~~ Joseph T. Renald

ihand with fan

 

 

 

 

bibliophile

Miss Rumphius

suzielinn

A good picture book is timeless….it appeals as much to the adult reader as it does to the child.

Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney, is one such picture book. I read this book many many times to my son when he was young. It touched my heart and sang to my soul. I long to be Miss Rumphius when I am old and gray.

miss 1

Little Alice Rumphius lives by the sea and helps her grandfather paint pictures and listens to his stories of faraway places. She longs to grow up and travel the world, then settle down by the sea. Her grandfather tells her she must do one more thing: find something to make the world more beautiful.

Little Alice Rumphius does grow up and works – where else but with books? “…dusting books and keeping them from getting mixed up, and helping people find the ones they wanted.”

And she travels the world and settles down by the sea. But what will she do to make the world more beautiful? After a hard winter, she realizes what she must do. She scatters lupine seeds “along the highways and down the country lane …around the schoolhouse and back of the church.” People now call her That Crazy Old Lady. But come spring, the flowers emerge and she is called The Lupine Lady ever after.

Now, years later, children come to her garden gate and she invites them in and tells them tales of faraway places and urges them to find something to make the world a more beautiful place.

miss 4

I think most gardeners have a touch of Miss Rumphius in them – that intrinsic desire to make the world more beautiful.

My husband and I had recently bought our first home when I attended a garden club’s plant sale in a neighboring town. I still vividly recall the ladies handing me a glass of lemonade and inviting me to sit and chat about gardening. It is hard to believe that 22 years have now passed. I joined that garden club a few years after that plant sale and am still a member today. Several garden club members that I remember fondly from those early days have now passed on. But their legacies live on.  And their gardens live, too, as they scattered seeds and dug and shared plants with garden club members over the years. And they made the world a more beautiful place.

miss 5

(I recently bought these beautiful flower shears at the estate sale of a garden club member that passed away last year.)

miss 6

 

bibliophile

October

suzielinn

hibiscus flowers

Bending above the spicy woods which blaze,
Arch skies so blue they flash, and hold the sun
Immeasurably far; the waters run
Too slow, so freighted are the river-ways
With gold of elms and birches from the maze
Of forests. Chestnuts, clicking one by one,
Escape from satin burs; her fringes done,
The gentian spreads them out in sunny days,
And, like late revelers at dawn, the chance
Of one sweet, mad, last hour, all things assail,
And conquering, flush and spin; while, to enhance
The spell, by sunset door, wrapped in a veil
Of red and purple mists, the summer, pale,
Steals back alone for one more song and dance.

~  ~ ~ Helen Hunt Jackson

herbal fare

Rosemary – The dessert herb?

suzielinn

It is easy to get in a cooking rut.
Making a savory dish? Reach for parsley, rosemary, thyme or basil.
Making dessert? Go for mint or lemon verbena.
There are a few notable crossovers, such as mint in Greek dishes. But what about rosemary? In a cake?
As unorthodox as it may sound, this recipe will have you swooning. And looking at rosemary in a whole new light.

orange and rosemary

Rosemary Orange Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze

1 (2-layer) package yellow cake mix
1 small package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 orange, zested
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rum
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup pecans (optional)

Glaze (recipe follows)

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, rosemary and orange zest in a large bowl. Add water, oil and rum. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition. Stir in pecans. Pour into a bundt baking pan that has been sprayed with non-stick baking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until baked through.

Pour glaze over cake while still in pan, allowing glaze to soak in before removing cake from pan. Invert cake onto serving plate so that the glazed top is facing up.

cake2

Rum glaze

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 water or orange juice
1/4 cup rum

Bring the four ingredients to soft-boil stage in a saucepan. (235 degrees on candy thermometer.)

cake3

Recipe adapted from Along The Garden Path by Fredericksburg Herb Farm
Allergy information:
I have made this using both regular cake mix and gluten-free cake mix. I have not made this egg or dairy free. Pecans are optional. I do prefer the added texture of the pecans, but my spouse hates pecans and my son is allergic to them. Photos on the blog are gluten and pecan free.

herbal fare

Rosemary + Cranberry = Match made in herbal heaven

suzielinn

Rosemary and cranberries are a match made in heaven. I first made these biscuits for Christmas 2003 and still make them whenever I roast a ham. They are great alone or as a base for a ham sandwich. The smell, fresh from the oven, is Mmmm…

cranberry and rosemary

Biscuits with cranberries and rosemary
2 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries<
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture is well combined.

Place the mixture in a large bowl. Stir in cranberries, rosemary and buttermilk. Mix well. Mixture will be sticky. Transfer to a floured work surface. Dust hands with flour and knead dough about ten times or until smooth. Pat out until about 1/2 thick. Using a 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits and place on prepared pan. Gather the scraps and repeat until all dough is used. Brush the top with beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Makes about 14 biscuits.

(Recipe from the cookbook Very Cranberry by Jennifer Trainer Thompson)

rosemary and cranberry biscuits

I have made these dairy and egg free in the past, when those food allergies were an issue.
I have not yet tried to make these with gluten free flour.

 

Rosemary is beautiful in floral arrangements. Here, rosemary is paired with coneflowers, esperanza (Tacoma stans) and an ornamental pepper.

flower arrangement with rosemary