Black Friday/Cyber Monday: Love to Read?

Love to Read? We have the books for you! Sister Nancy Reppert has compiled three FAB cookbooks! Two are little scrapbooks of dinners, lunch and tea recipes she served in the tearoom during the first 15 years and then her lovely spiral bound cookbook features the best of the best from the most recent 5 years! All three are must haves! Every recipe is tested, tried and true!

Our beloved Mother Bertha Reppert was a prolific writer for 40 years. If you have a herb enthusiast on your list, any of these books would be a winner. I love Herbs with Confidence for the beginning herb gardener and Growing your Herb Business is terrific for any small business owner.

The TwelveMonth Herbal is a year long day by day journal of herbal musings, notes, recipes and quotes. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday: For Fun and Fragrance too!

Our Carpet Stuff is made from the finest ingredients. It absorbs odors as well as making the house smell wonderful. Three scents to choose from: Spring Lavender, Rose Geranium and Old Time Balsam. As an added bonus, the herbs we have included are natural flea repellents too! We sprinkle some of this product in our 14 year old sneakers as well.......

It wouldn't be Christmas without the Gift of the Kings!

Frankincense and Myrrh is a fun treasure to gift to your church group. This small size bag is perfect to use as a package tie on or even as a little Christmas ornament or to tuck in Christmas Cards. You can use this around your Nativity or it can also be used for fragrance~simply heat it on top of the stove in a disposable can (like a tuna fish can). Larger size packages are available too. The dark pieces are the myrrh, the light ones the frankincense.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday: For the Cook on Your List

Our #1 best selling product is our famous ROASTMARY BLEND. A perfectly blended mix of salt, garlic, pepper and of course rosemary that you can use on every thing from spaghetti sauce, venison, garlic bread, lamb, pork roast, vegetable soup, minestrone, chicken on the grill, steamed veggies, and on and on the list goes. We've had one customer tell us she uses it on everything except maybe brownies! This is a sure fire winner for all the cooks on your list and at only $4.00 for the small jar -- it is perfect for all your office gifts too!

The MAYOR'S MAGIC MUSTARD MIX is dear old dad's blend. This makes the most flavorful mustard you will have and it comes with recipes to make mustard butter and other mustard flavored blends. Transform a jar of plain generic mustard into a truly gourmet mustard. It is magic!

Years ago there was a dip called "Angel Dip" which we and our favorite Aunt Hilda (Hildegard Peplau) loved. We blended and tasted and tested and created this DIVINE DIP which is a flavorful blend of herbs with just a small amount of zip. It makes a great dip but recipes included with this package are for salad dressings, beef stroganoff and broccoli salad. Truly divine, and a tea room favorite!

Visit The Rosemary House on line or in person and discover our unique herbal blends and seasonings. There's the French Garlic Cheese Spread, The Seafood Party Dip, Gingerbread Cookies, Fiesta Dip (It's a party in your mouth!) and many many more.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Special: Let us tie all three together for you as a charming hostess gift. Just mention blog special and a ribbon color in the comments section of the website order form, or mention this post while you're in the shop! We'll combine the three into a festive gift, ready for easy presentation for simply the price of the three herb blends and postage. Teacher gifts, hostess gifts, 'instead of tipping' gifts, these are perfect for many reasons!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you enjoy the bounty of the harvest, the blessings of family and friends, and the beauty of the season. Celebrate with joy and thanksgiving!

Stone Cairns

A tradition among many countries and cultures around the world, from Scottish highlands to the Arctic of the Inuit, from the stupas of Tibet and the beach goers of Rhode Island, these stone cairns have served as directional markers. Because they so often point the way home, they represent safety, hope and friendship.
This is a powerful symbol of home and life's journey. May you all find your way home safely this week, on the road or in your heart, and give thanks for life's many blessings.

Pumpkin Pie - guilt free!

In eager anticipation of the Thanksgiving feast, I'm repeating this recipe from one of our earliest posts on Rosemary's Sampler. Enjoy this easy Pumpkin Pie without the added calories.

Sugar Free & Crustless Pumpkin Pie

2 c. pumpkin

2 eggs

1 - 12 oz. can evaporated milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

3 packets sweetener

Spray a 9" pie pan with Pam. Beat all pie ingredients together. Pour into prepared pan; sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake an additional 35 minutes, until set. Remove from oven, allow to cool. Keep refrigerated.

The Flame Teapot

This unusual teapot was found at a yard sale by my NY sister. It is in very good shape, although it has a few minor nicks around the base. To my eye, it reminds me of an elephant with his trunk raised for good luck. In reality, it depicts the golden flame of the Statue of Liberty in NYC. Crafted in 1997 by award winning architect Guy Lindsay Kohn, , it is a limited edition of 1,000. It is glazed in 24k gold and cast by hand. It was designed as an exact to-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty flame. It measures approximately 7" high and 12" wide from handle to spout. It does inspire conversation in the tea room.

