Wednesday, September 30, 2009

~Happy Fall Y'all!~







Autumn...truly my favorite time of year! And where are we going now?...to one of my favorite places in the world...Disney World! We'll be gone for a week and I'm wondering if I'll be ready to come home then.

Another of my favorites - tea parties! Have you ever thought of having an Autumn tea party? Here are some suggestions I found online to give you some ideas.



DECORATIONS


Float autumn flowers such as mums in a small shallow bowl and place one at each table setting.

Gold colored tablecloth, red dishes.

A bowl of beautiful fall apples on every table.

Write each guest's name on a paper leaf to be used as a place card.

Purchase a cinnamon broom and decorate with small autumn flowers, leaves, and grasses for the centerpiece. Arrange yellow, orange and green gourds along with Indian corn around the broom.


MENU

Cranberry Scones

my Curried Cranberry Chicken Salad

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lime juice
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 meduim apple - cut in chunks
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons thin sliced green onion

Combine mayonnaise, lime juice and curry powder in a bowl and add all other ingredients. You can use
as salad or use for sandwiches. You might double for sandwiches.

Corn Chowder

Gingerbread Cake
OR

my favorite easy Caramel Apple Pie:
Cook one three pound Mrs. Smith's crumb-topped deep dish apple pie.
Cool one hour.

In a two-quart pan:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
bring to boil over medium heat and boil one minute.

Remove from heat.
Whisk in one teaspoon vanilla
1 cup xxx sugar

Pour over the cooled pie.
Sprinkle with 3/4 cup toasted chopped pecans.




TEAS

Genmaicha is a green tea (sencha based) blended with toasted rice. This tea would be nice to serve with the chicken salad sandwiches and corn chowder since the toasty flavor of the tea would compliment the flavors and not overpower.


Vanilla flavored Rooibos is an herbal from South Africa and is very rich almost dessert like and would pair nicely with the gingerbread cake.

FAVORS

Fill a small jar (one for each guest) with some of the loose leaf tea that you are using for your party and cover the lid with a small straw hat with a fall flower glued to the hat. Place at each guests setting.

Small straw broom decorated with autumn leaves and glue a small magnet on one side to make a refrigerator magnet.



Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Rocky Mountain High

I've just returned from Colorado and I fell in love there. My first visit to that beautiful state has made an impression on my heart.

Mountains - how I love them. Being born a West Virginia girl, I am
naturally drawn to mountainous regions and their grandeur. I love both their strength and their gentleness.

Standing at the 14,110 feet summit of the famous Pike's Peak made me feel like a mere pin dot in this universe. I experienced the dizzying sensation of trying to take in air that was so much lighter than I was accustomed to. In spite of the 'touristy' atmosphere, I found the view to be more than awesome. It was a most beautiful day and the view took in surrounding states - yes, I could see Kansas in the far distance.

I have been most fortunate to travel the world, but there are so many sites I have yet to see - great ones, ancient ones, grand cities and remote villages. However, I look forward to seeing so much more of our beautiful United States and that includes, one day, returning to the great Rocky Mountains. There was so much more there that I didn't get the opportunity to see.


Where we waited for our ride to the top of the world

The cog-train track


Here comes our train and right on time!

Stacked boulders with the 'sleigh-rock'
sitting on the third boulder up

I loved the running waters

Pines stood with roots above the ground

Desolate land left as it is



Billions of broken boulders scattered as if thrown by a gigantic hand

We saw a little snow and deep valleys holding dark lakes

Water springs from rock's crevices

Mountain meadows


In 1893, a visitor to the summit of Pike's Peak (teacher Katharine Bates) was so inspired with it's beauty, that she wrote a poem that would become "America the Beautiful".