How was your weekend?

What a weekend it was. I thought I'd share what occupied me:

Friday Lunch: My friend/colleague and I hit a few "estate" sales. They differ from garage sales in that they usually encompass an entire house. And as the name implies, charge more. But sometimes the goods are worth it.

We 'hit' three estate sales in one hour!

One on the south side of town. One on the north side of town. One somewhere in between.

I bought this little cutie at the estate sale on the north side. It's not heirloom quality, but it's cute.

This piece of paper was stuffed inside the piece. It was brittle, as if it had been in there 24 years. How did the piece get from Tulsa to Lubbock?

Saturday morning: 7:30am. Decide that yes, you are going back to see what was left. Saw this cutie on Friday. And it was still there. Silverplate. 

The little vases can be removed for cleaning. Will make a cute accessory on a tray or small dining table, don't ya think?

Also purchased these cuties.

One dollar a piece. Should have picked a third one, but it was a different shape.

This is one of 5. 3 Christmas ones and 2 that are blue and white. Owner's son called them flower boxes. She used to give them as gifts. 

This is what the top looks like. If you put bulbs up there, the water won't touch the bottom, I dont' think. But, can you say centerpieces?

And by 8:30 I was back home. Since we I moved couches, and bought a chair and rearranged, I had to rehang the artwork. That means measure, mark, spackle the old holes, paint. Done. Notice the open doors and the sunshine outside. It was 82 degrees. Dusted, cleaned, did laundry, did not take a nap.

Watched Regan watch the birds. Gosh, I need to clean those tables and chairs outside!

Regan took a nap. Of course the eyes open when the camera shutter turns on.

Went out Saturday night to listen to Little Wolf play at La Diosa Cellars. Great band, good musicians. Lots of fun.

And then Sunday we met up with this: a dust storm, high winds and warm temps! But who would want to be outside in this? We bought groceries, some Easter goodies and then headed back to the house, watched old movies and cooked. 

Thanks for dropping in. I hope that your weekend was filled with pure pleasure. 

"Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume"

Jean de Bouffiers

Am linking up to the Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday.. be sure to drop in for a lovely visit!

Coffee with a kick

 

Today, I welcome you to a bit of Germany right here in our little piece of the world. A very, very long time ago, I traipsed back to Germany to visit my parents and we did a bit of sightseeing. Of course we had the big discussion as to where to go... I was wanting to go back to the Black Forest, my dad wanted to go on a trip along the Rhine. We did both. I am kinda stubborn like that.  

During one of our stops, we had a wonderful cup of coffee at a Café. A touch of brandy, some whipped cream, chocolate - oh and coffee! What's not to like???

The next Christmas, a set of 4 of these lovely cups and saucers arrived by mail:

 

In the box was the recipe! I was delighted. So we had to get all the stuff to make this delicacy. We loved it and still make it now on cool evenings before a fire. Of course we use decaf since we are partial to our sleep!

Rüdesheim on the Rhein; 1860; hometown of Asbach Uralt

Along the band are pictures of the town of Rüdesheim.

The saucer

I've always loved red transferware and this is no exception. 

Mom made a bunch of these lovely napkins . In Germany you can find napkin/handkerchief blanks and then there are many patterns for the crochet edging around them.

 The thread used is just a bit larger than some sewing thread.

If time were of no consequence, I would bake cookies and cakes. However, Pepperidge Farm's Chessmen stand in divinely!

A small coffee pot ( I think it's really a hot chocolate pot) made by Hutschenreuter called Windsor Rot (Red)  holds the coffee.

A Burgenland candlestick stands at the ready with a candle for when the sun goes down.

Chocolate curls in a Villeroy & Boch Burgenland small bowl.

The bucolic scenes in the bowls are absolutely enchanting.

Sugar cubes give me an excuse to use the sugar tongs that came with my silver, and they are essential to the making of this delicacy.

3 cubes in the bottom of a cup

If you use Dr. Oetker's Whip It, a cream stabilizer, the whipped cream maintains it's mountainous form.

I didn't find out until today that they actually have special long handled spoons for this coffee drink. I use an iced tea spoon! Works just fine.

Anything with fire has to be good!

A dark flavorful coffee is great in this recipe.

Chocolate shavings just make everything soooo much better, don't you think?

All sitting on a linen tablecloth made by my grandmother. So simple, so old, so many memories.

Now for the recipe - followed by a video

Rüdesheim Coffee:

Asbach Uralt

Whipped Cream

Sugar Cubes 

Sprinkles or chocolate shavings

Matches or lighter

Place three sugar cubes in the original Rüdesheim coffee cup, add 4 cl (1 or 1.25 oz)  of well- warmed Asbach Uralt and set alight with a long match, or watch the video below, pull out one sugar cube that has been immersed and light it and then set the spoon into the cup.

Stir using the long Rüdesheim coffee spoon to dissolve the sugar and allow to burn for about 1 minute. Fill the cup with hot coffee to about 2 cm  (3/4") below the rim.

Top with whipped cream sweetened with vanilla sugar and sprinkle with dark chocolate flakes.

Tip: heat the Asbach Uralt either in a container suitable for microwaving at 600W for one minute, or simply in a casserole.  

Drink responsibly!