Murder She Wrote

Another Cardew Design teapot, this is the 'Crime Writer's desk' by Paul Cardew. Three thousand teapots of this design were made between 1996 when it was first introduced and 1999 when it was retired. The details of this teapot are fun, complete with a wicker wastebasket that depicts crumpled manuscript pages. The lid to the wastebasket is removable. If you find this teapot for purchase, be certain the wastebasket is included. The picture is even dedicated 'To Paul, with love". The page on the typewriter is fun to read:

Murder at the Grange

Chapter l.: (Rosie Lee Arrives)

The maid came in bearing a tea tray covered with a crisp white cloth. "Tea is served, Miss" she said carefully placing it before Rosie Lee. "Scones, how lovely" Rosie said, eying the heaped plate greedily.

The Collection

This is the collection of little novelty teapots accumulated slowly over the weeks well over 12 years ago! Although they are not really useful, it was a fun promotion. And one of the benefits of having a tea room is that you can have these on display and share the collection with others!

Novelty Tea Pots

This sewing machine teapot is from the Paul Cardew collection of novelty teapots. The Cardew teapots are some of the most beautiful and creative in the world as they develop unique themes and apply attention to details. Cardew Design was formed in 1991 to produce and market the collectable teapots of designer Paul Cardew. They utilize the finest clay, underglaze and lustres and combine that with a talented production team who use age-old skills to craft and create these uniquely designed teapots.
This miniature teapot copies the Cardew design, but does not display the skill or mastery of the art as the Cardew pot. The true Cardew teapot was a Christmas gift from my parents many years ago. The little impostor was a free giveaway at a local department store. Once a week, for six weeks, you could pickup a small novelty teapot if you purchased a certain amount. We were there, every week, faithful.

Blogger's Block

Hang in there friends!
We seem to be having a momentary blogger's block as life marches on around here. Hopefully inspiration will strike again soon!

The Art of the Table

Linda at Friendship Tea has been sharing a beautiful variety of tablescapes that were decorated for the second annual fund raising event Tea Time with Berea Ministry held recently in Kentucky. Linda works diligently for this annual event, coordinating the volunteers, taste testing recipes, preparing tea, and organizing the activities for the day. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work required to pull this event together. Kudos for a job well done Linda! For additional information about this event and photos from last years gathering, visit Tea Time with Berea Ministry . Check out the recent posts on Friendship Tea to take a peek at the many artistic interpretations created for this years successful event. There are a lot of talented people creating many beautiful themed tables.
(photo shown here is a table in Sweet Remembrances set for a bridal shower)

Green Tomatoes?

No problem! Consider Raspberry Jam
3 c. ground green tomatoes (use a food processor)
1 large box (6 oz.) Raspberry Jello
2 c. sugar

Combine all ingredients. Boil 10 minutes. Put in sterilized glasses. Cover with paraffin.

SereniTea Wednesday

Enjoy Afternoon Tea at Sweet Remembrances today!
Sliced chicken sandwich with basil pesto mayonnaise
Red radish squares with French style cheese spread
Bacon, cheddar & pecan rounds.

Traditional English Cream Scones
Cinnamon Chip Scones
Mock clotted cream, strawberry preserves

Pumpkin Nut Roll
Chocolate Almond Brownies
Lemony Cookies

More Tea from Far Away Lands

A few days after the Teapigs English Breakfast arrived in the mail, another gift package landed on my doorstep. This surprise box was from Japan. Mikako, my penpal, sent a box full of Japanese "Halloween" candy and two varieties of tea. The tea shown here is Matcha-iri-genmaicha, or Genmaicha combined with Matcha. Genmaicha is a fresh green tea, usually Sencha, with roasted brown rice added to it. Typically, it produces a fresh green flavor with additional toasty almost nutty notes because of the brown rice. Matcha is a powdered green tea, known for its very intense flavor, and traditionally used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The two, genmaicha and matcha, have been combined to produce a popular blend, and Mikako's favorite. A fresh flavor accompanies the intense green color of this unique tea, low in caffeine and high in antioxidants. Here's to your good health!

Thank you Mikako!

From Across the Pond

My mailbox recently contained a surprise package from a lovely couple in England that I met through a mutual friend at Sweet Remembrances. This package of English Breakfast tea is from a company called teapigs.in England, and contains 15 teabags of black tea. This blend is a combination of a powerful newcomer Rwandan, a gutsy Assam and a mellow Ceylon tea and after a 3 minute steep with boiling water, brews into a nice hearty tea described as being a balanced, malty, and zesty alliance. The tea is very tasty, a smooth black tea, but in addition, it is the packaging that is interesting and engaging. The tea is not packaged in ordinary tea bags but rather biodegradable tea temples, a spacious, silky, transparent bag that allows maximum room for perfect infusion. They also boast that the tea temples include whole leaf only, not the dust found in regular tea bags.

Also noted on the package is that this tea is especially good for lethargic Monday mornings. Indeed.

Thank you Marilyn!