Cast:

Silver tray - Estate Sale

Sugar, candle stick, small bowls and small serving platter - Villeroy & Boch Burgenland

Coffee pot - Hutschenreuter Windsor Rot

Coffee mugs - Heinrich, made in Germany for Asbach Uralt (some on ebay)

Sugar tongs - WMF

Napkin - Handmade by my mother

Rüdesheimer coffee cups - gift from  mom (can be found on ebay)

Cookies - Chessmen by Pepperidge Farm

Tablecloth - Antique from my grandmother, handmade

I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Be sure to drop in for some inspiring tables set just for you!   Also sharing with Designs by Gollum's Foodie Friday!  Thank you so much for dropping in and making my day! I cherish your visits and love to read your comments.

Faith

With Spring only a month away, I thought I'd repost a post from February 27. 2009.. I hope you enjoy.


You either have it or you don't. You can grow in your faith. Once you have faith, it might waver, but it will rarely go away. One can have faith in God, faith in their mate, faith in their family, faith in friends and one always hears about faithful pets. For me, I find faith is often displayed when I am least likely to expect it. And personally I find that the stronger my faith, the more it is rewarded.

We moved last July into a house I dearly love. It is old, it doesn't have the newest and the greatest, but it has history and a bit of charm and to tell the truth, I couldn't care less about the inside (although it does have the most wonderful places to store all my dishes, oh and lots and lots of windows), it is the outside, in particular the backyard where I instantaneously fell in love. In love with the patio and it's warbled bricks. In love with almost 60 year old trees. In love with squirrels and birds. And I could foresee summer evenings on the patio surrounded by friends and family. And I knew right then and there that I would be planting and partaking in yard work. My dear husband who believes his contribution to yard work is Jesse (the super, terrific guy who takes care of our yard) even bought one of those leaf sucker/blowers this fall.

So with a vision of a spring garden filled with blooming bulbs, I purchased some. Not 10, not 20, but 150 bulbs. Of course when it came time to plant, the ground was hard, and the work laborious. That little bulb sized hole maker thingy sure didn't work! And I almost gave up after the first 15, but we (notice the change in person - my husband stepped in to help) persevered. We planted them all by hook and by crook a few at at time until one sunny fall day we just bit the bullet and put them in the ground somewhere. They were in. That was faith. I had faith they would get planted and I had faith they would appear glorious this spring.

Since it's been so unusually warm the iris were already coming up, but I saw not one tiny green shoot springing forth from the ground wherein the bulbs had found their home. I was crushed. decided that I planted too late, that I planted too deeply, too shallow, whatever. But I didn't give up. So this evening after work, I went outside to look around. Really I still hadn't given up. Those iris are surely getting bigger and bigger. My faith was affirmed. I have shoots appearing. Everywhere. Not just the ones I planted, but everywhere. This yard must have hundreds of bulbs springing forth, in between the trees, under leaves (didn't get those all picked up - Jesse we need you!!), tucked into the corner by the kitchen, under the fir, by the crepe myrtles, everywhere I looked this evening, I saw shoots of green. faith. Rewards when one least expects them. Renewed growth and faith. I think they go hand in hand.

I have two favorite verses that reflect my belief in faith.
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Ephesian 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

So just as I had faith in the bulbs, I did plant them and expect them to appear. I know that my faith is rewarded. The green shoots coming from the ground are a reminder of how faith works. it's not tangible and it's hard to explain, but lives in our hearts and opens doors to miracles. Have faith. Grow in faith.

I'm linking to the Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday.. be sure to drop in for some inspiration!

Good things from the inbox

There's been a week of good stuff in my email inbox.. Oh if only the inbox was as tidy as my closet! Keeping up with cleaning up the trash in both the computer and on my not quite-as-smart-as-HE- thinks-HE-is-smart-phone takes a wee bit of coordination.

names erased to protect the innocent

Because I am so good bad about signing up for EVERYTHING, I have to constantly weed out what I want to read. That being said, I have two blogs, two emails, and two computers. Oh and Mr. Not-Quite-So-Smartphone. Confusion abounds mainly because if I delete on my Mr. Not-Quite-So-Smartphone then the email goes to the trash bin on the computer... but if I delete a message on the computer Mr. Not-Quite-So-Smartphone is not smart enough to move it to the trash on the phone. No reciprocity!!! That is why my phone is a male.

Today I thought I'd share with you some neat 'stuff" that flew in this week (links provided):

These first two come from Williams Sonoma. I love their "stuff"... shop there whenever I get a chance. Mostly on-line since we don't have a store here in Lubbock. They both look very promising!
1. Tasting Table.com

2. Sous Chef Series

Okay so they approached me, but you know you got to check it out. And when I did, wow! My favorite part was the meal ideas... Plan your meal one day at a time. Put in your ingredient..you end up with a whole list of recipes, then you can plan your menus for the week. I would have loved this when the kids were young! I even put a link on my sidebar so that I could get there in a hurry.. see it says Grocery List! Can I say I need an app for this???
3. Dinnertool.com

 I'm always looking for decorating ideas. I gather these thoughts in the corners of my mind, on mysterious bits of paper, torn pages, and sketches. Love that the online retailers are giving so much free advice these days.
4. Ballard Designs - how to mix, match and decorate

I am addicted to ribbon. No really. I know hard to believe. Wouldn't this be cute on a spring table? on a mantel? in a hutch? with birds? surrounded by bunnies? 
5. 2/17 May Arts Ribbon Blog

from May Arts Ribbon Blog

 and last but really not least.. who can resist saving money. Of course you have to spend money to realize the savings, but it is all stuff we NEED, right??
 6. Tuesday Morning - Big Savings!!! 

Have a great weekend, count your blessings, say thanks and find joy!